Their family had carved a homestead from a fierce Montana mountainside.
Now Colin and Kevin McQuade must get 200 head of cattle down to the 5th
Infantry at the Tongue River, even though the Sioux are riding wild in
the land. With winter bearing down, the McQuades prepare to fight their
way south. But they aren't counting on a slick St. Louis gambler joining
the drive. Or a beautiful young woman pursued by a rich man's thugs. Or
the horror that is about to strike in Rocky Butte. Another wild
western in The Montana Series from acclaimed writer L. J. Martin.
An Interview with L.J. Martin
Tell us a little about
yourself.
Husband,
2nd marriage, father of four boys, now numbering three, two of whom
live nearby in Montana, grandfather of six.
Started work life as a real estate salesman, broker, developer and later
as an appraiser and contractor. Began
writing, in earnest, in my forties, finally leaving all other vocations to work
at it full time, as did my wife, Kat Martin, an NYT best-selling author of romantic
suspense. I have 36 books, if you count
a couple of novellas and small short story collections. A half dozen of those are non-fiction.
Wolf
Mountain is one of many westerns I’ve written.
I was raised in California, but in a county with four of the country’s
largest oil fields, lots of sheep and cattle, and huge agricultural
production. Kern County is the Oklahoma
and Texas of California, so was a westerner by saturation, and spoke the
language. Westerns came naturally to
me. I worked as a wrangler and mule
packer as a youth. And of course I read,
not only westerns but all popular writers of my youth. This particular novel was inspired by an
actual historical event when ranchers in early Montana drove 200 head of cattle
down the Yellowstone, in the middle of the Inidan uprisings of the early
1870’s, to General Mile’s containment at what is now Mile’s City, just prior to
the capture of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse’s fleeling the country to Canada.
Did you plan to be a writer
or did it just happen?
Evolved
from being a voracious reader.
What is your favorite
non-writing pastime?
To
numerous to mention...but travel is way up there.
When did you decide to take
that step that made you a published author?
Bought
a boat after my divorce and lived on her in Dana Point for a year. Reading Richard Henry Dana’s TWO YEARS BEFORE
THE MAST encouraged me to write a historical as it was the research material I
needed.
What has been your greatest
challenge as a writer? Have you been able to overcome it?
It’s
always come very easy to me, so I guess I’m blessed. Having always earned my living as a real
estate salesperson, self-starting was natural.
Many writers, I believe, are hindered by having a job and getting a
check at the end of the month whether they’ve earned it or not. You’ve got to apply yourself in writing to
have any kind of result...and apply yourself pretty damn well to make a living
at it.
Is writing a full-time
career for you? If not, how else do you spend your work day?
It
has been for both myself and my wife for 28 years.
If
you had to sum it up Wolf Mountain in
30 or less words, what would you say?
The site of one of the country’s most historically
significant battles at one of it’s most exciting periods. Wolf Mountain changed the west.
What inspired the idea
behind your book?
Historical
events.
Do you have a favorite
character in Wolf Mountain? Who and
why?
That’s
a little like asking if I have a favorite child or grandchild.
Without giving it all away,
please tell us a little something about how the main character is going to get
through their biggest challenge.
Survival
through mental and physical toughness.
What has been your greatest
challenge in writing Wolf Mountain?
It
flowed like the Yellowstone.
Will you share with us a
short preview of Wolf Mountain?
I’ll
share the whole book if you like.
What message do you hope
readers take away from the book?
I
write to entertain, and if the reader learns a little something along the way,
all the better.
Is anything in your book based on real life experiences or
purely all imagination?
Horse, cattle,
fist-fights, gun use, the Yellowstone, the Tongue, the country and it’s hazards
all come from experience...and of course human interaction and relationships
are the result of same.
Which character will be the most difficult to part with?
None of them, all of those who live,
live on so long as the book is in print.
While writing the book, did you connect with one character
more than the others? Who and how?
One tries to connect with all of
them, or one doesn’t write them well.
Do you share any personality traits with your main
character?
I hope so.
What kind of research was
involved for Wolf Mountain?
Tons. The country, the topography, the Indian
tribes, the Army, cattle, wildlife, and on and on.
Do you have to be alone or
have quiet to write?
After
raising four boys? If there’s no noise I
worry.
What has been your greatest
pleasure in writing this book?
Research
and learning.
Of the books you’ve written, which is your favorite?
Again, like
asking which is my favorite child or grandchild.
Who do you read for
inspiration? Why?
