Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Jack LaFountain: Paranormal Westerns and Return to Deadwood | What's Kraken?
6 Plays2 hours ago
Join Jo for a fascinating conversation with author Jack LaFountain about his latest book "Return to Deadwood" - a collection of paranormal Western short stories rooted in South Dakota folklore and history. Jack shares his unique approach to blending historical accuracy with supernatural elements, his annual pilgrimage to Wild Deadwood Reads festival, and how he creates authentic characters that wake him up at night with story ideas. From the mysterious Miniwashitu cryptid to unsolved World War II murders, Jack's work brings Native American legends and real historical events to life through a paranormal lens. Plus, discover how his grandson's third-grade story helped unlock a fantasy trilogy that had been stuck for years!
## Episode Highlights
- Jack's annual tradition of writing a new book for Wild Deadwood Reads festival during Wild Bill Hickok weekend
- The "unnamed author" character who dies in every Deadwood book but keeps coming back
- Discovery of the Miniwashitu- a spine-covered Missouri River cryptid that drives people insane if seen in daylight
- How Jack incorporates real unsolved crimes, including South Dakota's oldest unsolved murder from WWII
- Writing from Bigfoot's perspective and flipping the monster narrative
- Characters that literally wake him up at night with story ideas
- The difference between his fast-paced novels and tight short story collections
- Transitioning from pen and paper to digital writing (and why Grammarly hates dialogue)
- Publishing his first book at 50 and going full-time at 65 - proving it's never too late
- How his grandson's story provided the missing piece for a fantasy trilogy
- The challenge of editing other authors while maintaining his own voice
- "Return to Deadwood" launching as an e-book the morning of this interview
## Guest Information
**Jack LaFountain** - Paranormal Western Author
- Author of 17 novels and 5-6 short story collections
- Specializes in supernatural Western stories with historical elements
- Partner in publishing company, does first edits for other authors
- Writes three blogs on a weekly schedule
- Annual attendee of Wild Deadwood Reads festival in South Dakota
## Book Information
**Return to Deadwood** - Available now on Amazon (e-book launched day of interview)
- Collection of dozen short stories based on South Dakota folklore and history
- Features Native American legends, actual locations, and true crime elements
- Part of Jack's annual tradition of writing for Wild Deadwood Reads festival
## Key Advice
"If you want to write, write, do it, and don't give up, no matter what. I didn't publish my first book until I was in my fifties and didn't start writing full time until I was 65."
Recommended
Transcript
Intro
Introduction to Jack LaFountain and Return to Deadwood
00:00:07
Jo
Everyone, Joe here, and today's for What's Cracking, it is Jack LaFountain, the author of Return to Deadwood. I love it.
00:00:18
Jo
love it. Good morning to you.
00:00:19
Jack LaFountain
Yeah. Oh, thanks for having me on. i appreciate it
00:00:23
Jo
Oh, anytime,
Connection to Deadwood and Event Participation
00:00:24
Jo
anytime. I have a other quick question because and whenever you hear Deadwood, you immediately think of the series. The series with the hat.
00:00:33
Jack LaFountain
Oh, yeah. yeah
00:00:34
Jo
What made you go with that, to Deadwood?
00:00:37
Jack LaFountain
Actually, strangely, I haven't seen the series, but three for the for the last three years, right about this time of year, actually, it'll be not this weekend, but the next weekend, I go to Deadwood for an event called Wild Deadwood Reads.
00:00:39
Jo
Really? Oh god, it's phenomenal.
00:00:53
Jack LaFountain
it It happens during Wild Bill Hickok weekend.
00:00:58
Jack LaFountain
There's a group of authors that that we meet there and have a huge book signing readings readings classes. classes. It's just a ah great event.
00:01:09
Jack LaFountain
and
00:01:09
Jo
That's amazing.
00:01:12
Jack LaFountain
and now I've made it my point for me every every year when I go there, I write a new book just to have there.
Inspiration from Wild Deadwood Reads
00:01:21
Jo
Really?
00:01:21
Jack LaFountain
and And it has to do it has to do with the event, actually. the The very first year I wrote one, I called it Dead Man's Hand because, you know, Hickok sold payments.
00:01:29
Jo
Really? Hickok's.
00:01:30
Jack LaFountain
Yeah, they just get killing it.
00:01:31
Jo
Ace of spades. Yeah.
00:01:32
Jack LaFountain
And I wrote a short story in the in the book about this author that goes to a book signing event in Deadwood.
00:01:43
Jack LaFountain
after the event's over, he has a heart attack in the casino, and he's kind of hovering between life and death.
00:01:48
Jo
Oh no.
00:01:51
Jack LaFountain
He wakes up. He's playing and draw poker with the characters in the stories in the book and Hickok when he's killed.
00:02:00
Jo
Cool.
00:02:00
Jack LaFountain
And I had people when I got back that they said, did you really have a heart attack when you went back? No, no. I was just having fun with you.
00:02:08
Jo
Oh, yes I did it.
