James D. Best

Thou shalt not is soon forgotten, but Once upon a time lasts forever.  Philip Pullman One of these should do nicely.

I recently watched The Founder with Michael Keaton. I enjoyed the film. It’s an interesting character study and does a good job of...

I've written ten books and contributed to another five. Millions of words, all typed with two fingers. I would have learned to touch typ...

The first eight days of 2017 have already slipped away. I've been distracted by family and fun. It seems the only way to slow down ti...

I was never a fan of signing cowboys. Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and lesser lights were too goody two-shoes for me. I categorize heroes as w...

I watched the final episode of Justified last night. A little tardy you might think. Not to my way of thinking. I never watch any TV ...

Me striking a Steve Dancy pose. Recently I changed my Facebook profile picture to me as a youngster dressed up in my new chaps. The...

There have been some memorable fictional characters. Sherlock Holmes , James Bond , Hercule Poirot , and Harry Potter to name a few....

The Wholesome and the Good Hollywood overdoes things. If something works, they just keep doing it until it doesn’t. There were 26 We...

Coming Soon in Audio Jim Tedder has agreed to narrate The Return, A Steve Dancy Tale and has already completed 6 chapters. This is exc...

My last posting was about Hollywood remaking The Magnificent Seven , one of my favorite western movies. No sooner did it go to press ...

Hollywood is remaking The Magnificent Seven , one of my favorite westerns. (Darn, I wished they had asked. I could have sold them mat...

Hondo by Louis L'Amour In 1949, Joseph Campbell published The Hero with a Thousand Faces . Campbell studied myths and stories dow...

Denver & Rio Grande Railway I started the next book in the Steve Dancy Tales . When I say started, I mean barely begun. I have a ...

Will Rogers died at fifty-five in an airplane crash 80 years ago (August 15, 1935). A real Oklahoma cowboy who parlayed dead pan humor i...

Henry Miller, circa 1930 As someone who admires storytelling skills, I’m not a fan of Henry Miller . He wrote stop-and-read-again sente...

Pioneer Courage Park, Omaha Nebraska Amy Athey McDonald has published an article in Yale News titled: On gunfights, U.S. colonialism, ...

Scripts guidelines help storytelling. First Loony Tunes , now Pixar. The animated world has rules. Perhaps it's related to Walt Dis...

Characterization is a crucial aspect of fiction. We know this because it's drilled into us at school, in workshops, and in all the how-...

Chuck Jones created 9 Golden rules for the Road Runner cartoons . These famous rules insured that fans received exactly what they exp...