Ornithologists tell us that the reason flamingos are pink is because they eat so much shrimp. Likewise, if any of my writing seems similar to Louis L'Amour's, it's not so much out of a conscious effort but just because I have ingested so much of his work (having read every one of his works many times over). I don't feel guilty about this because even so great a luminary as CS Lewis said he had probably never written anything where he didn't quote--directly or indirectly--from George MacDonald.
My forthcoming novel "Overstreet" may seem to be my most obvious paean to L'Amour just because it's a western, but--honestly--I didn't sit there and write chapter after chapter asking myself "What would Louis write?" The connection I see between my novel and L'Amour is that, at the end of so many of his books, I'm thinking, "What next? I want to know what happened next!!"
One of the main threads of this story is that John Overstreet has killed the son of a prominent west Texas rancher in self-defense. But what happens next when that is (mostly) resolved? I take the opportunity to follow a life into the adventures that follow the one where the book usually stops. I believe I finish with a story that becomes more compelling (and fulfilling) as it reaches its denouement.
No comments:
Post a Comment