The Exciting Western Writing World of P.W. Burroughs

provo-hatThis interview is going to be interesting. Why? Because we are going to meet a guy who narrates books… and writes Westerns… How about that for a combination? It’s been done before– but nobody can deny that it takes a suitcase filled with talent to pull together than combination. This P.W. Burroughs… and you may be inspired to pick up the microphone…

What westerns have most influenced your life? 

A Spanish writer, Marcial Lafuente Estefania. He was probably the world´s most prolific western author ever known. As a kid growing up in Spain, I read hundreds of his pocket-book editions, in Spanish, and was completely captured.

How did you research your western?

I don´t. I probably should. I´m a gut writer. Close my eyes and imagine myself on a horse under the beating sun, dust in my eyes and mouth dried up, an inch of wáter left in my canteen, on my way to gun down an offending cowboy….and so on.

Tell us about the series. What is the overall story of the series? 

The Devil´s Pass series is about a small township called Black Foot, in Arizona. The men and women that occupy the small settlement are in a constant struggle for survival. They are raided by a renegade group of Confederate rebels in cahoots with the town´s Sheriff Bean. The town is divided forever, and the richest landowner in the county, Brent Howards, hates Sheriff Bean but to keep peace they have no choice but to learn to live together. A horrible murder and rape takes place. It is Brent Howard´s son, Nat, seventeen, who suffers a tremendous catastrophic loss when his girlfriend, Darlene, is horribly raped and murdered. Nat turns to his best friend Jacko Sims, eighteen, already a wanted man with a dollar reward for his capture. Jack plans on freeing Nat from his tyrant father…I could go on, but buy the book!

Do you prefer writing about the heroes, or the villains?

Can´t have one without the other. Next question.

A good villain is hard to write. How did you approach writing your villains?

Again, it´s a gut issue. I am spell-bound by psychopathic profiles. Sometimes I model my characters on popular political leaders. They just do what they want to folks and, voila! You have a villain. Zero empathy, inflated ego, low self-esteem…

What real-life inspirations did you draw from for your book? Are any of your character’s people you know?

I think that I overlay different kinds of human behavior that has not changed over a thousand years. My general impression is that five hundred years ago there were bad guys and good guys, no different than today.

Where do you think the Western is heading? Is it dying, or growing? 

The Western genre is growing and will continue. Folks get relaxed when they can dive into the past and imagine living in the Wild West. There was the law of the land to worry about back then.

What was the hardest part of writing the first book? 

Hardest part is the editing that follows the writing. For me as writer AND narrator, I am lucky. I force myself to write in a storytelling way, that is a result from having to narrate it later. If it doesn´t work when read out loud, it ain´t working at all.

Can you see your series turned into a TV series, or movie? 

I cannot say. I´m a Rifleman and Bonanza fan and you can´t beat them!

Did you learn anything from writing this book and what was it? 

I learnt a long time ago that details make up the grand finale of anything creative. Writing, making music are examples of the connection between a multitude of details that make a great record or great audio book or paperback appeal to the public, who, by the way, I salute now. Thanks for reading so far!

Is there a message in your novel that you hope readers will grasp? 

That imagination is a blessing. If I can write something that makes me tingle inside, then you can as well. The message? If you don´t want to write them, I will. All you have to do is buy them!

What comes next?

More stories of the Devil´s Pass series. The launch of my new audio-book, Adventures of a Freight Dog Pilot. The third volume of an autobiography and a new Western audiobook taking us to Almeria, Spain with a story about the movie industry´s leftover Spanish cowboys.

If you couldn’t be an author, what would your ideal career be? 

A musician, a drummer. Carpenter, regatta sailor, motor-yacht crewman, barman, tour guide, airline pilot, motorcycle rider and long distance swimmer… wait a minute… I’ve done all that already. I´d be what I am. Retired airline pilot, and now author and narrator.

Where can readers reach you to send ideas for your books?

I will be glad to read authors who contact me for narration via Nick Wale, my good buddy at Novel Ideas. He signed me up with his Dusty Saddles Publishing recently, and I am thrilled to be working with someone of his talent in getting the promotional side of things done. I work out of my hillside studio outside Barcelona, Spain. I use mini Mac, Focusrite interface, AKG 420 microphone and Logic Pro 10. You can hear me on www.acx.com on my Paul Provo profile page and see my productions to date. Lookin´ forward to meetin´ y’all. Take Care and Adios!

Check out the latest P.W. Burroughs bestseller today on Amazon right here!

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