Mood:  chatty

H. B. Kurtzwilde discusses cops, uniforms, cowboys, pirates and the inner workings of law inforcement with James Buchanan. More about James Buchanan can be found at his site:

http://www.james-buchanan.com/

H.B. :Your background includes time in the legal trenches as well as the plains of west Texas. Tell us a little about how those two worlds tend to inform the worlds you create in your stories.

James Buchanan: Down in the west Texas town of El Paso....snort.  Lets face it, Texas is a state of story tellers.  Nobody ever tells you about their day.  They spin a yarn a mile long.  Every thing's bigger, badder and better in Texas.  I guess my ability to put life into ordinary situations comes from that.  And El Paso is a city at the cross roads of cultures.  It is at once very big and yet still (at least when I was growing up) small.  I went to school with people from both sides of the border and all across the US...Fort Bliss and Biggs Field are both in the area.  It provides you with a small town sensibility and a big city world view.  I grew up immersed in a culture while not really belonging to it.  I think that allows me to switch it up and look at the little things that we all take for granted that someone from outside our experience wouldn't understand.  I tend to set alot of my stories in the West and Southwest because I'm familiar with the geography and the people. 

Law, besides teaching me to study everything with a critical eye, has put me in contact with a range of people.  I've met politicians, janitors, journalists and police officers in my practice.  I have character studies out the wazoo.  I've worked in the Prosecutors office interview victims, reviewing evidence with defendants and prepping police officers for their hearings.  My civil practice I represented low key mobsters (early on) and litigated against guys who were also up for fraud and corruption charges.  I've had to chase down career debtors.  The whole element of the why of ‘the what’ has always stuck with me, and I hope I bring a sense of that into my stories.  

H.B:American subcultures and mythologies run through your writing, giving depth and scope to your characters. How much research is involved, and how does that connect with your writing process?

James Buchanan: Lots and very little.  A lot of the technical stuff I research.  Books and books and books worth.  Names and place names, I'll spend hours on GoogleMaps just to find the right street name.  I want to know the finest details I can even if I never use it. Knowing it, being able to pull that sense of it out, gives a confidence to the tale, a depth that might not be there otherwise.

But the cultures are also just within me.  I am a sponge for things.  How my Apache dorm mate differed from the Navajo guy I fenced with.  How my Mexican Friends born and raised on the border differed from their counter parts in the interior or in more central US cities.  The mannerisms of the bank VP born and raised in Argentina.  The speech habits of my dad's business partner from Venezuela.  Being an author is walking around with a continuous storage loop in your head.

H.B.: You have some amazing stories that capture the modern American west. When did your romance with the cowboy begin?

James Buchanan: Well, I broke my first horse when I was 13, so I'm guessing long before that.  I grew up with horses.  I pulled a John Wayne when I was about 5 and tried to jump off the barn roof onto my pony's back (knocked my ass out cold).  My friends raised cattle (not large herds but two or three bulls usually named things like Sirloin, Choice and Tenderloin).  Guys with bow legs hung out at Winn's 5&Dime.  Cowboy boots were dress attire.  Hell, my mom and I had knock down drag outs, when she'd try and get me outa my jeans and boots for Sunday Church.  My friends and I used to shoot each other in the ass with BBguns.  I don't look much like a cowboy anymore, but I still am mentally there most of the time.  You say "please" and "thank you" and smile at people you don't know.  So, not so much of a romance with as as sense of being part of me. 

H.B.: Is it the hats? Seriously, what is it about cowboys?

James Buchanan: They are the epitome of self reliance, with a strange vulnerability to them.  A true cowboy is polite and helpful, yet absolutely willing to knock your teeth down your throat if you cross them.  They are the heroes of our childhood. 

H.B.: In your series Taking the Odds, as well as in other stories, you focus not on the practice of law, but law enforcement. Do you find that law enforcement has a sub-culture of its own?

