John Legg Interview

 

Next up is the prolific John Legg

 

Hi, John. Thanks for joining us here today.

 

You’re a prolific writer; it seems like you’ve been around for a good while. What does a typical writing day look like for you?

I don’t have a typical writing day. When I’m on a roll, I’ll write until I can’t write anymore that day.

 

Are you able to name some of your series and what pseudonyms you’ve written under?

My own series are Rocky Mountain Lawmen and Arizona Territory, plus the trilogies Mountain Times, Mountain Country, and Blood Trail. Pseudonyms I’ve written under are Will McLennan, Clint Hawkins, and Jack Hanson.

 

How many words do you aim to write in a day when working on a novel?

2,000-4,000

 

Are you a detailed outliner or do you discover the story as you write?

I’m a seat-of-the-pants writer, so I discover it as I go along. I even let the characters guide me at times. Occasionally, I’ll write an outline, but a quarter of the way through it, I am already drifting away from it.

 

How has your writing process changed since you published your first book?

Not too much, other than being more meticulous.

 

What are your favorite western series that you’ve read or worked on?

I don’t read many Westerns out of fear of subconsciously plagiarizing. Of my own, I’m very fond of the Mountain Times trilogy.

 

Do you revise as you go, or complete a first draft before editing?

For the most part I’ll get it done, then do the rewriting, which, considering the seat-of-the-pants writing I do, often means a lot of rewriting. I will do some as I go along if I realize something I’m doing now doesn’t mesh with something I wrote earlier, but it generally would have to have been written not long before.

 

What advice would you give to writers trying to build a disciplined writing routine?

If you look at some of the previous responses, you will get the idea that I don’t have a disciplined writing routine. Besides, whatever my writing routine is, even if it were more structured, might not be good for someone else. Try different things. Talk to a lot of authors and try what they have to say. Then find what suits you best.

 

What kinds of books do you read for pleasure?

Mostly mysteries. I have a few favorite authors I like: Craig Johnson, Anne Hillerman (I had read everything by her father, Tony), Laurie R. King, David Rosenfelt, Steve Hockensmith (who is among the ranks of the Wolfpack), and the wonderfully wacky Christopher Moore.

 

How much of your reading is research versus relaxation?

About 50-50. I generally read one, then the other.

 

Are there any authors you return to again and again?

See the above list, but there are a few old-timers, like Janice Holt Giles. I had a wider selection of writers when I was younger, including Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clark. I read a lot of Edgar Rice Burroughs when I was a kid.

 

What book are you reading right now?

I recently finished Silent Bite, by Rosenfelt, and I’m now into The Saga of the Pony Express by Joseph J. DiCerto

 

Do you prefer physical books, ebooks, or audiobooks?

I’m an old guy and old-fashioned, so I like physical books.

 

How has your reading taste evolved over the years?

In a way, it’s stayed the same. I like adventure types, though it has changed by genre somewhat. When I was young, I read most of the Chip Hilton stories and the Hardy Boys; eventually I moved into science fiction, but that’s gotten way past me; now it’s mysteries, many of which, like Craig Johnson’s, are also adventurous. I must admit, too, that I am jealous of him. I wish I could write half as well as he does.

 

Top 3 Western authors you’ve read? Past and present.

Janice Holt Giles, Tony Hillerman, but also single Westerns by some not necessarily Western authors, like James Michner’s Centennial, and The Shootist by Glendon Swarthout. If you are looking for nonfiction, there are too manty to list, but Dee Brown and Robert Utley have done very fine work.

 

Which authors have had the greatest influence on your work?

Edgar Rice Burroughs and Janice Holf Giles.

 

What first sparked your interest in Western fiction?

When I was in the service, I read The Great Adventure by Janice Holt Gilles. I was really drawn to it. But life goes on, and I forgot about it. A few years later, I was attending Boston University. The TA in the Communications class had us walk down Commonwealth Ave. and describe it. I thought this was stupid, so that’s what I wrote. The TA didn’t care what we wrote; she just wanted to see how well we wrote. I was graded very highly. It was then that the thought of actually writing blossomed. And then I remembered The Great Adventure. I found a copy in a bookstore in Kenmore Square and read it again and again. Once more life took precedence, but I never forgot that book. Several more years later, I decided to try my hand at writing a Western, and since I had read Giles ’ book, I was interested in mountain men, so I wrote one. It didn’t win a Nobel Prize nor get published by the first place I tried, but it did get published. (And there is another story there.) It was upward from there, with a few roadblocks along the way. Sorry this went on so long.

 

Have any non-Western writers or genres shaped your storytelling?

I’m sure some, maybe many, have, but there were no one or two in particular, just many who did so by how they wrote.

 

Where do you usually find ideas for your novels and characters?

All over the place. Reading nonfiction. Sometimes a place. Sometimes a character forms in my head, and I have to find a place to put him or her. Sometimes just a feeling, or you see a news story that’s sad or great, and I think I can make a novel out of that.

 

What separates a memorable Western novel from an average one?

Well, the writing itself, I think. But characters, action, dialogue. Mostly, I guess, is how it’s put together.

 

You now write for Wolfpack. What’s different with them to other publishers you’ve worked with?

Oh, they’re nasty to me all the time. LOL. No, it’s been great working with them. They’re encouraging and helpful. I joined the pack in its early years. There might’ve only been five or six of us. I had been out of the business for quite a while when I joined Western Fictioneers and asked if anyone knew where I could pick up my career. L.J. Martin,  who started the company, wrote and said he had a new venture going and he would like me to join. He said he would take anything I could give him. Mike was the head honcho at the time and was great to work with, very encouraging. I don’t get to deal with Mike much anymore since he bought the business, but he has hired some good people, and I’ve enjoyed working with them even though I’ve slowed down. There is the tiniest bit of sadness that the family atmosphere we had at the beginning has faded some because the company has grown so much. But that is a small price to pay for Wolfpack having the success it has had, and the folks I have contact with most often, especially Kayla, offer as much of a family attitude as things were in the beginning.

 

Looking back on your career, what single lesson about writing do you wish you had learned sooner?

I don’t know if there was a single lesson. I was a news copy editor for almost 40 years, so things like making sure you get everything right covers both areas.

 

Bonus Question:

If you could spend an afternoon talking with any deceased Western writer, who would it be and what would you ask?

That’s a tough one. Jory Sherman might be one. We worked together a little, so I’m not sure what I could ask him. Maybe Bob Randisi. And I’d ask him how he could write so damn fast.

 

Once again, John,  thank you for joining me and answering the tough questions.