00:02:08
Jack LaFountain
Because I didn't yeah my name right And he's still, he's he's been in all all three books. I just call him the unnamed author. he's He's been there twice and died both times.
00:02:21
Jack LaFountain
But he's going back the third time this year. And
00:02:24
Jo
He's got a punch card. Third time's the charm. He's like, I'm dead.
00:02:26
Jack LaFountain
yeah but yeah
00:02:27
Jo
I'm staying dead this time.
00:02:28
Jack LaFountain
yeah, yeah had ah his his his brother goaded him into it. He wasn't going back and tempting fate that, you know, he would survive three times.
00:02:37
Jo
but The third time. but So walk me through this because i love that you're making this for the festival. That's an amazing idea. But what got you the the first one? Did you find the festival first or you did you write first or?
Interest in Westerns and Folklore
00:02:50
Jack LaFountain
Actually, I found the festival first, but I had had four stories, four short stories that were already written.
00:02:56
Jo
Okay.
00:02:59
Jack LaFountain
And I was looking for a way to put those into a yeah single volume of stories. And this you know that this event in Deadwood popped up. My editor said, you know, ah we we should go to that.
00:03:12
Jack LaFountain
And I said, great, we can take these stories. your There are four short stories that And two there's two stories about each character in the book. And like ah ah the fifth one, they yeah the card that's not an ace or an eight, yeah is a story about playing poker with Hickok.
00:03:27
Jo
but
00:03:30
Jo
That's that's fair it's very cool. So what's your interest in Hitchcock? what's What's your interest in the West?
00:03:35
Jack LaFountain
i i I just love the West. I i write Westerns, but not not so much your normal Westerns. Most of my Westerns are, I call it Cowboys, Indians, and Werewolves.
00:03:50
Jo
Nice. Normal versions of it.
00:03:53
Jack LaFountain
Yeah, I've got a series that I did with those. and i had one of my friends who reads my books and really doesn't like and monster stories and She said, would you please write me a Western that doesn't have a monster in it?
00:04:09
Jo
sure was
00:04:10
Jack LaFountain
so So I started her a series and of Westerns as well. but
00:04:15
Jo
but That's very cool. That's very cool. So when you're doing this, you start out as a paranormal writer then.
00:04:21
Jack LaFountain
Yes, yes, very much so.
00:04:23
Jo
And you incorporate your world building is based upon the historical Wild West.
00:04:30
Jack LaFountain
Yeah, yeah.
00:04:31
Jo
Then paranormal.
00:04:33
Jack LaFountain
Yeah, and Return to Deadwood is very much that. A lot of the stories, there there are dozen short stories in there.
00:04:40
Jack LaFountain
And they're all based on either Native American folklore from South Dakota, actual locations in South Dakota, and a few are are true stories.
00:04:40
Jo
Right.
00:04:52
Jack LaFountain
One of the stories is about the the oldest unsolved murder in South Dakota, which took place during World War two
00:04:59
Jo
Really?
00:05:02
Jo
wow.
00:05:03
Jack LaFountain
It's still yeah still unsolved. and i kind of I brought all the facts of the case out, but then I fictionalized you know the names and conversations and things that went on.
00:05:13
Jo
Right.
00:05:13
Jack LaFountain
but i was
00:05:14
Jo
What was your research for that?
00:05:18
Jack LaFountain
I wanted to do something more centered on on South Dakota since we were going there this time. the first book was The second book not not so much happened in South Dakota, but since we've had such a great time there,
00:05:32
Jack LaFountain
I wanted to center in on stories that you know basically had to do with the area. A lot of them take place in the Black Hills or Deadwood. A few are other other places in the state that I picked up information stories.
00:05:42
Jo
There, yeah.
00:05:47
Jack LaFountain
Ran into one cryptid character that I'd never heard of before.
00:05:51
Jo
Really?
00:05:51
Jack LaFountain
and And I got to do a story about this one.
00:05:53
Jo
That's amazing. Do you remember which script that it was?
00:05:55
Jack LaFountain
It's called the Mini Washito.
00:05:59
Jo
haven't heard that one.
00:05:59
Jack LaFountain
it's yeah I hadn't heard of it before either, and I i look at a lot of them, but it's this creature that's got spines all along its back, and it lives in the water of the Missouri River, and it changes season.
00:06:03
Jo
yeah
00:06:12
Jo
Wow.
00:06:15
Jack LaFountain
It uses the spines in its back to crack the ice on the river.
00:06:20
Jo
Oh, very cool. to to do so
00:06:20
Jack LaFountain
and yeah and the The legend is, if you look at it in the daytime, you'll go insane.
00:06:27
Jo
Wow. So someone had to see it though. And in the legend, they were explaining how people are just going crazy in the area.
00:06:37
Jack LaFountain
Yeah, yeah i I don't know if that's where you know it's derived from. I just thought the character was great. There weren't many pictures of it that I could find, but I did find a few.
00:06:48
Jo
Hey, that's cool.
