For Painted Pony Books, Jim pens the Lone Star Ranger series. Recently, Richard Prosch caught up with Jim and visited with him as follows.
Richard: What inspired the idea of a teenager becoming a full-fledged Texas Ranger? Is there an historical precedent?
Jim: When
Livia and Cheryl approached me about doing a series of Young Adult
Westerns, I knew the main character would be a boy who ends up riding
with the Rangers. My favorite subject to write about is the Texas
Rangers, so it was a natural fit. And yes, there is definitely an
historical precedent, not necessarily in the time frame when the Lone
Star Ranger books are set, the mid-1870s, but in the earlier days of the
Texas Rangers, before and even during the Civil War. Back in the 1840s,
when the Rangers were mainly a volunteer organization, boys as young as
fourteen were full-fledged members of the Rangers. And Nate Stewart,
and his best friend and Ranger partner, Hoot Harrison, are part of a
long tradition of boys, which probably goes back to when the first
soldiers picked up a spear way back in history, of lying about their ages
so they can join a fighting force and head off to war.
Richard: One of my
favorite things about your Lone Star Ranger books is that as Nate
learns about roping, or working on a horse's hoof, the reader does too.
I'm assuming a lot of that comes from your own life's experience?
Richard: Nate and Hoot have an especially real relationship. Is their friendship based on your own experiences as a kid?
Jim: Absolutely!
My best friend, Skip Caplan, and I, were basically inseparable. We
mostly did three things. Watched Saturday morning Westerns on
television, rode our bikes, and played cowboys. We were always running
around with our cap guns, blazing away at each other, gunning each other
down, and I mean a lot! In a couple of my books, one of the characters
will talk about how, when he was a kid, he gunned down about a thousand
or more outlaws, but also got gunned down a thousand or more time
himself. That would be me and Skip.
My
third Jim Blawczyk novel, Trail of the Renegade, has Jim trying to
track down his cousin Ned, who's turned outlaw. Jim and Ned do a lot of
reflecting on their childhood, and the times they spent playing cowboy
together. That part of the story is mostly autobiographical, except for
the part about my cousin turning outlaw when he grew up. My folks came
from northeast Pennsylvania, and every summer we'd go back there for
several weeks to visit our relatives, staying at my maternal
grandparent's house. My dad would drive us there, spend the weekend,
then head back to Connecticut to work, while we stayed behind. As soon
as we got to our destination, I'd head down to my aunt and uncle's
place, to get my cousin Neil. His father was the watchman for the local
water company. Every morning, we'd jump in my uncle's Jeep to go "up the
Mountains", meaning to the reservoirs. He'd open the gate, drive up
this rutted dirt road that was barely passable even with a tough 4WD,
and drop us off at Second Dam for the day, while he made his rounds.
These were the days when water companies held hundreds of acres of land
around the reservoirs, all strictly no trespassing. So, once my uncle
left us, it was like me and Neil having our own private forest and lake.
Two young boys couldn't ask for anything better. There was an abandoned
house behind the dam, which made a great fort, and some old cars to
play in also. We'd spend the day fishing, picking huckleberries, looking
for snakes, catching salamanders, walking underneath the dam through
its overflow spillway, and exploring the woods. But mostly, we played
cowboys. And boy, did we play cowboys.
We chase each other all over the
place, in and out of the house, all through the woods and the field
behind the dam. We'd climb to the top of the dam, get shot, and roll all
the way to the bottom, then lie there, "dead". Sometimes we'd fight
side by side against a pretend enemy, but mostly we fought each other.
While sometimes we'd switch roles, Neil generally wanted to be the bad
guy, while I wanted to be the lawman, so that worked out just fine. We'd
wrestle each other, have pretend fist fights and pretend knife fights.
