Billy Dixon’s Lucky Shot

Posted on October 13, 2014 by John Biggs

Marker at the former location of Adobe Walls

On June 27, 1874, twenty-eight men and one woman sleeping in a run down settlement called Adobe Walls learned it’s better to be lucky than to have an army on your side. Most of them were buffalo hunters, stalking bison in the Texas panhandle where they weren’t supposed to be. The Treaty of Medicine Lodge made it illegal for white men to hunt in Comanche territory, but the demand for buffalo hides was high and the animals were growing scarce.

Comanche and Kiowa warriors had driven white men out of Adobe Walls ten years prior with unrelenting attacks. The garrison had been blown up and abandoned, but the hunters were venturing back and putting increased pressure on the buffalo herds. The settlement consisted of a few crude buildings including Hanrahan’s Saloon. Continue reading →

A Highway or a Short Story Collection?

Posted on September 18, 2014 by John Biggs

Castle Valley on I-70

Highway 70 through Utah is basically a series of short stories tied up by a ribbon of cement. It runs through a region of the state called the San Rafael Swell where there were no major roads at all before it was built. There is a 110 mile stretch of the highway where there are no towns and no service for automobiles, but every few miles there is another scenic and historical roadside attraction. Continue reading →

My First Library Book Fair Ever

Posted on September 15, 2014 by John Biggs

Jim Stovall at the Hardesty Regional Library Book Fair

Jim Stovall was the motivational speaker at my first Library Book Fair ever. The event was held at the Hardesty Regional Library in Tulsa on Saturday, Sept. 13. 2014. I didn’t have the slightest idea who Jim Stovall was or why I should be really happy he was speaking at an event. Shame on me.

I had no idea Jim Stovall was blind or that after losing his sight he went on to become:

An International Humanitarian of the Year
A National Olympic weightlifting champion
An Emmy Award winner
The Founder and President of the Narrative Television Network
One of the Ten Outstanding Young Americans awarded by the U.S. Jaycees
A National Entrepreneur of the Year
A recipient of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce National Blue Chip Enterprise Award
A world-renowned author and speaker
The author of, The Ultimate Gift. Best seller and now a 20th Century Fox major motion picture
Karen Marie Graham, author and publisher

It takes me—and most authors—from six months to a few years to finish a book. Jim Stovall has managed to write fifteen best sellers including two that were made into major motion pictures by dictating them. At his Hardesty lecture he said The Ultimate Gift was dictated in five days start to finish and sent off to the publisher with no edits. This book was then made into a movie staring James Garner (another Oklahoman everybody should know about) and Abigail Breslin.

For his work in making television accessible to our nation’s 13 million blind and visually impaired people, The President’s Committee on Equal Opportunity selected Jim Stovall as the Entrepreneur of the Year. He was also chosen as the International Humanitarian of the Year, joining Jimmy Carter, Nancy Reagan, and Mother Teresa as

Sean Al-Jibouri, Jazz guitar.

recipients of this honor. Steve Forbes, president and CEO of Forbes magazine, said, “Jim Stovall is one of the most extraordinary men of our era.”

Aside from having one of the greatest speakers ever, the book fair went pretty well. Forty authors—including me and Jim Stovall—were there signing and selling books. It’s safe to say he sold more than I did (probably more than everyone else combined) but commerce was brisk all around, exposure was good, and everybody went away smiling.

Karen Marie Graham, author of Promises You Keep, and children’s book, Thank You God for Everything, did an excellent job of organizing the book fair. When she isn’t writing or organizing events, Karen is the driving force behind the Oklahoma publishing company, Books-A-Daisy.

In the quiet moments between events, entertainment was provided by the outstanding jazz guitarist Sean Al-Jibouri.

“Girls from Jumbo” in the Fringeworks anthology, CADAVERS

Posted on August 31, 2014 by John Biggs

“Girls from Jumbo” was published by Knightwatch Press in the anthology, Cadavers. The book was launched at Southcart Books, 20-

Opening Paragraphs:

Animal tracks mark the freshly fallen snow around the cabin. Raccoon and possum prints by the trashcan, deer tracks everywhere else – as if a small herd had come around to make sure the hunters were gone.

Michael stands among the trees; he looks for signs of human life. No lights behind the cabin windows, no smoke, no thumps or bumps or human voices. He turns to see what Kenny has to say before he remembers. His only friend is in McAlester. One of those broken-home-visitation things Michael’s dad is always going on about.

Pills make it easy to forget the loneliness. Michael swallowed two, on his walk to the cabin, or was it three? It’s easy to lose count when no one is around to share. Kenny won’t be back till summertime.

Dad told him, ‘Gone and good riddance,’ earlier this morning.

‘Bad company ruins good morals,’ dad said. ‘Right out of First Corinthians 15:33.’ He’d have said more but he had a meeting with the mayor.

‘May his days be few; may another take his office. Psalms 109:8.’ That’s how Michael’s father summed up politics in Jumbo, Oklahoma.

Cadavers will be available soon along with many other horror genre books on Knightwatch Press’s Amazon page here.

“The Reason” now available in the Fractured Realms anthology.

Posted on August 23, 2014 by John Biggs

“The Reason”, was first published in Glimpses of Insanity, Rainstorm Press, 2012. It has now been published again in the Horrified Press anthology, Fractured Realms released on June 15, available on Amazon August 21 ALL PROFITS FROM FRACTURED REALMS GOES TO THE AUTISM TRUST.

“The Reason” opening paragraph:

Things always happen to guys from the Middle East. Religious things—check it out. Jesus, Moses, Mohammed, all those martyrs and apostles. All from the Holy Lands where bushes catch on fire and tell you to take off your shoes and people get swallowed by fish and live to tell about it. You’d think it would be different in Oklahoma City, especially if your name is Joseph Gavin and you were adopted by Irish Baptists who barely even go to church. But no, you’re still from the Middle East, and weird things still happen to you because that’s the way things work whether you like it or not.

All according to God’s plan.

You can learn more about Rainstorm Press or buy Glimpses of Insanity here.

Glimpses of Insanity is also available on Amazon.

Fractured Realms is also available on Amazon.

“Footprints”

Posted on August 17, 2014 by John Biggs

“Footprints” was one of my earliest and most successful short short stories. It was posted earlier but I think it deserves a second mention since it has been reprinted with minor modifications for a third time by UK magazine, Firewords Quarterly, issue 2, August 14, 2014.

“Footprints” was first published in Red Dirt 2007 Anthology, Sept. 2008.

“Footprints” won third place in ByLine’s short short story competition in 2007, and was subsequently published in the Storyteller, volume 17, issue 3, July, August, September, 2012. It was awarded the Storyteller’s People’s Choice award for that quarter.

“Footprints” opening paragraphs:

I stood beside Mom in a dried up sandstone basin in Black Mesa State Park and waited for her to tell me the bad news.

“This is where it happened Sarah.” She pointed at a set of footprints in the rock where two dinosaurs had walked.

“Sixty million years ago.” She checked her watch, making sure she had the time exactly right.

Order back issues or learn more about the Storyteller here.

Order issue 2 of Firewords Quarterly here.