00:06:49
Jack LaFountain
But yeah, I just thought the story, you know, that's crazy. You got a creature, if you look at it, you know, you go insane. I hadn't heard of that before.
00:06:57
Jo
the It's amazing. It's like staring into the sun too long, you know? And then you you go through this, and I have also been through the areas you're talking about, and and i've I've been through the, oh my God, the Black Hills, right? And even places like Devil's Tower later, you know, it's more of that geography of, right?
00:07:14
Jack LaFountain
right
00:07:15
Jo
Where's your favorite place to go? Just curious.
Character-Driven Stories and Writing Process
00:07:21
Jack LaFountain
probably my my well and it it really didn't have anything to do with my but one of my very favorite places to go is the shiloh battlefield in tennessee i i i usually go there once a year on the anniversary of the battle or very close to it that's my favorite place to visit but uh
00:07:31
Jo
really Shiloh wow
00:07:37
Jo
wow oh wow
00:07:43
Jack LaFountain
Like said, I've been three years now. We kind of, my editor and I, we've kind of made it our sort of a working vacation that we go to Deadwood every June.
00:07:54
Jo
Well, that's very cool. So it's basically you are a historian. You're a historian buff. This is what very much drives it and it informs your fiction.
00:08:00
Jack LaFountain
I am, yes, very much.
00:08:04
Jo
So that's the history of it. Why the paranormal?
00:08:09
Jack LaFountain
I am. I just like to, you know, basically basically I ah the authors that I help, you know, along is, you know, always the, where where where so where do stories come from?
00:08:22
Jack LaFountain
i think Well, they come from asking what if, okay? So here you have this historical situation and, but what if it happened this way instead?
00:08:25
Jo
like Yeah.
00:08:30
Jack LaFountain
Or what if this happened, you know, in the course of it?
00:08:30
Jo
Yes.
00:08:32
Jack LaFountain
And then trying to fill that in. That and, uh,
00:08:35
Jo
Absolutely.
00:08:36
Jack LaFountain
you know i as uh when i was young i was i was hooked on all the universal monster films
00:08:41
Jo
Oh my gosh. I love him. Like the the old, the Frankensteins and like the Draculas and the creature, the creature from the black gloom. When you watch it, did you watch that as an adult lately?
00:08:54
Jo
The creature?
00:08:54
Jack LaFountain
i did about uh probably about four or five months ago i think but
00:08:58
Jo
Okay, so as a kid, did it change your way of looking at at the creature? Because he's basically just living in his own little place, and people come and destroy his house.
00:09:08
Jack LaFountain
Yeah. Yeah.
00:09:09
Jo
That's entire story. i'm like As a kid, i was like, oh my god, it's so scary. I'm like, no, the scary part is the humans.
00:09:15
Jack LaFountain
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And, you that might be a great story idea to do is a story from the creatures.
00:09:17
Jo
The scary ones.
00:09:23
Jo
The point of view, absolutely.
00:09:23
Jack LaFountain
but yeah I did one a while back.
00:09:24
Jo
That's that's great. No, I love
00:09:29
Jack LaFountain
ah
00:09:30
Jo
Really?
00:09:30
Jack LaFountain
I lived in the Pacific Northwest for a few years before I retired and had all these stories that I blended together into Bigfoot stories for this book.
00:09:35
Jo
Oh, cool.
00:09:39
Jack LaFountain
And ah basically i needed another one. I said, well, you know, what if I write a story from Bigfoot's point of view?
00:09:46
Jo
I love it. I absolutely love it because a lot of these times we are telling stories of these cryptids or something like, you know, like the legends of Bigfoot where we are pushing our own fears on nature.
00:10:01
Jack LaFountain
Right.
00:10:02
Jo
It's like, well, what does nature really do to us? Not much. It gives us life.
00:10:06
Jack LaFountain
Yeah.
00:10:07
Jo
What we do in nature? We destroy it
00:10:08
Jack LaFountain
Yeah. have a six graph yeah No, not really.
00:10:11
Jo
That's how it does so when you're going through all of this you are a primarily a short story writer. Yes
00:10:18
Jack LaFountain
i've got I have, what is it? I'm not sure whether it's five or six short story collections, but I have about 17 novels. Right.
00:10:27
Jo
Nice so it's primarily a novel what what's the difference between your long form and your short form like writing wise
00:10:29
Jack LaFountain
right
00:10:35
Jack LaFountain
i I don't know if there's a whole lot of difference. because People that read the novel say they're very fast-paced.
00:10:39
Jo
but
00:10:43
Jack LaFountain
They move very quickly. and That's kind of that' was kind of the way I i meant for them to be.
00:10:48
Jo
Right.
00:10:50
Jack LaFountain
I've had a lot of people say, but you know you should make this short story into a book. and i'm Most of the time, I'm, nope. I told the story. you know that's That's the story.
00:10:59
Jo
Yeah, absolutely. No, I, I can reflect that. Usually what happens, I'm a writer too. And,
00:11:05
Jack LaFountain
Yeah.
