Life and Death of Bayou Billy
Page 37
Signed
William Douglas McCall
Dated, July 11th, 20-,
Witnessed by Nursing Supervisor Prudence Barr, dated July 11th, 20-
Witnessed by Nurse Practitioner Margo Ballard, dated July 11th, 20-
Notarized by LaMonica J. Trey, notary public of Shreveport Parish, Shreveport, Louisiana, dated July 11th, 20-
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Author’s Note
The question I get the most is, “Where do you come up with your ideas?”
Occasionally I can even remember where I got the idea for a book. This one, for example, I really do remember and clearly. When I lived in El Paso, Texas, there was an infamous gunfighter buried in the local historic cemetery, Concordia Cemetery. John Wesley Hardin was an outlaw who claimed to have killed 42 men and later became a lawyer in El Paso and who was shot by a constable there in 1895. Consequently, he was buried in El Paso’s ‘Boot Hill,’ Concordia Cemetery. And they still have a lot of fun with events such as the annual Meeting of the John Wesley Hardin Secret Society. Sorry I missed that one.
The history dealt with in proper order, we can say that John Wesley was a historical badass. Therefore in the nineties his descendants came calling to El Paso, wishing to exhume his body and bury it in a cemetery in the auld country. The fact that the auld country was also Texas was a negligent fact. The city of El Paso was not amicable about the fact. Their response, although not in these exact words, was, “Not only no, but hell, no.” As a matter of fact, they poured cement over the grace to prevent any illicit disintering and produced a writ from a judge to prevent any moving of long dead gunfighters. The long and short of it was that the city of El Paso and local historians and buffs believed that John Wesley’s descendants only wanted the body for the fame and glory, while El Paso had the purer motive of, ‘We had him first.’ Not that I’m criticizing El Paso. They did have him first and basically, finder’s keepers, loser’s weepers.
Then a few years after this occurred I saw a special on the History Channel about Buffalo Bill Cody, who was not a gunfighter but a showman in the old west. The gist of it was that he died in Denver, Colorado and the town of Cody, Wyoming wanted him buried there. Apparently, the town that was named after the showman had been promised that he would be buried in their locale. However, the widow decreed that Buffalo Bill had changed his mind previous to his death. So he was interred in Denver and the city of Cody protested vehemently. There was even a reward offered by the American Legion branch of Cody for the return of Buffalo Bill’s body. Concrete and a tank parked over the grave were used as deterrents, and may I say I didn’t even get to that part in my novel, did I?
So I said to myself, “Wouldn’t it be funny if two towns started fighting over an outlaw’s body? A really awful kind of outlaw with no redeeming qualities and the only reason the towns want him is for the tourist bucks.” I mean, that’s how I got the idea, and the rest just came into play. It didn’t write itself, of course, but I had a lot of fun with the body stealing parts.
Anyway, that’s the way my twisted brain works.
About the Author
C.L. Bevill has lived in Texas, Virginia, Arizona, and Oregon. She once was in the US Army and a graphic illustrator. She holds degrees in social-psychology and counseling. She is the author of Bubba and the Dead Woman, Bubba and the 12 Deadly Days of Christmas, Bayou Moon, and Shadow People, among others. Presently she lives with her husband and her daughter and continues to constantly write. She can be reached at www.clbevill.com or you can read her blog at www.carwoo.blogspot.com
Other Novels by C.L. Bevill
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Mysteries:
Bubba and the Dead Woman
Bubba and the 12 Deadly Days of Christmas
Bayou Moon
Paranormal Romance:
Veiled Eyes (Lake People)
Disembodied Bones (Lake People)
The Moon Trilogy:
Black Moon (The Moon Trilogy 1)
Amber Moon (The Moon Trilogy 2)
Silver Moon (The Moon Trilogy 3)
Cat Clan Novella:
Harvest Moon
Shadow People
Sea of Dreams
Suspense:
The Flight of the Scarlet Tanager
Black Comedy:
The Life and Death of Bayou Billy
Missile Rats
Chicklet:
Dial ‘M’ For Mascara