Hello, Posse!
I hope you all had a frightfully good Halloween and are ready to head into the holiday season. I will admit I am stressing a bit. Today I start writing part seven, Into the West: Family Ties, the final novella in the Into the West Saga Serial. I'm stressing about getting it done in time for Christmas and I worry that I will rush the story to get it done on time. So I will be very focused on writing for a while.
Plus, P.R. had to leave this morning for few weeks for business. This is good and bad. It's good because I can just spend all my time focusing on writing while P.R. is gone. It's also bad because I already miss P.R. and it's only been about 8 hours since P.R. left. I used to be so completely independent, what happened to me? I used to travel all over the place by myself, even to foreign countries. Now, just a few weeks without my better-half seems like a very long time.
At least I have Shaggy and some great western movies to keep me entertained. Like today's flick, The Texas Rangers starring Fred MacMurray and Jack Oakie. (Like that segue?) This movie was released in 1936 and was directed by King Vidor. This is another great western movie that was inspired by a book. Walter Prescott Webb published the book, The Texas Rangers, A Century of Frontier Defense in 1935.
The movie adaptation would go on to earn an Oscar nomination in 1936 for Best Sound Recording. The film was also featured at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2020 as part of a tribute to the career of King Vidor.
MacMurray and Oakie are joined on the cast by Lloyd Nolan, Edward Ellis, Jean Parker, and one of my favorite character actors of this time period, George "Gabby" Hayes.
The movie follows three bandits: Jim (MacMurray), Wahoo (Oakie), and Sam (Nolan). With the law closing in on their trial, Sam leaves his friends behind and sets up a new racket with other outlaws. Jim and Wahoo try to keep up their old racket and barely escape being gunned down by a Texas Ranger. When they realize how lucky they were, they decide to change their tactics and join the Texas Rangers. They join up thinking they can use their positions in the Rangers to commit more crimes but circumstances lead them down a different path.
The pair are sent out to round up some cattle rustlers only to find out their old friend, Sam is the leader. When they meet up again, Sam tries to talk them into using their Ranger connections to commit more crimes. However, as events unfold, Jim and Wahoo have second thoughts and end up having to choose between a life of crime or arresting their old friend.
One of the great things about movies from this era is they tend to all be in the public domain and you can find many of them online to watch for free. I have posted a link to the full movie below.
Movie Snack Recipe
I thought today we would go with something a little spicy considering we probably all had plenty of sweet recently.
Today's movie snack recipe comes from
Just a Pinch Recipes, Texas Rattlesnake-Bites (<--- click here for recipe).
Now, I was never fond of jalapeños until recently, but that also goes for mangos and beets too. For some reason, my tastes have seemed to have changed drastically as I got older. I eat jalapeños quite often now and this recipe is on the menu for this week! Remember, if you don't have buttermilk in the house you can make some with the required about of regular milk then add about a tablespoon of white vinegar and let it sit for about 15 minutes then use as directed in the recipe.
Great Westerns
Remember, many great western movies started out as great western books. If you haven't already, why not read my Into the West Saga Serial Collection (<---click to view books). Parts one through six are available now on Amazon.com and BN.com. I'm currently writing the final chapter of this saga, part seven, Into the West: Family Ties. It is set for a Christmas release.
Don't forget, you can join my mailing list and never miss out on news or upcoming release dates. Just go to our subscribers page (<--- click here) and give us your name and email address. When you join up, you get to read the first chapter of Into the West: The Orphan Train for free. If you haven't read my books this is a great way to try them out with no risk to you or if you have Kindle Unlimited the entire Into the West Saga Serial is available to read free with your subscription.
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You know what time it is now, posse! It's time to grab your snacks and settle in for another great western movie!
Enjoy,