00:11:06
Jo
you know, bit same as you, like short story and novel.
00:11:07
Jack LaFountain
Right.
00:11:09
Jo
And it's either short story writers who want to become novelists. Their short stories are like 12,000 pages long.
00:11:18
Jack LaFountain
Yeah. yeah
00:11:18
Jo
It's like, oh my, it's like the longest short story you'll ever read in your life. Or conversely, people who tell that the quick boom, boom short stories and are really tight with it, usually have a quicker paced novel.
00:11:29
Jo
And it's a great extension, but you're right. Once you tell a story, why am I telling it again?
00:11:33
Jack LaFountain
Yeah, i wrote I wrote one.
00:11:35
Jo
Because course,
00:11:35
Jack LaFountain
Well, the first Western story that I did with the werewolf, i I wrote it and that that's, it you know, that's that's it. That's the story. I'm not doing any more. Then I had an ah editor that ah joined with me later and said, you left a whole opening that, you know, there can be another story to this. Why don't you write one?
00:11:53
Jack LaFountain
And I broke down and did. Same thing happened with the other, the with the friend that asked me to write a Western for. I wrote a Western. I said, absolutely, that's that's the end of the story. No, we want one more. So I did one more.
00:12:08
Jack LaFountain
And I now I'm done. And because I've told this guy's story and that's it. And again, the editor said, yeah, but you created this whole town with all these other people in it.
00:12:18
Jo
Yes.
00:12:18
Jack LaFountain
You can tell their story.
00:12:20
Jo
Yes. And that's exactly it. It's going all the way back into the Troyless and Cressida Chaucer. Like you can take from the Troy story, small characters, and now their entire novels or short stories of their own.
00:12:34
Jack LaFountain
right right yeah
00:12:34
Jo
And they just keep spitting off. You brief your, your birth was the town, right? And now you can tell the, I love that idea.
Expanding Stories and Creating Spin-offs
00:12:42
Jo
And cause you're not retelling the same story. You're now expanding a universe.
00:12:46
Jack LaFountain
right
00:12:47
Jack LaFountain
Yeah, one one book that I put out about a month ago, it's called Pandemonium. I wrote a a ah trilogy of these Red River stories.
00:12:47
Jo
When you're,
00:12:52
Jo
Yeah.
00:12:56
Jack LaFountain
with that that Again, the cowboys, Indians, werewolves.
00:12:58
Jo
yeah
00:12:59
Jack LaFountain
They live along the Red River. And in the in the last one, there's a sort of a gunslinging preacher that comes to town. And everybody thinks he's the werewolf to start with, but he's not.
00:13:11
Jack LaFountain
But I did, what i like said, I finished a trilogy. I said, that's all of those I'm doing. But then I did a spin-off of this character, know, someplace else.
00:13:21
Jack LaFountain
So let's do this.
00:13:22
Jo
It's interesting because, okay, maybe this is me projecting a bit, but when you're raiding and you've got these characters, do the characters, not necessarily the main character, but like the spinoffs, do they come in your imagination saying, hi, have a story to like, you know, do they want their story told also?
00:13:41
Jack LaFountain
Yeah, oh yeah.
00:13:42
Jack LaFountain
Yeah, definitely.
00:13:42
Jo
Yeah.
00:13:42
Jo
Okay.
00:13:43
Jack LaFountain
Yeah.
00:13:44
Jo
So just me. Good. Oh my God.
00:13:45
Jack LaFountain
yeah but you know
00:13:46
Jo
Okay.
00:13:47
Jack LaFountain
i tell people all the time, you know my characters wake me up sometimes at night.
00:13:53
Jo
Yes. Yes.
00:13:53
Jack LaFountain
And you know they've got these ideas they want you know want me to write. And someone asked me about Writer's Block one time, and I well, in the one series that I've got for sure, if I if i'm not don't seem to be coming up with the idea, I tell them, I just start writing the story anyways the way I want it.
00:13:59
Jo
yeah
00:14:12
Jo
yes
00:14:12
Jack LaFountain
And next thing I know, the characters are saying, oh no, you've got it all wrong. It goes this way.
00:14:19
Jo
and app It's character driven. Absolutely. Like most great writing is character driven because you never know.
00:14:22
Jack LaFountain
Yeah.
00:14:25
Jo
You might have like the start and end. We kind of want to go, but the characters will correct you.
00:14:30
Jack LaFountain
Yeah. Oh yeah.
00:14:31
Jo
like Once they become fully autonomous, like, no, no, we we can't do this. We're so sorry. This is like the scary movie premise. Like, why would anyone actually do this as a character? Because the plot's making them.
00:14:40
Jack LaFountain
Yeah. Right.
00:14:42
Jo
Whereas writing, good writing is kind of like no, these these people are people. Like, they'll think through this a bit. I love that idea. Now, when you they wake you up at night, do you get up and write right then?
00:14:55
Jo
Okay.
00:14:56
Jack LaFountain
oh Not always. Sometimes I just spend time thinking along the lines they're going. And when I get up in the morning, yes, I'll i'll do it.
