Sandra Heska King

daring to open doors

  • Home
  • About
  • DISCLOSURES
    • Amazon Affiliate
    • Book Reviews
  • Published
  • Contact
  • Blog
    • Commit Poetry
    • Dared

Do They Sweat in Duke City? / Fiction as Research by Stephen Bly

July 13, 2010 By Sandra Heska King

Today I welcome a guest poster, Stephen Bly.

Steve has authored over 100 books and hundreds of articles. His book, The Long Trail Home, won the 2002 Christy Award for excellence in Christian fiction in the category western novel. Three other books, Picture Rock, The Outlaw’s Twin Sister, and Last of the Texas Camp were Christy Award finalists. Steve is a speaker, pastor, past mayor, dad, and wife to Janet–who is also a writer. He’s a third-generation westerner who spent his early years working family ranches and farms in central California. He now lives in the mountains of north-central Idaho and in his spare time collects antique Winchesters.. He also works on the construction of Broken Arrow Crossing, a false front western village near his home. And he’s seldom seen without cowboy boots, hat, and jeans.

Read more about him at his website here.

And stay tuned for a One-Word/One-Line interview with a giveaway of an autographed copy of Cowboy for a Rainy Afternoon.

Thanks, Steve, for visiting The Write Pursuit today and sharing a little about western novel research, especially as relates to your newest book.

Do They Sweat in Duke City? / Fiction as Research by Stephen Bly


New Mexico heat blanketed Albuquerque that July like too many covers in a stuffy cabin  . . . the kind of day that you sweat from the inside out and feel sticky dirt in places that you don’t ponder too much except in the shower.

From Cowboy for a Rainy Afternoon
Released June 2010

Every novel’s got a place and time. That often means plenty of research. My next release, Cowboy for a Rainy Afternoon, is set in Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1954. So I needed to know some things about a specific city, a state, and what the world was like that year.


Research Thru Travel

It’s tough, dirty work . . . but I love any time I can go to New Mexico. The only other site I’ve been that boasts similar layers of culture stacked one upon another: Rome. Yet, New Mexico’s still a cowboy state. From the Pecos River in the east to the Plains of San Agustin in the west, from the Sangre de Christo range in the north, to the “bootheel” in the south, it’s full of great ranching country. A perfect setting for a cowboy story.

My wife, Janet, and I drove up and down Historic Route 66 that runs through Albuquerque. It was known as the “Main Street of America” or the “Mother Road.” It was the primary route for those leaving the dust bowl of Oklahoma and moving to California during the Great Depression. Albuquerque was selected as a stop on the first transcontinental air route in the 1920s, and Route 66 brought the first transcontinental motorists through the city.

Research Thru Study

Duke City is a nickname for Albuquerque because it was named after the Viceroy Francisco Fernandez de la Cueva, the Duke of Alburquerque. Later the spelling was changed because some influential person couldn’t pronounce the “R” in Alburquerque.

The cowboys in my story retire in Albuquerque, not Santa Fe, because even in 1954 the latter was becoming the artsy, celebrity spot it is today. These guys needed a cheap hotel and city amenities. So Albuquerque suited them fine. Before there were retirement communities and senior citizen housing, some elderly lived in old downtown hotels. Well past their prime in attracting overnight guests, they catered to senior citizens who scraped by on something fairly new in the fifties: Social Security.

One of my favorite governors hails from New Mexico. Governor Lew Wallace authored the novel Ben-Hur (a movie made in 1959, starring Charleton Heston), and he also tried to negotiate with the notorious Billy the Kid. What an eclectic group of folks tramped the Old West.

A piece of historical tidbit . . . a hard thing for some readers to realize: in 1954 no one considered cigars or cigarettes or their second-hand smoke in any way harmful. That’s why you see so many actors and actresses lighting up in the movies of that period. Cowboys often carried peppermints, which were tasty, portable, and covered up the smell of such vices, at least so they thought.

Research Thru Learning the Language

The main challenge of fiction: the rhythm of dialogue. I had to sit very still and listen to each character speak in order to get the timing right, along with the vocabulary.

Every era boasts its own unique language. Every region develops a dialect. For the writer, both can be learned through research and careful study. But tone, timing, and cadence can’t easily be taught. It’s better to be in your bones. A writer’s challenge is to develop instinct for tune as well as lyrics of speech. There has to be a natural flow.

To know the right lingo steps up a novel’s authenticity. In Cowboy for a Rainy Afternoon I got to use a lot of the classic cowboy terms that got lost over the years. I tried to stick an interior explanation to explain a few that might confuse.

For instance, a McGee is cowboy slang for a 4-strand rope made of a maguey (century) plant.

A phrase often used on a cattle drive or roundup was “man at the pot.” That meant someone was at the coffee pot for a refill and that shout-out indicated the guy was to fill everyone’s cup.

