Louis L'Amour

"You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you" (Ray Bradbury). To me, writing is a precious activity that not only consumes my time productively, but also keeps me rather sane in this little world, which I have grown to dislike for its continuous and repetitive characteristic of constant consistency. I continuously drift into my thoughts of a fantasy land filled with adventure. and then promptly use that in my own form of writing. Of course, in the extensive "continent" of books that exists out there, many genres lie there to categorize each and every novel, page for page, word for word. I can easily categorize myself as being part of the "fantasy" genre. Now, I usually have a curious mind, so thinking of the other categories, I'd decided on a bit of exploring. Most authors and their books disinterested me. yet one person seemed to have caught my attention. That man was none other than Louis L'Amour, one of the very few whom I could ever really come to admire in this irritating reality.

As opposed to a good majority of the highly advanced jobs located out there in this little world of ours, becoming an author requires only a medium amount of education, the bare minimum being set at a Bachelor's Degree. Likewise, the pay happens to be rather in the middle compared to some of the worse jobs and better jobs. According to Occupational Outlook Handbook, the median pay for becoming an author in general happens to be $55,940 per year, with the employment suggested to grow at least 3% between the time span of 2012 and 2022. Somehow, according to Occupational Outlook Handbook once again, this happens to be slower than the average growth for all occupations.

To be honest, life in general somewhat disinterests me, as the same repetitive things consistently pop up in the news every so often. Looking back to the past is the perfect alleviation for that, however. Surreal tales of many people undergoing certain tasks or even taking certain jobs is quite ludicrous, despite it being true. The disappearance of Amelia Earhart is to name one, likewise with the story of 'Mad' Jack Churchill, the British general in World War II who fought simply with a bow and arrow, and whose blood lust was beside him. Of course, further back are the tales of those who have gone out in an adventure of sorts, including Lewis and Clark's expedition to the west and, to a lesser extent, Louis L'Amour's cross-country journey as he sought out inspiration for the novels with which he would eventually write out, publish and make famous. Even along the way, he'd undergone some rather curious jobs, so to speak. He'd taken jobs ranging from a "lumberjack to an elephant handler" (biography.com). Simply put, he had no qualms about which job he would take, no matter how unusual, at least to the point where his life was not in a consistent danger too much.

Louis on the job (amsaw.org (Again, all rights to their preferred creators.))

There's actually quite a bit to say about this strangely inspiring man. For one, a good majority of his novels consisted of the Western genre. The reason for this roots straight back to the fact that during his travels, he had met several people who would become that very inspiration. He'd met deputy marshals, as well as "George Coe and Deluvina Maxwell who had both known Billy the Kid", and even "Elfagio Baca, a famous New Mexico lawyer who had once engaged over eighty of Tom Slaughter's cowboys for 33 hours in one of the west's most famous gunfights" (2). And so, he was more than qualified enough to be able to write his nonfiction Western novels, as he had met the people to actually provide some good information, as they had lived during that time. Though, while he is a rather prolific author, every good writer has a rival of sorts. In other words, virtually all writers with an aspiration to sell their books marked their place as his rivals. In hindsight, if he were still alive today, even I would become his rival, surprisingly enough. Though, it's more distinct in the fact that his true opponents were those writing in the very same genre as him. So, I would probably end up just being a minor obstacle in the way of his selling books, or even his ally if I were to actually know him, as he could provide insight on my writing while I could give him a few ideas here and there for his writing.

Reality is an annoying fact. I've ascertained that little snippet with some of my friends consistently, as we all believe the life we currently live in to be far too dull for our own good. The only way to escape that reality, if even only temporarily, is to whisk myself away in fantastic lands, far too surreal for their own good, deep within both what I write and what other people write. Some people can be provided as a source of inspiration to continue doing what I love, and Louis L'Amour could serve as that very example, as he had a dream of his own to accomplish, and he achieved it. The better part was that it seemed to be in a more surreal way than I could have probably imagined. Of course, I could never reach the level of fame or fantasy that he was able to accomplish. The only way that I could ever reach the same pinnacle where he currently stands is to follow my own path towards the mountain top. However, I'm still rather indecisive about everything, so starting in a community college would probably help me make up my mind. After that, I ought to transfer to another university to earn a bachelor's degree, one of the minimum requirements for having the ability to write properly as an author. From there, after graduation, I'll have to figure out exactly where to go in my life. Will I move somewhere else and write in solitude to keep my internal calm and peace, or do I return home, chaos abound, following my family? The decision lies with me, that much I know. Though, maybe the real question is whether or not I'll be able to continue on in this reality. I suppose that if I stick to writing, that should be an easy question to answer.