My father, my inspiration.

My dad and me, 1981.

 A lot of people ask me how I got started writing and why I write what I write. I started writing when I was in the Army and discovered that I enjoyed helping people see, through words, what I saw with my eyes. Alaska, where I was stationed, has some of the most beautiful scenery known to man. From the rugged mountains and clear streams loaded with fish, there was too much to keep it to myself. I decided to show it to my family, but words were the only thing I knew how to paint a picture with. Using words, I took my family through mountain passes, across glaciers, feeding eagles, fishing for salmon in the Russian River, whale watching and watching the Northern Lights dance in the frigid Arctic night skies. 

That's where I got started, but why do I write westerns? That's another question all together. You see, my dad was my hero. He never bragged about things, but I never doubted that he was capable of doing anything he set his mind to. He was never scared to get his hands dirty, nor to help others. He raised us boys to stand on our own two feet, and that our integrity was more important than money. I remember him "rescuing" me from a lion in our dining room one night. I guess we had watched too much Tarzan that day, and that shadow sure looked like a lion sitting in the corner. Dad calmly walked out, turned on the light and showed me that there was nothing to fear. He was there, the "lion" had fled.

He liked westerns. The old ones, and we would watch them together on the weekends. He got me into reading Louis L'Amour and Zane Grey. It stuck. When I started writing, naturally, it was westerns. I think the stories I have written are something my father could be proud of. He's still my hero, and I hope to keep writing stories that would make him proud.

  I lost my dad in 2019. While I will never be able to call him for advice, laugh with him, or watch John Wayne with him again, I will have those precious memories for as long as I live.

Find out more about my books at https://www.authorphilhardy.com