Three men haunted by the past . . . A girl haunted by the present
. . . And all four of them on a collision course for Horsehead Crossing on the
Pecos, a place synonymous with hell in Texas in 1886.
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·
"To Hell or the
Pecos is a masterful rendering of the vast, uninhabited lands of West Texas and the passage across them of pursuers
and pursued. Texas
is a vital, fully-realized character here, a pitiless landscape with no hope of
rain or mercy. This story--an old one of outraged innocence and heroic revenge
against all odds--is fresh, feels fresh, and keeps the reader moving forward,
thirsty and keen as the characters themselves."--Mary Hood, author
of How Far She Went and Familiar Heat
·
"Patrick Dearen
knows the territory
of To Hell
or the Pecos. He knows the geography,
topography, the history, the loneliness, the lawlessness, the heat, and the
weather. Dearen also knows the temper of his characters, their morality or lack
thereof, their ethos and egos; characters who must overcome fear, hunger,
thirst, a big drought, a big die-off, the blazing sun, and the waterless miles
between the Concho River and Horsehead Crossing. There is also an electrical
storm, ball lightning, Saint Elmo's fire, and a black blizzard in this taut and
suspenseful tale of rescue, revenge, retribution, and revelation."--Robert
Flynn, author of In the House of the Lord and the
award-winning Echoes of Glory
·
"In the classic
style of Alan Lemay's The Searchers or Elmore Leonard's Only
Good Ones, To Hell or the Pecos is
a powerful tale of an epic journey by characters leaden with dark pasts and
inauspicious futures. Patrick Dearen writes eloquently and delivers a topnotch
story worthy of high praise."--Mike Kearby, author of Texas Tales
Illustrated and the award-winning A Hundred Miles to Water
In the author's words . . .
Join me in welcoming author Patrick Dearen as we discuss his latest book, To Hell or the Pecos. I've watched the trailer, read the reviews, and I'm looking forward to reading the book written by someone who understands how to weave words and history together. Welcome Patrick!
What inspired you to write this book?
The
late Elmer Kelton, considered by many the best western writer ever, was a
fellow West Texas native and a personal
friend. Almost single-handedly, he
lifted West Texas out of a literary wasteland.
Driving home from his funeral in August 2009, I pondered how I could best honor
this special man. I decided to write a
novel about the region he and I so loved, and to dedicate it to him. The day after my return, I began writing.
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Did you plan to be a writer or did it just
happen?
When I
was 14, a teacher suggested that I consider writing as a career. Little did he know that he had created a
monster. I went home that very afternoon
and began my first novel. Ever since
that moment, writing has been an integral part of my life. I can trace almost every important personal
relationship (including my marriage) to that early decision.
What is your favorite non-writing pastime?
I’ve backpacked
wilderness areas more than a hundred times over the last 37 years. It’s a return to the elemental, and it helps
me connect with the mind-set of those who lived in earlier times—an invaluable
understanding as I write about characters immersed in 19th century Texas.
What has been your greatest challenge as a
writer? Have you been able to overcome it?
I think
the greatest challenge a writer always faces is not the quest for a publisher
or sales, but rather himself. Does he
have the strength of will to write day after day, year after year? Forty years ago in college, I came across a
quote that I keep framed above my computer:
“The real trick is to keep on writing when no one cares if you do or
not, to keep on writing in the face of loneliness and fear.” The willingness to persevere is what writing
is all about.
If you
had to sum it up To Hell or the Pecos in 30 or less words, what would you say?
Three men haunted by the past . . . A girl haunted
by the present . . . And all four on a collision course for Horsehead Crossing
on the Pecos, a Texas river synonymous with hell in 1886.
What inspired the idea behind your book?
I’ve
spent 30 years researching the Pecos
River and early cowboy
life. Among other things, I interviewed
76 men who cowboyed prior to 1932. They
represented the last generation of cowhands who plied their trade exclusively
on horseback. Armed with that general
knowledge, I focused in on three actual incidents in the Pecos River country of
19th century Texas—an 1867 siege by Indians at Horsehead Crossing,
the early 1880s abduction of a teenage girl and her rescue at Horsehead, and an
1890 horseback chase across the same stretch of Butterfield Trail that I write
about in To Hell or the Pecos.
What has been your greatest challenge in
writing To Hell or the Pecos?
