Noblesville Western Author Celebrating His 30th Year, 20th Published Book, With Signing, Whisky Tasting Thursday

By: Betsy Reason

Noblesville author Larry Sweazy is finally getting to celebrate the publication of his most recent milestone: writing and publishing his 20th book.

And on Thursday, he will have his first book signing since the pandemic.

Sweazy will celebrate his award-winning westerns during the book signing, which will be 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, a Books, Boots and Bourbon celebration at MacArthur Books, 2169 Glebe St, Suite 100a, Carmel. There will be whisky tasting and reading. Ten percent of proceeds will be donated to Agape Therapeutic Riding Resources, to which 10 percent of his books will be donated.

His newest book is his first collection of short stories, “A Cow Hunter’s Lament and Other Stories,” which was published earlier this year. Stories range from Texas Rangers to Florida cattle ranching to American Indians to displaced Civil War Southerners. “It’s a rousing collection of true Western lore,” he said.

The year 2022 was a good year for Sweazy’s books, earning at least five awards. These included 2022 Indiana Authors Award and 2022 Will Rogers Medallion Award medalist in Modern for “Winter Seeks Out the Lonely;” Will Rogers medallion Award Medalist, for “Lost Mountain Pass;” for which he also was a Western Fictioneers Peacemaker Award finalist and a Western Writers of America Spur Award finalist.

Sweazy has three new short stories coming out in the new feature: The Low Waters” in an upcoming issue of “Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine;” “Hell Mary” in the upcoming anthology, “Lawless;” and “Dandy Joe’s Last Buck Off” in an upcoming issue of “Made of Rust and Glass.”

Sweazy is also currently working on a new novel that he hopes to have completed by the end of the year.

Sweazy started out writing short stories, and published his first one in 1993, which to his surprise, finds him 30 years into a writing career.

Since 1993, he has published 38 more short stories for a total of 39 to date. His short stories have been anthologized in a year’s best collection, and Sweazy has been nominated for and awarded some major awards. “Short stories allow me to play in multiple genres without the big commitment of novels,” he said.

His first novel was published in 2009 after receiving over 200 rejections. He was 49.

Since 2009, he has published 19 novels “to critical acclaim,” and received 10 national writing awards. Two of his novels have been Amazon Bestsellers. He speaks at libraries (where his books are found in the adult fiction section) regularly and teaches writing workshops across Indiana and the country. He has served on the board of directors for the Midwest Writers Workshop and on the faculty of the  Midwest Writers Workshop and on the faculty of the Indiana Writer’s Center.

The best part about his life?

“I continue to write every day, which is what I set out to do: have a long career, and live my life as a writer.”

So after 30 years, how does he feel these days about writing?

“I’m as excited, or more excited than I have ever been about writing. I’ve learned a lot and still have a lot more to learn. Writing a novel or a short story never gets easier, and that is a challenge that I gladly face every day when I’m looking at a blank page,” Sweazy said.

How does he come up with new story ideas?

“I probably have more ideas at this point in my life than I can use. Ideas are journeys and rarely come fully formed to me. Sometimes, it’s a character I want to follow and learn more about. Or I want to look at a genre trope in a different way. Or I want to explore a time period like the Great Depression. Or go to a place I’ve never been,” Sweazy said. “I’ve always believed setting informs a character. How can the weather in Alaska not influence how a person lives their life? Do they give up, or persevere? That’s where I find my ideas. In those questions, and wondering how other people live, survive, and thrive in different times and places.”

What about his fan following?

“Genre readers are devoted fans,” he said. “When people email and ask if I have a new book coming out because they’ve read all of my previous books, well, there’s no better feeling for a writer than that.”

Advice for author wannabes?

“Read a lot and write a lot. Artists get better by doing, not talking about doing. Sounds simple, but it’s not. A writer must put in the time. Everything we need to know is in the books that we read. Read a lot and write a lot.”

Anything this writer has learned that he’d like to share?

“The thing I have always loved about publishing is that it is a level playing field. There are no secret handshakes, no family connections needed, no college degree required. All you have to do is write a good book. Again, not simple. A book that readers will love and one that gets the attention of an editor who wants to advocate for its existence in the world,” Sweazy said. “Publishing is a tough business and getting tougher every day. But it has never been easy to make a living as a writer, as an artist, and it never will be. Resilience and persistence are requirements to survive. Never give up. That’s the only way I’ve been able to survive 30 years.”

Anything else?

“I still have a dream. I still want to get better. I still have stories to tell,” Sweazy said. “No matter what changes come in publishing, I’m still going to write. I’m a writer. Writers write. I don’t know how to do anything else.”

-Betsy Reason writes about people, places and things in Hamilton County. Contact The Times Editor Betsy Reason at [email protected].