Camping

Camping season is close upon us.  Yes I know that there are still inches, if not feet of snow in some parts, but the little signs are starting pop up.  The occasional Robin, brave Crocus, and a certain feel to the air - when it is not frozen.

I thought I would share an essay - it is part of a larger work of essays about outdoor adventure:  Blackflies in Heaven and Mosquitoes in Paradise.  The essay that carries that title is in the Short Story and Essay link.

A Small Post

I have gotten some good feed back on the artwork.  It seems like Blackpowder Woodsman" (first version) is a common choice.  Thanks to those that have let me know.

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Cover Art

I have looked into the licensing for the cover art by Randy Steele and it is very reasonable.  I have found a couple more that would make good covers.  They are both of the same person, but different versions.  I would love to have input from you as to which one you like most.  

Number one is "Blackpowder Woodsman":





Here is the second version:



Click on the above images for larger views.

Nice Woodsmen Art

While working on ideas for covers, both for print and electronic versions of John: The making of a LongHunter, I was trying to use some pictures I took several years ago in the Cumberland Gap area.  One I wanted to use was is the one to the left. It made a nice cover except it was taken with a fairly early digital camera that only could do 200 dpi.  Well the lowest anyone will take for cover art is 300 dpt so I was at square one.  I surfed a bit and found Randy Steele who advertises himself as a digital artists.  His work has some very good representations of the woodsmen and hunters of the era.  Nicely he provides links to embed in blogs and such, so here are a few that struck my eye.

The first is one that I am considering trying to get rights to so I can use it as the cover of the first John book. I think it gives a nice setting to the whole series.



 The second print that struck my eye was the very image of Ruben, John's hunting partner in John: FromLonghunter to Longknife




 And finally a portrait that would be a fine way to think of John himself.



If you would like to see more of his work go to Randy Steele.  I am going to email him to see how much it would cost to get permissions.  Wish me luck

You are What Your Were When

Dr. Morris Massey describes the times in our lives that had an impact on who we became.  He has published a series of materials on You are What You Were When.  Massey calls certain periods in a child's life as "self-programming periods" during which young people develop their values systems.  He lists three periods:

1. The Imprint Period, which occurs from birth until age 7.
2. The Modelling Period which occurs from age 8 until 13; and
3. The Socializing Period from ages 14 to 21.

 One of the seminal times in my life revolved around a very short time during which my family lived on a large ranch in Eastern Oregon. It is the ranch that author William Kittredge wrote about in Owning it All.  In fact Kittredge's family lived in the house next to ours.   I was in first and second grade, falling at the transition between Imprint and Modelling in Massey's scheme of things. In many ways the ranch was an echo of the late 1800's with cowboys taking the cattle out on the vast range, the open untamed nature of the land, and, to a seven-year-old the definition of beauty.

I have put a short story titled Mother's Day in the page devoted to sample short stories here in the blog.  It is somewhat dark, but reflects the setting and some of the innate savagery that existed in the ranch environment of the times.  The story is from a collection inspired by my memories from those short years and will eventually be compiled with the tentative title - what else - You Are What Your Were When.

I know I am going to have to find a better way to handle the posting of shorts stories and excerpts.  Otherwise folks will have to scroll down the page until the find what I'm posting.  The secondary pages do not index well, if at all.  So, I will work on that problem... later.