Blazing heat, frigid snows, and aching feet—really. Swamped by a massive research project, I
pondered how I could possibly steal time to write a novel. There was only one solution: on my daily
walks.
On that August day in 2009, I struck out on
my four-mile walk armed with a pen and a blank sheet of paper. Over the next 289 days, I hiked 1,200 miles
while immersed in the Pecos
River country of 1886.
I quickly learned that
I think better while walking. Maybe not faster, but better. I averaged about 35
WPM--words per mile. I wrote during the heat of a Texas summer and during frigid snows when
the chill factor was 26 below zero. Try writing about characters facing heat
stroke when it's so cold the ink in your pen freezes!
The short days of winter were my enemy, but I donned my headlamp and forged on. When I was out of town, I continued to write--in airports, in a speeding car, even deep in the wilderness of the Chihuahuan Desert. I never missed a day.
It's said that the journey is the most important thing. The journey "To Hell or the Pecos" was certainly one that my feet will never forget.
The short days of winter were my enemy, but I donned my headlamp and forged on. When I was out of town, I continued to write--in airports, in a speeding car, even deep in the wilderness of the Chihuahuan Desert. I never missed a day.
It's said that the journey is the most important thing. The journey "To Hell or the Pecos" was certainly one that my feet will never forget.
Will you share with us a short preview of To Hell or the Pecos?
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Sixty-year-old Tom Rowden is dying. For twenty years, he’s been haunted by the
memory of killing his wife at Horsehead Crossing to spare her from
Comanches. Now he’s going back to
Horsehead to make final atonement at her grave and join her. His journey is interrupted when Mexican bandits burn down a ranch house
and abduct a young woman, Liz Anne.
Tom joins ranch hand Jess
Graham and three other men in an attempt to ride down the Mexicans and rescue
Liz Anne, whom Jess loves. But the haunting memories and a 79-mile stretch of
desert prove just as threatening as the bandidos they must overtake on the Pecos.
What has been your greatest pleasure in
writing this book?
My
showers after each day’s hiking-writing session! Seriously, though, it’s gratifying to hold
the finished product in my hands and consider all the work—and miles—that went
into it.
Do you have a favorite author? Who and why?
I’m a
writer today because of my early, and lifelong, admiration for Edgar Rice
Burroughs. I discovered his Tarzan
novels at age ten, and quickly graduated to his John Carter of Mars
novels. When my teacher suggested
writing as a career, it seemed the logical thing to do, considering my
enthusiasm for Burroughs. I’m still awed
by his ability to immerse me in worlds of his own-creating. For those who don’t know, Burroughs also
penned westerns, two of which I consider among the best in the genre (The War Chief and Apache Devil).
How do you feel about book trailers? I
found yours very interesting!
Trailers
are a superb promotional tool for an author.
The trailer for To Hell or the
Pecos is posted on both YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ivhoz04J9M0)
and my website (http://patrickdearen.com/ToHellorthePecos.html). Not only does the trailer include photos of
the historic sites I write about, but also a stand-up of me at Horsehead
Crossing on the Pecos, scene of the novel’s climax.
What is the best piece of writing advice
you’ve received?
In a
Q&A after a Larry McMurtry speech 40 years ago, I asked him what advice he
would give an unpublished novelist. His
answer: “Write regularly. You may have
all the talent in the world, but if you don’t have the dedication and energy
and perseverance to sit down and write, you’ll never get anywhere.” It’s no accident that I titled my
Depression-era hobo novel Perseverance.
What
challenges did you face in getting your first book published?
I wrote for 13 ½ years before I
sold my first novel, but I think the quest for publication of my first
nonfiction book is even more interesting.
After enduring 75 rejections, I faced a dilemma. I had been turned down by every appropriate
publisher, so should I give up or persevere?
I decided to persevere. I changed
the title—that’s all, just the title—and started through the same publishers a
second time. I accumulated another 25
rejections until a publisher jumped at it . . . after exactly 100
rejections. I guess I’m as stubborn as
my wife says I am.
You’re
spending one year living on a desert island – which three authors do you want
with you?
As writers, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Leigh
Brackett, and James Oliver Curwood. As
persons, Elmer Kelton and Paul Patterson, another great man who was a mentor to
both of us.