To old cowboys, “nobby” signified fine, expensive boots.

Pop/Grandpa would “do to ride the river with.” That’s the ultimate compliment for a cowboy. Crossing wild rivers with great herds of cattle exposed dangers for man and beast. Not a time to trust your safety to some rookie just learning the ropes.

“You never know the luck of a lousy calf” . . . one of my favorite cowboy sayings. Big, healthy, sturdy calves seem to fall off cliffs or get attacked by wolves. It’s the scrawny, worthless ones that live forever.

I’ve often wondered why we stopped using colorful words like “footpad.” So called because of guys who pulled off their boots and snuck around in stocking feet so no one would hear them.

Research Thru Memories

In 1954 an old man’s vision of feminine loveliness would be Bow, Grable, Monroe, or Kelly. Grace Kelly in High Noon stole my own ten-year-old heart. However, I figured she wasn’t too smart because she couldn’t understand why Will Cane had to turn back. But I did. Shoot, that’s in a cowboy’s bones. But, my oh my, she surely was purdy.

My bedroom was stacked with White Owl cigar boxes, my granddad’s favorite cigar. He didn’t smoke them much; mainly he chewed them. And because I lived across the road from him, I got many of his boxes. Lots of childhood treasures can be stored in a cigar box.

I listened to Sergeant Preston on the radio. What memories. How I wanted to be a mountie and own a dog like King.

TV was a brand new technology in 1954. We hadn’t learned to sit comatose in front of one . . . yet.

One of the advantages of modern autos . . . they run so smooth there’s seldom a backfire. But those random air-shattering blasts from the old rigs added adventure to an otherwise ordinary, routine day. Me and my young pals surmised the sound as a gun blast from a bank robber making his get-away, even though my hometown had no bank. That fact didn’t darken my vivid ten-year-old imagination.

The summer of 1954, in Albuquerque, a ten-year-old boy becomes a Cowboy for a Rainy Afternoon.

Maybe I wasn’t born 100 years too late.

Copyright©2010 by Stephen Bly

Find Steve at his website.
Enjoy his new blog.
Follow him on Twitter.
Cowboy for a Rainy Afternoon is available on Amazon or from his website’s bookstore.

Share this:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

Filed Under: stories and reflections, writing

Comments

  1. Susan J. Reinhardt says

    July 13, 2010 at 10:12 pm

    I'm smiling because we share so many memories of the fifties. Who could forget Bonanza, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Davey Crockett (I had the girl's version of the hat), and so many others?

    Who said research isn't fun?

    Blessings,
    Susan 🙂

  2. Sandra Heska King says

    July 13, 2010 at 11:21 pm

    And Sky King!

    I spent today in a logging museum and virgin pine forest researching for my WIP. Fun!

  3. Stephen and Janet Bly says

    July 14, 2010 at 5:25 pm

    Sandra: Thanks so much for this post! I've added your blog link to ours at "On A Western Trail."
    On the trail,
    Steve
    www(dot)blybooks(dot)blogspot(dot)com

  4. Billy Coffey says

    July 15, 2010 at 7:59 am

    What an awesome post! And I agree — Grace Kelly sure was purdy.

  5. csthankful says

    July 15, 2010 at 10:24 pm

    You know, going back in my mind to the 50's (course I was just born then!) brings back so many memories worth jotting down….the thrill of getting to stay over night and Grandma and Grandad Bence's house in Lemon Cove…and all the thrilling places to play out there….pepsi floats and popcorn at Grandma Chester's (must be where I got my love for popcorn!). The thrill of knowing my grandparents well is a blessing I will never forget. (And I thought Grace Kelly was a beauty too!) Thanks for letting my mind take a trip back there. Brings a smile to my heart. Oh…and then there was the time that all of a sudden you were part of those memories too..but that is another story…..Blessings, Connie Sue

  6. Sandra Heska King says

    July 15, 2010 at 11:11 pm

    @Steve: Loved having you!

    @Billy: Grace couldn't hold a candle to Little Joe Cartwright!

    @Connie Sue: Thanks for sharing! I had to look up Lemon Cove because I love the name. That's the little California town with about 300 people?

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Meet Sandra

I’m Sandra, a camera-toting, recovering doer who’s learning to be. still. Read more…

Get updates from the stillness by email

Your personal information is safe and will never be shared.

