ATA-6 Leroy Peters

This is Author to Author, and I'm Tim Trott. Each podcast is another chapter where we share a peek into the methods and motivations of another interesting author. Be sure to subscribe and like this video so we can keep making them for you. Leroy Peters is a Newark, Delaware Air Force veteran with a bachelor's degree in history from Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana. He's published well over a dozen novels set in the fur trade. He also writes short stories. His publisher is Dusty Saddles Publishing. Author to Author is presented by Cybershoot Web Hosting, the right place for your author website. Hey, you made yourself an author website. Congratulations! Unfortunately, you learned that drag-and-drop means a cookie-cutter web design that looks like a thousand others. And what's worse, you're stuck using Gmail because Wix, GoDaddy, Bluehost, Squarespace, They don't offer free hosted email. It's time to move up to CyberShoot Hosting. We install WordPress and show you how to use it with a phone call in under an hour. Yes, I said we. I'll even send you a free copy of my ebook, Understanding WordPress for Beginners. Not so much into do-it-yourself? No problem. I can design your author website using what you have on your old site if you have one, or your Facebook or Amazon Plus page. Tired of support you can't understand? Tired of AI robots that never offer a choice of None of the above? Join the club, the CyberShoot Hosting club, with real people you can actually understand with decades of experience. Relax, move to CyberShoot Hosting, cybershoot.com, and I'll talk to you then. Welcome to Author to Author to Leroy or Leroy A. Peters. It doesn't matter which way. You wrote Face of the— what's that?

Welcome, son.

Face of You wrote Face of the Sun. You wrote Face of the Sun. That was the first in a series of 5 novels. I noted it had 1,200 reviews, and that is amazing. Set the time and the place of that particular adventure.

Well, Face of the Sun, the first book in the— Face of the Sun is the first book in my series called the Frontier Series, and it takes place in 1810, and it's about a 16-year-old named Lazarus Buchanan. He, he's the son of Scottish immigrants, and he just got kicked out of school for fighting. Um, I'm just giving you a short version of it. Um, his maternal uncle, who is an army veteran turned trapper, returns from the West, and he convinces his uncle to take him back west with him, become a mountain man. His uncle's name is Amos McKinnon, and Amos McKenna was taught by John Coulter, who was a legendary mountain man and a former member of the Corps of Discovery. So Amos teaches Lazarus and he soaks up everything he's taught, and they both eventually end up getting married. Amos marries a Crow woman named Plainfeather, and they have a son named Angus before Amos is killed by a Blackfoot warrior in 1813. Lazarus ends up having two wives. Um, his first wife is Dark Wind, she's Flathead, and his second wife is Mountain Flower, she's Nez Perce. And, um, throughout the series they end up, they end up giving him three sons. And Lazarus is, who's known as White Bear by the tribes, is, is devoted not just to his wives and his children but also He's devoted to his uncle's widow, who eventually remarries, but, you know, he considers her family, and he's basically adopted by 3 tribes: the Crow, the Flathead, and Nez Perce.

Can you tell us what inspired you to start writing the Frontier series?

Well, I'll tell you what inspired me to start writing books set in the fur trade. In general. Um, when I was in the military and I was stationed in Okinawa, I saw a TNT miniseries called Into the West. It was a 6-part miniseries, and the first episode, um, talked about the mountain men and the fur trade. And that's what got me hooked on the history of the fur trade. And while I was in the military, I started reading biographies of famous mountain men such as Jedediah Smith, Joe Meek, Jim Bridger, Kit Carson. Zenas Leonard, John Coulter, Edward Rose, and afterwards I also started reading biographies of famous Native American heroes such as Quanah Parker, Geronimo, Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Gall, and Pretty Shield. And when I got out of the military, I moved to Montana and went to Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana, where I got a degree in history and minor Native American studies. And I visited a lot of Indian reservations. I mostly hung out with Native students and, you know, I kind of immersed myself in many Native cultures, understanding them. So that kind of helped me that when I returned to the East Coast and I started— got settled in Delaware, I started writing. My experiences helped me try to tell the fur trade history from the Native point of view while also trying to avoid the whole white savior concept and also just telling a story.

