Wolf's Howl Newsletter
April 2006Long Arrow - I have some bad and sad news today. There has been a delay in the writing of Long Arrow, Clint Walker's new book. It is the result almost solely of misunderstandings, things taken out of context, and things said and apparently not remembered by either side. Sadly, I have come to learn it is almost impossible to sustain a relationship of writing books together where both sides have vastly different methods of working out ideas and discussing them. I am not a phone person, but an email person. Clint is not an email person, and strictly a phone person. This, among many other things, makes it very stressful to put out a product, particularly when the two authors live so far apart.
- I am more concerned about my personal relationship with Clint than I am with book writing, so if it seems that the book writing is going to tear us apart then I will probably not write any more books with him. He and his wife, Susan, mean too much to me as a person to see our relationship washed away by misunderstandings and mis-perceived deadlines.
- I was not going to make this news public, but I have so many people writing me privately to ask about the new Clint Walker novel, and I only have so much time in the day to write back to them, so I decided I would have to do it here. Sorry if this comes as a shock. I just could not leave all of my fans wondering where the book is.
- I was up to Chapter 33, was extremely excited about Long Arrow nearing completion. I thought Clint would be just as excited. As far as I knew (and as far as I still know) I was sticking to the outline as close as possible, but I had several gaps that had to be filled in to make the scenes mesh. This was several weeks ago. The book was brought to a screeching halt then, and there it sits, probably 5 chapters, maybe less, from a finish.
- I wish I could tell you all anything else on this, but of course some things are private, and I am only telling you this much so you will know why there is a delay. If I can, I will finish the first draft of Long Arrow before the middle of May, but as I said, at the moment it is up in the air.
- I have begun work on another book in the interim, because as a writer I have to be creating words. I am on Chapter 10 and have the entire book outlined in intricate detail so I should only have to fill in the gaps to finish it. The book is The Secret of Two Hawks. It was begun when I was 19 years old, and has been worked on sporadically for many years now. I think it may end up being my next book that is published, although I will put it aside again if I get a chance to pick up Long Arrow and take it to a finish. Thank you for your interest in the Clint Walker book, and I apologize that I don't have better or more complete news for you.
- Kirby
- Hello to all readers of Kirby Jonas and Clint Walker:
- After a few weeks of sadness I have to let you know that unless I am reading this message wrong I guess I have an answer to my question of whether the Long Arrow book will be finished right away. I don't suppose Clint would mind my quoting this, as you can easily find it in public view on the "News" page of his website. At the bottom of this post I am pasting this item exactly as it appears on the official Clint Walker site. I know this will not answer all those deep-seated questions of curiosity as to exactly what happened, but I hope you will allow me and Clint that one small piece of privacy in this affair. To tell you the truth, I don't know exactly what happened myself.
- Some day Long Arrow will be out in print. On that you have my promise. I will write it exactly as Clint wanted it written, exactly as we outlined it--which is what I thought I was doing from the beginning.
- And in the meantime, I want you all to know that regardless of what Clint Walker's feelings may be for me, I will always cherish the time I spent with him and the good memories of having him as a confidant, a medical and spiritual advisor, and all of the other things I called upon him to be over the years. The Clint Walker you watched portraying Cheyenne Bodie is the real Clint Walker, and a man to "ride the river with," as they said in the West. I hold him in the highest esteem, no matter our creative differences. I think he might be surprised to know that at this point.
- Always,
- Kirby Jonas
- April 11, 2006-- quoted from www.clintwalker.com:
- "Long Arrow"
- The continuing adventures of Sam Coffey and Tom Vanse, the sequel to "Yaqui Gold", has been put on the shelf due to creative differences between myself and co-author Kirby Jonas.