Local author has released his 17th novel
Hawkins Bar author Jerry “J. L.” Guin has published his 17th novel. His newest work is titled “C.C. Crane: Bounty Distractions.”
Guin summarizes his latest book: “C.C. (Charles Carter) Crane is a young man, 22 years old, a former farmer, looking for a job when he wanders into Bellington, Kansas. He was cleaning stalls in a livery in exchange for a place to sleep when the newly appointed sheriff of Sumner County, E.D. Johns, takes notice and hires him as a deputy sheriff. He later becomes a bounty hunter. This is a story of some of the things he did in order to survive the attacks of some very bad men.”
Guin, 77, is a U.S. Navy veteran originally from Arkansas. He’s a 1967 graduate of the Humboldt Business College and a 1972 graduate of College of the Redwoods. He lived in Eureka and Arcata for many years before moving to Hawkins Bar in 1988. He worked most of his life as a lumber salesman, retiring in 2006.
Guin began writing in 1995, sending short stories to a Western magazine. In 1997, he wrote “Matsutake Mushroom,” a non-fiction record of the 1993-1994 wild mushroom harvest Oregon and California. He then turned back to Western fiction writing and, since that time, has had about 50 short stories in print and a host of novels, including his latest, “C.C. Crane: Bounty Distractions.”
“I wrote this book because I am retired from the workforce and writing Western fiction is what I currently do, when I get the notion,” he said. “I get an idea in my head for a story and fulfill it as best I can.”
Guin said he became a fan of Westerns as a teenager when he read a lot of Zane Grey books and others like it.
“C.C. Crane: Bounty Distractions” (Sundown Press, 164 pages) and Guin’s other books, which include
“I wrote this book because I am retired from the workforce and writing Western fiction is what I currently do, when I get the notion.” — Jerry “J. L.” Guin
“Pushed Too Far,” “River Whiskey” and 2020’s “Western Duo,” are all available at amazon.com. He’ll have another new novel out in 2022, he said.