An interview with Ray Foster
CONDUCTED BY MEMBERS OF THE BLACK HORSE DISCUSSION GROUP

Ray Foster

BHDG: Nice to have you here bright and early, Ray. Have a nice day and tell us a little about yourself.

To date there have been nine Jack Giles westerns and two Ryker Frost westerns. One Jack Giles short story A Time To Live appeared in the anthology Where Legends Ride and I'm in the process of writing another for WLR #2.

Book number ten is three chapters so far with the next three sketched out. 2007 may have been a good year but 2008 wasn't so good. The computer went down and with it went an almost completed book. I wrote a chapter of a new book - found a different idea that didn't work - went back to that first chapter again and tidied that up and got going again.

I run the Brokentrails blog which is mostly about westerns but I break off every now and again into other things like music etc. And on line magazine Beat to a Pulp will feature a short story of mine. It is not a western but it will be written under my own name (first time I've done that). I believe it will be the 15th March story.

This extract is from Lawmen. Chris Ford has heard that his father, Tom, has been gunned down. He has just arrived home.

That was really bad news about losing a full MS on the computer!

Do you find character names easily or do you rack your brain to get the right one to suit?

When it comes to character names they just come into my head and I usually stick with that. There is no going through the telephone directory or running my finger along the bookshelves. With Lawmen I just sat down and wrote the opening lines and Sam dropped in naturally followed by Chris. Felicity or Fliss came from this group. A member posted a message about names and mentioned that Felicity was never a feisty name. So she was named that way.

Sometimes a character name may only have some personal meaning. Maybe a friend has never seen his or her name in a book - it can happen. Like most writers, I have to beware using the same name for more than one character in the same story. I'd recommend running an Excel or equivalent chart.

I'm like you. When I see the character riding down the street, his name comes to me. Rarely do I have to change. Sometimes I get too many characters with names starting with the same initial or something like that, but not often.

I see you stick with Chris Ford's Point of View in the extract, which works very well for me.

When it comes to Point of View I like to cover all angles. I suppose that when you look back at the old movies when the film switched from hero to villain it showed that there was a difference between the good guys and the bad.

I have a natural curiosity about the other characters in a book and why they are the way they are. As long as the switches in viewpoint are done smoothly then it never jars with me. With the current book I am using the first person - I did try third person and it did not work. I don't have a problem with first person books - it's a style that fits any genre - and it's not exclusive to Chandler and Spillane.

I completely agree with you that first person is valid in any genre. I like first person because it lets the reader really get into the protagonist. That said, I sometimes have to drop into third to get some antagonist information to the reader.

What was the last western you read?

The last BHW that I read was Sixgun Venus by Cole Rickard.

Do you have a favourite author?

I have a number of favourite authors - and over the past few years there have been a steady growth of BHW writers who I like to read. One time I would have said Louis L'Amour was THE favourite - but then Mozart wasn't the only person to write classical music. I always read Lance Howard's books - but I was doing that before I joined the group - the same goes for David Whitehead (it was only when I joined the group that I discovered that he was also Ben Bridges). Other writers that I like are Tex Larrigan, Elliot Conway, Abe Dancer and Caleb Rand, Matthew P.Mayo and the list could go on.

Non-BHW writers: James Reasoner and Robert Vaughan. Old writers like Frank C. Robertson. Very often return to the likes of Al Dewlen's 'Night Of The Tiger'; Richard Jessup's 'Chuka' and Oakley Hall's 'Warlock'.

A question about the nitty-gritty of westerns: do you think that gunlore is important and any tips about a good resource?

Yes, I have a source book Guns Of The Old West by Charles Edward Chapel published by Coward-McCann Inc of New York. Goodness knows how old it is and the wife says that I had it before we got married. Now, of course, there's a lot more info via the net - but I go to the book.

I've got Guns of the Old West, too. It's really all you need.

