Brick and Mortar

I love brick and mortar bookstores. Although I can find almost any book I want online, I love walking into a genuine bookstore. I love the smells, the mingling of pulp and coffee. I love stumbling across great titles I would have never known existed were it not for a thoughtful bookseller.

On Saturday, November 11, I will be signing Waylon County at the Restaurant of the Mind bookstore in Saginaw, Texas. This makes me happy for a couple of reasons. First, I am a fan of the Restaurant of the Mind, and, second, I appreciate its location. The store is located across from the old Burrus Mill where Bob Wills, Milton Brown, and the Light Crust Doughboys got their start. The mill also served as the headquarters for Pappy O'Daniel's winning gubernatorial campaign in 1938. I hope some of the good luck across the street passes on to the Restaurant of the Mind and the good people of Waylon County.

Here is an article about the Restaurant of the Mind in the Fort Worth Weekly.

https://www.fwweekly.com/2017/08/16/restaurant-for-the-mind-arrives/

Halloween in Texas

Although Texas is more well-known for big hats and oil wells, the state also has its share of ghosts and monsters. Ghosts are thought to occupy the Menger Hotel in San Antonio, the Driskill Hotel in Austin, and the Faust Hotel in Kerrville. La Llorona is believed to walk the banks of the Rio Grande, and the Lake Worth Monster and the Chupacabra are thought to lurk around in the Texas wilderness.

For Halloween, I have decided to share a song by Ray Wylie Hubbard. This little ditty is about an encounter with the devil. The narrator in the song is apparently on close terms with the Lord of Darkness because he calls him "Lou," which is, of course, short for "Lucifer." That gives me a chuckle, and I also dig the fact the Mister Hubbard quotes the 17th century English poet John Milton's Paradise Lost. Happy Halloween, y'all.

 

 

  

The Father of Conjunto

This time of year, when Oktoberfests are in full swing, polkas are played throughout our great state. From Galveston to Fredericksburg to Muenster, folks celebrate the music and culture of Germany. One man who was influenced by the music of the Texas Germans and Czechs was Narciso Martinez, a Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico, native known as the "Father of Conjunto." Martinez, an accordion player, was also called the "Hurricane of the Valley" for his fast, energetic style. Today is the 106th anniversary of his birth. To celebrate this Texas music legend, here is "Viva Laredo":

Also, here is a short article about Narciso Martinez from the Texas State Historical Association, an organization I recently joined:

https://texasdaybyday.com/ 

Waylon County: On the Road

Waylon County is the product of many years on the road, yet I never considered it to be a road book. Then, within days of Waylon County's release, my old college buddy, Justin Eagle, informed me that he was taking the book with him on a motorcycle trip to West Texas. Justin rode some 1500 miles on his journey and visited Big Bend, Terlingua, Fort Davis, and I imagine plenty of parts unknown. His description of the trip made me long for the road, and I am thrilled that he took my book along for the ride.

Waylon County is available at: https://www.amazon.com/Waylon-County-Stories-Heath-Dollar/dp/0998066141/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1509199486&sr=1-1&keywords=heath+dollar

Funky Times in the Fort

Today we strolled the Arts Goggle on Magnolia in Fort Worth enjoying the art, artists, and artisans. I stopped and talked with the wife of a man who created illuminated manuscripts. She told me that the inks her husband used were based on medieval or Renaissance recipes depending on the project and that the works were done upon vellum. I asked for a business card and was very pleased to see the words upon it:

"Scribal Work Shop 

  Lucas Tucker 

  Scribe and Chemist"

In my opinion, one would be hard-pressed to have a better title than "Scribe and Chemist." I am sure Andrew Dorantes, the ruff-collar wearing protagonist of my story, "The Librero," would surely agree.

While walking along Magnolia, Martina and I saw a Fema wagon turned art showcase, an antique porch screen converted into an installation piece, graphic political commentary in acrylic, a local homage to Avedon, a spaghetti western in oil, and countless curiosities and baubles. We also heard a US Navy jazz band, a young singer-songwriter who seemed influenced by both Sharon Van Etten and Robert Zimmerman, and we heard snippets of acts that were playing on the side streets. To round out our day, we visited the authors at the Leaves Book and Tea Shop tent. Leaves, I was glad to learn, will be opening the doors of its storefront this fall.

