By George Smith

It is a worldwide truism that many people interested in news simply read or glance at the headlines and then decide what to read.

That makes perfect common sense and explains why women will stop and carefully read headlines (and advance to the article) that proclaim something like “Brad Pitt gets better with age” or “George Clooney poses nude again?”

Men, for the most part, are more elementary and earthy and will stop and peruse almost any headline that just might be titillating, to wit: “(Some unknown ‘celebrity’) has wardrobe malfunction” or “Upside-down bikini fad pushing the limits of casual wear.”

As a former newspaper editor, I love headlines, all kinds of headlines, from the mundane to the intellectually stimulating to the drop-down-on-the-floor hilarious.  All types are out there daily; all you have to do is peruse the newspapers, magazines and electronic news outlets.

Headlines that “demand” my attention…and should demand yours also.

“Pot grower crushed to death by policeman driving a bulldozer”  There are some actions in life that are right, partially right, partially wrong and double-dog dead wrong. There is no “right” in that headline.

“8-year-old homeless refugee becomes chess champion” Who would not read this story? Only folks who hate chess, the homeless and refugees. The young boy is not just a champion, but the overall champion of New York in the 6-9-year-old age group. And he has been playing the game for less than a year. His goal: To be the youngest chessmaster in history. (Did I mention he was a homeless refugee?)

“Gun in pocket of substitute teacher discharges in first grade classroom, one injured.” There is nothing about this headline that is right. Arming teaches is an idea akin to giving diabetics with no self control a washtub full of Little Debbie snacks.

“A black man was handcuffed while moving into his own house” Racism is alive and well in America, thanks to Neanderthal thinking, subtle hints for key leaders that abusing people who are different or don’t believe as you do is A-OK. The tiny-minded minions that follow racist tendencies preached by so-called leaders are to be scorned. If you see nothing wrong with this headline, God help you.

“DACA recipient working as a flight attendant detained by ICE”  This story is about a woman who had been in this country since she was three. Her DACA status was in effect; she is married to a U.S. citizen and worked for Mesa Airlines. She was refused re-entry to the United States after a flight to Mexico. She has never been in trouble, works hard and pays taxes. Find something “right” about this situation about this situation and I will buy you a meal at the Blue Frog.

Chick-Fil-A on the hot seat after ‘anti-LGBTQ policies’  People deserve to be treated as they want to be treated. Many people love the low-maintenance food at this restaurant chain; many of those people will not be having that signature sandwich with the white pressure-cooked chicken chunk and the single pickle. Count me among that number; there are consequences for non-inclusion and outright hatred of lifestyles, religions and other human likes and dislikes.

Six connected headlines: 1. “Trump economists agree GOP tax cuts failing to spark growth; 2. “Famers facing worst economic crisis is 30 years”; 3. “Big oil spending millions lobby to block climate change policies”; 4. “U.S. posts largest-ever monthly budget deficit; 5. “Trump’s budget raises record debt by $1 trillion”; and 6. Two ‘new’ Air Force One planes costing billions more than projected.

Some headlines do not need lengthy explanations, but just stand on their own merit as fact-based. The country is not in good shape; Donald Trump is no genius businessman who wields the magic touch of a political wizard; anyone who follows him blindly and refuses to see what exists behind the ‘curtain” will, one day, be dragged down with this snake-oil salesman and master manipulator.

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By Julia Robb

       “Lean as a famine wolf but wide and thick in the shoulder, the man called Shalako was a brooding man…”

       Yep, this character from the Louis L’Amour novel, by the same name, is a cliché.

And most protagonists in 20^th century “Westerns” are Shalako twins, with a few tweaks.

After I tell you more about this, I’m also going to tell you the difference between “Westerns” and novels set in the West.

But, if you want to read a “Western,” look for a plot with a familiar ring to it.

       Motives differ, but most “Western” protagonists (and they are always men), seek revenge, or are out to right wrongs, or they’re trying to help a girl, or a town, and all of them are good with a gun.

       From Kansas to California, they fight rustlers, Indians, outlaws, and sometimes they are the outlaws (although misunderstood and not that bad).

       L’Amour, Zane Grey, Max Brand, Luke Short, Ralph Cotton, William Johnston, Frank O’Rourke, and dozens more, have produced these melodramas.

       Traumatic pasts are common for “Western” heroes, but their characters are never explored in depth.