I
read lots of journals and non-fiction, plus all the great fiction writers I can
get I hands on. But I don’t tolerate
poor writing and chuck them in the circular file after a few pages if they
haven’t hooked me.
What draws you to a book?
Why do you pick it up off the shelf?
I’ll
read the first ten chapters of almost anything.
As a multi-genre author,
how do you juggle going back and forth between the different genres?
Do you have a preferred genre?
I
love westerns, thrillers, historicals, and mysteries. I enjoy non-fiction if I have something to
inspire or teach.
Do
you have plans for a new book? Is this book part of a series?
I’m constantly writing more than one, and usually
both fiction, non-fiction, and a screenplay.
What do you have in store
next for your readers?
A
thriller.
What has been your greatest
pleasure or personal success as an author?
A
high school history teacher who told me my RUSH TO DESTINY taught his students
more California history than their text’s, and they loved learning it. That and the wonderful compliment, “I
couldn’t put it down.”
What type of hero do you
like best?
Tough,
moral, but flawed.
What type of heroine do you
like best?
Tough,
moral, but flawed.
If you could meet any writer, dead or alive, who would it
be? What would you want to know?
Hemmingway, and
to listen to stories of Spain.
Did you have a favorite character or hero as a child? Do you
have a literary hero as an adult?
My grandmother
read Heidi to my when I was six and in one of her nightgowns in bed next to
her. That memory has stuck with me.
What’s the best book your mother ever gave or read to you?
Too many to
remember.
What was the last book that made you cry?
Anytime I read
my wife’s books, I get a tear. Bridges
of Madison County brought me to tears, and I was published by Time Magazine
when I wrote a scathing rebuttal to a bad review (a full page) that was
published in the mag. Anyone who didn’t understand that novel doesn’t
understand life.
The last book that made you laugh?
I usually laugh
at poor writing (which I’m also guilty of).
What was the last truly great book you read?
Misery by Stephen King, Intensity by
Dean Koontz, Tell No One by Harlan
Coben and many more.
What are you planning to read this summer?
Reading lots of
short stories as I’m judging for contests.
What were your favorite books as a child?
Louis L’Amour,
Mickey Spilliane, John Steinbeck, Alistare Mclane.
What’s the one book you wish someone else would write?
I want to write
them all.
What was the last book you just couldn’t finish?
Too many to
mention.
If you could be any character from literature, who would it
be?
James Bond. J
What do you plan to read next?
Research.
If you could live the life
of any character in any book, which would choose and why?
Too
many to mention.
Do you write your friends
or family members into your books? If so, did they figure it out?
Everyone
I know or have known is part and parcel of my books.
Is there any place and time
in the world and in history that you would like to visit?
The
future, so I could warn those of today about so many things they’re doing
wrong.
What is your favorite scene
in Wolf Mountain?
It’s
always the opening and the conclusion, equally, if I’ve done it right.
How do you unwind after a
long writing session?
Glass
of wine with my wife.
Who or what has most
influenced your writing?
My
wife, who decided we should learn the craft.
Is there a genre you wish
you could write, but haven’t made the plunge? Which one and what appeals to you
about it?
None. My plate is full.
What appeals to you most
about your chosen genre?
As
to westerns, the morality of the time, and the simple ways it was enforced.
What is one trait you
despise in people that you tend to give your villains/protagonists?
Rudeness.
If you had the authority to
do so, what five books would remove from the banned/challenged lists?
All
of them.
Do you have a favorite
author? Who and why?
Too
many to mention.
How do you feel about book
trailers and do you have any?
I’m
a photographer and videographer by vocation, so I have over 100 trailers,
instructional, and commentary videos on YouTube. Search ljmartinwolfpack.
What is your greatest
weakness as a writer? Your greatest strength?
If
I knew by greatest weakness I’d fix it.
Strength? Tenacity.
Why did you choose to be an
Indie writer and would you choose to self-publish again?
Go
with the dough. If a NY publisher stepped
up with enough dough, I’d roll with them.
If you had a chance to
rewrite, is there anything about your book you would change?
I’ve
never written a book I wouldn’t make changes in, and believe that any writer
who says their book is perfect is a damn fool.
But you’ve got to at some point write “The End,” or it never ends.
What is the best piece of
writing advice you’ve received?
Write. Simple as that.
What are you reading now?
Why did you choose that book?
A
half dozen, laying all over the house, my office, the bathrooms, the
kitchen....
Are there certain characters you would like to go back to,
or is there a theme or idea you’d love to work with?
If there was, I
would, and/or will.