00:15:01
Jo
yep
00:15:04
Jack LaFountain
I have gotten up, though, and I thought I'd better write this down or I'll never remember it.
00:15:08
Jo
Yes, I will always forget it. Or the the whole, ri you know, the Keith Richards doing, what was the, Satisfaction riff in his sleep, you know, like you always have a recorder next to you somewhere.
00:15:19
Jo
When you are writing, are you using your keyboard? Are you a long form? Are you like a paper pen and paper scribbler first? Do you draft it out or what?
00:15:28
Jack LaFountain
Not anymore. I did when I started writing. It was all pen and paper.
00:15:30
Jo
think
00:15:33
Jack LaFountain
And I used i used the putting it in a document form online as sort of my very first edit.
00:15:33
Jo
have tabs.
00:15:43
Jo
That's
00:15:43
Jack LaFountain
you know, rewrite or revising the draft or whatever.
00:15:47
Jack LaFountain
And then basically it got to where I had so many squiggly lines.
00:15:47
Jo
cool.
00:15:50
Jack LaFountain
So, and you know, no this sentence goes over here. This goes over. I finally just found cut and paste was so much easier. Plus I could read that.
00:16:00
Jo
And that's the thing. like, sometimes you're like, i hope I have a better idea. So I can't read this one.
00:16:04
Jack LaFountain
Yeah.
00:16:05
Jo
Whatever this used to be. i don't know what this is So what you're doing is, do you use, like, Microsoft Word?
00:16:07
Jack LaFountain
Yeah.
00:16:10
Jo
other they i Do you have people i have like Scrivener or Valiant? I mean, they obviously have these little tricks and tips. Okay.
00:16:15
Jack LaFountain
i i just yeah I just use
Writing Tools and Schedule
00:16:17
Jack LaFountain
Microsoft Word. I have used, and shoot, I can't think of the name of the one I used for a while. But i always had trouble with it when it came to dialogue.
00:16:28
Jo
Okay.
00:16:28
Jack LaFountain
wanted to And I still do, you know, some people say they they use Grammarly. And I have Grammarly on, you know, it's on, but it doesn't do dialogue well.
00:16:39
Jo
No, the suggestions are like you you click through most of them and accept make two out of 100. Because this is not proper.
00:16:46
Jack LaFountain
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
00:16:48
Jo
Like, I know it's not proper. so suppose Especially you were doing the Westerns. Like, better not be proper.
00:16:53
Jack LaFountain
Oh, yeah.
00:16:54
Jo
Grammar, like, this is a great English. Like, I don't know.
00:16:56
Jack LaFountain
yeah Yeah, I do that, and then I have a series that's based basically in the in Louisiana, and when there's a Cajun ghost that's in the story.
00:16:57
Jo
somewhere
00:17:04
Jo
oo
00:17:08
Jo
I was going to say Cajun sound.
00:17:09
Jack LaFountain
i He says he's a guardian angel, but i don't i don't know whether it's ghost or guardian angel, but
00:17:12
Jo
Oh, wow.
00:17:14
Jack LaFountain
he looks at He looks after the main character. And, yeah, when I want to write, his when he has something to say, yeah, Grammarly just goes crazy on that.
00:17:24
Jo
She's like, i don't know what this is anymore. Yeah, there's there's actually, oh man, I looked at ProWritingA lately and there's a new function where it says ignore dialogue. I'm like, yes.
00:17:36
Jack LaFountain
Yeah, there you go. Yeah, that would be good.
00:17:38
Jo
ignore dialogue end up in between the quote marks were good yeah absolutely i i think you're right there's there's some things that like people would try to push and it's just like man like there's so many different writing programs that you start micromanaging everything just word microsoft word done you're done that's it
00:17:51
Jack LaFountain
Yeah.
00:17:55
Jack LaFountain
yeah and Yeah. Yeah. i i like just just word. and
00:18:01
Jo
yeah
00:18:03
Jack LaFountain
it works pretty well, I think.
00:18:05
Jo
Yeah. Do you have a writing schedule or is it kind of when you have it, you do it
00:18:11
Jack LaFountain
Well, I try to write every day.
00:18:16
Jo
Okay.
00:18:16
Jack LaFountain
It's not always on whatever book that I'm working on.
00:18:21
Jo
Right.
00:18:22
Jack LaFountain
I write, what is it, three blogs. And so I have a schedule for those.
00:18:25
Jo
Wow.
00:18:27
Jack LaFountain
One's on Wednesday, one's on Friday.
00:18:29
Jo
Wow.
00:18:30
Jack LaFountain
Well, no, take them back. One's on Wednesday, one's on Saturday, one's on Sunday.
00:18:34
Jo
It's amazing.
00:18:36
Jack LaFountain
but So I have to get those are done before I can do anything else.
00:18:37
Jo
That's hardcore.
00:18:39
Jack LaFountain
And then I'm also ah ah a partner in this publishing company that does my books. And I spend a lot of time editing. I do first edits.