A writer has to have the right guns for the right period. Guns were also modified - a competent gunsmith could convert the old cap and ball pistols to take the new bullets etc. Also, something that I bear in mind is that a handgun was heavy - it wasn't something that could be whipped out like a Chad Valley cap gun. To my mind the fast draw is part of the Western myth - just that there were those who could haul it out a bit quicker than others.

Then there is aim - it is one thing to pull a gun and quite another to aim it. Most of the weight of a Colt .45 is above and forward of the trigger so when drawn the barrel tends to tilt - that has to be corrected. So in reality it is not a matter of how fast but how accurate. I prefer my characters to draw a gun out of necessity rather than to up the action. Many of the rifles of the time were prone to jamming. Nine times out of ten a bullet strike on a rifle would render it useless.

Another thing that I try to remember is that when a bullet strikes the human body - it hurts and it kills. A bullet in a limb takes a person off balance. Even a bullet in the arm can kill - but that comes about through shock. And bullets were expensive. You couldn't just go into the local gunstore and buy replacements. Nor can a character run or ride and fire accurately. These are just things that I bear in mind as I write.

A lot of westerns are about the myth of the fast draw, not the reality. So do you try and make your westerns based more on real life? Does that mean there aren't any quick draws in your work?

I do have fast draws in other books and there is nothing wrong with the concept. And I used the fast draw in my short story.

Lawmen was a bit different. The first time we see Chris with a gun he has it already drawn and held behind his back because he wasn't that fast in the draw. The second time he drags it out but fires without aiming because there is no time to co-ordinate the actions. Sometimes the slower man wins - and everybody wants the hero to come out on top.

I think that's why some people think that the movie Appaloosa is too slow and the gunfights too quick. Not all gunfights were long shootouts - after all it is reputed that the gunfight at the OK Corral was done and dusted in 30 seconds. While I might like a film like that I'm also aware that the average reader wants that bit more - and they want the escapism.

You're right. Fast draw duels in the Old West were a rarity. Shootists like Bill Tinghman practiced long and hard to draw fast and shoot straight. I think the last gunfight in Appaloosa was probably truer to life, with Hitsh standing in the street, gun in hand but not pointed at the antagonist. The rancher shot first but pulled his trigger too fast. You hear that advice a lot, too. It's not how fast you draw, it's how straight you shoot.

The vision of the Hollywood fast draw is largely a myth. Though I must admit to using such character in my books - I think that as long as the background is authentic enough you can get away with flights of fancy. And as for characters - do you ever base any of your characters on people you know?

I try not to base characters on people I know but human traits are bound to seep in.

Another confusing area I find, is the almost inter-changeable names for law officers. Constable, Sheriff, Marshal, Town Marshal, US Marshal - all with different areas of responsibility and jurisdiction. Do you have a preference, and again, any guidance?

I get as confused about law officers as anyone. The main problem is that I, like many others, do not have an American grounding. This produced a couple of problems during the writing of Lawmen. Now, the 'real' Jack Giles had a lot more knowledge and had his Town Marshal confined to the town and the Sheriff with the wider jurisdiction of the county. If I'm stumped - there is the Internet. Better still there is the group.

What are your work habits, schedules, etc? Do you write at a specific time or when the mood hits?

There is no set routine - writing very much depends on concentration. The first chapter or the first section of a short story will produce a flurry of words because I want to get the idea down on 'paper'.

The first chapter is the one that I work on the most - for Lawmen and the new book that first chapter is the scene setter and if that's not right then the rest of the book won't work. Both situation and character have to be established. Nor do I look to the end - an ending of sorts is always there - but I don't plan one. I'm like a reader I want to travel the journey between beginning and end - I guess that's because I've never read the last page of a book to find out what happens.

And there is planning - a lot of it is done in my head. I put it on tape to find out how it sounds and if I can't see it or hear it how can I expect a reader to?

I write pretty much the same. I have vague ideas of where I want to go, but the exciting part is getting there. If I outline a detailed plot then I'm not as into it when I write because it feels like I'm writing it for the second time. There are many possible schedules, but there must be a schedule in my thinking. You can't just write when you get around to it.