But mostly we had gunfights. If I had a dollar for every roll of caps we
fired off, I'd be a rich man. We'd blaze away at each other, get
killed, then get right back up and start all over. When we had a fast
draw showdown, whoever got shot (and it went about even, with me winning
half the time, Neil the other half), we'd never die from taking just
one slug. The climax of Trail of the Renegade has cousins Jim and Ned
facing each other, ready to draw, and Ned stating he was going to put
all six bullets in his pistol into Jim's belly. That's pretty much how
our gunfights went. Whoever got killed took at least three bullets,
usually right in the gut, before he went down. in fact, even today, I
can still remember that was our favorite line: "Got ya right in the
belly!" Sometimes, we'd even play frontier doctor, like we'd seen in the
Westerns. When one of us got shot, the other would dig his pocket knife
out, then use that to "dig the bullets" out of the shot man, who would
of course always pull through, even it he'd taken half a dozen slugs in
his belly and chest.
We chase each other all over the
place, in and out of the house, all through the woods and the field
behind the dam. We'd climb to the top of the dam, get shot, and roll all
the way to the bottom, then lie there, "dead". Sometimes we'd fight
side by side against a pretend enemy, but mostly we fought each other.
While sometimes we'd switch roles, Neil generally wanted to be the bad
guy, while I wanted to be the lawman, so that worked out just fine. We'd
wrestle each other, have pretend fist fights and pretend knife fights.
But mostly we had gunfights. If I had a dollar for every roll of caps we
fired off, I'd be a rich man. We'd blaze away at each other, get
killed, then get right back up and start all over. When we had a fast
draw showdown, whoever got shot (and it went about even, with me winning
half the time, Neil the other half), we'd never die from taking just
one slug. The climax of Trail of the Renegade has cousins Jim and Ned
facing each other, ready to draw, and Ned stating he was going to put
all six bullets in his pistol into Jim's belly. That's pretty much how
our gunfights went. Whoever got killed took at least three bullets,
usually right in the gut, before he went down. in fact, even today, I
can still remember that was our favorite line: "Got ya right in the
belly!" Sometimes, we'd even play frontier doctor, like we'd seen in the
Westerns. When one of us got shot, the other would dig his pocket knife
out, then use that to "dig the bullets" out of the shot man, who would
of course always pull through, even it he'd taken half a dozen slugs in
his belly and chest.
After
we'd worked up a good sweat, we'd shuck out of all our clothes and go
swimming in the reservoir. Luckily, my uncle never caught us doing that,
or he'd have tanned our bare bottoms, but good. He didn't mind letting
us break the rules by fishing, but swimming in a public water supply?
Uh-uh. That was strictly forbidden.
Ever
after we were back home, gone to bed, (most nights, Neil would sleep at
our grandparents' with me, or I'd sleep at his house with him), and
were supposedly sleeping, we were playing cowboy, bouncing around on the
bed, shooting each other under the covers, until finally, worn out, we
fell asleep. Then the next day, we'd start all over again. True, like
most boys, we had toy trucks and cars to play with, and spent a lot of
time going to the store for penny candy, or rolling apples that had
fallen from our grandparents' trees into the road for the cars to
squash, but we mostly played cowboys. Even when we didn't go "up the
Mountains," we'd play cowboys in our grandparent's yard. Those big apple
trees made great cover, and also were great to climb into, then fall
out of when you got discovered and shot. There was even an old outhouse
my grandmother insisted we use, instead of dragging dirt into the house
to use the bathroom, so we had a touch of "Old West" atmosphere right
there in the yard.
Of
course, those were the days when kids could be kids, and were allowed
to play, unsupervised, for hours on end. As long as we got back home by
the time the fire horn blew the nine p.m. test signal, we were just
fine. Can you imagine what would happen today? Two boys of about ten,
allowed to be alone in the woods, all day long, unsupervised? And at a
unlifeguarded lake, no less? DCF would have our parents and grandparents
arrested for child neglect, and put us in state custody. And of course,
playing with cap guns? How horrifying, to a lot of misguided people.
