Guest Blog: A Shallow Sort of Inspiration

Author David M. BrownToday I welcome David M. Brown to the Green Porch. We always knew there were a lot of us around, but it just so happens that there is another DMB currently promoting a soon to be run away hit novel. So as a salute to Freaky Friday (Monday version), we’re swapping blogs for the day. But this doesn’t mean that up is down and hot is cold, or that you should go to work in your spouse’s clothing. So just enjoy the post!

These days I seem to define myself as a writer/author/novelist so often that it’s easy to forget that I was once a reader, video gamer, film lover.  Well, I say was but in truth I still am; it’s just that those things become buried so easily under the ongoing manuscript, the reviews I need to check through and the piles of money I’m making.  Hands up if you spotted that the last one was a red herring?  Okay, I admit I’m not making much money from writing just yet (ever optimistic!) so I’m also spending several hours a day fielding the day job.

In truth, I think it’s been a long time since writers were just, well, writers but I don’t think that’s confined to this profession alone.  I think we’re all multi-taskers. 

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The West Needs More Western

The American West CowboyFor many, the contemporary icon of the Western genre is that of the semi-nomadic wanderer or the knight errant–the pale rider. While that is a Western motif, it’s usually shown in contrast to the frontier, societal enclave from which fate has removed the rider.

The larger motifs of classic Western literature and film revolve around the local social order maintained by personal codes of honor that are strictly enforced. Abstract law is for sissies and Yankees. Westerns grow organically from the fertile soil of independence and libertarianism.

With a hoe in one hand and a rifle in the other, tough men and women etch meaningful existences from the harsh wilderness environment using their wit and fortitude. Those desiring to exploit the land for easy gain or to pillage others are the enemy. Most simply, the Western is a morality tale caked with dust and manure. And this, dear reader, is what I think Western civilization needs a bit more of presently (both morality and manure).

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Diving Horses and Amazon Kindle

Diving horseI feel how I image William “Doc” Carver’s horse felt after it had been asked to dive from its 50 ft. platform into the Deep Eddy Springs in Austin, TX for the fourth time that day.

Horse diving isn’t so popular anymore (for some weird reason), and I’ll go out on a limb here suggest that horses probably don’t miss it much. First off, the water was cold. The pay was a pile of fermenting oats. And to top it all off, any animal with four hooves probably doesn’t have any business in the water.

As a fledgling ebook writer/designer/publisher/marketer I feel sort of like a diving horse belly flopping into a digital ocean from an airplane (pink belly, pink belly). Not only is the water cold, the pay zilch and my talents not always ideally suited, but its an abysmally long drop followed by a marathon swim.

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