Archives

Categories

Instagram Inspiration

sandraheskaking

For most of us, knowledge of our world comes large For most of us, knowledge of our world comes largely through sight, yet we look about with such unseeing eyes that we are partially blind. One way to open your eyes to unnoticed beauty is to ask yourself, "What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?" ~ Rachel Carson in The Sense of Wonder
#prayformsu #spartanstrong #spartannurse #michigan #prayformsu #spartanstrong #spartannurse #michiganstateuniversity
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faith Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. ~ Psalm 136:1
A tale of two iguanas... I did not see the iguana A tale of two iguanas... I did not see the iguana in the background until I downloaded the photos. That, I believe, is the one that got caught in one of the openings in the neighbor's chain link fence. We tried in several (safe) ways to dislodge it without luck and could think of no other option but to leave it. Somehow it apparently dislodged itself. We also believe this is the pair that was getting into another neighbor's garden. We haven't seen either one since the last cold snap, so we are wondering if they survived. 
🌱
Thinking some may have tumbled from their perches last night. Pretty sure it will be raining iguanas tonight since we are under a frost advisory. It's cold. And windy.
Just sing... sing a song... Singing our way into Just sing... sing a song... 

Singing our way into the weekend.
"We don't just see. We learn to see." ~ Russ Ramse "We don't just see. We learn to see." ~ Russ Ramsey in Rembrandt is in the Wind
Now you see me... now you don't. Now you see me... now you don't.
"I started looking and listening. I realized that "I started looking and listening. I realized that work, like life, is shot through with poetry. It was everywhere. I was so taken with what I discovered that I wrote a book about it." @gyoung9751 
🌱
Whether you work in an office, a retail store, a restaurant, or at home... Whether you work on roads or on power lines, or on high buildings...Whether you collect trash or preach sermons, or care for your kiddos. Whether you do art, or weave words, or take photos of a common gallinule AKA moorhen AKA swamp chicken--it's all shot through with poetry.
🌱
So pay attention. Find a poem.
🌱
Read more at https://www.tweetspeakpoetry.com/2023/01/10/its-poetry-at-work-day-2023/
Rising… Rising…
Everyone needs a little balance in life. And maybe Everyone needs a little balance in life. And maybe a beauty routine. And breakfast. Especially breakfast. I wonder if it consists of a few fire ants. I hope so. (Well, not mine. I'm having oatmeal with chia seeds. What are you having this morning?)
🌱
P.S. Happy Friday!
"Though your destination is not yet clear You can "Though your destination is not yet clear You can trust the promise of this opening; Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning That is at one with your life's desire." ~John O'Donohue 
🌿
A blessing for a new beginning in a new year. I'm sure he wrote it especially for me. At least I'm claiming it. Maybe it will speak to you, too.
🌿
Also, I'd really like this skirt --> 
🌿
Read the whole poem--> -->
🌿
Well, bummer... The whole page didn't print. Read it in the comments below.
"What precocity, a bird half the size Of an Anjou "What precocity, a bird half the size
Of an Anjou pear." ~ Stephen Kuusisto in "The Mockingbird on Central" (Find it in The Poets Guide to the Birds edited by Judith Kitchen and Ted Kooser)
🌱
"The morning pages are the primary tool of creative recovery." ~ Julia Cameron in The Artist's Way. 
🌱
I've been in a long creative drought, so I started morning pages--again. This time I've got a bit of an accountability group through @refineretreat's Refinery--which I finally also joined this year. I'll turn 74 this month. I'm not ready to grow old while I age--though everything does seem to take longer while time goes by faster.
🌱
#aweandwonder #tsaweandwonder
Tonight’s walk in the neighborhood. I’m still Tonight’s walk in the neighborhood. I’m still kinda amazed that out of all the places we could have ended up after moving from a place I said I’d never move from), here we are—planted right next to the northern Everglades. Six-plus years, and I still shake my head in wonder.
"So fancy is the world..." ~ Mary Oliver in "This "So fancy is the world..." ~ Mary Oliver in "This World." #aweandwonder #tsaweandwonder
Look, Mom! I can walk on water! #aweandwonder #tsa Look, Mom! I can walk on water! #aweandwonder #tsaweandwonder
Gazing into 2023 like… Let’s take it step by Gazing into 2023 like… 
Let’s take it step by step with hope and courage. Also I hope to be posting again more often.
🎉
Happy New Year!
The morning before the last morning of 2022. 🌴 The morning before the last morning of 2022. 
🌴
71 degrees. Heading to 83. I can live with that.
From the top of Brasstown Bald—the highest point From the top of Brasstown Bald—the highest point in Georgia at 4784 feet.
Winding roads… Winding roads…
Tonight's moon. It's kinda okay. Tonight's moon. It's kinda okay.
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Get the Mug

Embrace the life you have t s poetry mug

Privacy Policy

Full privacy policy is available HERE.

I Read Light

TSP-Red button

bibledude-net



Sponsor a Child

Join the Compassion Blogger Network

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2023 Sandra Heska King · Site by The Willingham Enterprise, LLC on the Genesis Framework by StudioPress · Log in