Being alone with my cousin, playing cowboy all day long, didn't do me
one bit of harm. In fact, today's kids could use more of that kind of
freedom.
Richard: And you still play cowboy with Yankee, your horse. Can you tell us about the photos here?
Jim: These photos were taken at one of our nursing home visits and reenactments, for my college's, Southern CT Stale, alumni magazine. They got word of my writing and therapy work and ran an article about us last fall. What we usually do is find a volunteer to play the bad guy. He guns me down, but then Yankee revives me, and I end up plugging the outlaw.
Richard: You
recently wrote about selling books to a father and son at a book
signing. Do you find that there's still an interest in Western
adventures? Any idea how we can foster that interest and make it grow?
Jim: I find there is, but there's a huge gap in age groups. Older readers, who grew up with Westerns, still look for them, of course. And kids, especially boys, who like a lot of action in their reading, seem to be looking for Westerns, at least to some extent. Unfortunately, there's a whole generation in between who grew up without Westerns, or dismissed them as not fit to read. I find it's the parents who are more resistant to buying their children a Western, rather than the kids themselves. Given the opportunity, most kids will at least try one. So, we somehow have to reach the parents. And the mainstream media hasn't helped. Disney in particular has helped kill a lot of interest in Westerns. They've pretty much taken any reference to Westerns out of their theme parks, even in Frontierland, and their disaster of a Lone Ranger movie, which made a mockery of the character, has probably done more to set back interest in Westerns than any other one thing in years. Unfortunately, I have no easy answer to the problem. If the Western does make a comeback, and we all know it never will to the level it was at years ago, it will be slowly and gradually, one parent, one child, one family at a time. It's a shame, because the Western is part of our heritage, and it's being lost.
Jim: As
you said, the first three Lone Star Ranger books were tied into each
other. Plans are for a total of ten. The remaining books, just like A Ranger's Christmas, will be part of the series, but can be read as stand
alone books. In A Ranger to Stand With, Nate learns another lesson
about making sure he does the job thoroughly, when he nearly gets killed
through his carelessness. He also finally learns the art of the fast
draw. The main story is something that happens to most teenage boys.
Nate and Hoot get into a violent argument over, what else, girls. This
fight will test their friendship to the limits when a band of Comanches
raids the ranch where the Rangers are staying, kidnaps the family's
youngest son, and attempts to flee back to Mexico, with the Rangers in
pursuit.
Richard: Is this your first foray into all ages books? What other titles are you writing?
Jim: To
answer your first question, yes and no.My Texas Ranger Cody Havlicek
novels were intended as adult westerns, but they tuned out to be
suitable for younger readers, particularly Big Bend Death Trap.
As
far as future titles, besides the Lone Star Ranger books, there are
several in the works. My latest Texas Ranger Jim Blawcyzk novel, The Ghost Riders, will be released on April 7th by Rough Edges Press. Volume
6 of my Faith and the Law serialized ebook, Which is Which, from High
Noon Press, will be out within the next several weeks. I'm also working
on three projects that are a bit different, at least for me. One is a
Western romance, Heart of a Ranger. That will be a short story ebook,
written under the name J.B. Blanchard, and published under Livia and
Cheryl's new imprint, Sundown Press. Another is a contemporary murder
mystery, set in my adopted home state of New Hampshire, which as of yet
only has a working title, Mountain Murders. That one will be published
by Rough Edges Press, for release in late spring. And finally, I'm going
to be writing a biography/memoirs of my retired Texas Ranger friend
Jim Huggins. That will also be published by Sundown Press.
I'd
like to thank you for this opportunity to be interviewed. And of
course, I'd be remiss if I didn't urge everyone to check out your excellent Jo Harper series.
Richard: Thanks for the great conversation, Jim. Everybody can learn more about Jim at his web site: www.jamesjgriffin.net
Richard: Thanks for the great conversation, Jim. Everybody can learn more about Jim at his web site: www.jamesjgriffin.net
