James D. Best

Even the film poster celebrates the F-word (Spoiler alert: if you're a Deadwood fan, you won’t like what follows.) I watched ...

Thomas Edison was a much more complex person than generally realized.  The Wizard of Menlo Park was a character in the Steve Dancy Tale   ,...

Every novelist wants a memorable first sentence. There are innumerable lists of great and dreadful first sentences. (#95 at the great lin...

Several book reviews have criticized Steve Dancy as barely better than the bad guys. Seriously? I believe vile villains make a story wo...

Bonanza, 4th Longest Running Series What makes a good television series? You probably already guessed that I would say writing. Some mi...

Writer’s Digest did a piece titled, “10 Things Shakespeare Can Teach us About Writing Thrillers.” The ten tips actually help with any genr...

Previously I wrote a blog posting which questioned whether Western mash-ups worked. I personally dislike mash-ups because they rely too mu...

I'm a compulsive reader. I read everything and I read all the time. I suspect it started when I was in the fifth grade and I spent my...

Flavorwire has published a wishlist of reality-TV shows they'd like to see about famous authors. Since my own life is fairly boring, I...

Joanne Ostrow writes a article summarizing television networks new fascination with the Western genre. "The rugged individualism of...

I've posted an article on Ezine about the future of the Western genre. "For the last couple of decades, enthusiasts have lamented ...