Quite agree that there has to be a routine - without one then the book meanders or becomes a chore. Writing is like reading - you don't start a book, put it down and think I'll read a bit more in a couple of weeks.

My aim is three sessions a day but I don't always achieve it - so it takes a little longer. If I write a thousand words in one day - that is a good day. If I write a short one hundred word scene in a day - that too is a good day. If I only spend 20 minutes tightening up a scene - good day as well. Each writer has their own system - but in order to create a system that suits you, you also have to want to write.

You have talked elsewhere about your imemory problems. Do you still have trouble concentrating when you write? Do you remember the intricacies of plot etc? This must be tough anyway, but even tougher for you.

When it comes to concentration - yes, it is still a problem. It doesn't go away but it does improve. Useful devices like a handheld tape recorder come in handy. After all if people can walk down the road talking to themselves then I can tape a conversation between two characters and play it back and see how it sounds. Every chapter has notes. And I go back and read what I've written - tighten things up. I used to write things down but then I'd lose them or forget where I put them. So a reporter's tape recorder is a very useful tool. And my wife reads everything and if it doesn't look or sound right she questions it.

Your account of reading your own books and not remembering having written them was very moving. I wonder if you could talk about that some more and I have to ask, did you enjoy them?

For the most part I did enjoy them. What I did lose through the discovery that I had written them was that the ones that I hadn't read lost some of the flavour. It is one of those things that I find hard to explain. One minute you are enjoying a book as a reader, it is holding you with its characters and storyline just like any other book. The next, how can I put it, I suppose it's like reading a book with a more critical edge - and some disbelief because, in my case, I could not accept it.

Given your attention problems, how long do you work in one go?

When I write it could be anything from 15 minutes to 50. There are a lot of factors involved like day to day conditions.

Do you think the fact you have to be so careful makes you a better writer?

Any writer has to be careful in what they write. Theme, style and detail - all these things are important - it is the finished book that matters.

Do you think you are a better writer now than before you lost your memory?

No. Two reasons:

1. I had to start from scratch and it was scary. The Jack Giles that other people knew about was established and I didn't have those skills. Everything had to be learned along the way. Acceptance of both the short story in Where Legends Ride and the book meant a lot to me.

2. Whether I'm better - well, only someone else who has read my books can answer that question. Besides each book is judged by its own merits and subject matter - no matter who the author.

The scary aspect of relearning your craft is interesting and inspirational to any prospective writer who is daunted by that white sheet/screen in front of them. I'm wondering if perhaps because your early years were immersed in a vast and varied literature that much of the craft you subconsciously absorbed by reading seeped in and squirmed round the memory loss and found new though still arduous pathways to make connections. Probably a load of baloney, I know; stream-of-consciousness stuff while I wait for my take-out meal to warm up!

I'm not sure about the 'remembered skills' thing. Though with some recovery rates there has to be something in it. One thing that connects law - I was in the legal profession - and writing a Western is that it has to be researched.

Rebel Run has more detail in it than I know. I've always been interested in the battles of the American Civil War but I couldn't tell you the names of the Regiments let alone the names of individual cannons. Since reading the book I have researched it just to find out what was imagination - only to discover that everything factual existed right down to the battle at the end of the book.

Lawmen is a straight western and I finished up enjoying writing it. I suppose it comes down to belief in oneself - Maybe, the skill thing does follow through and worm its way through because I'm more comfortable with it now. All I try to do now is not to write for the sake of it. The short story I'm planning has taken a lot of research. The first 1200 words are down and the scene is set.

If you were to recommend one Jack Giles book to someone who hasn't read JG before, which one would it be?

First instinct would have to be for Rebel Run. But it's not a western in its truest sense as it is set during the Civil War - in the east. Probably the best place to start would be with Coalmine - and I say that with conviction.

I think that as it is all quiet on the western front now I'll ride off into the sunset.

Thanks for the weekend, Ray. I hope you enjoyed it.

Next Interview 1 May - Chuck Tyrell