Charters Settlement resident new author
News article from the ‘Riverside Neighbors’ section of ‘The Daily Gleaner’ on September 19th, 2009.
Charters Settlement resident new author
by Brenda MacMinn
When Stephen Porter of Charters Settlement was a young lad growing up in the Stanley area, little did he know that he would one day become an author.
On Saturday, September 26, Porter will be at The Olive Branch in New Maryland most of the day for a book signing to help them celebrate their anniversary.
Growing up, Porter loved the old westerns by authors like Zane Gray, Louis L’Amour, Max Brand and E. B. Mann. He loved hunting and fishing and his father, the late Charles Porter, was his teacher.
“I loved the characters in the old westerns,” said Porter who has been a Christian for about 30 years, “and the moral aspect of their characters. To me that was cowboy. When I became a truck driver, I did the same thing – stepped up to help people.”
“In the 60’s a new breed of western came along where they used Jesus as swear words and other modern swear words and I didn’t like that,” he explained. “We were losing the moral character of the western novels especially when Louis L’Amour died.”
Porter said at the time that he thought I could give writing western novels a try.
His first attempt, Charlie: The Family Edition has launched him into the field of authorship. In this book he adapted the names of people in his family and special friends to the characters that unfolded on the pages and he honored his father by giving the hero his father’s name, Charlie. Throughout the book, the names of Betty, Stephanie and Scott, Lisa and Jody are character names he uses that belong to his family members. Jim and Bob are special friends for whom he named characters as well.
Porter’s son, Scott, posed for the front cover of the novel.
“The Family Edition will be the only edition using these names,” said Porter who is presently revising the book injecting more scenery, facial features and physical characteristics to the characters on the pages. “By doing that I am adding personalities.”
“When I started writing this book, I never really expected to finish it,” laughs Porter. “I have a pile of unfinished projects. But I pursued it and got it finished.”
“When I submitted the manuscript to the Writers Edge for evaluation, they wrote back saying it ‘read like a good story.’ We need to feel a little more sun and see the clouds and see the grass waving in the wind.”
It fits in the category of Christian western and is a readable book that demands it be completed soon after starting it.
Porter’s knowledge of old firearms is true to the models he names in the book. His character of Charlie is portrayed as a man with exceptional gifts with his hands, his Christianity and his strength which he wasn’t afraid to use when needed. He motivated the people of the community to step up to provide the solution to his problems at hand.
“It made heroes of the people,” said Porter.
He lived for a few years in Calgary and Lethbridge, Alberta, and chose Fort Benton, Montana, on the bank of the Missouri River for the setting which seemed to be somewhat similar. The setting of the book is in the year 1872.
Porter’s book can be found at Amazon.com, The Lighthouse, The Olive Branch, Westminster Books, The Tracy Store in Tracy and he plans to have the book placed in Harvey and Stanley, both places he used to live.
Porter has started another book with several chapters already completed. He also writes a blog at www.canadaeast.com /blog/always learning.
I will be at the Olive Branch this Saturday, the 26th for a book signing. Anyone buying my book at that time will receive an insert of the names used and their family connection and I will sign it for them.
Thank you.
Stephen C. Porter