What challenges did you face in getting your first book
published?
Ha,
same’o. However for most “western”
writers its the fact 25 year old Eastern university girls are on the front line
of acquiring editors...and one out of five hundred has ever been west of the
Hudson.
How long did it take to get
this book from idea to being published? What was the most grueling process?
If
I’m writing and driven, it’s a three month process for a full 85,000 word
western.
What was one of the most surprising things you learned while
writing Wolf Mountain?
That the tribes were “walked down”
in the winter, a ploy of General Miles.
Do you have any interesting writing quirks?
Too many, most of them bad.
When did you write your first book and how old were you?
Started a thriller when 25 but was
too busy raising kids and trying to keep food on the table to finish it. Wrote my first full length at 37, sold my
first one at 42.
What is your favorite movie based on a book, where you
preferred the movie?
I love both disciplines.
Laptop, desktop or notebook and pen/pencil for writing?
Yes. :) But mostly desktop.
Do you believe in writer’s block? Has it ever happened to
you?
Having a good work ethic, no I do
not. As I tell young writers, if you
hire a guy to build you a garage and you walk out and he’s staring at a pile of
lumber, and you ask why, do you expect him to reply, “I’ve got carpenter’s
block?” If you’re a writer, write until
you get it right.
Is there a book you’ve ever read more than five times? Which
book and what drew you back to it?
Strunk and White, and it still
hasn’t sunk in.
Have you ever literally deleted or thrown away a book you’ve
written?
No, I’ve set many aside and gone on
to something else.
You’re spending one year living on a desert island – which
three authors do you want with you?
Tall, long legged blond beauties,
presuming my wife won’t join me.
If you were casting your main characters for a movie, who
would be your top picks?
Costner.
Did the plot of the book turn out the way you planned or did
something change during the process of writing it?
It always changes. I’m never stuck with preconceived notions or
“plans.”
If you could get anyone to read your book, who would you
choose and why?
A major studio head.
What are three things people may not know about you?
Lots more than three, I hope. :)
Meet the Author
L.
J. Martin is the author of 36 book length works of fiction and non-fiction,
published by Bantam, Avon, Pinnacle and his own Wolfpack Publishing. His work’s in hardback, paperback, large
print, and audio. He’s also an optioned
screenwriter. He lives in Montana with his wife, NYT best selling romantic
suspense author Kat Martin. The Martin's
winter in California.
Connect with L.J. Martin
Also connect with L.J. at www.wolfpackranch.com
and at the Kitchen at Wolfpack Ranch on Facebook.
Enjoy an Excerpt from Wolf Mountain
October 22, 1876
An
early and particularly bitter wind howled down the aspen filled saddle from the
fresh snow-covered rock escarpment above.
Wisps of snow-powder lifted off the ridge and the trees below bent in
supplication. The October storm had been
freak but did not bode well for the coming winter.
The
sharp crack of a rifle again punctuated the wind’s moan and splinters
splattered from fallen aspen over their heads.
“Kev,
if the bloody dogs get above us to the top of the ridge, there’ll be hell to
pay.”
“That’s
no problem, Colin. Let Dugan and I
circle over to that cut, and we can flank them and pull their teeth as they try
to cross the clearing?”
“What
the hell are the Hunkpapa doing this far west.
Damn the luck.”
Hunkered
behind blow-down Aspen in late morning, Colin McQuade and his younger brother
Kevin lay pinned down by a band of Hunkpapa Sioux, some of Sitting Bull’s
band. Since their great victory at the
Little Bighorn, the Sioux and the Northern Cheyenne had become bolder. Mile’s 5th Infantry had routed the
Sitting Bull and the Hunkpapa at Cedar Creek and again at Ash Creek, destroying
their lodges, and split them into roving bands of warriors. Miles had accepted the surrender of two
thousand Hunkpapa, Minneconjou and Sans Arc Sioux, over eighty percent of
Sitting Bull’s entire war strength. They
were now on their way south to the reservation under the armed guard of
Lieutenant Forbes and a strong force of the fighting 5th.
But
there were still plenty of hostiles out there between Bozeman and the Missouri
River.
Worse,
half of the McQuade’s herd of over five hundred head of summer fat cattle
milled just beyond the aspens, nervously stomping and bellowing. Already jumpy from the howling frigid wind,
it had been a wonder they hadn’t stampeded with the first shots the Sioux had
flung at the group from a distant stand of lodgepole pine.
