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A FLATTERING RECOGNITION
My lengthy
western novel, When Good Men Ride, has drawn a lot of positive responses
over the past few years. I've received good book reviews, flattering
e-mail and postal mail from readers, and words of praise directly from
individuals who have read the book. The most flattering recognition of all,
however, came this fall of 2003. I have been informed that Winter Range
2004, the annual five-day National Championship of Cowboy Action Shooting, will
have all 12 stages of the main match based on scenes and characters from When
Good Men Ride. This event is held every year at the Ben Avery Shooting
Range, Phoenix, Arizona, and this year it will be from Wednesday, January 28
through Sunday, February 1, 2004. I can't think of a better bunch of folks to
share this with than the 700 fellow western shooters who will be there. This
event also draws thousands of spectators, so this public attention given to one
of my books is extremely gratifying. Hope
to see you there.
-- Chuck Lewis, December 10, 2003.
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WHY I WRITE
The
popular modern singer "Sting" (Gordon Sumner) had to say it for me and for every other writer and
for every musician, photographer, dancer, sculptor, and artist of every kind.
Upon receiving the Century Award in December, 2003, for a lifetime of creative
achievement, Sting said:
"You can sing for millions of people in your
career or maybe just one. You can sell millions of records or none at all ... It
doesn't really matter. If you play music with passion and love and honesty, then
it will nourish your soul, heal your wounds, and make your life worth
living."
That is it exactly!
To paraphrase: You can write for millions of people in
your career or maybe just one. You can sell millions of books or none at all ...
It doesn't really matter. If you write with passion and love and honesty, then
it will nourish your soul, heal your wounds, and make your life worth living.
That's why I write, and those who don't
understand that will never understand me.
-- Chuck Lewis, January 2, 2004.
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WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE?
When I was
very young and still in elementary school I continued to show promise in the reading and writing
subjects and I figured it would be pretty neat
to be able to write books. My teacher at that time knew my thoughts and offered
a profound observation: "First you have to decide whether you want to be a
writer or an author." It took me a long time before I realized what the
difference was and what she had meant. Thanks, Mrs. Harvey. I've tried to become an author and I hope you would
agree.
If there are any ambitious scribblers out there, keep this
lesson in mind.
-- Chuck Lewis, February 10, 2004.
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CAMPFIRE WISDOM
Good judgment comes from
experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
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THANKS
I would
like to thank news reporter Patti Jares and the Wickenburg Sun for the lengthy
and flattering personal profile article that appeared in the March 9, 2005
edition of the newspaper. It makes me sound like a pretty interesting guy, and I
appreciate the professional exposure it offered. Your two-and-a-half hour
interview was enjoyable and certainly well worth the time!
-- Chuck Lewis, March 9, 2005.
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OH, WHAT HAVE I DONE??
In
the early days of my life and well into my marriage I always survived my hunting
trips, historical explorations, and photo expeditions by simply "dirt
camping." A hip-hole scraped in the ground, a blanket roll, and all my
cooking done in one pot seemed to be all I needed.
Then I
advanced to using a real sleeping bag and carrying along an extra frying pan.
What luxury! Then my wife and three children all got sleeping bags, too, so we were
doing pretty good. And my wife even did the cooking! With three pots!
As our children
got older we got a nice tent and tried that for two years. I hated it! Too much
work for too little benefit. I gave that canvas monster away. A couple of
times after that we even used the back of our station wagon to sleep in. That
made for more family adventures to tell of.
Then we progressed to the comfort and convenience of a
cab-over camper for our pickup truck. Wow! A stove, ice box, actual beds, sinks,
water, and a clothes closet. We used that camper for thirty-three years. The
three kids turned into adults, got married, and had kids of their own, but my
wife Pat and I continued to get a lot of use out of that camper. For some
reason, though, it started to feel smaller and smaller, even for just the two of
us. Our grandson then wanted our good old (1968) pickup, so we got rid of the
camper, he got the truck, and we bought a new one, all in 2004. Now what?
Well, now we
have just (August, 2005) reached the ultimate luxury of a 24-foot fifth-wheel trailer.
Carpeting, large beds, lots of closets, a four-burner stove and oven, a real refrigerator
with freezer, a microwave oven, indoor tub and shower, water heater, air conditioning, a furnace, a built-in
stereo, and – oh, lord – a television set!
