Western Book Series: The Ticking Clock & A Novel Timeline

From left: Aaron Bly, Michael Bly, Janet Chester Bly & Russell Bly working on Stuart Brannon’s Final Shot

Final Western Book Series Novel Family Deadline by Janet Chester Bly 

We started the project July 1, 2011. Our deadline for Stuart Brannon’s Final Shot, Book 7 in the Stuart Brannon western book series, was November 1^st.

My husband, western author Stephen Bly, left us 7,000 words (one chapter), a one-page synopsis, some scribbled, penciled notes and a list of characters. We listened to the audio versions of the first six original books of the Stuart Brannon western book series. We immersed ourselves in the character of Stuart Brannon, who he was, what he’d  done, what he would say or do. One key challenge proved to be, remain true to the Stuart Brannon western book series story style. Yet we must flow with what Stephen gave us for this new tale, set several decades later in 1905.

At our first meeting together, we read the sample chapters he left us. The sons commented, “Seems more like a mystery than a western.” A different kind of Stephen Bly historical novel.

I searched the other Stephen Bly novels for references to Brannon and to what other characters we’d include. We scrambled to fill pages with words, any scenes, every dialogue we could muster. We gave each other research assignments about the places and people, inventions and events of 1905 in Oregon and the world.

August 2011

I wrote every day I could and emailed samples of the scenes each night to my sons. They sent commentary, then we discussed ideas and issues further at the readings each Sunday afternoon.

One of the main characters, Tom Wiseman, was new to us and to the series. He was the missing U.S. Marshal friend of Stuart Brannon’s. We discussed a lot about him and his background.

Western book series: Many mysteries. Lots of questions.

We had many mysteries to solve. The big question: what happened to him and why? Is he dead? Hiding? Evading a scandal? Was he kidnapped? Is he lost at sea? Wounded and waiting for a rescue? Was he eaten by sharks? Ambushed?

Research

At one meeting session, we studied crimes, motives for crimes, methods of murder and the psychosis of murderers. The villain and the dastardly deed began to emerge. Whether mystery or western or a combination, we needed a profile of the bad guy … or gal.

Reading a general summary of what we knew so far, we needed a more detailed outline. We prepared sketches of each of the other main characters and made composites. Finally, progress, when we reached 24,000 words.

September 2011

After development of all the major plot points and completion of the summary of character sketches, Michael wrote the golf and poker scenes. Aaron developed an adventure scene. And I plodded each day to fill out the rest, stopping only to attend an AFCW fiction writers conference in St. Louis, Missouri where I took a class taught by Stanley Williams, author of The Moral Premise. From that I developed a theme to guide the story and action arcs for the characters in this last tale of the western book series.

October 2011

We reached 67,000 words and started our last round of readings and critiques, additions and deletions. By the third session, we had 74,000 words. However, there was confusion with the story’s chronology. A scramble ensued to sort it all out. Long hours into the night to untangle the misplaced scenes.

November 1, 2011

At 10:37 a.m., my son, Mike, sent an email: “Well? Ready to push ‘send?’”
I crunched a few last details.
At 11:46 a.m., I attached the 77,000 word manuscript that completed the western book series to the editor. Award-winning* western author Stephen Bly’s last task on earth done.

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YouTube video book trailer for western book series, Book #7 Stuart Brannon’s Final Shot:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/Pd6mvfeX8Fo [/youtube]

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Stuart Brannon’s Final Shot by Stephen Bly, hardback/large-print edition

Stuart Brannon’s Final Shot, Book 7, Stuart Brannon western book series, *Selah Book Award Finalist

Available in hardback/large print, paperback, and ebook versions on your Kindle, Nook or iPad, etc. Order at our Bly Books bookstore HERE STUART BRANNON SERIES

Stephen Bly Family Affair – Finishing Dad’s Novel blog article HERE FINISHING DAD’S NOVEL 

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Character Interview Questions for Western Hero, Stuart Brannon