8 November 2005 The Campfire is a group of writers, men and women, and one western fan, who correspond privately via email. This past week, one of our members, Bill Brooks, received a remarkable letter from an American working in Iraq for a private security force. This man, Lee Sherrod, from North Carolina, had been reading one of Bill’s western novels, LEAVING CHEYENNE. He had the paperback in his pocket when Iraqi insurgents attacked his vehicle. Lee was shot through the side window. The bullet struck the paperback in his pocket and stopped there, inches from his heart. His life was spared and he wrote Bill, then later sent a photo of himself standing next to the truck, holding up the paperback. The bullet hole in the side window is big and plainly visible. Mr. Sherrod loves westerns. He says he, and a bunch of his fellow workers, read them and pass them along to military personnel. I’ve been wanting to send some of my books over to Iraq for some time and signed up on a website that was supposed to provide mailing information. Never heard back from them. So, I saw Lee as an opportunity to send books of mine over there. Perhaps, I thought, they might provide some escape from the terrible war for a few soldiers and marines. So, I gathered up 6 paperbacks, wrote Lee a letter and mailed them to his address in Iraq. If any of you would like to send him some books, knowing he will pass them along to others, here is his address: Lee Sherrod PPS USIS PSD Team Camp Dublin Iraq Lee’s initial letter to Bill Brooks, gave Bill chills and sent a shiver up my spine, as well. My books may not stop a bullet, but I hope they will bring pleasure to a few good men in Iraq. If you go to www.netwo.org, you can see that I’m going to conduct a short story workshop in January and February here in Pittsburg, Texas. We have been given a new facility to use, an extension of Northeast Texas College, where they have 20 computers and places to plug in our laptops. The idea of the workshop is for each of us to start from scratch, write a short story that will be completed at the end of four weeks. We’ll meet on Saturdays, from 10:00 a.m. until Noon. I intend to help those attending to easily begin a story and finish it without too much bloodshed. Short stories are tough to write, I know, and I hope my methods will take some of the fear and loathing out of that process. I’m excited about the workshop and there seems to be quite a bit of interest among local writers. The fee for the workshop is reasonable, I feel. I do not like the prices other groups charge for such a workshop, feeling that they are unreasonably high and don’t offer as much as this one will. Many beginning writers are exploited by such groups and when I agreed to conduct this workshop, one of my conditions was that the course not cost much. In fact, I doubt that NETWO will realize much from this, but they are providing a service. And, they must pay the college for the use of their facilities. The course is limited so that I can give individual attention to each writer. So, roll up your sleeves and sign up. I think it will be a great experience for all of us. Royalty reports in from Forge on two of my books, TRAPPER’S MOON and THE BALLAD OF PINEWOOD LAKE. I sold these books myself, without benefit of an agent, so they come directly to me. I’m still waiting for the reports from agent Nat Sobel on the Baron books. These statements are largely incomprehensible, with lots of zeros, but the bottom line is that TRAPPER’S MOON is almost paid off, and has last a long while. BALLAD owes $10.00 and change. What’s incomprehensible is that I’ve received royalties on both books and wonder why I still owe any money at all. I wish I understood all this, but I don’t. It all has to do with reserves and returns and those figures are kept secret from all but the bean counters. Am working on the first of a new series for Harper’s called THE SHADOW RIDER and should finish the novel in the next week or so. Its hero is a man named Zak Cody, son of a mountain man, working undercover for the U.S. Army in Apache country, near Fort Bowie. Zak is a loner, working for General Crook and President Grant, out of uniform, known to the Indians, and others, as The Shadow Rider. After that book, I’ll write the 3rd novel in another series, this one for Berkley, THE VIGILANTE. I am presently writing 4 series and will finish the 8th Baron book for Forge sometime next year. And, I have more book proposals out to editors in New York. Life is full and rich these days. Next month will see publication of a Ralph Compton Trail Drive novel I wrote for Signet. This one, my last under Ralph’s name, is called THE ELLSWORTH TRAIL. The first VIGILANTE book is out and is set entirely in the Arkansas Ozarks where we used to live. In the Odd Happenings department, a writer whom I don’t know, quoted from my blog on Libracide on his blog. His name is Lee Greenberg and it was nice of him to do that. The blog I wrote is a little bit of history about western publishing and Louis L’Amour. Greenberg, who writes some of the MURDER, SHE WROTE books, among many other, calls the quote RIDING INTO THE SUNSET. Good title. Finally, I just finished reading Stephen King’s THE COLORADO KID, a mystery. Actually, I listened to it, since my poor vision won’t allow me to read for more than few minutes at a time, which I got from www.audible.com. The reader had that Maine accent down pat and the book was a delight. I recommend it highly. Am just waiting for Audible to come out with E.L. Doctorow’s THE MARCH, which I very much want to hear. He is one of my favorite writers. Goodbye for now. Make the journey. Enjoy the trip. Jory Sherman