The Arts Goggle has grown into an incredible success, and I commend the organizers for their tenacity and vision. When the festival began more than a decade ago, I remember having to drive from venue to venue because the festival was so small and the venues spread so far apart. Not any more. It is block after block of culture and fun. Hats off to the Arts Goggle and the folks that are making Fort Worth funky.


Here is a picture of some art in progress that Martina took today:

Bigfoot Wallace County

Bigfoot Wallace County is just next door to Waylon County, and like many other places in my book, it is named after a historical figure. William "Bigfoot" Wallace was a famous Texas Ranger whose exploits were chronicled in The Adventures of Big-Foot Wallace, which was published in 1871. Wallace, who was a member of the Mier Expedition and a survivor the Black Bean Incident, lived somewhere between legend and the truth. To illustrate that point, it should be noted that the great folklorist J. Frank Dobie wrote about the Ranger in "Bigfoot Wallace and the Hickory Nuts," and Wallace's story is the basis of Larry McMurtry's Dead Man's Walk. There is, of course, no Bigfoot Wallace County in Texas, so I decided to give us one. I hope y'all can visit there one day.

If you do not yet have a copy of Waylon County, you may purchase one at:

https://www.amazon.com/Waylon-County-Stories-Heath-Dollar/dp/0998066141/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1508541755&sr=8-1&keywords=heath+dollar

   

Wild Animals and the Right Books

In the foreword to Waylon County, I briefly discuss my time living in Yellowstone National Park, where I encountered "many wild animals and plenty of the right books." This evening, while reading a review of Nate Blakeslee's new book, American Wolf, in the Texas Observer, I recalled one of those animal encounters.

In 1995, the year the wolves were being reintroduced into Yellowstone, I happened upon a chain link pen in the backcountry. That alone would have been unusual, but then, inside the pen, I saw a wolf trotting back and forth along the fence keeping pace with a wolf on the other side. Startled, the wolves looked up, and I had no idea what was going to happen next, for I had never met a wolf in the wild before. To my surprise, the wolf on the outside of the fence bolted into the lodgepole pines and disappeared. I don't recall what the wolf in the pen did at that point, but I turned around and headed back toward the road.

In the summer of '95, the wolves were the talk of the region. Environmentalists heralded the return of Canis lupus, and ranchers adopted the motto, "Shoot 'em, shovel 'em, and shut up." From what I gathered in the Texas Observer review, Nate Blakeslee deals with this complex subject with an even hand. I believe this to be a wise approach, and I look forward to reading American Wolf and seeing how the author, one of my former Southwestern classmates, tells the tale.


Here is a photo from the Yellowstone Park site.

Waylon County and Governor Hogg

In Waylon County, Byron Herblight, an alumnus of Warnell High School, works at the James S. Hogg Document Production and Data Transcription Building at the capitol complex in Austin. Of course, there is no such building, but I think the name sounds believable enough. James S. Hogg, after all, was elected governor of Texas in 1890 and before holding that office worked as a typesetter in Rusk and as a printer's devil in Cleburne. Considering Governor Hogg's background, it would not be a leap for a document production and data transcription building to be named after him.

However, the main reason I dedicated the building to James S. Hogg is that he named his daughter "Ima," which tends to elicit a guilty chuckle. The story goes that Ima had a sister named "Ura," although this is not true. "Ura" was just added to the tale for comedy's sake. So, to me, tacking James S. Hogg's name to a place called "a document production and data transcription building," which sounds stiflingly bureaucratic, adds an element of absurdity to the story.

However, choosing to name the building after James S. Hogg was not just for comedic effect. Cynicism also played a substantial role. After all, how could a person be so short-sighted and thoughtless that he would name his daughter "Ima Hogg" yet still be capable of winning the governorship?

One thing is for sure. You have to love Texas, where the line between satire and reality is sometimes indistinguishable.  


Here is a link to a TSHA article about Governor James Hogg:

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fho17

Here is a photo of Ima Hogg:

Here is where you can get your copy of Waylon County:

https://www.amazon.com/Waylon-County-Stories-Heath-Dollar/dp/0998066141/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1508077589&sr=8-1&keywords=waylon+county+heath+dollar

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag

My stepfather, Randy J. Kunze, would have turned 72 years old today. Were he still with us, I would have given him a copy of Waylon County for his birthday and signed it with "danke für alles"; for, without his influence, Waylon County in this form would not exist.