Your research and your knowledge comes through very nicely, and I learned a couple of things while I was skim— reading and skimming through and looking at or reviewing some of your material. One thing that I ran into was the word plue. Please explain to us what a plew is.

Plew, P-L-E-W, was another word for pelt or beaver pelts, and a lot of trappers called them that when they would trap beaver. After they skin and gutted the beaver and stretched out the hide, they would be called plews. And beaver plews or beaver pelts were, during the fur trade, were like gold. Because money was useless out in the frontier, on the northern plains, the Rocky Mountains, west of the Mississippi River.

I can imagine walking into a store, do you have change for a flue? A plue? Anyway, did you base any of your characters on real historical figures or events, or are they entirely fictional, or kind of a fictional history or history fiction?

They're historical fiction. My main characters that I've created, such as Lazarus Cannon, the Armstrong Brothers, Azariah Hancock, um, I've— and Habakkuk Hickey, I kind of mimic after my dad because my dad and I are very close. And you know, the— these— not just the main characters but even the minor characters, both white, Indian, and Black, um, I kind of mimic after my father because they're, um— I like to think that even during the 19th century, especially during the fur trade, husbands and fathers were devoted— men were devoted to their— there were men who were devoted to their families, to their wives and their children, and they took it very seriously. One of the things that I hammer in my novels is the importance of fatherhood.

Was there one historical detail that you discovered in your research and study that surprised you? Well, while you were developing your material?

I wouldn't say surprised. I would say more like shocked. While I was researching for my series, my current series, the Fearless series, the first book in Fearless series, I read this book by Barton Barber called Fort Union and the Upper Missouri Fur Trade. One of the things that really surprised or shocked me was a lot of these, a lot of scientists who were coming out west during this time in the 1830s, how far they would go to study natives. And I don't mean that in a good way.

I was going to say study in quotation marks.

Yeah, they would that they would grave rob, um, steal artifacts from burial grounds, which, which for me is a very— from both a Christian and a human perspective, very disrespectful to the natives.

That's a violation.

Yes, that they've come to meet and greet and, and know about And, you know, and technically I really shouldn't be surprised, but it was very shocking.

Could you possibly walk us through your writing process? You obviously have an efficient one with so many books that you've written. Do you outline heavily? Do you prefer to discover the story as you go? Do you let the characters lead you? How do you do that?

I let the characters lead me. Basically how I come up with a story, I just daydream. I daydream a title, I daydream a synopsis, and I write it on my journal. In my journal, my cousin Nate gave me this journal. I write the title and synopsis of my future books in the journal, and once I'm ready, I just start typing. I don't do any outlines, nothing. I just start writing based off my research, and I just take it from there.

What's the most challenging part of writing historical fiction for you?

You obviously have the background in, but is there any challenge other than writer's block? Just trying to be authentic, and considering the fact I'm neither white nor Indian, I want to do right by the tribes that I write about. Even though my main character is white, I tried— like I said, I try to avoid the whole white savior concept. And I try to authentically write and portray American Indians as they were before Manifest Destiny and how things were back then during the fur trade.

Do you have to find a balance between historical accuracy and the need for storytelling and character development? Is there any conflict there, or do they blend together for you?

They kind of blend together for me. I mean, I've yet to find any conflict between historical accuracy and just storytelling.

Are there any particular authors or books that you have found influenced your writing or your writing style? Any other, you know, who's your idol?