00:18:50
Jo
Do you really?
00:18:51
Jack LaFountain
on the books that come in, yeah. So.
00:18:53
Jo
Is that ah ah different part? It has to be a different part of your brain. Did you ever, when you first edit something, and ever go like, you know, this is a really good idea, but I would have done it this way.
Editing Process and Challenges
00:19:03
Jack LaFountain
Yeah, I have on occasion I do that, yeah. and the
00:19:07
Jo
You see the idea like, oh, I know they're trying to go with this, but that landing, they're not sticking to landing.
00:19:12
Jack LaFountain
Yeah, yeah, that's. Oh
00:19:14
Jo
It's hard. It's hard. Has any writer ever pushed back in your edits? I'm just curious.
00:19:19
Jack LaFountain
oh yeah.
00:19:20
Jo
Of course, right?
00:19:20
Jack LaFountain
ah ah Yeah.
00:19:21
Jo
Yeah. It would be...
00:19:22
Jack LaFountain
Especially the ones I get that especially push back on that is they'll have this very detailed opening couple of chapters and I'll tell them that's an info dump and your story really starts on chapter three.
00:19:27
Jo
yeah
00:19:36
Jo
Yes, always. Absolutely. If people who've never wrote or edited before don't really, if you just write, you might not see this, but story starts and endings.
00:19:47
Jo
Most people get it wrong.
00:19:49
Jack LaFountain
Yeah.
00:19:50
Jo
It's like, starts on page 35, sir. And it ended 10 chapters ago. 10 chapters are over here, but it's 10 chapters ago.
00:19:54
Jack LaFountain
yeah yeah and yeah i look Yeah, I kind of learned that very early on.
00:20:02
Jo
yeah
00:20:02
Jack LaFountain
One of the westerns that I wrote, I had this, I thought, amazing opening couple of chapters. And the editor had sign said, nope, the story starts right here at the start of chapter three.
00:20:12
Jack LaFountain
You can blend this other stuff in later.
00:20:15
Jo
Yeah, it could be an absolutely amazing start. Just not to this book.
00:20:18
Jack LaFountain
yeah
00:20:19
Jo
It's still other book, not this one. Yeah, and that's... Do you... Okay, I had a folder that used to be actually a physical paper folder back in the day of things I had to cut out and that I would repurpose with the idea of repurposing later on.
00:20:36
Jo
And then the folder became a computer folder and I never did after that. Have you ever repurposed something that you cut from a book?
00:20:43
Jack LaFountain
I have, yes, yes.
00:20:43
Jo
Or head
00:20:46
Jack LaFountain
I'll save it, especially if it's, you know, ah two or three paragraphs. You know, I'll save it. I'll save that. I might use it later.
00:20:53
Jo
Right. Yeah. And and and that's a weird thing is it's like, maybe it comes back to my dad was involved in well than construction. We always had like these boxes of small wires, boxes of small bolts or something like that.
00:21:05
Jo
It goes back to that, right? It's like you're you're repurposing something. You like, I can't throw this away, you know, hope it's here somewhere.
00:21:10
Jack LaFountain
Right. Yeah. yeah this did Yeah, this might become something. I've kind of broken into fantasy stories about, well, I guess about seven or eight months ago.
00:21:22
Jo
Really?
00:21:22
Jack LaFountain
i had I had this idea for a fantasy story. I had a picture of the opening scene and what it was going to be.
00:21:28
Jo
Right.
00:21:28
Jack LaFountain
And I went for years trying to figure out what comes next. I never could figure out what comes next. Couldn't get the characters.
00:21:34
Jo
I am.
00:21:35
Jack LaFountain
Uh, one day my grandson, he was in about third grade, I think at the time he wrote a story. he wanted to be like grandpa. So he wrote a story and laid it on my desk. And I read I said, wow, this is that story.
00:21:47
Jo
This what comes next.
00:21:48
Jack LaFountain
that yeah This is the book. And I, well, I wrote the book and I had, I sent it off to a publisher and they had it, they held onto it, really didn't do anything with it. Never never published it.
00:21:58
Jack LaFountain
So it took me a while to get my rights back. And so it just came out about, like said, about eight months ago. and
00:22:05
Jo
that's That's cool. and that's And that's an amazing, a great great ah that kimet synergy, I guess I would say, with the grandson. And I was like, oh, it's like the sparse sometimes you need.
00:22:16
Jo
And sometimes writers, yeah, will get accepted somewhere at a publishing house. And then, like, for me, COVID happened. And the publishing house was like, we're good.
00:22:26
Jack LaFountain
right Yeah.
00:22:27
Jo
I'm like, okay, what do I do with my book now? Like, I just waited like two years with you guys. What the hell, you
00:22:33
Jack LaFountain
Yeah. a i
00:22:35
Jo
So you got yours back, that which is nice to see.
Venturing into Fantasy Genre and Feedback
00:22:37
Jack LaFountain
Yeah.
