James Carlos Blake facts for kids

James Carlos Blake (born May 26, 1947 – died January 11, 2025) was an American writer. He wrote many novels, short stories, and essays. His books have won several important awards and have been praised by critics. People have called him "one of the greatest storytellers of the famous American outlaw life" and "one of the most original writers in America today." He was also honored by the University of South Florida and was a member of the Texas Institute of Letters.

About James Carlos Blake

James Carlos Blake was born in Tampico, Mexico. He was a third-generation Mexican, with family roots from America, England, Ireland, and Spain. He later became an American citizen. His father, Carlos Sebastian Blake Hernandez, was a civil engineer. His mother, Estrella Maria Lozano Cano, grew up on a horse ranch.

Blake went to elementary school at St. Joseph's Academy in Brownsville, Texas. He finished high school in Miami, Florida. After serving in the U.S. Army Airborne (paratroopers), he went to college. He earned two degrees from the University of South Florida Tampa Bay and another from Bowling Green State University.

Before becoming a full-time writer, Blake had many different jobs. He worked as a snake-catcher, a Volkswagen mechanic, and a swimming pool cleaner. He also worked as a properties officer at a county jail. His main job for a long time was teaching at colleges. He taught at several universities, including the University of South Florida and Miami Dade College. In 1997, he decided to focus only on writing.

His Books and Stories

Blake started writing seriously in the early 1980s. Over a few years, he published many short stories in different literary magazines.

His First Novel: The Pistoleer

In 1995, he published his first novel, The Pistoleer. This book tells the story of John Wesley Hardin, a well-known historical figure from Texas. The novel is special because each chapter is told by a different character. This way, readers get to see the story from many points of view. Critics loved the book, calling it "simply amazing" for a first novel. It was also a finalist for a "Best Novel of the West" award.

The Pistoleer explores several themes that appear in Blake's other works. These include how violence can be seen as an art, how honor and morals guide people's lives, and how a person's character can shape their destiny. It also looks at how historical figures became famous in their time.

More Award-Winning Works

After The Pistoleer, Blake published eight more novels and a collection of short stories. In 1997, his third novel, In the Rogue Blood, became very popular. It won the important Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction. This book is about two American brothers during the U.S. war with Mexico in the 1840s. It is known for showing how historical events can be shaped by intense actions.

Historical Figures in His Novels

While some of Blake's short stories are set in more recent times, most of his novels take place between the mid-1800s and the late 1930s. Many of his novels feature real historical figures as the main characters.

For example, his novels have focused on:

• Pancho Villa, a Mexican revolutionary (in The Friends of Pancho Villa).
• John Ashley, a leader of a criminal group in early 1900s Florida (in Red Grass River).
• “Bloody Bill” Anderson, a guerrilla captain during the American Civil War (in Wildwood Boys).
• Harry Pierpont, a 1930s figure who led a group of bank robbers that included John Dillinger (in Handsome Harry).
• Stanley Ketchel, a boxing champion from the early 1900s (in The Killings of Stanley Ketchel).

Even in his novels with made-up main characters, real historical people often appear in important or smaller roles.

His Latest Novels

Blake's four most recent novels are The Rules of Wolfe (2013), The House of Wolfe (2015), The Ways of Wolfe (2017), and The Bones of Wolfe (2020). These are his first novels set in modern times.

Cultural Impact

Some of James Carlos Blake's books have been published in other countries. A few of his works have also been considered for movies. For example, The Killings of Stanley Ketchel was optioned by Terence Winter, who wrote for famous TV shows like The Sopranos and Boardwalk Empire.

There were plans to turn The Friends of Pancho Villa into a movie directed by Emir Kusturica, with Johnny Depp as the star. However, the movie did not happen in the end.

Director Martin Koolhoven has said that Blake's novel In the Rogue Blood influenced his movie Brimstone. Koolhoven explained that reading Blake's book helped him decide to tell a Western story from a female point of view. The movie also features a "scold's bridle," an idea he got from reading In the Rogue Blood.

Awards

James Carlos Blake has received many awards for his writing:

• 1991 Quarterly West Novella Prize for “I, Fierro”
• 1993 Authors in the Park National Short Story Competition Award for “Under the Sierras”
• 1997 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction for In the Rogue Blood
• 1999 Southwest Book Award (Border Regional Library Association) for Borderlands
• 1999 Chautauqua South Book Award for Red Grass River
• 2005 Japan Adventure Fiction Association Prize for A World of Thieves
• 2007 Maltese Falcon Award (Maltese Falcon Society of Japan) for Under the Skin
• 2013 French Grand Prix du Roman Noir Étranger for Red Grass River
• 2020 French Prix de Beaune for Best Foreign Novel for Handsome Harry