Most
of you probably aren’t old enough to remember that old TV show
called TO TELL THE TRUTH, with Tom Poston and Kitty Carlyle and
various other celebrities, who sat on a panel to judge 3 contestants
who all claimed to be the same person. The panel’s job was to ask
questions and guess which of the 3 contestants was who he said he
was. Usually they had a very unusual secret or occupation, like being
a stunt man who’d suffered 25 broken bones in his career.
My
theme here is “to tell the truth” when writing my stories. I have
been told by some (mentioning no names or names of publishers) that
because of today’s political correctness I should go easy on how I
depict certain classes of people in my books so as not to risk
“offending” someone. Sorry, but I write REAL history, and if
something happened, it happened. If a certain class of people were
responsible, then that’s the way it was.
I
am part Potawatomi, Irish, English and ½ Sicilian. Let’s see …
the Potawatomi once attacked old Fort Dearborn (now Chicago) and
killed just about every person there. The Irish drank a lot and in
this country many of them ran ruthless gangs in NYC. The English ran
an empire that once spanned almost all of Europe, North Africa,
China, India and of course, ruled America’s original Colonies
(often ruthlessly) for many years. They were arrogant tyrants and
they owned slaves. The Sicilian … well … everybody knows what
went on in Chicago and other places during Prohibition in the 1920’s.
Does the name Mafia sound familiar?
I
have watched movies and read books and magazine articles about every
one of these incidences and more that involve my own ancestry. Am I
offended? OF COURSE NOT!! Why should I take offense at something my
ancestors might or might not have done a hundred or two hundred years
ago? So what? History is history. It wasn’t me who did those
things. Were my ancestors discriminated against? You bet! The
Potawatomi, the Irish, the “Red Coats,” and the Sicilians all
suffered insults and forms of banishment in history. Am I offended by
that? OF COURSE NOT! It happened. Why should I leave out or try to
hide those facts? And that is what they are. FACTS. They aren’t my
personal beliefs or practices. They are simply facts from the past. I
could name dozens more about other nationalities who committed acts
we would find horrifying today.
I
strive to tell the truth in my stories, ugly as that truth might
sometimes be. Sorry about that, but it makes for exciting,
page-turning reading. It gives readers something or someone to root
for – or against. And in my stories, I always set up my characters
to be believable and in a way that the readers understand the WHY of
what my characters do and say. How can anyone be offended by the
TRUTH? And I do extensive research to make sure I’m not
exaggerating or embellishing on what really happened. If I’m not
sure, I don’t use it in a book. And I try to never portray any one
class of people as always the ones who were right or wrong. There is
good and bad in ALL of us, no matter our race or beliefs. That’s
just human nature, and it’s wrong to “brand” any one type of
people as always the “bad guys” or “good guys.” I’ve even
had preachers in my stories who were despicable characters, and
outlaws who would stand in front of a train to save a woman’s or a
child’s life. That’s life. NO ONE is all right or all wrong.
99%
of the time I use real history in my stories, real people and
locations, real events. Real history means telling the Truth. And
that sometimes means not being politically correct. Being politically
correct can take away from the reality and excitement of a story. And
very often, the TRUTH surprises my readers – like reading about
Native American abuse by the soldiers and the government (and as far
as the government, it’s still going on today). I get so many
comments from readers wanting to know if this or that really
happened, because they didn’t learn it in school.
My characters often lie and
cheat and kill. They tell it like it is, use verbiage that was common
at the time. I write “cowboys and Indians,” soldiers, gold
miners, prostitutes, school teachers, drunks, murderers, Irish,
Chinese, the rich and the poor, outlaws and lawmen, men who deal out
justice with knives and guns, slavery and those who were against it,
buffalo hunters and fancy gamblers, clergy and those who won’t step
foot in a church, and half-breeds. I write real politics of the time,
the good and the bad, corruption and law-abiding citizens. I leave
nothing out as long as it is the truth of the times. And the truth is
always more entertaining than fiction. Most of all I write strong,
strong women, whether Native American or Spanish or white – women
to match my brave, able and strong heroes, who also might be any
race. I make no excuses and follow no rules because that makes for
boring, formulated stories. All I do is start out with a man or
woman, no matter their ethnicity, and I write their story, a story
that follows the TRUTH of the times.
