LONE STAR LISTENS interviews   >> archive

Author interviews by Kay Ellington

9.24.2017   Abilene author Bill Neal on journalism, mentors, and “making history something someone would want to read”

Texas attorney and author Bill Neal knows the law — and he knows how to spin a tale. He has combined his skill in observation of fact with a keen knowledge of Texas history and an ear for the telling detail, to publish some of the most fascinating accounts of frontier law and life around. When you ask Bill a question, you’d better sit down for the answer, because he’ll take the long way around. But it’ll sure be worth the trip.

LONE STAR LITERARY LIFE: Congratulations on the publication of yet another rousing book about Texas justice, Bill. Let’s start by discussing the basics: where were you born, and where did you grow up?

BILL NEAL: I was born January 31, 1936, in the small West Texas town of Quanah—county seat of Hardeman County. (The town of Quanah, by the way, is named for the Comanche Indian chief Quanah Parker.) That’s located just eight miles south of the Red River—the northern boundary of Texas and southern boundary of Oklahoma and just around the Southeast corner of the Texas Panhandle. I grew up on a ranch owned by my grandfather, Will Neal, and my dad, Overton “Boots” Neal. An only child, I grew up on that remote ranch along the Pease River breaks.

How do you think that upbringing influenced your writing?

Growing up in a rural West Texas ranching community, I had no thought of ever becoming an author or a lawyer. Granddad and dad were cowboys, and that’s what I thought I would become. (There were no authors or lawyers in my background on either side of my ancestors.)

The rural West Texas ranching background did influence my writing later, since all my books are nonfiction describing real people and events in frontier West Texas, western Oklahoma, and eastern New Mexico. Consequently, I knew the land, the pioneers that settled there, and the way they thought, spoke, and acted. >>READ MORE

Texas’s only statewide, weekly calendar of book events

FESTIVALS AND SPECIAL BOOK EVENTS IN TEXAS THIS WEEK  BANNED BOOKS WEEK plus San Antonio, Sugarland, Granbury

• Banned Books Week, September 24-30
• Inkstravaganza Gala honoring Dr. Tomás Ybarra-Frausto, San Antonio, September 28
• 6th Annual LibroFEST, San Antonio, September 30
• TEDx Sugarland 2017, September 30
• 6th Annual Granbury Paranormal Expo, September 30-October 1

HOUSTON  Mon., Sept. 25  Murder By the Book, Charlaine Harris will sign and discuss Sleep Like A Baby, her new Aurora Teagarden mystery, 6:30PMAUSTIN  Tues., Sept. 26  Harry Ransom Center, award-winning poet Roger Reeves, Associate Professor of English at The University of Texas at Austin, gives his inaugural reading, 7PMSEGUIN  Tues, Sept. 26  Texas Lutheran University, Bárbara Renaud González discusses and signs Las Nalgas de JLo/JLo’s Booty: The Best & Most Notorious Calumnas & Other Writings by the First Chicana Columnist in Texas 1995-2005, 4PMSAN ANTONIO  Wed., Sept. 27  The Twig Book Shop, Mickey Ibarra discusses and signs Latino Leaders Speak, 6PMHOUSTON  Thurs., Sept. 28  Museum of Fine Arts, MFAH Author Talk: A Conversation with Dominic Smith, author of The Last Painting of Sara de Vos, followed by a book signing, 6PMAUSTIN  Fri., Sept. 29  Austin Public Library – Old Quarry, Austin Out Loud: This Party Is (Not) Censored (Banned Books Week edition) featuring readings from favorite banned and challenged books by local authors and library staff, 6:30PM [Recommended for ages 17 and up]HOUSTON  Sat., Sept. 30  Blue Willow Bookshop, celebrate with Jennifer Mathieu as she launches MOXIE, her new novel for teens, 11AMBookish Texas event highlights  9.24.2017
>> GO this week   Michelle Newby, Contributing Editor

News Briefs 9.24.17

Eleventh annual Tom Lea Month invites fans of late author/artist to experience the Tom Lea Trail, exhibitions, events

EL PASO — This Sunday, October 1, 2017, kicks off the 11th annual Tom Lea Month, recognizing the Texas artist-author’s achievements with exhibitions and events. The Tom Lea Institute and other community organizations will hold exhibits, lectures, classes, film screenings, and tours throughout the month to honor his work. In addition, the Tom Lea Trail, officially designated by the state legislature during this past session, invites visitors to see Lea’s work in numerous Texas and New Mexico cities, as well as Juarez in Mexico.

Since the first Tom Lea Month in July 2007, to mark what would have been the artist’s 100th birthday, the celebration has grown and expanded nationally with past events from Juárez to Washington, D.C. Previous Tom Lea Month events and exhibits have drawn crowds in Austin, Dallas, Fredericksburg, Galveston, Marathon, Odessa, Waco and other sites around Texas. >>READ MORE

Austin Book Arts Center announces Second Annual Birthday Bash

AUSTIN — On Mon., Oct. 2, 2017, from 6:30 to 9:30 pm, the Austin Book Arts Center will celebrate its first two years of successfully engaging people in creative, interpretive, and educational experiences related to the arts of the book. The event will take place at the White Horse Saloon, 500 Comal Street, Austin, TX, 78702.

