Can you tell me a little bit about your background? I am a native of Texas. I graduated college in 1957 and then joined the Army. After I returned, I worked as a reporter for the Abilene Reporter News and the Amarillo Daily News for about three years. Then, from "61 to "64, I attended the University of Texas Law School and was soon appointed as a briefing attorney for the Texas Supreme Court for a year. Then, in "69 I was elected as a District Attorney in a multi-country rural district west of Wichita Falls where is served for approximately 20 years. Afterwards I got into private practice where I mainly focused on criminal law.
How long have you been writing novels? Well, since I retired to Abilene with my wife, I have devoted most of my time to writing books. Mainly they are about the Western Frontier – particularly West Texas, Eastern New Mexico and Oklahoma Territory. My books are all non-fiction, and most of them involve crime – murder and murder trials. It is sort of how the justice system developed in this area, going from Winchester Law to Vigilante Law to, finally, Courtroom Law.
Can you tell me about the origins of the Boyce-Sneed feud? The three families that figured in this feud were three very prominent, well-to-do families: the Boyces, the Sneeds, and the Snyders. All three of the families migrated to Texas prior to statehood and happened to settle in the same area where they became close friends. So after the Civil War, John Beal Sneed married Lena Snyder and moved to Amarillo near the Boyce manor. By that time, they had been married for 10 years. Soon enough, Lena and Al Boyce rekindled their friendship, and in the Spring of 1911, their friendship turned into a torrid romance. John Beal Snead found out about it - and the mean, grim, vengeful Snead set out a plan of revenge and punishment.
