From the Guadalupe Mountains of the Chihuahuan Desert to the Hill Country to the Red River, the vast geographic landscape of Texas has afforded the cultural depth and diversity to inspire its writers. The richness of Texas folklore, history, and traditions has left an unmistakable mark on the art of the region. Both native and transplant Texas writers alike have been keenly shaped by the distinctive aroma of fresh corn tortillas, tales of Mescalero Apaches, and Tejano and ranchera music. Jameson has compiled an assorted collection of fourteen essays by some of the most prominent Texas writers through which he hopes to explore the following questions: “How did they accomplish their goals? Why did they choose the writing life? What influence did the history, lore, and culture of Texas play in their creative process?” While readily citing the “decidedly Texas flavor” in his own fiction, Jameson seeks to uncover the inspirations in other writers from both the expansive and rugged Texas terrain as well as the varied people therein. The fourteen writers who comprise Notes from Texas range from the captivating and often humorous essayist Larry L. King to the beloved historical novelist Elmer Kelton. Other contributors include James Ward Lee, known for his expertise in Texas cuisine and culture, and poet and songwriter Red Steagall. This collection bestows each with a “chance to express what they wished to share about their art and their life as a Texas writer.” W. C. Jameson is the award-winning author of some fifty books, numerous articles and essays, hundreds of songs, and dozens of poems. He has written and performed in a musical and penned the sound tracks for three films. When not writing, Jameson performs at folk festivals, roadhouses, dance halls, and on television. He splits his time between Texas and Colorado. Notes from Texas On Writing in the Lone Star State By W.C. Jameson, Barbara Mathews Whitehead TCU Press Copyright © 2008 TCU Press All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-0-87565-358-7 Contents Introduction/W.C. Jameson, 1. Judy Alter/Notes from an Outsider, 2. Robert Flynn/Something to Say, 3. Don Graham/Nine Ball, Corner Pocket, 4. Rolando Hinojosa-Smith/Why I Write, 5. Paulette Jiles/The Country of the Mind, 6. Elmer Kelton/I Love a Good Western, 7. Larry L. King/Famous Arthur, 8. James Ward Lee/Two States of Mind, 9. James Reasoner/Barbarians, Cowboys, and Private Eyes: How I Became a Texas Writer, 10. Clay Reynolds/From Wit to Wisdom: The Irony of the Artistic Journey, 11. Joyce Gibson Roach/Saved to the Uttermost: The Life and Times of a Naïve West Texas Writer, 12. Red Steagall/Drawing Inspiration, 13. Carlton Stowers/Universal Truths in Your Own Back Yard, 14. Frances Brannen Vick/Confessions of a Texas Publisher/Writer, Index, CHAPTER 1 JUDY ALTER Judy Alter is the author of nearly sixty books, fiction and nonfiction for both adults and young readers. Her latest books for children are John Barclay Armstrong: Texas Ranger, Martin DeLeon: Tejano Empresario, and Souvenirs from Space. Her latest adult title is the collection of short stories, Sue Ellen Learns to Dance. She is a recipient of the Owen Wister Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Western Writers of America, Inc, and her books have won awards from The Texas Institute of Letters, WWA, and the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. Judy holds a PhD. in English from Texas Christian University. She has been the director of TCU Press since 1987. NOTES FROM AN OUTSIDER I have long envied native Texans. Elmer Kelton, Joyce Roach, Bob Flynn, Fran Vick, and others speak a language I can only imitate. Joyce Roach once said something to me about the perspective I, as an outsider, bring to Texas fiction. I am astonished to think that after forty years in the state, I'm still a Johnny-come-lately, an interloper, even a damn yankee. But whether or not you were born in Texas is important to a lot of people. Most of us remember the group that set up booths in malls during the seventies to seek out those born in Texas. If you could qualify, you received a membership and a certificate—Born in Texas. I think I bought memberships for my four children and hungered for one for myself. I was born in Chicago, where my father was a physician and college president. He was a very British man who grew roses in his free time. When we talk in western fiction about the relationship between a man and his land, I don't think roses are what we have in mind. If my father ever rode a horse, I don't know about it. And when Texans of my generation were riding horses, I was riding a bike. I rode a horse as a child once, in a stable in Chicago, and hated it. I've not been on a horse again to this day, though I've written a lot about young girls and grown women and their relationships to horses. Growing up, I thought Texas was a foreign country. When my brother was stationed at the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station, my parents came