Activities include a silent auction, printing a bookmark, binding a keepsake, and of course, birthday cake. There will be a cash bar. Greg Ciotti will be master of ceremonies. Music will be provided by Carson McHone. To support Texas neighbors affected by Hurricane Harvey, ABAC will collect donations of new or gently used children’s books. >>READ MORE

Texas Book Festival announces 2017 lineup; more than 275 authors to be featured

Festival to feature Jennifer Egan, Nicole Krauss, Cristina García, Gretchen Carlson, Gene Luen Yang, Kadir Nelson, more

AUSTIN — The Texas Book Festival (TBF) this week announced its full 2017 lineup filled with nationally and regionally renowned authors. The 2017 TBF weekend takes place on Nov. 4 and 5, is spread throughout the grounds of the Texas State Capitol and along Austin’s iconic Congress Avenue.

TBF showcases first-time novelists and established writers, introducing attendees to new literary talents and connecting them with their favorite authors. Award-winning authors are found throughout the TBF lineup. >>READ MORE

Texas Teen Book Festival announces 2017 schedule

Young Adult Book Festival to feature all-star author sessions, panels, workshops, book signings, interactive space, costume contest, and more

AUSTIN — The Texas Teen Book Festival has announced the full schedule for the 2017 edition, which will take place Sat., Oct. 7 from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at St. Edward’s University. This year’s Festival features an exciting program with opening keynote speaker Marie Lu and closing keynote speaker Jason Reynolds; panels and sessions by award-winning authors, including Lizzie Velásquez, Tillie Walden, Jennifer Mathieu, I. W. Gregorio, Mackenzi Lee, and Julie Murphy; plus book signings, educational workshops, a costume contest sponsored by Epic Reads, and the first-ever iTent.  >>READ MORE

Schedule posted for Lubbock Book Festival, Sat., Oct. 28

S. C. Gwynne to headline with The Perfect Pass; Hank the Cowdog author John R. Erickson keynoter for children

Lubbock enters the book festival arena this fall with the all-day Lubbock Book Festival on Saturday, Oct. 28. More than three dozen best-selling authors and regional favorites have been confirmed to read, sign books, and greet fans at the Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts, a cornerstone of the Lubbock Cultural District.

Keynoters include S. C. Gwynne, author of the nonfiction bestsellers Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches (2010) and Rebel Yell: The Violence, Passion, and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson (2015). Most recently, Gwynne explores how throwing passes revolutionized Texas’ most popular sport in The Perfect Pass: American Genius and the Reinvention of Football (2016)‎, including a nod to the innovations of Mike Leach, former Texas Tech University head coach.

More than 20 regional and national bestselling authors are scheduled to attend the Lubbock Book Festival, including Jodi Thomas, a member of the National Romance Writers Hall of Fame, and John R. Erickson, creator of the beloved Hank the Cowdog series for young readers.  >>READ MORE

Writers’ League of Texas’s “Texas Writes” events set for September

Texas Writes is a statewide program of the Writers’ League of Texas that brings accomplished authors to rural libraries for a half day of presentations and panel discussions. Each event is free and open to the public.

WLT has two Texas Writes events slated for September 2017, in locations as geographically diverse as Clifton (near Waco) and Shallowater (near Lubbock).  >>READ MORE

 ——­——— A D V E R T I S E M E N T —————

Lone Star Listens compilation available fall 2017, for readers, fans, and writers everywhere

The present generation of Texas authors is the most diverse ever in gender, age, and ethnicity, and in subject matter as well.

Week in, week out, Lone Star Literary has interviewed a range of Texas-related authors with a cross-section of genre and geography. To capture this era in Texas letters, we’re pleased to bring you

Lone Star Listens:

Texas Authors on Writing and Publishing

edited by Kay Ellington and Barbara Brannon; introduction by

Clay Reynolds

Available in trade paper, library hardcover, and ebook Fall 2017

360 pages, with b/w illustrations and index

Featuring novelists, poets, memoirists, editors, and publishers, including:

Rachel  Caine • Chris  Cander • Katherine  Center • Chad S. Conine • Sarah  Cortez • Elizabeth  Crook • Nan  Cuba • Carol  Dawson • Patrick  Dearen • Jim Donovan • Mac Engel • Sanderia  Faye • Carlos Nicolás Flores • Ben Fountain • Jeff  Guinn • Stephen  Harrigan • Cliff  Hudder • Stephen Graham Jones • Kathleen Kent • Joe R. Lansdale • Melissa Lenhardt • Attica Locke • Nikki  Loftin • Thomas  McNeely • Leila  Meacham • John  Pipkin • Joyce Gibson Roach • Antonio  Ruiz-Camacho • Lisa  Sandlin • Donna  Snyder • Mary Helen Specht • Jodi  Thomas • Amanda Eyre Ward • Ann  Weisgarber • Donald Mace Williams

As a collection of insights into the writing and publishing life, the book will be useful in creative writing classes (not just in Texas alone) and other teaching settings, as well as for solo reading and study—and a great Texas reference volume.

• Examination and review copies will be available fall 2017 in watermarked pdf format.