Behind the Scenes: Notes, Comments and More
A new place for story notes, flash nonfiction and commentary
I’ve always hated the word “blog.”
Yes, I know it comes from the phrase “web log.” But it sounds like something you’d say crouched over the toilet in the bathroom of a cheap bar after downing way too many vodka shots.
There are plenty of alternatives to choose from, of course – “journal,” “diary,” “articles” and so on. One brilliant writer here on Substack calls those kinds of posts “author’s notes,” so I wouldn’t steal that.
I’ve been putting a few bits about the making of the stories at the end of every fiction piece, so “Behind the Scenes” seems appropriate. But much as I’d like to tell everyone more about those things, I don’t want to burden the story with extra stuff that some readers may not be interested in.
So, I’ve moved “Behind the Scenes” pieces out of the story posts and given them their own tag. That way, I can give a fuller treatment to my notes about the inspiration behind the stories, commentary about the world of fantasy and science fiction, and some real-life weird tales – and readers who enjoy that kind of thing can find them here. I’ll be including a link to each week’s “Behind the Scenes” in the main Black Moon Journal issue.
The Wild, Weird West
Currently I’m publishing the weird Western tale “The Last of the Light” in four parts, so it isn’t too long a read. It’s part of the Borderlands series that also includes “On Crow Water” and the Sixkiller stories. These stories arise partly out of my own experiences living in the borderlands off and on since I was a kid, and partly out of the rich store of legend and folktales from the many different cultures of the desert southwest. And there’s something about these places that inspires creative work of all kinds.
The “weird Western” is having a moment right now, thanks to the hit Netflix series “Outer Range.” But many other creators have dabbled in the genre-bending mix of traditional Western tropes and horror, science fiction and fantasy. Western themes have also crept into many mainstream science fiction tales, including the beloved classics Star Wars and Firefly.
The weird Western tale can be set in the past, present or future. But they all need a Western location, either fictional or factual, that includes at least some classic Western characters, settings, and themes. Then add the speculative fiction elements of your choice – and the weird Western is born.
If you’re looking for more strange Western stories, here are a few to explore. I’ve mentioned some of them in previous notes from “Behind the Scenes.”
Stephen King’s The Dark Tower tops the list, of course, both in book and movie form.
Charles de Lint, the beloved fantasy author of the Newford books, has written several stories and novels set in the fictional desert town of Santo del Vado Viejo, including The Mystery of Grace, The Painted Boy, and The Wind in His Heart.
Emma Bull, who helped to launch the whole urban fantasy genre with her charming novel War for the Oaks, brings that mix of gritty reality and magic to her novel Territory – a new take on the familiar story of Tombstone’s OK corral.
No discussion of the weird West would be complete without a mention of SF/F veteran Terri Windling, whose novel The Wood Wife takes a haunting look at desert spirits in the mountains near Tucson, Arizona.
C S Poe’s Steampunk Western world builds on themes including the California Gold Rush in a blend of magic and unconventional romance. Try the short book The Engineer for starters.
In film and TV, there’s Harrison Ford in Cowboys and Aliens (the title says it all), Outland, the 1981 sci-fi flick starring Sean Connery as a marshal in a mining town on Jupiter’s moon IO, and of course the long running television show Westworld, set in a Western-themed amusement park.
In music, Western themes are most often associated with country. But the songs that have inspired so many of my stories and poems come from two rock bands that actually live in Arizona – Calexico, with songs like the elegant “Guero Canelo” and the comical “Ballad of Cable Hogue,” and Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, whose long list of desert-themed music includes “Americano,” and “Nada,” a song that captures the spirit of the desert like no other.
There’s much more, of course. Both old and new, the West still has plenty of stories to tell.
If you have others to share, or thoughts about this new feature on Black Moon Journal, let me know in the comments. It’s still a work in progress.