In my mid-twenties, Randy gave me a copy of Roemer's Texas, and it was this book that provided me with my first insight into Texas-German history. Then, when I was considering taking a job in the Czech Republic, Randy gave me Czech language cassettes and encouraged me to move to Europe while others were advising against it. Without Randy's influence, I would not have lived five years in the Czech Republic, and I would have never considered writing a book that included stories about the descendants of Texas' early settlers.

Randy was a proud Texan and a direct descendant of Stephen F. Austin on his mother's side. In his later years, the family resemblance was extremely apparent. He looked very much like Stephen F. Austin does in 19th century portraits. Although no stories of the birth of Texas passed down in family lore, Randy was very aware of his Texas heritage and introduced me to some of the state's greatest places. I am very thankful to have had him, and today I only wish I could tell him, "Alles Gute zum Geburtstag."

Texas Observer Honorable Mention

The ever-vigilant writer and short story blogger, Ann Graham, sent a note of congratulations about one of my stories receiving an Honorable Mention in the 2017 Texas Observer Short Story Contest. Honestly, Ann knew about this before I did. I was glad to see that my story, a satirical piece called "Bathroom Bill Cody," was recognized, and I was also happy to learn that "Lunch in a Desert Town" by Linda Blackwell Simmons, which our writers' group critiqued a while back, had been recognized as well. I was also pleased that Donna Walker-Nixon, who has a piece in the 2017 Panther City Review, received an Honorable Mention. That makes three writers associated with Sleeping Panther Press being recognized by the Texas Observer today. Congratulations, Sleeping Panther Press.

Here is a link to the winning story (and the list of stories that were recognized):

https://www.texasobserver.org/short-story-contest-winner-muriel/

Waylon County: Launched

Waylon County launched yesterday, and the emotion I felt was a combination of gratitude, relief, and happiness. If there is an English word for that emotion, I do not know it. I imagine the German language has a word for it, and it is probably twenty syllables long.

I dedicated Waylon County to the ones who believed, and many of those people were in attendance yesterday. To those who believed in me, whether you be near or far, thank you from the bottom of my heart. This would have never happened without you.

Waylon County Philosopher

In my younger days, I could often be seen with a book of philosophy in my back pocket. The philosopher who fascinated me the most was Socrates, and I was so enthralled by him that I traveled to Athens to visit the agora where he taught. In my work, Socrates turns up in the song, "Byzantium," which I wrote in my mid-twenties, and in Waylon County, which will be released tomorrow.

In "Byzantium," Socrates comes and goes within a single line. In Waylon County, he turns up in a story about a couple of good ol' boys chewing the fat on the porch. As you might imagine, the story, "The Socrates of Waylon County," never gets too highfalutin.

Here is a link to tomorrow's Waylon County launch information:

http://www.sleepingpantherpress.com/2017/09/waylon-county-texas-stories-by-heath.html

And here is "Byzantium" performed by Nijak:

Honkytonk Music in Waylon County

A while back, my story called "The Nine Lives of Ivy Lee Jones" was a finalist in the Northeast Texas Writers' Organization's short story contest, which was judged by #1 New York Times best-selling author Colleen Hoover. "The Nine Lives of Ivy Lee Jones" is in the Waylon County collection, and its protagonist, Ivy Lee Jones, also appears in "Opening Weekend."

"Opening Weekend" is set in the Old Coyote Bar, where folks dance to genuine honkytonk sounds. Since I am essentially the proprietor of the Old Coyote, I have filled the jukebox with some of my favorite tunes. So Ivy Lee can't help but find herself dancing to the Texas Troubadour, Ernest Tubb. When it comes to songs to make 'em scoot their boots, you just can't beat E.T.

Although Waylon County launches on October 7, I just realized that the book is now available online. Here is a link:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/waylon-county-heath-dollar/1127121182?ean=9780998066141

And here is the man with the guit-steel, Junior Brown, playing "My Baby Don't Dance to Nothing but Ernest Tubb."