Oh, I got a lot of them, but I would say my favorite authors are David Robbins, who's the author of the Wilderness series. Um, Leonard Rowinsky, who's the author of the Grizzly Killer series, and, and, um, John Legge, who's written a dozen fur trade novels. Um, and if I think these aren't the first books— their books aren't the first books, novels that I've read. Um, the first series that I read that dealt with the fur trade was the Rendezvous series by the late Wim Blevins. He kind of inspired me, and he was an authentic historian on the history of the fur trade and the tribes that were involved in the fur trade, and also Terrence C. Johnstone in his Titus Bass series.

What part of the American frontier story do you feel is the most often misunderstood or overlooked?

I would have to say the fur trade is most misunderstood, overlooked. Um, a lot of people say, a lot of historians say that the mountain men, um, were the precursors to Manifest Destiny, which is, I'd say, 50/50. I say a lot of them had no intention on being a precursor to the settlers coming out west. A lot of mountain men did respect the tribes. They, they lived like the tribes lived. And I'd say, and this ain't saying much, but I'd say the fur trade was the most peaceful time between Indians and non-Indians alike because there weren't that— west of the Mississippi River, because there weren't that many non-Indians living out west. It was just the trappers and the traders. And though, and those non-Indians that did live out west at least had some respect for the tribes in the Northern Rockies and Northern Plains.

Are there any themes or messages that you hope readers will take away from the Frontier series, or any, anything that is reflected in today's, in, in today's activity or today's times?

I would like to say the messages that I get, that I sent to my novels, is that there's no excuse for doing the right thing. Always stand up for what is right, even when the large majority of of your fellow man is not doing it. And, you know, um, that, that's how I was raised. And to— there's no excuse for racism at all. You know, my father taught me to treat people as people. And there were men during those times who were, uh, who were way ahead of their time as far as race relations and religion. Was concerned.

What advice would you give aspiring historical fiction writers?

My advice would be, one, avoid self-publishing. Don't ever do self-publishing. I did that, and you lose more money than you make on self-publishing. Also, be authentic, be accurate, historically accurate. And always, if you're going to write a story that involved American Indians, I strongly suggest talking to American Indians who know about the history of their people. Be respectful and be truthful. And if also, if you're looking for— if you're a Western author, if you're looking for a publisher, come to Dusty Saddle Publishing.

That being said, what is next for you as a writer?

This weekend I plan on starting on the— start writing on the third book in the Fearless series. I already have a title and synopsis, and, um, I, I I just finished the 5th book in the Frontier series. I rarely take breaks between books because to me writing is my therapy, and I find myself when I'm writing, I avoid— I manage to avoid doing dumb stuff.

We've just touched briefly, touched, brushed the surface of one book. Let's adventure through some of the others. Give us a quick summary or an introduction to for example, in The Heart of the West?

The Heart of the West— and The Heart of the West was the, um, is the first book in my 6-book series, Saga of the Armstrong Brothers. Um, it's about 3 brothers from Nantucket, Massachusetts— Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. What inspired me basically was the true story of the Essex sinking, which inspired the book Moby Dick. Um, so So the brothers' names are Enoch, Moses, and Elijah Armstrong. Enoch is the eldest of the trio, and in the novel, he's good friends with Owen Chase, who's the second mate of the Essex Sinking. Basically, their father just died. He died the same day the Essex Sinking happened. So they decided to leave Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, and they go out west, where a year later, they answer William Ashley's ad for enterprising young men to traverse up the Missouri River. And long story short, they become mountain men, successful trappers. They hobnob with famous mountain men who become legends of the fur trade, such as Jedediah Smith, Hugh Glass, Edward Rose, Jim Beckworth, Jim Bridger. And what makes, what makes this story unique is that they all marry— not only all marry Indian women, but they marry Indian women from different enemy tribes. The youngest brother Elijah ends up marrying a Crow woman, while Enoch and Moses marry two women from the Hunkpapa Lakota Nation. These two tribes during this time were bitter enemies, and how the three brothers managed to survive that is— well, if you're familiar with the saying, "Do unto others as you would have them done unto you," that kind of works in their favor.

Let's introduce another one. How about Blood of My Blood?

