AUTHOR Q&A:
                  Some questions (and answers) with Steven Jones regarding BUSHWACKERS/

Was one of the inspirations for THE BUSHWHACKERS a series of murders in frontier Colorado?
Yes. Felipe Espinoza and a few close kin killed at least 26 people in the San Luis Valley in 1863. Some sources put the
number between 35 to 40. According to Christopher O'Brien, who has written two books about the bizarre history of the San
Luis Valley, Espinoza was the United States' first serial killer.

Is THE BUSHWHACKERS a work of fiction or historical novel?
Fiction. Its main characters are fictitious. Its supporting characters are fictitious. I do incorporate some historical elements in
my story. Big surprise there. It is a western. But those elements are background details and incidents. THE BUSHWHACKERS is
even set nine years after the Espinoza murders.

What is THE BUSHWHACKERS about?
Joshua Brand is the powerful owner of a mine syndicate. He hires a famous bounty hunter after his son becomes the latest victim
in a series of bushwhackings. The people in Brand's town, Eleanor, Colorado, are surprised when this bounty hunter, Paul Kirk, turns out to be Brand's brother-in-law and boyhood best friend. Brand had testified that Kirk died during the Civil War.

Is THE BUSHWHACKERS a traditional or revisionist western?
Traditional, though I would argue it is as much a mystery as a western. As a western, though, I would compare it to John Ford's
THE SEARCHERS and Andrew V. McLaglen's SHENANDOAH. In those films and my novel a family tragedy kicks off the action.
The protagonist is an indefatigable person who has no intention of stopping until the tragedy is avenged, even if he has to die to do it. This single-minded pursuit leads to further tragedies, nearly destroying everything dear to the protagonist.

So THE BUSHWHACKERS is a quest for vengeance story?
All westerns involve some sort of quest, but THE BUSHWHACKERS is not all about vengeance. As I said, I would argue it is as much mystery as western. Who is bushwhacking all these people and why? Why did Brand lie about Kirk, and why has Kirk stayed away from
Eleanor all these years? Also, there is the mystery of love and family. What drives a person to put everything on the line, to abandon all
else in their life, to right a wrong against blood? Or, if the person can't right the wrong, at least see that some level of justice if meted out.

Is THE BUSHWHACKERS your first book?
I had a mystery-adventure novel called KING OF HARLEM published print on demand (POD) in 2001. THE BUSHWHACKERS is my first
novel through a traditional publisher. Its publisher, Avalon Books, is a respected New York publisher that has been in business for decades.
KING OF HARLEM, by the way, has recently been picked up by a new traditional publisher called Mundania Press, and will be available
May 2005.

You wrote a number of comic books before THE BUSHWHACKERS. What is the difference between writing a comic book and
a novel?
Comic books incorporate both words and pictures in a sequence of panels to tell a story. A novel is strictly words, so a writer does not
collaborate with an artist during the creative process. All the control as well as all the responsibility for telling a story completely belongs
to the writer. But both are a blast.