What have I
done?? What ever happened to that adventurous young frontiersman I was fifty
and sixty years ago? But – thinking about it, I guess I’ve taken the same
route into old age that Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Bill Tilghman, and others
took. I haven’t really changed so much, the world around me has. So here I am, one of
those old guys who sits in a lawn chair under the awning of my trailer telling
stories about the good ol’ days to young folks who have had computers and cell
phones since
the day they were born.
What? No! Please
don’t tell me about those beautiful big motor homes, I don’t want to hear it!
Oh, what have I done? What have I done??
-- Chuck Lewis, September 1, 2005.
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A TIMELESS QUOTE
Among my favorite quotes of all time, by one of my favorite American presidents, is still just as timely today as it was over two centuries ago. How
could there possibly be anyone out there who doesn't understand or believe in
its meaning?
"Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security, will not
have, nor do they deserve, either one." -- Thomas Jefferson.
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SHOCKING
LITERARY STATISTICS
58% of the adult
population in the United States never read another book after high school!
42% of college graduates never read another book!
80% of American families did not buy or read a book
last year!
70% of American adults have not been in a bookstore in
the last five years!
57% of new books are not read to completion!
(Roundup Magazine, April 2006)
Remember, these are the same people who don't vote, constantly bitch about
everything, and call everybody else stupid! -- Chuck Lewis, April 22,
2006.
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TO ALL READERS
I
have been very flattered, as well as grateful, for the modest success of my
literary efforts, and I would like to encourage any readers of my books to write
to me about anything you would like to discuss. (E-mail address on home page).
This also applies to anyone out there who has not read my books, for I
appreciate your interest and see you as a potential fan. Such communication is
how I continue to obtain the reader reviews displayed on these pages, and I
certainly appreciate your opinions and observations. However, even if you don't
read my books, at least read somebody's books and encourage your
children to do the same.
-- Chuck Lewis, June 28. 2006).
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MICKEY HAD ME
PEGGED!
Over the decades, right from the start, I read all of Mickey Spillane's books
(since 1948) as
fast as he wrote them. He just died a few days ago and we're going to miss him.
He once said he didn't care about reviews, and considered himself a
"writer" as opposed to an "author." He defined a writer as
someone whose books sell. Well, we can't argue with his success, that's for
sure, and he was right, to his way of thinking. According to Mickey, then, I
guess I'll just have to be satisfied with being an author. (See one of my
preceding notes above).
-- Chuck Lewis, July 18, 2006.
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FEWER BOOK SIGNINGS
I
do fewer book signings these days. Maybe you've noticed, maybe not. The books
are selling fairly well on their own, and it's usually not financially worth my
time traveling around for book signings. I enjoy meeting the people in the book
stores and at special events, though, and it's always an enjoyable thing to do.
But, I'm pretty selective now about where I'll go to sign books. Maybe I'm just
getting old and tired, I don't know, but that's just the way it is.
-- Chuck Lewis, February 1, 2007.
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READERS' COMMENTS
I
have often been asked by people why some books here have fewer readers' comments than
others have, or why their comments do not appear on the website. I can
only say that if I get twenty messages from readers saying they thought a book
was great and they enjoyed it very much, I am not going to repeat that twenty
times here. One message with those words is enough. I try to edit them to get a
broader selection of statements that say something a little different, so I hope you can
understand that and realize I am not being a snob of some kind. I appreciate
every one of you as readers, and without you I could not be here.
-- Chuck Lewis, April 20, 2007.
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ARE YOU READING LESS?
Americans
are reading less and less for pleasure these days, according to an analysis just
released by the National Endowment for the Arts. The decline, the study warned,
could have grim consequences as people tune out books, tune in popular culture
and become less socially and civilly engaged.
"We
have a public culture which is almost entirely commercial and
novelty-driven," said NEA Chairman Dana Gioia. "I think it’s letting
the nation down."
The
study gathers decades of data on Americans’ reading habits and finds that, at
every age group, we’re reading less. Among the finding: Only 38 percent of
adults in 2006 said they had spent time reading a book for pleasure. About 65
percent of college freshmen in 2005 said they read little or nothing for
pleasure.
This
is not surprising. There are three basic reasons for the lack of pleasure
reading. (1) All entertainment in our culture now seems to be visually-oriented,
such as movies, television, video games, picture books, and iPods with pictures,
texting, etc. (2) Reading takes time and everybody is always in a big hurry, and
(3) fewer and fewer people know how to read!
Sad but true! You are reading this note, however, so I
hope you're also reading for pleasure. Maybe that pleasure is from something
I've written, but please don't let the skill of reading die.
-- Chuck Lewis, March 1, 2008.
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