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Did
the plot of the book turn out the way you planned or did something change
during the process of writing it?
I knew the ending of To Hell or the Pecos (or at least two possibilities) before I wrote
the first word. But it’s not always that
way when I write a novel. I usually
start with a premise and a setting, then I create characters and play the
what-if game: If such and such happened
to this character and that character, how would they react? Of course, a writer needs to keep in mind the
three kinds of conflict--man against nature, man against man, and man against
self—and he also must resolve everything in the end.
If
you could get anyone to read your book, who would you choose and why?
My dream is to be on a trail and meet someone
who’s hiking along and reading the very novel I wrote while I was hiking along. Maybe I’ll start a fad!
Favorite place?
Pecos Wilderness in New Mexico.
Best Christmas present?
Family
and friends.
Favorite smell?
Rain .
. . Something we see too little of in West Texas.
Favorite series?
“The
Andy Griffith Show,” “The High Chaparral,” and “24.”
Favorite movie?
“Treasure
of the Sierra Madre.”
Favorite dish?
Beans
and cornbread.
Favorite color?
Blue
Your best trait?
Stubbornness.
Your worst trait?
Stubbornness.
Is your book in Print, eBook or both?
The Author
The author of nineteen books, Patrick Dearen was born in 1951 and
grew up in the small West Texas town of Sterling City. He earned
a bachelor of journalism from The University of Texas at Austin in 1974 and received nine national and
state awards as a reporter for two West Texas
daily newspapers.
An authority on the
Pecos and Devils rivers of Texas, Dearen also has gained recognition
for his knowledge of old-time cowboy life. In the late 1980s and early 1990s,
he preserved the firsthand accounts of 76 men who cowboyed before 1932. These
interviews, along with decades of archival study, have enriched Dearen’s ten
novels and led to nine nonfiction books.
Dearen has been
honored by Western Writers of America, West Texas Historical Association, and
Permian Historical Association. A backpacking enthusiast and ragtime pianist,
he makes his home in Midland,
Texas with his wife Mary
(managing editor of the Midland Reporter-Telegram) and their son Wesley.
An Excerpt
How many times he
had silently voiced her name. He had never
spoken it aloud
since that black hour, but how many, many times he
had called it in
his thoughts and dreams, through fitful nights and
dawns such as
this, breaking empty and alone and as gray as the ashes
of his campfire.
Sitting
cross-legged before the mesquite flames that lapped a
smutty pot, he
took the 1860 Colt Army revolver by the walnut stock
and watched the
smoke curl over the tarnished brass trigger guard and
cylinder caked
with rust. He ran his fingers down the eight-inch barrel, feeling the brief
but distinct bulge, and re-lived the blood and foul gun smoke and
ringing ears of that distant night when he had rammed in too
great a charge in his haste to reload. In those desperate moments, he had
never known for sure which round had ballooned that barrel, but
now his mouth went dry and the .44 trembled in his hand at
the idea that it had been the last shot—the round for which he had
placed the muzzle gently beside her ear, deliberately slipped
forefinger over trigger, thumbed back the hammer to an ominous
click.
Tom Rowden
swallowed hard, the years of regret, and worse, exploding inside
him like that final round must have done between those crumbling
walls. Funny how his mind spared him those last few details—his
finger squeezing the trigger, the hammer snapping for-ward against the
percussion cap, the quick—and merciful, he had
believed—end to
it all. But the memory of her lifeless body was vivid
enough, lowered
into a shallow grave of alkali dust.
He lifted the .44
higher, its three and a half pounds strangely
heavy before the
glowing coals, and suspended it, a blur before his
cheek. He curled
his forefinger through the trigger guard and bent a
sweaty thumb
across the hammer. Closing his eyes, he could smell the
axle grease
sealing the cylinder chambers and feel the barrel nudge his
hat.
Sarah.
He was always
closer to her like this than any other way, the
revolver a
strange bond across time and distance. Yet, it was never
close enough, not
even when he slipped the muzzle under his hat
brim, as he did
now, and met the upright barrel with his hanging head.
Sarah, I’m
sorry.
On that long-ago
night, the barrel had grown too hot to touch,
but in a few days
the muzzle would be cool and tender against his
temple, just as
soon as he reached Horsehead Crossing and those
blood-stained
adobe walls where Sarah had waited for him all these
twenty years.
