Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Back from Gretna

I went to that speaking engagement at the Gretna Public Library and I don’t think I made a fool out of myself. Well, not TOO big of a fool anyway. It was a nice little library and the group that showed up was a lot of fun. They had a lot of great questions and kept me on my toes the whole time. I haven’t spoken like that for a while, so my throat feels sore today. I don’t mind it one bit, since it was a genuinely good time.

One of the questions raised was about whether or not westerns could make a return to TV. As much as it pained me to do so, I had to answer, “No…for the time being.” Personally, I’d love to see a weekly show along the lines of Have Gun Will Travel or Wanted Dead or Alive. It just seems like the TV corporations are too interested in the quick ratings grabbers like reality shows that are also cheap to make. Deadwood might have divided audiences a bit, but I thought it was something new and I liked it. Critics liked it, the DVDs sold, but that STILL got cancelled because it was expensive to make. I think a new (possibly more traditional) western series could do well, but it would need some time to get going. At the moment, the networks just don’t seem to have that kind of patience. Believe me, I would like nothing more than to be proven wrong on this one.

Another thing that was a pleasant surprise was the number of women at the library group. Now, this could just be that more women were members of that particular reading group, but the ladies there actually read The Accomplice and enjoyed it. The only reason this stood out is because westerns are always considered to have more of a male audience. I just wish I could shake the publishers or anyone else who makes the big decisions regarding which projects get made and say, “Look! People WILL read these! They WILL watch the shows! Just let more of them get out there and you’ll see.” Ugh. It’s a frustrating thing, but the writers don’t make the big decisions. We just write, so that’s what we’ll keep doin’.

That’s it for today. Thanks to everyone who showed up at the library and I hope to see you folks again sometime.

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