Walking Down a Trail in Life

There has been a lot of buzz around here lately with my first novel. With the help of some important people in my life, one of my goals was accomplished last month when my first novel, They Looked West became a best seller on Amazon books. I can't tell you how this made me feel to be an accomplished author. When you pen your thoughts on paper, you put yourself out there for all to view your inner self. This can make you very nervous and sometimes very sad, especially when critics choose to tear down those private words you have chosen for all to see. I have been fortunate to this point. The remarks from those of you who have taken the time to read the novel have been very kind indeed. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
   
I have made several trips this last year on location for the next novel in the series. These trips have taken me to some very remote parts of our United States and I have been blessed with some very interesting sites and surroundings. The adventure and drama that unfolded in writing about these characters in my novels, took place in the most inhospitable parts of our great nation. It seems that man is less civilized when he is outside the arm of justice and law. Even good men were sometimes compromised with lesser values when it came to riches or gain. As these men approached civilized stations throughout the western United States, Canada, and Mexico, they seemed to change their demeanor. They became more compatible with their surroundings, often to the point of taking on a civilized duty to their fellow men, such as law constables, judges, clergy and the likes. While I have been studying journals, diaries, penned autobiographies and writings from that era, I have uncovered valuable things that I have included in my novels that were not apparent to me before I undertook this pathway in my life. It has given me a greater understanding of the lives that those people lived, back in the 1800's in Western Americana.
   
My purpose for this writing is to let the reader know that there is a lot more to penning a novel than just sitting down and letting your mind conjure up some story and verse. At least in my world, it is not that easy. I have finished two novels and I am part way through the third one and I have found that I need to do research, research, research just to be able to write a paragraph. Maybe for some authors, it comes naturally to just sit down and write what's on your mind, but for me, I almost need to live the moment itself to be successful. I find that if I can get out into the areas that I am writing about, I can feel the wind, smell the air and see the terrain much the same way as the characters in my novel did back in their time on earth. It makes it much easier to take notes, make sketches, and then write down a story that unfolds in your mind and before your eyes.
       
This is the path that I'm following in life right now. I'm not sure why but the inspiration is in my soul and I have the desire to create these paragraphs and see them become printed and available for all to read. I'm not doing this for the coin or any gain that might befall my deeds. If that becomes part of this process then great, but for me it's the feeling that I get inside when someone reads my novels and stories and comments about this or that in the book and we discuss in detail parts that made them emotionally involved. That is the success that this author is seeking and it is very satisfying.
   
I have received many comments from individuals wanting to know when my next book is coming out. To bring my friends and fellow readers up to date, I have finished a second novel entitled Mescalero Vision. It takes place down in New Mexico near the desert town of Lordsburg. It is not part of the first book series. It is a stand alone western novel that I had a great time in writing. The inspiration for this new book came to me many years ago when I was working in that area for a short time. With nothing to do in the evenings, I would go out in the desert and explore the area. I read about the lives and customs of the westerners and the history of Lordsburg and its beginnings. I also studied and read a lot concernin

g the United States Army and its dealings with the Apaches during that time frame. In the novel, I bring forth many characters with many different individual stories all happening in the same setting within the book that spans from 1887 to 1932. It has a little bit of everything from adventure to romance and with a hidden mystery that unfolds as the book is finished. It is in the third stage of editing as I write this article and I expect it to be ready for publishing by the first of the year.
   
Now on to the second book in the series They looked West. It is currently being composed. I am in the process of working out the outline and details for the setting. I will be making another trip this month to location points in Wyoming that will make up the book and it's background layout. The book will pick up where the last one ended with Haley and Gabe being the main characters as they work their way through difficulties and danger on their way to the Salt Lake Valley. I will keep you up to date here on this blog as the novel progresses.
   
Thank you for your support and may God bless you in the trails you go down in life.

For comments or to leave me a private message, I can be found at grady@theylookedwest.com