The Writing Life with Virgil Mathes
  • Home
  • About Me
  • My Novels
  • Writing
    • Academic Work >
      • Curriculum Vitae
      • Rhetoric and The Duel
    • Fiction
    • Poetry
  • Writin' the River
  • Contact
  • Friends

Writin' The River

My little space on the 'net  to discuss …

Watt’s the Big Idea?

5/29/2020

0 Comments

 

In recent years independent and “print on demand” publishing has challenged the traditional publishing industry and opened a medium for thousands of “content creators” who self-publish and create their own work and make it available directly to their end consumer.  Popular culture tells us that anyone can become a YouTube sensation and quit their day job to do what they love. Of course, very few actually get that kind of traffic and ad revenue, but the fact remains that the internet has produced a very decentralized publishing format for a variety of mediums. One such medium, aimed at fiction writers rather than video producers, is Wattpad.

Wattpad is a relatively new platform for fiction writers to publish their work, and I’m giving it a go.  It is sort of like YouTube for writers insofar as anyone can publish their work, and if it becomes popular enough the “channel” can be monetized.  There is a large cache of work there, already categorized by genre, with contests and other incentives for both writers and readers.


I chose the username of “Ranger45” and this is where you’ll find me camped out on the Wattpad prairie. My first foray on Wattpad is “Law of Iron,” which is a short story built as a fictional retelling of the famous Marty Robbins’ song “Big Iron”. The original can be heard here:      www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzICMIu5zFY This song is set in a real Arizona town and features an Arizona Ranger in a showdown with a fictional outlaw.  I chose this song because it’s a tale of Arizona and so is close to my heart.  My short story “Law of Iron” retains the central plot structure of the original song with some of my own artistic license.  It is the premiere story in what will be a short series in which I revisit older narrative songs in fictive form.  Think of them as “cover versions,” transferring a song narrative into fiction.

I got a stock cover for “Law of Iron” through Capta, which is embedded in Wattpad’s platform, and I’m pretty happy with it. But I’m very excited to be collaborating with my artist son Ferno the Knight for future cover art, so look for those in upcoming stories.

Check out “Law of Iron” at Wattpad:
​www.wattpad.com/890601911-the-law-of-iron
Check out Ferno the Knight’s Twitch page at:
twitch.tv/ferno_the_knight







0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Join me as I postulate about literature, popular culture, martial arts, and who knows what else.

    Archives

    July 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    October 2019
    June 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    November 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015

    Categories

    All
    1860 Army
    21 Foot Rule
    45-70
    Adult Choices
    Andres Moreno
    Arizona
    Arizona Rangers
    Bagwell
    Ballad Of The Laurie Swain
    Battle Blade
    Battle Blades
    Battle School
    Ben Foster
    Big Iron
    Bill Jordan
    BLM
    Bone Tomahawk
    Book Review
    Bowie
    Brotherhood
    Cancel Culture
    Case Bowie
    Chopped
    Christian Bale
    Civil Rights
    Clear Creek
    Cold Steel
    Color Guard
    Colt
    Community Service
    Confederate
    COVID
    CustomerService
    Darren Castle
    Defensive
    Democracy
    DiCaprio
    Dinosaur
    Donald Sutherland
    Doug Peacock
    Education
    Expendables Bowie
    Family
    Flu
    Forsaken
    Fortress
    Frank Williams
    Freedom
    Frontier
    Gary Johnson
    Greeting
    Grey Westerns
    Grizzly Years
    Harley Davidson
    Hateful Eight
    Helles Belle
    HEMA
    Heroes
    High School
    Hillary
    Hobgoblins
    Honor
    Hostiles
    Hugh Glass
    Infantry
    James Keating
    Jill Stein
    Jurassic World
    Just Be
    Justified
    Keep Rubber Side Down
    Keifer Sutherland
    Kindle
    Knife
    Learning
    Legacy
    Lever Action
    Lynne Holliday
    Mandated
    Marlin
    Marty Robbins
    Memorial
    Michigan
    Mogollon Rim
    Monuments
    Motorcycle
    Mountain Men
    Movie Review
    Movie Reviews
    Movie Violence
    Musso Bowie
    Natchez Bowie
    Navajo
    Officer Darrin Reed
    Old West
    Phoenix Society
    Plowshare Forge
    Police
    Presidential Race 2016
    Quentin Tarantino
    Ranger
    Ranger Up
    Range War
    Rebirth
    Relax
    Revenant
    River
    River City Sheath
    Roomba
    SAA
    Seminar
    Service
    Short Story Collection
    Show Low
    Skinwalkers
    State Firearm
    Statues
    Student
    Success
    Swordsmanship
    Third Party Candidates
    Thuer
    Tolerance
    Tony Hillerman
    Training
    Trump
    Utopia
    Vacuum
    Volunteer
    Water Closet
    Wattpad
    Welcome
    Wes Studi
    Westerns
    Wilderness
    Winchester
    Writing

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.