James D. Best

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

Western writers are like other fiction writers in that they have super powers. They can bend time, compress space, and sweep away boring pe...

Jacob Riis was a late nineteenth century social reformer who used his camera to expose parts of New York City avoided by the smart set. H...

John Wayne was a lucky man. As the leading man in 142 films, he had the honor of working with somewhere near 142 leading ladies. Ink Tank do...

Poor, but smiling nonetheless Last month, Paul Mountjoy of Virginia wrote a snarky article for the Washington Times website titled, ...

Bisbee, Arizona celebrates the 4th of July in 1909 Arizona was the last contiguous state to join the Union. That probably should be rep...

Robert Peecher, author and journalist, has published an interview with me on his blog. Q. When you started writing did you know St...

"Branding cattle" Six cowboys branding cattle in front of a house. 1891 Last week I posted "Preserving Western cult...

Don Schimmel Photography There are many ways to preserve our Western Culture. I prefer books, of course. I have no visual or musical...

I just spent a week writing and surfing in San Diego. The writing went well, the surfing not so much. The weather was crappy for three day...

"This is a compelling narrative and as good as the best of classic Westerns. James D. Best is a name to remember." Read ...

My wife has flown to Omaha to do some tasks that have to do with spa colors, soothing music, and aromatherapy.  She’s helping my daughter op...

If your name was Louis L'Amour and you wrote about men tougher than nails, would you adopt a penname? Frederick Faust used Max Bran...

I was going through some research I had collected for the Steve Dancy Tales and ran across this letter from J. A. Carruth describing life ...

I like Tarantino movies and Westerns, so I expected to love Django Unchained .  I only liked it. It wasn’t bad; it just didn’t live up t...

Portrait of Grey at Monument Valley Zane Grey was an athlete, avid fisherman, and a lifelong philander. Grey was introverted and rem...

Zane Grey The three greatest icons of the Western novel are Zane Grey, Max Brand, and Louis L'Amour. Sure, other authors have writ...

                      The Steve Dancy Box Set Books provide hours upon hours of entertainment. If you're looking for rousi...

The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains  by Owen Wister was one of the first mass-market bestsellers. The 1902 novel received immediate cr...

For me, there are three major elements of good western . The first is the romance of a new beginning, the second is the battle of good ver...