Do we like Joe?
I like him but I mean this is Slade’s jam and there can’t be two heroes, right?
Yet I’m picturing a scene where a cowboy rides a werewolf instead of a horse. Joe’s an upright walking werewolf, the traditional kind vs the new kind where a guy just turns into an actual wolf.
But I picture upright walking werewolves running on all fours, sort of in a gallop when they want to go fast.
A cowboy riding piggyback on a werewolf walking on two feet would just be ridiculous.
Together they chase after the bad guy who’s getting away.
I’m pretty sure someone will say its racist for a cowboy to ride a black guy that turns into a werewolf but I mean, it’d be like they’re working together with a common goal to fight evil.
What do you think? You like him and want to keep him? He’s adding too much to the storyline and nix him?
Thoughts for the future: If people like this enough to merit a sequel, I’m not entirely sure the next book would be about Slade. He’s fun to write but I’m not sure how much I can do with a guy that doesn’t talk.
So who knows Joe could have his own book. I have a few cowboy types in mind that could be fighting zombies.
My purpose for Joe was that he had a run in with the villain (Blythe) in the past and now he can tell Slade what Blythe is all about.
The other option is that Blythe just blurts out his master plan like an idiot.
But now my worry is when the zombies come, I mean, shit, Slade has a werewolf friend who’ll just slash up all the zombies and this is a Zombie Western. You want cowboys shooting up zombies don’t you?
Oh God writing is so hard. The things you have to think about.
Input please, 3.5 readers.
Bookshelf Battle 
There’s nothing wrong with multiple heroes. A good story knows no boundaries.
I like Joe, he seems like he might serve a purpose, one you are slow to get too, nudge nudge. But I have to be honest, if you think this is Slade’s book, you’re fooling yourself. This is Gunther’s book. LOL
I’ve been thinking about this and I don’t know. Had we begun with zombies crashing open the saloon door and then introduce our main characters from there…it might be interesting but it’d be another book. I don’t know if it’d be a good or bad one. There probably wouldn’t be enough time to make these characters likable and make you worry about them when they’re put in peril.
I have no idea if it’d be better or worse to bring the zombies out sooner but just seems to be the way its going.
Have you ever seen Gunsmoke? Marshal Matt Dillon would announce his plan. His deputy, country bumpkin Festus, would inform Matt that his plan is the dumbest thing he’s ever heard, sure to result in everyone being dead…but hey, you’re the boss so let’s do it.
Festus was younger though. Just seemed older due to his constant complaining.
While I’m lamenting…there hasn’t been enough Doc. I put him in that chapter where he ends up tricking the prostitutes into paying him but as I went on, I realized that meant he couldn’t be a volunteer to help watch the Buchanan Boys (the watch started that night and he was busy carousing.)
Thus, I ended up putting in the Knoxes as kind of throwaway characters when really Doc should have stayed in the game.
I love the scene, its hilarious so I want to keep it but I wonder if I should axe it since I initially set out that this was going to be a trio of anti-zombie gunslingers in the form of Slade, Gunther and Doc.
Sigh. But for one scene I really liked poor Doc disappeared.
It’s never too late to make changes. The Knoxes are complete throw aways which means you can and should edit them out with no trouble at all. Gunther can go get the Doc, interrupting another amusing scene if you so choose.
And I think you should with Joe and his son coming along there’s too many characters floating about.
This book will need a major over haul. You have too many threads started that are just dangling in the breeze. The long set up has not made me care about the characters. It’s gone on too long and at this point, I just want something to happen that clarifies all these threads dangling in my face.