My first Western short story was published in December of 2013. I was honored to be able to contribute my story, The Conversion of Boze Carter, to the hardcover Western anthology, Rough Country. This book was edited by the Spur Award-winning author, Brett Cogburn and published by High Hill Press. I had recently become acquainted with Brett and, knowing the quality of his own writing, I knew that he would hold me to a high standard in my own.

I wanted to write a story with a theme of redemption – or a second chance. This is a theme that has always resonated with me and one that was a common element with one of my favorite western writers, Louis L’Amour, whose characters often struggled with the realization that they had wasted their lives and had nothing to show for all of the years. When does a person come to this realization? How far does a man have to go before he hits rock bottom and realizes that he needs to make a few changes? For my character, Boze Carter, he had to find himself at the end of a rope.

The story is actually more light-hearted and humorous than the theme might suggest. You will find that Boze is a pretty witty guy and has a good sense of humor as well, which is one of the other themes of the story. You get to appreciate how important a sense of humor is when you get to the end of the story.

And speaking of the end of the story; I like to incorporate a surprise for the reader; a little twist that leaves the reader saying, “Wow…I didn’t see that coming.” I hope that I was able to accomplish that in The Conversion of Boze Carter.

This was the first story of mine to be accepted for publication, so I was more than a little humbled to be included with so many wonderful writers and award-winning authors. You can find the anthology in both hardback and Kindle formats at Amazon by clicking here.