The Next Big Thing: Montana's Enduring Frontier
My friend and fellow Montana writer David Abrams recently invited me to participate in the blog-tagging "Next Big Thing" which is currently making the rounds among writers. I felt like David was interviewing me! (The questions were the same ones he'd answered, but I've seen that gimmick elsewhere...). At the end of this post, I'll tag-team a few other authors in hopes they'll tell us about their own works-in-progress. Here are the standard questions:
What is the working title of your book?
Stories of Montana's Enduring Frontier: Exploring an Untamed Legacy. I know that's a mouthful. I have trouble remembering the subtitle part myself. I can often be found thinking of it in the abbreviated form Montana's Enduring Frontier.
What genre does your book fall under?
Well, there's History, there's Essays, and there's Montana. Although when you put all three of those together, I think that's too specific for a genre.
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Robert Redford actually makes two appearances here. In one, I argue that his role in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid actually stole the (warped) dreams of another dead outlaw named Kid -- Kid Curry. In the other, he attends the 1974 (re)burial of famed mountain man Liver-Eating Johnston, prompting at least one eulogist to refer to the real-life deceased as the fictionalized Redford character "Jeremiah Johnson."
In other words, this being nonfiction, I didn't really get a choice. History has already cast Redford playing more than one of my characters!
What is a one-sentence synopsis of your book?
When Montana ran out of frontier, its unique history really began.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
This is designed as a collection of previously-published magazine articles, so it's not like I started writing a novel and finished the following Tuesday. Still, in collecting the pieces, I was stunned to find that I've been writing magazine articles on Montana history and culture for more than 20 years! It seems like an absurdly long amount of time, even to finish a book.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
While putting it together, I was reading historian Jill LePore's collection of wonderful New Yorker essays, The Story of America. (Also Michael Lewis’ Boomerang, but that covers only the “essay” genre.) And when it comes to Montana history, I think all books need to be compared to Joseph Kinsey Howard’s High, Wide, and Handsome.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
The editor called me! Will McKay of The History Press asked if I'd ever considered such a collection. Since I hadn't yet realized that I'd been doing this for 20 years, my first reaction was that I didn't have enough material. But when I took a closer look -- and got commissions for three brand-new pieces -- it turned out he was right. Any piece of writing improves when it's cut, so I'm happy to report that after I collected everything, we cut more than 20 percent of it.
What else about your book might pique a reader's interest?
It has the richest-ever portrayal of everyday life in the now-vanished mining camp of Swift Current, a defense of the importance of dude ranchers in positively influencing the path of Montana development, some unsung female and Native American heroes, and a bunch of really ornery characters who won't do what anyone tells them to.
When and how will it be published?
In late May it will come out from the History Press in most of the various permutations of publishing today: physical (paperback) book or e-book, at your independent bookseller or a chain or online. Check back here soon for how to pre-order.
And now here are some of my friends who have agreed to talk about their Next Big Things:
Russell Rowland, my editor on the book West of 98 and wonderful novelist (In Open Spaces) in his own right (Russell's Next Big Thing will be presented as a guest post right here on my blog);
Susan Kushner Resnick, whose Goodbye Wifes and Daughters is the best book ever written about Bearcreek, Montana: http://www.susankushnerresnick.com/wp/blog/
Gary Robson, author of the popular Who Pooped in the Park? series of children's books: http://garyrobson.wordpress.com/
and Tamara Upton, whose writing coincides with her career as a stand-up comedian: http://www.tamaraboggioupton.com/apps/blog
Robert Redford actually makes two appearances here. In one, I argue that his role in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid actually stole the (warped) dreams of another dead outlaw named Kid -- Kid Curry. In the other, he attends the 1974 (re)burial of famed mountain man Liver-Eating Johnston, prompting at least one eulogist to refer to the real-life deceased as the fictionalized Redford character "Jeremiah Johnson."
In other words, this being nonfiction, I didn't really get a choice. History has already cast Redford playing more than one of my characters!
What is a one-sentence synopsis of your book?
When Montana ran out of frontier, its unique history really began.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
This is designed as a collection of previously-published magazine articles, so it's not like I started writing a novel and finished the following Tuesday. Still, in collecting the pieces, I was stunned to find that I've been writing magazine articles on Montana history and culture for more than 20 years! It seems like an absurdly long amount of time, even to finish a book.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
While putting it together, I was reading historian Jill LePore's collection of wonderful New Yorker essays, The Story of America. (Also Michael Lewis’ Boomerang, but that covers only the “essay” genre.) And when it comes to Montana history, I think all books need to be compared to Joseph Kinsey Howard’s High, Wide, and Handsome.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
The editor called me! Will McKay of The History Press asked if I'd ever considered such a collection. Since I hadn't yet realized that I'd been doing this for 20 years, my first reaction was that I didn't have enough material. But when I took a closer look -- and got commissions for three brand-new pieces -- it turned out he was right. Any piece of writing improves when it's cut, so I'm happy to report that after I collected everything, we cut more than 20 percent of it.
What else about your book might pique a reader's interest?
It has the richest-ever portrayal of everyday life in the now-vanished mining camp of Swift Current, a defense of the importance of dude ranchers in positively influencing the path of Montana development, some unsung female and Native American heroes, and a bunch of really ornery characters who won't do what anyone tells them to.
When and how will it be published?
In late May it will come out from the History Press in most of the various permutations of publishing today: physical (paperback) book or e-book, at your independent bookseller or a chain or online. Check back here soon for how to pre-order.
And now here are some of my friends who have agreed to talk about their Next Big Things:
Russell Rowland, my editor on the book West of 98 and wonderful novelist (In Open Spaces) in his own right (Russell's Next Big Thing will be presented as a guest post right here on my blog);
Susan Kushner Resnick, whose Goodbye Wifes and Daughters is the best book ever written about Bearcreek, Montana: http://www.susankushnerresnick.com/wp/blog/
Gary Robson, author of the popular Who Pooped in the Park? series of children's books: http://garyrobson.wordpress.com/
and Tamara Upton, whose writing coincides with her career as a stand-up comedian: http://www.tamaraboggioupton.com/apps/blog
I'm always interested in feedback, via info at johnclaytonbooks dot com
Labels: Montana's Enduring Frontier