Blood of My Blood is the fourth book in the Frontier series. Basically, it takes place in 1818. Lazarus, his wives, and his aunt and her new husband, along with his brother-in-law and his family, they decide to head back east to Dover, Delaware to meet his blood relatives, parents, his grandfather, his brothers, his sister, and their families. And he also— his family and his family's in-laws are dealing with an old enemy who wants their land.

So, um, nothing new about that theme.

No. And the reason why I titled it Blood of My Blood, because at first his parents are horrified that he married not one but two Indian women, and that his deceased uncle married an Indian woman, and they all have mixed blood children. But they— his parents, with the help of his brothers and his maternal grandfather, his parents eventually accept their daughter-in-law. His mother accepts her late brother's wife and her nephew. And in the end, they're just starting to get to know each other.

So tell me about another book, The World I Used to Know.

"The World I Used to Know" is the fifth— is my newest novel. It's the fifth book in the Frontier series. It's 1822. By this time, Lazarus is 28 years old, and he realizes that when he meets Ashley's 100, he's not fully happy about it because as more and more mountain men are coming out west Um, he realizes that the world that he and his family have lived in and known is changing. Not all of it is good, and he has to— they have to deal with that. And as more— that— not— he's not only concerned for himself but also the tribes that he's allied with, and he's also concerned for the tribes that he's not allied with, such as the Blackfeet. And who, who are his enemies, but he knows that this is just basically the beginning of the end for the mountain men, the free life of the mountain men and the American Indian who lived, lived there.

You briefly talked about the advantages of not self-publishing. Would you like to explore that a little bit further?

Yes, about 2000— During my last year in the military, I self-published 2 books, and the first western I wrote was self-published. And long story short, it wasn't good. I lost more money than I made, and it— I strongly advise any up-and-coming author to avoid self-publishing. Um, I found I found— well, actually, Dusty Saddle Publishing found me. That's my best people who publish my books. And I remember my cousin and I, we were at his sister's house in Alabama, and it was 2 o'clock in the morning when an author from Dusty Saddle Publishing— Harvey Wood is the name— um, Facebook messaged me, and he told me about Dusty Saddle and That was 4 years ago. And since then, since July of 2021, I've been with Dusty Saddle Publishing and they've published 19 books with them and they've been very helpful. All my books have been within the top 100 bestsellers list on Kindle. And if you're a Western author or writer of historical fiction, come to Dusty Saddle Publishing. If you're a writer of romance, The South Publishing has two subsidiaries, one for romance called Magnolia Blossom, and if you're a horror sci-fi, um, they have a subsidiary for that called Ravenstail Publishing. So just tell them Leroy Peters sent you and, and, um, they'll get you going.

The biggest challenge for a lot of authors is— or two biggest challenges also, also are actually are reviews and marketing. Tell me how Dusty Saddles helps you with that too.

Yeah, Dusty Saddles markets all my books. They do the editing, they do the marketing and the promotion. All I do is just write. And a lot of times from my end, I just— when they post a book out on their Facebook page, I'll be posting it on my Facebook page and try to put it in certain Western groups on Facebook to get it out there. And you also asked a question about reviews. When I get most— in all my books, about 99% of my reviews on my books have been very positive. The negative reviews that I've gotten, I try to ignore because a lot of these people give me negative reviews are a-holes.

Well, you gotta have a couple of, of low ones just to make that— somebody that gets 1.5 million views, you're like, yeah, really? But you know, you, you get, you get a 4.5 or 11, uh, 1,100, um, that are 4.9, not too shabby. Thank you so much for spending time with author to author. I really appreciate it.

I, I really appreciate this too. I'm glad you looked me up, and I'm thankful for this interview. And I hope people will buy my books. I have 19 books on Amazon now in a period of 4 years. And like I said, this weekend I'm going to be working on the third book in the Fearless series.

I put your website on, on the screen fantasticfiction.com, and, and the, the rest of the address is there.

Thank you.

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