Midnight Cowboys by Deirdre O'Dare

“What was it like in the sixties, Grandma? Was it as wild and crazy as it sounds? Was all that drugs, sex and rock n’ roll stuff for real? What about the war and the draft? Didn’t people just choose to enlist or something?”

Have you ever heard this from a teenager in the family who has perhaps finally seen “Hair” on TV on an old movie channel or come across some tattered psychedelic record albums in your stash?  Maybe you don’t remember that era yourself. After all, those who do are no longer the proverbial “spring chickens.”  (And what the heck is a “fall chicken” may I ask?)

When the idea to do a PAX of stories set in the sixties first surfaced many months ago, my antenna went right up and I knew I wanted to do one. For a month or two, I wasn’t sure what I would write about but then one day Riki popped out of that dark, hidden storage space where writers keep ideas or where ideas lurk until we need them. I could just picture him and in a few instants he became totally real. Then the issues and troubles and dreams of that time and place began to crowd my thoughts as well. I wasn’t at Woodstock but I do remember those times…

Next I had to find a foil for Riki. The two young men would have to be total opposites, at least on the surface. All at once here comes Jerry, a proper nerd. He’s way out of his element which was a very small and conservative town in the “piney woods” of east Texas whereas Riki called New Orleans home. Jerry’s folks were almost poor while Riki’s were very well off. Other than being of a similar age, the two had almost nothing in common. They were as different as Jerry’s beat up Volkswagen bug and Riki’s red Corvette.

Once they both started talking to me, the fun began. Their story took some twists and turns I had no idea were going to happen until they did. That is my modus operendi when it comes to writing. If I start out with an outline and all kinds of markers, roadmaps and schematics, the story is DOA. It’s got to come new and raw to me just as if I was reading it for the first time. I truly do feel as if I am taking dictation while the characters sometimes argue and try to shout each other down as they tell me what happens. That’s the excitement to me. Later I have to go back, edit and sometimes tweak things a little bit to bring it all into a neat package but the outline—if any, such as a synopsis--is always written after the story. Just the way I used to do for term papers back in my own school days long, long ago!

The title came along almost simultaneously with the characters. As I acknowledge in an author’s note in the book, the iconic film did not come out until 1969, two years after my story takes place. However I am sure the term was already in the vernacular to some degree and it just has a sixties feel. It fit and I chose to use it! Anyway, I invite readers to step through a time portal and experience the sixties through the lives of two young men coming of age at that time, whether it is your first visit or a nostalgic look back.

If you recall “smoking dope, snorting coke and trying to write a song” or “Purple Haze” or Kent State, flower power and “make love, not war,” this bud is for you. Somewhere I expect there is a Riki and a Jerry, maybe still together after all these years and still doing something related to  music, perhaps in Nashville or LA or even a place that only exists in their world. Do you think? I’d like to believe that, anyway.

*_*_*

Midnight Cowboys by Deirdre O'Dare is now available at Amber Allure.

If you'd like the chance to win the entire pax collection, just leave a comment on today's post. On Saturday, a winner will be picked at random from all the comments made this week on the blog. Comment on all, and that's multiple chances to win!