Chicken Ranch progress report no. 1

After all this time, it's hard to believe that I'm actually in writing mode, as opposed to research, interview or transcription mode. But yeah, I'm knee-deep in chapter one, making genuine progress on the whole book front. So for all of you people out there (you know who you are) who have asked me time and again over the past couple of years "When's the book coming out?" and I've made some vague comment that generally translates into "Eventually," here's to dashing your suspicions that I've been faking the whole thing.

Honestly, when I undertook this project, I figured it would be a lark. Six months of work at the most. Little did I know it would grow, Blob-like, and consume my entire life. But hey, I've never been one for doing things by half-measures. I cannot express what a huge relief it is to finally, finally, finally be putting words on the page. Here's a little sample of tonight's work for your reading pleasure.

What set the Chicken Ranch apart was its venerable history. By 1973, it was the last man standing, the lone holdout against changing times that had shuttered pretty much all of its one-time contemporaries.

From the earliest days of the Republic, long before vast oilfields covered the landscape and “black gold” made the state rich, the Texas economy depended on three industries: cattle, cotton and timber. A casual observer of the time could not be blamed, though, for thinking of prostitution as a fourth major cash crop.

In case you're wondering, those words were helped along by Pumpkin Ale from Buffalo Bill's Brewery. I highly recommend it--of the various pumpkin ales I've tried over the years, this one strikes the right balance between the pumpkin and hoppy malt flavors of the beer. Not that it has anything directly to do with the Chicken Ranch, but I felt like sharing.

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