The
Truth Shall Set You Free (John 8:32). Not following writing rules or
P. C. guidelines frees up a writer to just tell a story with total
reality. Most of all I tell a good love story every time, and
sometimes that love is shared by two different races. Nothing wrong
with that. Sometimes cultural difference are the theme of my love
story. Culture clash creates conflict and challenges that make a
story more exciting. My books have no fainting flowers and no heroes
who back down from a fight. My main characters seldom have biased
ideas on race, politics or religion. They are usually too bent on
simply surviving the dangers of the era in which they lived, and in
that era people needed each other and helped each other, no matter
their differences.
I
try never to put my personal beliefs about any of the
above into my stories. I simply rely on TRUTH IN HISTORY. In other
words, what I write is not a reflection so much on me as it is on
what really happened and what was practiced and believed during the
era of my stories. I hope to never be judged by my characters and
their actions and beliefs; but rather, I want to be judged on my
story-telling, and my hard work regarding historical research.
Sometimes I disagree with what my characters might say or believe, or
their actions, but I remind myself that this is a story based on
truth and not on my personal likes or dislikes. I remind myself to
just tell the story and stay true to the times.
So
far, over my 36 years of writing, I have had 99% great, five-star
comments about my stories – on Amazon and through reviews and
letters and e-mails. Readers seem to understand that the surrounding
events, actions, attitudes and history in my books is simply “the
way it was,” and through it all, it’s a powerful love story
between two people that shines through – two people who fight for
what’s right and against what’s wrong, according to how it was
during the time they lived. Real events (like the Civil War, the
Indian wars, the growth of a nation) can have a very strong affect on
how people behave and what they believe at the particular time of my
stories.
In
a sense, writers are also reporters when it comes to including real
history wrapped into the lives of our fictitious characters. We are
“teaching” history to our readers. Famous TV reporter Walter
Cronkite usually signed off by saying, “And that’s the way it
was.” Everyone today should look this man up on the internet,
along with Edward R. Murrow, who made some astounding and blatantly
true remarks about the times in which he reported – mostly during
WWII and the fifties. He was an extremely wise man and a totally
honest reporter who expressed no bias. He simply told viewers what
was really happening at the time – no personal opinions – no
worries about being politically correct – no “fake news.” Read
his many quotes about reporting. They slap you right in the face with
truth and fact, like having cold water thrown at you. What an honest,
devoted reporter he was, and he stuck to facts. One of his quotes
about reporting on events from World War II – “If I’ve offended
you … I’m not in the least sorry.” Why? Because he simply
reported the TRUTH – and the beliefs and attitudes that existed
during that horrible time in our history.
That’s how I feel about
telling my stories. “That’s the way it was” – and – “If
I’ve offended you, I’m not in the least sorry.” Times change,
and our beliefs and attitudes adjust with those changes. So when you
read, set aside your personal feelings about what is right and wrong,
just or unjust, politically correct or incorrect. Just dive into a
good book and enjoy the adventure and the love story. Picture eras
that are now gone forever, and give thought and credit to those who
lived through those times. Most did the best they could, just like we
still do today.
Coming 24 September: CHRISTMAS IN PARADISE!
But
more than that, there is a cowboy spirit that is hard to explain. I
love writing about the “bad man with a good heart,” or men with a
bit of a wild nature, but who always respect a good woman and might
even be a bit bashful around a “good woman.” They might drink,
but my heroes are never mean alcoholics; they almost always smoke
because nearly all men did in the 1800’s; they love to gamble and
they love their horses and their women. 
Recently
a national news story featured a man who truly lives the “cowboy”
life on a ranch. He rode his horse to a Walmart and heard a woman
yelling that someone had just stolen her bike. True to his cowboy
nature, this young man rode the culprit down on his horse and lassoed
him, pulling him off the bike and tying him to a tree. He then called
911 and the police came and arrested him!
