"HEY, LET'S ROB A TRAIN, YOUTU?"

Yontu is actually a word in Texas.  It's like saying, "Hey, let's go get a burger, yontu?"  I'm finishing a book at the moment about a retired oil field worker who wants to leave his troubles behind and move to Mexico . . . and at the age of 75.  The problem is, he doesn't have any money other than social security and what he can make from part-time jobs.  But Dewey Crockett, my ornery redneck semi-hero, has allies to help pull off his escape from a country he can no longer abide.  Dew, as his friends call him, can't stay out of trouble long enough to enjoy a normal life.  He fights back, and that doesn't fare well in a society that likes to bully dissenters.  His story is a modern tale with an old time twist when he and some of his pals become train robbers.  That's right, they robbed a train and stole a bunch of dope money.  You'll have to read the book to find out how they did it.

The Old Outlaw is a book of humor, but the storyline is about as serious as life can get for some people.  Does life get any better for our man of the hour in Mexico?  That's not part of the book, but the reader can speculate that he most probably did.  My job as the writer was to get him there.  How he fares out is up to him . . . or maybe, a sequel book will spell that out.  One of the major heroes in this book is a strong-willed woman.  Without her, the old outlaw never would've made it to Mexico.  She's bossy and no fun to cross, but she's the glue that holds the story together.  I like writing about women like that because I'm married to one.  I've got the perfect character prototype for that right here at home.  She hasn't read this book yet, so I need to promote it a little before she does.  It might take some time for my fingers to heal, if I have any left to heal.  

Picture this:  An old man with a salty disposition who takes care of dozens of dogs and cats, lives in a run down house in a dying oil town in the brush country of Texas, and is a devoted anarchist.  His friends are a hodgepodge of misfits and scoundrels, and he has a girlfriend who'd attack a gorilla it it pissed her off.  He's a master welder and can build his own escape vehicle, a big pickup modified to go almost anywhere.  Though poorly educated, he's smart and computer literate.  And, he's fed up with America.  His sights are set on Alamos, Mexico, and he has a contact there willing to help him relocate.  And like I said, he's full of laughs.  The Old Outlaw is a fun read, I think.  I know that because I had fun writing it.