Cowboy Poet:
Interview with John Holland, Author of Dry Bone
Today my guest is John Holland, Author of Dry Bones, #1 bestseller, Amazon Kindle
Poetry Australia and Oceania .
Welcome, John, and thank you for visiting my blog.
John, your book has drawn a lot of attention and great
reviews. The first thing that drew me to your book was the title and cover. Can
you tell us how the cover art came to be?
I can't take credit
for that. It was chosen by my publisher
Lazarus Media. I was happy for it to be
used however.
I think it suits the
title and the book.
John, in addition to being a poet, your interesting bio says
you were a stockman, which I now know is an Australian cowboy. We’ll get more
into those nuances in a minute and at the end I’ll provide links to Dry Bones and to a review on the blog of
fellow romance author Nia Simone.
Today, I’d like to focus on your cowboy experience. Let’s
start with something simple. Did you wear cowboy boots when you rode? What are
they made of?
Yes. R.M. Williams riding boots with a Cuban
heel. They are leather.
http://www.bootsonline.com.au/boots.htm
Western saddle?
No. Australian stock saddles. The Cox poley was my favorite.
http://www.horsedeals.com.au/index.php?p=view-horse&horse=279025-Syd-Hill-Cox-Poley-Saddle
Rope?
No.
Did you lasso the cattle ever?
Rarely. The only time a rope was used much was to
rope unbranded cattle and drag them to a wooden panel called a "bronco
panel" for branding etc.
http://www.broncobrandingaustralia.com/wordpress/?page_id=5
Ever do a rodeo?
A couple of times
when I was very young.
What do you think of rodeos?
They can be a great
spectacle. But rodeo is now a spectator
sport and no longer mirrors actual station (ranch) work.
What’s the difference between being a cowboy in Australia versus, say, Montana , you think?
I think the main
difference is that cattle stations here are huge by comparison. The climate is a big factor too.
How many other cowboys did you work with?
This varies
immensely. A stock camp in the Northern Territory
The term
"ringer" is used more commonly in the North for a stockman (cowboy).
How long is a drive? How long are you out there for?
A cattle drive is
known here as a "droving trip".
But this is to describe long trips to market. Station work with cattle that takes place on
the station itself is called "mustering".
Did you camp?
Yes. In the north you could be camped out for
weeks. Even months sometimes.
Campfire?
Yes.
Is it all guys around the campfire?
Not always. But that was the case in my experience.
What do you talk about?
Just about anything
and everything. There were some very
well read people there.
How hot does it get during the day?
You try not to work
cattle in the hottest times of the year, but summer temperatures are commonly
over 100 degrees.
Did you carry your sleeping bag in a roll on the back?
No. Your swag (bed roll) is usually carried on
what American's would call a chuck wagon.
Motorized these days of course.
In the past pack horses were often used to do the same job.
Did you love your horse?
Of course.
Is there a ranch house?
Yes. It is called a homestead here. On big stations it is almost a small
village. Big stations (ranches) might
also have several "out stations" each with it's own homestead and out
buildings.
Who was your employer?
Often an absentee
owner who employed a Station Manager to run the place for him/her.
How did you feel about him/her?
Not always kindly.
Do dogs go on the rides? (Term for rides…?)
Dogs are used for
mustering and for working cattle in stockyards.
Dogs around the ranch house?
Always.
Cats? Indoor cats or all farm cats with a job to do?
Rarely.
Other pets Americans have never heard of?
You would have heard
of baby kangaroos and parrots. Sometimes
there might be a pet Emu or Plains Turkey
How big was the ranch? (Acres)
The biggest station I
lived on was Coolibah Station in the Northern
Territory
It is still about
1,800,000 acres. But only about half the
size it was when I lived there. I was a
child and my Father, Jack Holland, was manager.
It was owned at the time by the meat canning company Tom Piper.
http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/21443041?versionId=25676236
Did you ever let a woman ride behind you in the saddle?
No, but I would have
been happy to.
How many months a year did you work?
Most stockmen were
employed full time. But cattle work was
confined mostly to the cooler months from April to September.
At other times you
would be mending or building fences and any one of a multitude of other jobs
that need doing on stations.
How many days in a row?
If you were out
mustering you worked every day for several weeks at a time. Around the homestead it was usually 6 days a
week.
Thank you for visiting with us today, John, and
congratulations on your release of Dry
Bones.
Here are the links and please feel free to ask John some
questions.
Nia Simone’s review: Can
a dash, a space, a word convey worlds? Book review, Dry Bones, John Holland.
Link to book at Amazon Kindle:
http://www.amazon.com/Dry-Bones-ebook/dp/B00AAX3N7E/ref=sr_1_36?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353704619&sr=1-36&keywords=dry+bones#_
http://www.amazon.com/Dry-Bones-ebook/dp/B00AAX3N7E/ref=sr_1_36?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353704619&sr=1-36&keywords=dry+bones#_
Author website:
I want to thank John for agreeing to be on my blog today and to my friend Nia who introduced me to John and his beautiful work.
Have a great week.
Marie
