New Novel Writer
Unresolved?
What if you vowed to devote your life to the care and service to others, yet were sucked into a tragedy that would take a lifetime to come to terms with and resolve?
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How much goodness do you have to share for it to make up for just one bad mistake in one's life?
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Hopefully, it's a dilemma that few of us have to face at any serious level – such as achieving redemption and forgiveness after committing a mortal sin – such as murder.
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And what if we are mistaken, and haven't committed the wrongdoing - even though others around us think we have?
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'Every case is different' as they say or, 'It's a matter of degree.'
Whilst that may be true, it rarely helps the one who seeks that redemption or forgiveness, because they alone - and perhaps those closest to them, suffer.
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They also say 'Walk a mile in my shoes' before you judge another.
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Cliches come easy, but some may be happy to go through life carrying the burden of guilt more than others, and without the need to make amends.
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Conversely, others may remain so damaged by the injury they have, or think they have, inflicted on others that no remedy exists, no matter how hard the search to find resolution.
In both cases, things remain open - unresolved.
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That might be quite an introduction to what is intended to be feel-good lighthearted drama set against the backdrop of a Midlands village.
But that's not where the real events take place - they are reserved for Eric and Maggie when they are on honeymoon - hoping for a peaceful break in the spellbinding holiday destination of St. Ives Cornwall.
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The couple are the same pioneers who venture into the wilds of Wyoming later as depicted in J S Morey's revisionist western WILD HEARTS ROAM FREE. **
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If you're unsure of what the category ** 'revisionist western' is all about, don't worry - neither was the author until after the latter novel was written!
But here's some insight.
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Most of you will remember when 'Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid'
burst onto the cinema screens. The realism and 'anti'hero' aspect was typical of what we now know as the 'modern', or revisionist, western.
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It is also known as the 'anti-western' or 'revisionist anti-western'.
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Hey, but what's in a name? The key point is that the 'new' type of western novel and film took on a new meaning, and a new message.
When the author offers a warning 'the action stops at the bedroom door' I guess it's a turn-off for some readers.
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Well...tough.
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Whilst this is no Pride and Prejudice and the author is no Jane Austen, he does at least attempt to present the more meaningful side of romance in his novels.
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Unresolved? is no exception - even on
honeymoon where the earth moves for one of the characters - but with dire consequences at the bottom of a cliff!
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It's not really a 'whodunnit' and, as the mystery remains unresolved until the end, it allows time to tell you what happened to Eric and Maggie - around whom the main story-line takes place in 'Wild Hearts Roam Free' where the romantic novelist breaks into another genre - the anti-western.
Hey, but what's in a name? The key point is that the 'new' type of western novel and film took on a new meaning, and a new message.
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One of those messages was to be more honest when portraying the lifestyle and culture of the Native American Indian.
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'Soldier Blue' was probably one of the most savage of these 'statements', but most will connect more with 'Dances With Wolves' and, latterly, series on TV - 'Yellowstone' - and 'Longmire'.
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Novels in the 'Wild Hearts' series by JS Morey are much gentler than the above, and more akin to 'Lonesome Dove'.
Albeit a book about a cattle drive and the relationship between the two main male characters - Gus McCrae and Captain Call - McMurtry introduces an amazing love interest played by Angelica Huston.
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I guess it's that mix of western novel and romantic fiction that 'Wild Hearts Roam Free' and 'Wild Hearts Come Home' try to capture.
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Unresolved has none of the above - apart from being a short love story with a hint of suspicious death and an introduction to the 'Wild Hearts' series.