       Readers want to see their heroes in action, and so that’s what they get.

       Here’s the good part.

       Not all novels set in the American West are “Westerns.”

Many novels set in the West are really good books, stuffed with deep characters and themes, lyrical description and off-beat plots.

       Here are a few I’ve really enjoyed.

       Owen Wister’s Lin McLean, published 1897, is about a young man learning about life in Wyoming Territory (the hard way).

       (This wistful novel does not contain one gunfight).

       Everybody knows about Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove, that it’s about a cattle drive from Texas to Montana.

       They don’t necessarily know Dove is a character-driven novel and the characters are delightful.

       Show me a better protagonist than Gus McCrae, that life-loving and bigger than life hero, and his friend and glum business partner Woodrow Call.

       These men are mythic, meaning both are Western myth and bigger than the myth.

       America agreed, making Lonesome Dove a longtime bestseller, and in 1986 it earned the Pulitzer prize for fiction.

       The Wonderful Country, by Tom Lea, is one of my favorite novels.

       It’s about a man trying to find home.

       Martin Brady was originally from Missouri, but after the Civil War, he and his father (a Confederate veteran) left for Texas.

       After his father is murdered, the boy Martin kills the man who murdered his father and flees to Mexico.

       The book opens twenty years later as Martin returns to the American side of the river to buy guns for his Mexican patron (employer, or boss).

       Lea was a talented artist who also drew the illustrations for The Wonderful Country.

       Alan LeMay wrote two novels that could be considered, on first glance, to be “Westerns.”

       But they’re not.

       The Searchers is about racism, and how difficult it was to live in the rough West and then fit into “civilized” society.

Searchers begins with an Indian raid on a lonely Texas homestead.

Everyone is killed except one little girl, Debbie, who is taken captive (this actually happened many times in the West, particularly in Texas).

Thereafter, Debbie’s uncle, and a foster brother, scour the West for her.

When she’s found, her uncle doesn’t necessarily want her back.

Debbie is married to an Indian man.

In The Unforgiven, LeMay again uses Indians as a major part of the plot.

This time, a White family adopts an Indian child, only to find her tribe wasn’t ready to give her up.

The family and the Kiowas fight it out.

Who are the true relatives; the Indians who will kill the girl’s adopted family to get her back (which is a matter of principle), or the family who has raised her and cherishes her?

I love Adobe Walls, by W.R. Burnett.

Walls can be mistaken for a “Western,” but it’s an historical novel–meaning the plot is not dangling out there alone, like a Deadwood episode.

Culture and society are set in historical context.

We find out why Arizonians hate the Apache Indians, and the consequences to both Indians and Whites.

Also, it’s about how societies often reject their own warriors.

All of these books are dated, but you can get any of them from Amazon.

Finally, I want to discuss my own writing.

I’ve written five (if you don’t count the one I burned).

The Stamp of Heaven, published February 19, is about Lieutenant Beau Kerry, once a Confederate general and now hiding out in the Union Cavalry.

Kerry (and that’s not his true name) is wanted for an alleged war crime and a civil crime, and he ran when the feds came looking for him with blood in their eye.

My tagline: “The Divide Between North and South Runs Through One Soldier’s Heart.”

Scalp Mountain is about the Indian Wars in Texas. My tag line reads, “Everyone was right, everyone was wrong and everyone got hurt.”

It’s also about Mason Lohman, who (secretly) loves another man, Colum McNeal.

Lohman attempts to solve his problem (men did not confess to these kind of desires in 19^th century Texas) in the only way he knows how: By killing Colum.

Del Norte is also set in frontier Texas, but it’s about a man and woman who are in the saloon business together.

Thomas loves Magdalena, Magdalena is scared to love Thomas, and then figures from the past come back to haunt both of them.

Saint of the Burning Heart is set in 20^th century Texas, amid racial turmoil.

Why won’t Nicki give up on Frank (her adopted brother)? Why can’t she make him love her again?

In writing these books, I’ve tried to write novels and not “Westerns.”

I’ve written about what I care about; Texas and its people, the country, our complicated and difficult past (I’m a Texan) and what motivates human beings.

Read me, or read any of the other novels I’ve mentioned.

And remember, there’s plenty of other good books out there, many of them set in the West.

http://juliarobb.com

Or find me on facebook, both Julia Robb and Author: Julia Robb.

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