James D. Best

I write westerns partly because I want to preserve our frontier heritage. (I also write them for fun and profit.) Recently, I encou...

Recently I tweeted an article I wrote about the Old West. Many people have weighed in on what the American frontier was really about. I thi...

In novels, a story arc usually refers to rhythm of a story from introduction, to big trouble, to resolution. Basically, the rise and fall of...

The trade paperback edition of Crossing the Animas is now available. You can buy it at Amazon here . You might be surprised by the ...

A few days ago, my editor sent me the edited version of Crossing the Animas and related files. I'm anxious to reviewed her revis...

Hollywood doesn’t like Westerns. They keep trying to make them into something else. If a traditional Western is a success, like Unfo...

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 like westerns and I like Quentin Tarantino films, so I had high expectation when I rented The Hateful Eight . Bummer. It's not ...

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 ...

The Return, A Steve Dancy Tale is now available in audio. Jim Tedder has done an exceptional job in narrating this fourth book in the St...

Still From John Ford's Stagecoach In the Old West, stage travel took patience and stamina. Wells Fargo published a set of rules f...

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

Agatha Christie as a Young Woman Agatha Christie is often listed as the bestselling novelist of all time. If the list is for fiction ...

The western fast draw setup is as well known as the title sequence for Gunsmoke. Two men face off in the street, settle their stance, flex t...

Looking the Part I'm not a hat person. Although I own dozens of hats, I seldom wear one. I don't even like helmets. I grew up ...

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...

Huff Post Travel listed 5 Old West saloons everyone should visit before they die . This is a fine list of old establishments, but they miss...

Mark Bonner edits great tributes to western films. Previously, I posted his video, Westerns Forever . As an amateur film maker, I know these...