I’ve been
fortunate enough to receive wide acclaim already for my Sundown Press novel THE PEACEMAKER, including 5 star
reviews from 2 of the most successful western authors in the business. Spur
award-winning and Pulitzer Prize-nominated author ROBERT VAUGHAN describes it
as ‘a great book’. Meanwhile RALPH COTTON (also a Pulitzer-prize nominated
novelist) writes: ‘For pure writing style, McBride’s gritty prose nails the
time and place of his story with bold authority. …this relatively new author
has thoroughly, and rightly so, claimed his place among the top Old West
storytellers.’ I’m very grateful to both Robert & Ralph for their fantastic
support.
Meanwhile
here’s the interview again:
Tell me about your latest novel 'THE PEACEMAKER'
It’s a
western. To a lot of people under the age of 40 the idea of reading, writing or
even watching a western is bizarre, but for people over that age, westerns were
a huge part of their cultural landscape. If you grew up like me in the 60s into
the middle 70s you were deluged with westerns – movies constantly on TV and a
steady diet of TV Westerns like The Virginian, Bonanza & The High
Chaparral. Any ordinary citizen in Britain c. 1970 was generally quite clued in
about the history of the ‘Wild West’, most of it taken in from TV and movies,
although writers like Louis L’Amour and J.T. Edson were quite popular. Then,
almost overnight, the western reached saturation point and practically vanished
- John Wayne’s last movie was in 1976, in 1977 Star War’s stepped in to fill
the void and westerns stopped being made, apart from the occasional revival
like Clint Eastwood’s ‘Unforgiven.’ Whilst I don’t think the western will ever
entirely die, I can’t imagine it will ever again have the cultural dominance it
had in the 40s, 50s and 60s. But I was raised on westerns, I still love them so
I still write ’em!
THE PEACEMAKER is set in the Arizona desert in 1871. At its core
is an interracial love affair – the young white hero finds himself in love with
an Apache Indian girl whilst their 2 peoples are at war. They end up in danger
from both Apaches and white men, whilst also struggling to survive the desert
itself. It also brings in historical elements. The peace they’re trying to make
is with the great Apache chief Cochise. It was fun trying to fit a real
historical person (although much about Cochise is fairly mysterious) into a
fiction narrative.
What are your inspirations?
I read
avidly as a kid – but whereas others liked home-based/ school-based stories I
liked adventure stories set in exotic locations and legends like Robin Hood and
King Arthur. I particularly liked the historical novelist Rosemary Sutcliff.
Rosemary Sutcliff
I
knew if I started writing it would be adventure stories – the bigger and more
epic the better. Getting into adolescence I read Ian Fleming, Hemingway,
Raymond Chandler. Then I discovered western writers who could somehow humanise
their stories, make them realistic and avoid clichés – e.g. an Englishman, John
Prebble in THE BUFFALO SOLDIERS, A.B. Guthrie Jr. in THE BIG SKY, Elmore Leonard
in HOMBRE.
Elmore Leonard
In relation to westerns I’ve also been hugely influenced by movies
and TV westerns, particularly movies starring John Wayne and/or directed by
John Ford. That inspired me to read western history. I was particularly moved
by accounts (such as ‘BURY MY HEART AT WOUNDED KNEE’) of the tragic
near-destruction of the American Indians in this period, aspects of which are
covered in THE PEACEMAKER.
What's your favourite part of the writing
process?
Editing.
I tend to write a chapter at a time and it’s a 3 day process. Day 1 is my least
favourite – it’s the grind of the first draft, which I find is the hardest part.
You tell the tale of the chapter, you cover the story points, but it’s a slog and
the writing may not be that good. But on Day 2 you wake up and re-draft it into
shape, which in my case is almost all cutting. I may re-write or re-arrange
bits but mostly all I do is cut – like pruning a hedge, or clearing the weeds
out of the garden so you can see what you’re after. Day 3 is usually easy –
polishing, just doing a bit of tweaking and tidying up. Then I sit back for a
few days and let the next chapter simmer in my head until it’s ready to be
tackled.
How important is setting in your books?
Enormously.
I haven’t just written westerns, I’ve also written thrillers and historical
novels, but they all seem to end up being set in big, wild landscapes. A common
theme of mine seems to be a man and a woman being tested against a wilderness. The
landscape itself becomes a character, shaping the behaviour of the characters.
