Abstract:
The Last Outlaw is a contemporary western in three parts that begins and ends in the Flint Hills of Kansas. Book One of the novel represents the bulk of this creative thesis. Also included is a short story, "Last of the Blood," which grew pontaneously from Book One's characters and situations. Book One represents approximately one-quarter of the projected length (120,000 words) of the completed novel. In structure, The Last Outlaw relies on the hero's journey as described by Joseph Campbell in Hero With a Thousand Faces, and upon the traditional Robin Hood legend; it also borrows heavily from outlaw lore of the American west.