Interview: Robert Vaughan

My latest interview is with Robert Vaughan who has been writing for 53 years and during that time has seen round 350 books published, of which roughly 100 have been westerns.

When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?

I have always wanted to be a writer. Before I could write or read, I would make squiggly marks on a tablet, then make my mother, grandmother, or aunt listen to my stories.

What was the first novel you had published and if this wasn’t a western what was your first western?

My first novel was action/adventure novel about a bar in Korea where all the bar-girls were N. Korean spies. It was called Girls of Carnation House...published when I was 19. My first Western was probably a Jake Logan Western.....Cheyenne Bloodbath, I think.

 
 Which writers influence you?

 

Ernest Hemingway, James Jones, Herman Wouk, Joseph Heller, Bill Butterworth (WEB Griffin).

Which past western would you like to see back in print and why is this?

I would like to see YESTERDAY'S REVELLIE back in print...it is one of four that I have written about Custer and is, I think, the best one I have done.

Which western writers working today would you recommend?

I think Jory Sherman is as good a Western writer as any we have ever had.

Do you work on more than one book at a time?

I do a lot of books, but I do them serially. I can't work on more than one book at a time.

You’ve written westerns under a variety of pseudonyms, such as Jake Logan, Lee Davis Willoughby, B.J. Lanagan, Hank Mitchum, James Calder Boone, and Dale Colter, and I was wondering if you’ve enjoyed writing for any particular series more than others?

 

I've also written as T.J. Jack, K.C. McKenna, Ralph Compton, and another, best selling Western author whose name I can't disclose. I enjoyed writing the Stagecoach series as Hank Mitchum.

 

You’ve won a Spur Award, what was this for?

I won the SPUR for SURVIVAL, a story of the Donner Party. I wrote it as K.C. McKenna.

Which of your westerns would you recommend to someone who hasn’t read any of your work yet and why?

Again, I think I would say Yesterday's Reveille...which I wrote under my own name.

You wrote the book ‘Andersonville’, did you watch the series or just use the screenplay to base the book on?

I had a treatment for the screen play and wrote from that treatment. The book came out before the miniseries.

You wrote a series of books based on the TV series ‘The Wild Wild West’, are there any other TV western series you’d like to write books about?

I would like to do Gunsmoke, I think. That was my favorite TV Western.

What was it like being the host for three TV talk shows?

Fun, and hectic.

I believe you’ve put on a number of writer's retreats and conferences, could you tell us a little about these?

I enjoy them...people who come to them don't really learn anything new, I don't think, but they come to them to meet other writers...and to be motivated. I am more of a motivational speaker than I am an instructor. I'm not doing it this year, but for fifteen years I have hosted WRITE ON THE BEACH, where three writers come spend a week with me in my beach house and I work with them on their projects. It has been a very successful project, but it is exhausting for me, and I am getting old. Now I prefer to work with writers by long distance.

Other than westerns, what is your favourite genre to write in and why?

I like historical novels. I did a series for Bantam called AMERICAN CHRONICLES which was a decade by decade account, in novel form, of the 20th Century. I also did a five book series of WWII called THE WAR TORN, in which each book had as its main character, someone from one of the belligerent nations. America, Germany, France, Japan, and England.

How did your friendship with Bill Butterworth, better known as the best-selling military novelist W.E.B. Griffin, come about?

I met Bill over fifty years ago when we were both at Ft. Rucker, AL... he as a civilian working for the army, and I was in the army.

You’ve written books with other authors, such as ‘The Masada Scroll’ and ‘Armor of God’ with Paul Block, how do you go about such a joint venture?

Paul was my editor for a while when I was writing for Book Creations. We worked well together and became close friends and decided to do these books together.

Do you think paper produced books will ever be replaced with electronic books?

I hope not.

What do you think of the western genre today and what do you think the future holds for the western?

I think there will always be Westerns...it is the only truly American story. And we have some very good Western writers out there now. I won't name them because I might leave someone out that I don't intend to. But I think the genre is in good hands.

What is your favourite western movie and why?

Shane is my favorite Western...it incorporates all of the classic good verses evil, greedy big rancher verses the smaller rancher.... and Jack Palance made the best villain ever.

Finally what do you read for pleasure?

I’m pretty eclectic, I enjoy a good Western novel, I like good historical novels, and novels with a military theme.

The Regulator #12

SLAUGHTER AT PUXICO

as by Dale Colter

Harper, May 1994

Puxico had once been a prosperous mining town; it’s riches coming from silver and copper. Then Jessup gets himself appointed as Sheriff and deputizes his bullyboys. The townspeople are taxed for everything. If anyone stands up to Jessups’ methods they find themselves hanged or shot.

Slater, The Regulator, is in a nearby town and when he hears of the troubles in Puxico he rides in to give Jessup and his gang a cold, hard slap of western justice.

The final book in The Regulator series is an entertaining enough read but is pretty much a formula western, the plot has been used many times before and this didn’t really offer anything new.

Slater is almost a secondary character as much of the book concentrates on Jessup, his gang and the townspeople. Slater’s part is to rally the townspeople together, urge them to make a stand against Jessup.

Not bad, but there are better in the series.

The Regulator #11

TRAIL OF DEATH

as by Dale Colter

Harper, Jan. 1994

When Sam Slater rides into the town of Slipshod, Wylie Fortune – a killer with a five hundred dollar price on his head – is his for the taking. It’s easy pickings for Slater until the desert massacre of the 10th Cavalry explodes in a blaze of bullets, and he’s the fall guy. With nothing less than a reward for recouping twenty thousand dollars in stolen gold at stake, Slater must outshoot the army and Rowdy Burton’s gang in a bloody battle that begins and ends in a hail of hot lead.

There’s plenty of fast paced action in this book as Sam Slater, The Regulator follows this trail of death. If the above isn’t enough the author also throws into the mix a renegade band of Apache, whose leader, Huerfano, will bring back painful memories from Slater’s past, memories that can only be paid for in death.

The book builds well, with Slater having quite a bit of bad luck as well as good. His character of a man who only cares about himself and getting his bounty comes across strongly. The support cast is portrayed equally as well, the half-breed Creel being a particular favourite.

The book is filled with violence; often savage, and I felt the inclusion of the Siwel cousins – a couple of wannabe bounty hunters - provide some lighter moments that balance the brutality out well.

To my knowledge this is the only entry in the series from this particular author, Preston Lewis, and it’s a shame he didn’t do more. Definitely one of the better entries in this twelve book series.

Worth looking for if you like tough, gritty westerns.