James Buchanan: Yeah, the gang with badges.  My uncle (Det. Ret.) coined that phrase.  He was also the one who told me he'd kill me and save my family the anguish if I joined the force.  I did a few ride alongs with the now defunct CRASH units and they were big pushing on recruitment.  But it is very military in structure and unwritten code.  When I was with the prosecutors office you were part of "US," -- We "tag 'em" you "bag 'em" although you weren't seen as 100% equals.  The rest of the world is "THEM," even the good people.  Its a tight cohesion built on a shared struggle.  Conversely, anything that threatens the status quo within the group is often ostracized.  It takes a lot of effort to realize that uniformity does not have to be 6'2", white male, but the strong survive and the weak do not.  They will rip each other to make certain that you are "strong." 

H.B.: Is it the uniforms? The guns? Or is there something unique to cops that make them so darn sexy?

James Buchanan: Part is the uniform.  Humans are hard wired for symbolism.  Watch how much disrespect a bike cop (no matter how hot) gets in his t-shirt and shorts over an officer in full blues.  Some is controlled power.  These people have the power to save us or destroy us.  Power, and the trappings of power, has always been an aphrodisiac. 

H.B.: In historical fantasy, you blur the line between history and fantasy. Between historic fact and a bit of magic, where is the balance that makes your world so solid and engaging?

James Buchanan: I'm not sure.  I just like playing the what if game.  I think part of it is that I don't make magic an all powerful panacea.  It is, for the most part, the purview of the rich.  And, even if you can afford magic, it may not work.  It is a human construct.  Like art, everyone has some ability to draw a line...most people can't create the Mona Lisa.  The stories give it out in small doses and what there is takes a long time to create. 

H.B.: Have you written stories that touch on the idea of liminality? Do you have characters that embody that ideal?

James Buchanan: Jules, from the Lord Carabas series is liminal.  Besides being bi-sexual (or omni-sexual) he is a half fairy who lives among humans, but he is not fully human.  He is on a continual search for what and who he is.  Like a search for gender identity a search for species identity when you straddle a gap is a continual reinvention of yourself.  He is constantly struggling with people's preconceived notions of what he physically presents as vs. how he was raised vs. how he views himself internally based on the social constructs of how he was raised and was treated.  Book four... when I get it written, is plotted out (as much as I ever plot out anything) to have a transsexual love interest.  That should (if I do it right) bring Jules to some greater understandings of his own fluctuating identity. 

In Inland Empire (book 2 in the Taking the Odds series) Brandon is aided by one of his street contacts, a transsexual hooker.  I know that is stereotypical...some things you have to fit in with the fact that my protagonist is a Vice cop, his circle of contacts is restricted by his job.  However, I really tried to present Roberta as a full fledged human being who may not have made some of the best choices but made valid and understandable choices given her history.  Also, I really worked on making Roberta someone who straddles the gender identity divide successfully.  I feel that she is one of the more positive characters in the book and I hope readers agree with me. 

H.B.: Was there ever a story you wanted to write, but never yet did? The one that got away?

James Buchanan: Lots and lots.  Too many plots and not enough time.  I don't throw anything "away" plot wise.  I have a whole folder titled just "bits."  I do joke that one of these days I'm going to write a story that is just the subject lines of all the spam emails I get. 

H.B.: If a reader is new to your writing, is there any one story you hope they'll find appealing? Perhaps a tale that is close to your heart?

James Buchanan: Depends on what they're looking for.  I have people who love Jules but can't stand my contemporary.  Or they fall in love with Nicky and Brandon but just don't get the whole AU historical universe.  I guess, from the recommendations I've seen, either Cheating Chance or The Good Thief would be good entries into my work.  They're romances with a definite Happy For Now ending and blend a good mix of romantic drama with mystery/suspense.  These are people you could meet on the street.  They punch clocks and have issues with their bosses and their boyfriends.  I think those are my most "accessible" books for most people.