00:22:37
Jack LaFountain
I did get it back and finally, finally got it published and actually did a second one, a book to go with it. It's going to be a trilogy.
00:22:46
Jo
Wow.
00:22:47
Jack LaFountain
And I,
00:22:47
Jo
a Fantasy. How do you genre shift? mean, you went from paranormal Westerns to Western to now fantasy. How do you genre shift in your writing like that?
00:22:57
Jack LaFountain
and I'm not sure. My editor says i've I've got lots of voices in my head. and i
00:23:02
Jo
Yeah, no, that makes sense.
00:23:03
Jack LaFountain
Whoever speaks up the loudest, you know.
00:23:06
Jo
that Makes sense. It makes sense. Okay. Very cool. When you're doing all of this, how long from besides the anomalies is besides the ones sometimes like that, that last fantasy one, how long from start to finish do you usually take for a novel?
00:23:21
Jack LaFountain
oh Probably about two months.
00:23:25
Jo
Dang it. i'm I'm a slacker. He's slacker.
00:23:26
Jack LaFountain
Well, for one Western series that I did, I did as part of NaNoWriMo, National Writing Month.
00:23:27
Jo
Yeah. learns he's a slacker two god
00:23:32
Jo
ye
00:23:36
Jo
National month. Yeah.
00:23:39
Jack LaFountain
Yeah, so you had 30 days, you know, to get the 50,000 words
00:23:42
Jo
Yeah.
00:23:45
Jack LaFountain
So but I did, yeah, I got, what, four of those books.
00:23:45
Jo
My gosh.
00:23:49
Jack LaFountain
I did three of them as part, well, actually i did all four as part of NaNoWriMo, but the last one I didn't get to get to the 50,000 words in like the first week of December sometime.
00:23:57
Jo
Oh, I,
00:24:00
Jo
Oh, that's... Anyone who doesn't know, this is actually amazing schedule. Two months blows me away. I'm like, whoa, what are you doing? And then the Nano... That's November, right?
00:24:10
Jack LaFountain
Right. Right.
00:24:11
Jo
Yeah, okay. And that's the... I've done that once or twice. There used to be one that was around Labor Day weekend where the entire book had to be done over that weekend. And like this first draft, and they're all like, just so it's your first draft. It's like, no one wins.
00:24:28
Jo
But it's an it's an amazing schedule.
00:24:28
Jack LaFountain
yeah yeah Yeah, occasionally.
00:24:30
Jo
Do you ever just, when you blow through these books, he's bum, bum, bum, bum. Do you ever look back and go, my God, that was a work of like Herculean effort.
00:24:45
Jack LaFountain
i
00:24:47
Jack LaFountain
the this The second book I did in the the Louisiana of the Moon books... Actually, I did it. I did it fairly quickly. and you know When I was writing it, I thought it was a good idea. When I got done ah and it got published, I thought, this book's crap.
00:25:04
Jack LaFountain
It's nowhere near as good as the first one. and Then I was talking to actually talking to someone on a podcast, and they said, what do you mean? That's the one that got all the great reviews and everything. Okay.
00:25:14
Jo
but we it's yeah i understand I understand that sometimes you're like, you guys like this one? Really? I hate this one. It's like you had playing creep again and again and again.
00:25:20
Jack LaFountain
yeah
00:25:23
Jo
like I hate this song. i like I don't want to play this song ever again.
00:25:25
Jack LaFountain
yeah
00:25:27
Jo
but This is the one you guys like? Okay. where yeah But we we don't never know what's going to hit. You never know what's going to hit. You know what you want to write. You know what has to be written. But as commercial success goes, maybe.
00:25:40
Jack LaFountain
Yeah, yeah i been I did one.
00:25:40
Jo
Maybe.
00:25:43
Jack LaFountain
yeah i tell everybody, you know the characters in my story, they're my invisible friends. They're always around somewhere.
00:25:49
Jo
Oh,
00:25:49
Jack LaFountain
now And that kind of got really hit me one time because I had people that began to email me. And the the character in this one series, the main character, his name is Ed Landry.
00:26:02
Jack LaFountain
And they actually emailed me and said, we're worried about Ed because he never seems to get the girl. And I'm like, you know, is is a maybe he's a fictional character, right?
00:26:14
Jack LaFountain
Like, yeah, but, we you know, we want to see him get the girl.
00:26:15
Jo
God.
00:26:17
Jack LaFountain
So actually, I wrote a fourth book in that series, and it's called Lover's Moon, where he gets the girl.
00:26:23
Jo
oh but it does It's very cute. well We grew up with Charlie Brown never getting the girl.
00:26:29
Jack LaFountain
Yeah.
00:26:29
Jo
The theme from Shulls was like, he never got the girl. He apologized. The creator of Charlie Brown apologizes for Charlie Brown never getting the girl. So I'm glad you got yours in.
00:26:37
Jack LaFountain
Yeah.
00:26:38
Jo
like That's awesome, man.
00:26:39
Jack LaFountain
Yeah, and I told people, again, when it started, I told people, did you never watch Bonanza growing up? you know
00:26:46
Jo
but no
00:26:46
Jack LaFountain
For a woman to fall in love with one of the cartwrights, that was a death sentence for sure.
00:26:51
Jo
i have Now, as we all did the Bonanza theme song in our head.
00:26:55
Jack LaFountain
yeah
00:26:57
Jo
oh my gosh. And that was Michael Landon too, you right?
00:27:00
Jack LaFountain
Yeah.
00:27:01
Jo
Yeah, it's like he had a story career. My gosh, Bonanza, Little House on Prairie, Highway to Heaven. He just went from hit to hit to hit. It's an amazing time.
00:27:08
Jack LaFountain
Yeah.
00:27:11
Jo
Okay, as we're getting this into Return to Deadwood, Return to Deadwood, this is going to be out now-ish.
Return to Deadwood Release and Advice for Young Writers
00:27:21
Jack LaFountain
Yes, actually, it the e-book launched this morning.
00:27:27
Jo
Congratulations. Yay.
00:27:29
Jack LaFountain
yeah the the The paperback probably won't be that be available until this afternoon sometime. but
00:27:35
Jo
It's all goodness. It's all goodness. And where we people, where can we find you? Where can you find this book? because I believe your author website, obviously is one of them.
00:27:44
Jack LaFountain
and know
00:27:44
Jo
yeah
00:27:45
Jack LaFountain
Yeah, actually, that's that's my job for later today, as I've got to get that on the website now that it's live. But, I mean, it's on on ah on Amazon.
00:27:51
Jo
Right.
00:27:55
Jack LaFountain
Yeah, you can.
00:27:55
Jo
The Amazon Jack LaFountain's return to Deadwood on Amazon eBooks.
00:27:58
Jack LaFountain
pat yeah
00:28:01
Jo
That is an amazing thing. Now I asked this of all my guests. If you can give young, young version, but we're talking teenager or below version of you advice, what would it be?
00:28:14
Jack LaFountain
oh Basically, if you know if you if you want to write, write, do it, and don't give up, no matter what.
00:28:23
Jo
yeah
00:28:23
Jack LaFountain
i didn't I didn't publish my first book until I was in my fifty s
00:28:29
Jo
Interesting.
00:28:29
Jack LaFountain
and I didn't start writing full time until I was 65. Oh, yeah. I
00:28:34
Jo
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. wait yeah This just blew my mind. Hey, that's great advice. and And I think consistency and and a domino spirit. I can never say it. Abominable, abominable small man and domino spirit. There we go. One of those things is the never, never say die. Right.
00:28:51
Jo
Always keep going. I think that's very much needed in life. Period.
00:28:56
Jack LaFountain
oh yeah i mean
00:28:56
Jo
agree with that. I agree with that. But you're 65.
00:28:59
Jack LaFountain
And people tell me, it's a pipe dream.
00:28:59
Jo
What?
00:29:01
Jack LaFountain
There's nothing I'll ever come of it. You know, I tell them, well, I'm not rich, but I've got, I've got a, like, well, I told people email, I've got a following people waiting for the next book to come
00:29:05
Jo
Tons fairs. stairs
00:29:13
Jack LaFountain
I don't really get it, but.
00:29:15
Jo
Oh, and that's exactly it. And I believe this was Leanne, one of the trainers, one of the athletic trainers.
00:29:27
Jo
She would say, only person that really matters your opinion you is you. Everyone else's opinion of you ain't none of your business.
00:29:36
Jack LaFountain
but yeah
00:29:37
Jo
And I'd be much happier for you. Like, you're right, Leanne. be much happier for if I don't care about anyone else.
00:29:41
Jack LaFountain
Yeah. yeah
00:29:41
Jo
You can care about people just not to have opinions about you. like thats Yeah, absolutely.
00:29:45
Jack LaFountain
Yeah.
00:29:46
Jo
Well, love it. And I'll tell you this. I might have to go to Deadwood and see you sometime because that festival is amazing.
00:29:52
Jack LaFountain
oh that great
00:29:54
Jo
And I'm going definitely be reading Return of Deadwood. That's my jam.
00:29:57
Jack LaFountain
yet Yeah.
00:29:58
Jo
i I grew up on this. 100%. man.
00:30:01
Jack LaFountain
If you like Goodwin, it's the time to be there. Like said, this Wild Bill Hickok Weekend.
00:30:04
Jo
oh man
00:30:05
Jack LaFountain
They have free concerts. There's everything going on in in town. It's a great time to be there.
00:30:10
Jo
I got some time off and I got some traveling to do. So I might see you there.
00:30:14
Jack LaFountain
All right.
00:30:15
Jo
Well, Jack, thank you very much for your time. And again, you can check out Jack LaFontaine. LaFontaine. I almost frankified your name again. LaFontaine. No, LaFontaine.
00:30:25
Jack LaFountain
All right.
00:30:26
Jo
And Return of Deadwood on Amazon. Check it out. Bye, everyone.