Westerns cover an extremely wide range of settings – there’s movies like ‘High
Noon’ that are entirely based in a town – but my taste runs to outdoor ones,
the more primitive the better. My favourite TV Western series was ‘The High
Chaparral’ because it was filmed on location in the Southern Arizona desert,
which is the setting of THE PEACEMAKER.
Similarly John Ford’s best westerns used majestic locations like Monument
Valley. In landscapes like that you find beauty, poetry, harshness and drama,
which are elements I hope feed into PEACEMAKER.
It also creates authenticity and realism.
Any tips for aspiring writers?
I’ve
taught creative writing and picked up some good tips along the way. One is
‘don’t get it right, get it written.’ Don’t sit there agonising, waiting for
the world’s greatest sentence to occur to you before you write. WRITE SOMETHING
ANYWAY. Produce words, even if they aren’t great. You can always shape, change,
expand on words written. You can’t do anything with a blank page. Novelists,
particularly, need to have a time/ word count discipline. Give yourself a
DEADLINE: for example you may decide you want to write an 80,000 word novel in
2 years. That works out about 110 words a day. Make sure you keep to your
routine and write those words, otherwise you’ll join the ranks of would-be
novelists who spend 7, 9 or 11 years writing a novel. And another tip is
persist, KEEP TRYING. There’s a saying: ‘What do you call a writer who never
gives up?’ Answer: ‘Published!’
What's your next project? Any clues?
I’m
lucky, I’m a story-teller, I don’t write just out of my direct experience (as
Harper Lee did for example) but I’m happy to have a go at yarns set in any
place or era. (Not that I’m comparing myself with Harper Lee!) I’m finishing up
a novel about Robin Hood and I’ve got ideas for at least 2 more westerns, a
thriller and at least half a dozen historical novels. Whether any or all of
them get written is another matter!
Harper Lee
BLURB for THE PEACEMAKER:
Eighteen-year-old scout Calvin
'Choctaw' Taylor believes he can handle whatever life throws his way. He’s been
on his own for several years, and he only wants to make his mark in the world.
When he is asked to guide peace emissary Sean Brennan and his adopted Apache
daughter, Nahlin, into a Chiricahua Apache stronghold, he agrees—but then has
second thoughts. He’s heard plenty about the many ways the Apache can kill a
man. But Mr. Brennan sways him, and they begin the long journey to find
Cochise—and to try to forge a peace and an end to the Indian Wars that have
raged for so long. During the journey, Choctaw begins to understand that there
are some things about himself he doesn’t like—but he’s not sure what to do
about it. Falling in love with Nahlin is something he never expected—and finds
hard to live with. The death and violence, love for Nahlin and respect for both
Cochise and Mr. Brennan, have a gradual effect on Choctaw that change him. But
is that change for the better? Can he live with the things he’s done to survive
in the name of peace?
Apaches 1886 Geronimo extreme right
EXTRACT:
Choctaw blinked sweat and sunspots out of his eyes and began to lower the field
glasses; then he glimpsed movement.
He used the glasses again, scanning nearer ground, the white sands. He saw nothing.
And then two black specks were there suddenly, framed against the dazzling white. They might have dropped from the sky.
They grew bigger. Two horsebackers coming this way, walking their mounts. As he watched they spurted into rapid movement, whipping their ponies into a hard run towards him.
The specks swelled to the size of horses and men. Men in faded smocks maybe once of bright colour, their long hair bound by rags at the temple. They had rifles in their hands.
Breath caught in Choctaw’s throat. Fear made him dizzy. His arms started to tremble. He knew who was coming at him so fast.
Apaches.
And you killed them or they killed you.
He used the glasses again, scanning nearer ground, the white sands. He saw nothing.
And then two black specks were there suddenly, framed against the dazzling white. They might have dropped from the sky.
They grew bigger. Two horsebackers coming this way, walking their mounts. As he watched they spurted into rapid movement, whipping their ponies into a hard run towards him.
The specks swelled to the size of horses and men. Men in faded smocks maybe once of bright colour, their long hair bound by rags at the temple. They had rifles in their hands.
Breath caught in Choctaw’s throat. Fear made him dizzy. His arms started to tremble. He knew who was coming at him so fast.
Apaches.
And you killed them or they killed you.
****
To buy
THE PEACEMAKER visit Amazon.com:
or Amazon.co.uk:
