I HATE responding to critics, and I rarely do; but sometimes I need ...to speak up for myself. A recent POWDER RIVER Season 1 review on Audible (and mind you, it wasn't a terrible review by any means) said "I think they actually copied some stories from old days. I can not believe that someone today would write a story were a boy tells a girl in a wheelchair, that she can walk. He just meets the girl and he knows she can walk.
" Dear Jim - I can assure you I did not copy anything from the old days. In fact - those who know me well can tell you that I don't listen to old time radio shows, with the exception of an occassional Jack Benny show. I have yet to hear a complete episode of GUNSMOKE. I don't listen to ANY audio outside of CRT, because lets face it, when you work on audio 20 hours a day, the last thing you want to to is listen to someone elses in your time off. THAT SAID - season 1 of Powder River is not the best in the series as the episodes were all over the place... but in the episode you are citing; I was writing how I thought a kid would think in 1874 -- before the age of 24hr news and phones with the world at your fingertips. A time when living in the west meant isolation and little contact with cities thousands of miles to the east.
Chad doesn't understand why she can't walk - he just thinks that if she wants to, she can. He's never encountered someone like this before. In the end she's not dancing a jig and skipping down the yellow brick road... she still needs assistance and can only take a few steps...and who knows if that could have or could not have happened. I read stories where it did. Today someone in her position may be able to walk in time with with therapy. In the 1870s they put you in a wheel chair and that was that. I'm not arguing with your review - just defending myself -- . you said that I probably copied old time scripts. I can assure you, was not the case.
As for the Mark Twain episode having no plot - it doesn't have much of one thats for sure - but in defense of the story, we had to remove about 7 minutes for CD, which left some plot holes and it hurt the story... which I admit, was not the best. Cheers - JR
