Sleepless in De Soto

Here I am at past 3 a.m., finding myself unable to sleep due to a bad back.  Sometimes that's the writer's curse, sometimes their friend.  So I've returned to ramble - er, blog!  I had intended a long discourse on two books I'm reading, but lo and behold, I've had two visitors!  One, a friend and fellow writer from two groups, not only commented, she threw me a techno-challenge.  She says if I can find the little widget that allows people to follow me, she will do so.  The other, a nice person from India named Joomla, said the same thing.  I've always thought of myself as a leader, therefore I must have followers, right?  I must rise to the occasion for Kareen & Joomla.  So, you will only get a short blab, uh blob, uh blog ( ! ) about the books and I shall go on a techno-hunt!

The books, picked up at my fave second hand store, have lain around gathering dust for some time.  Funny this should be the month I'd pick them both up to read.  The first is "Betty Zane" by Zane Grey.  For the young and uninitiated, Zane Grey was a famous writer of westerns which often found their way to the silver screen.  He was probably best known for "Riders of the Purple Sage" and was denigrated by the critics of his day for his purple prose.  


Well, guess what folks?  My grandad was a real cowboy who knew the likes of Geronimo, Quanah Parker, Bat Masterson, and Wyatt Earp.  He made several comments on those good folk that proved to be quite true when the historical facts were allowed to override the myth.  He was friends with Geronimo until the old man died and had business dealings with Quanah in his capacity as ranch foreman.  He said both were good and noble men who did what they did to protect their people.  This at a time when both men were still being portrayed by the popular media as bloody savages. 
He had no use for the myths about Earp, having watched at the age of 10, while Earp beat one of his fellow cowboys to a bloody pulp on Front Street in Dodge City.  The kindest thing he would say about Masterson was that he was a "whoremaster."  

Despite having left school at age 8, Grandaddy loved to read.  His favorite author?  Zane Grey.  He said the man told it like it really was.  When at long last introduced to that 20th Century marvel, television, in the 1950s, the only western Grandaddy would watch was "Rawhide."  He said it was realistic, the others so much horse manure.  

So, what's the point - at least for me?  I'm writing an historical memoir of Grandmother & Grandaddy's pioneering days in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.  I started subbing first to a fiction writing group, then to a non-fiction writing group.  Both groups clamored for more action, more plot & made-up dialogue. In disgust, I pulled it from both groups.

And how does Zane Grey's book bear on this?  In several ways.  When I picked the book up, I assumed it was a biography of Grey by his wife or daughter.  Upon closer examination, I discovered it was an historical memoir of his ancestress from the American Revolution, Betty Zane.  Like most people (not just writers) of his day, Grey had a big vocabulary and wasn't afraid to use it.  The book has no real plot, other than Betty was born, she lived, and she died, with lots of adventures along the way.  And last, but not least, there is a LOT of conversation going on in that book. I know Grey wasn't privy to any of it, and I know his ancestors didn't hand it down verbatim.  He did have one old, moldy, partially burned journal to work from.  So, yeah, the man invented dialogue!

I'm not going to let it bother me that my book doesn't have any more of a plot than Grey's does, but the light has come on in two important areas.  I've "dumbed" myself down to fit in today's society.  It's time to whip out my excellent vocabulary and use it to the benefit of my characters.  And, I can and will invent dialogue, so long as it's necessary to the story, and appropriate to the time period.  

The second book is "Bluefeather Fellini" by Max Evans.  I confess I was simply attracted by the artwork on the cover when I picked it up.  I'd heard the name Max Evans in connection with Westerns, but wasn't sure where or how.  Well, to begin with, Bluefeather Fellini is half northern Tiwa Indian/half Italian. Having made friends at the Taos Pueblo and been taken to see places no whites had been allowed to go before during my archaeological field school, I was immediately entranced.  Then I discovered Max wrote "The Rounders," which, when made into a movie with Henry Fonda and Glen Ford, I can assure you is both funny and authentic, having spent a lot of time around beat up old bronc busters in my youth.  Finally, this book was highly recommended by my former acquaintance and mentor, the late Tony Hillerman.  'Nuff said!  I'll let you know if it lives up to the hype.  I'm only 7 pages in, being highly focused on the Zane Grey thing right now.


So off I go to see if I can find that widget thingamajig!