Colin
and Kevin both knew the Indians were more than likely merely hungry and hoped
some of the cattle would bolt and stray from the herd, but the McQuades owed
the bank, and every beef was critical to their survival. Even the family was eating elk, venison, and
antelope, keeping every head for the few dollars they would bring.
“No,
Kev me lad. It’s a fine idea, but I’m
sending Petersen with Dugan. Let’s keep
yer ugly hide in one piece.”
Kevin
sighed deeply, running his hand through his thick black hair, feeling a little
heat on the back of his neck. At ten
years younger than his older brother he was seldom able to try his wings at
anything if his brother had anything to say about it, other than rounding up
and branding stray steers, or haying.
Yet, he was a full-grown man, and better at many things than his
brother.
But
he’d promised his ma--on her deathbed--and da, that he’d listen to Colin, and
he’d been taught to honor his promises.
His ma had gone to her reward ten years ago, when Kevin was but a lad of
fifteen, and Colin had raised and mentored him these ten years hence. His father had been near all that time, but
hadn’t been right in the head for many years.
Kev clinched his jaw and slunk a little deeper behind the blow-down as a
big .45/.70 slug slammed into the aspen, kicking up bark.
Many
Sioux were armed with Springfield Army Cavalry carbines, thanks to Custer’s
brashness, but unless there were a dozen or more of them together, they
couldn’t throw as much lead as the McQuades, with their lever action
Winchesters and Colt’s revolvers.
“Damn
the thievin’ redskins,” Colin snapped.
“If we’re gonna get out of this, we’d better get our heads down and
tails up and get on with it. Dugan! Petersen!” he shouted to the other two hands
he’d hired to help bring the cattle down from the high mountain before the
snows came in earnest.
From
a spot in the aspens thirty yards away, a tentative gravelly voice rang out
over the wind’s moan. “I’m here,
bossman.”
“Take
Petersen and work your way up to the end of the grove, then follow that cut up
aways to keep them from crossin’ and getting atop the ridge.”
There
was silence for a minute, then Petersen’s voice rang out, “Let them have the
damn cattle--“
“The
hell you say. This is damn nigh half our
calf crop and some of our best cows. If
they get atop the ridge, there’ll be hell to pay.”
“Then
we should light a shuck.”
“I’m
going,” Kevin said, rising.
“No.” His larger and older brother grabbed Kevin’s
wolf-skin coat and jerked him back down.
“Petersen!” Colin shouted, shoving his brother low below the log pile.
“We’re
headin’ out,” Petersen answered as the wind quieted, his voice on the timid
side, “before they figure out they can cut us up from atop the ridge. You boys is on yer own.”
“If
you do, then keep going, you damned cowering dog! Don’t be stoppin’ at the home place for your
pay.”
“A
few dollars don’t do a man no good if he’s toes up.”
The
McQuade brothers could hear the two drovers clamor away through the timber,
then saw the flash of their horse’s rumps as they mounted and gave them the
spurs, galloping away from the ensuing battle.
“The
bloody Dugan’s always was a sorry lot,” Colin groused. “An’ so’s that squarehead. I shoulda given them a bullet in their
backside.”
“Now
what?” Kevin asked.
“Hell,
I wish I knew.”
“Those
Hunkpapa keep throwing lead, they’ll have our horses down and there won’t be
much for us to do but wait till they get the angle on us. ...Come on!”
This
time Colin didn’t get a hand on Kev, and he broke at a dead run toward where
they’d tied their two mounts. There
wasn’t much to do but follow, so Colin did, even though the woods up the hill
exploded with gunfire. He sprang to his
feet, ducked low, and charged after his smaller but much faster brother. By the time he reached the animals, Kevin was
already mounted. The shallow snow around
them was kicking up plumes of snow and mud as big slugs slammed aground.
Just
as Colin swung into the gray’s saddle a bullet smashed into his thigh and blood
splattered across the gilding’s flank.
“By the saint’s,” he cried out, his eyes wide as blood gushed.
“Can
you ride?” Kevin yelled.
“Have
to.”
“Then
follow me.”
Kevin
slammed his booted heels into his big buckskin’s side and the horse leapt
forward; not away as Colin had anticipated, but toward the herd.
Colin
sheathed his Winchester and grasped the horn with one hand, reining with the
other, and giving the heel of his good leg to the big gray he rode. The gilding had already leapt after Kevin and
the buckskin.
Kevin
McQuade, Colin thought as his horse charged behind his
brother, you’re a crazy lout, crazier than yer daft da. I’m shot all to hell.... If we live through this day....
