Lost in the myths and fairy tales of the Old West & beyond.
Writing a novel based on real history and real people is difficult. The problem with history books is they can be a bit dry. I wanted to make my characters human and really breathe some life into them. My solution was music. There’s a song for just about every human emotion out there. Someone has…
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Long before The Doc Holliday Series came into existence, I ran a Tombstone fansite called “Some of the Fellas From Tombstone.” In 2000, I interviewed Peter Sherayko who portrayed cowboy Texas Jack Vermillion in Tombstone. He worked as technical advisor for the film and is the head of The Buckaroos, a group of specialised performers…
Read moreI found this story and I had to share. Apparently Bob Dylan is a huge fan of the movie Tombstone, so much so that he asked Val Kilmer to say some of the lines during a meeting they had. Kilmer wouldn’t quote the film in front of Dylan no matter how much Dylan prodded him….
Read moreOne of the main reasons that I wrote A Gentleman in Hell is because I am obsessed with Doc as a character. It’s hard not to like Val Kilmer’s portrayal of Doc in Tombstone. He’s educated, witty, clever, loyal, a slick dresser, a good pianist, fast with a gun, and can ride a horse while hocking up half a lung. Not bad considering! To top it all, he gets all the best lines in the film. Then there’s Quaid’s Doc, a bit darker and more world-weary than Kilmer’s Doc. He’s more of a drunk, has a mean temper and rather strangely an extremely filthy handkerchief. He’s a grinning skull and a fatalist.
Read moreSince I love horses and will watch most westerns because of the horses, the films Tombstone and Wyatt Earp were a great escape for me. But it wasn’t the horses that hooked me, it was Doc Holliday. He was an absolute obsession. Both Val Kilmer and Dennis Quaid did a wonderful job of portraying Doc’s…
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