BookLife

“Reading a John Nesbitt novel,” said Larry D. Sweazy, author of the Josiah Wolfe, Texas Ranger novel, “is like taking a Master Class in writing fiction, all the while being thoroughly entertained.”

And Sweazy’s right.  John D. Nesbitt is a master.

Nesbitt is the author of more than twenty books of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.  He tells tales of heroes acting their conscience.  Tales of dark-haired women.  Tales of “the wind and sun and sagebrush of that wide and open land”, of a land that judges neither the loner nor the murderous stranger who shatters a little boy’s life.  Nesbitt’s character-rich stories deepen with every action, every clip of dialogue, every beautiful description, page by page.

“John’s stories take their time,” added Sweazy.  “I don’t mean they’re slow, but each character evolves at the necessary pace, and his plots, which most of the time, are very complex, never lose focus, but build and build, like a good shot of bind weed, trapping you slowly before you realize it’s too late escape.  I don’t know that he considers himself as such, but I think John Nesbitt is as much a poet of the West, as he is one of the finest novelists of the West.”
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My mother has lived her adult life surrounded by books. She is a folk artist who married into a family of writers and teachers. Books lined the walls of her married life and, therefore, of my childhood. Just as my wife’s family, all professional musicians, speaks a language filled with references to musicals and operas, rehearsals and performances, my family speaks in an odd code of fictional characters and storylines.
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There are characters, and then there are characters.  Sometimes you read a book and can’t keep the protagonist’s name straight let alone his personality or motivations.  Other times you read a few lines, a paragraph or two, a half a page, and the lead character jumps out of the book, slams into your chest, and walks beside you for a long, long while.

I prefer the latter type of character.  Josiah Wolfe is one of those characters.  He walks beside me.  I don’t care if that sounds over-stated or cheesy.  It’s personal and I mean it sincerely.

I’ve spoken with Larry D. Sweazy, Wolfe’s creator, a number of times here at Booklife.  We’ve talked about setting, freelancing, story, and character.  Whatever the topic, our conversations always seem to come back to character.

For me, our conversations stem from a single moment standing in the local Barnes and Noble, a split second when Josiah Wolfe came alive while I read the prologue to The Rattlesnake Season, Sweazy’s first novel.
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Born and raised in England, Ian Joseph Parnham now lives in Scotland where he writes about the American West.  An accountant by training, he has written more than two dozen novels for Hale’s Black Horse Western line and for Avalon Books Western line.

Parnham’s Black Horse novels run a straighter, darker line than his Avalon books, often with plenty of action and mystery.  His Avalon novels are lighter, and Parnham tends to throw in unexpected elements that poke and prod at the illusions of the idealized West.

“Fiction is about telling a good story well,” said Parnham.  “For me style is the telling well bit. I’d describe my style as ‘accessible no-nonsense’, or at least that’s what I try to do. I’m not hard-boiled enough to be minimalist, but I do try not to let the words get in the way of the story. The sun sets in my stories without casting azure rays of iridescent pearls. Men get shot in the chest without any lectures on firearms or anatomy. People talk without using apostrophes.”
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