About The Devilhunter:

The main character in this story is a half-breed sniper serving with the Canadian Army during World War Two. Being Native, I find myself incorporating Native themes and attitudes in my stories. Although this story uses very little Native content, as opposed to The Circle, I believed strongly that the main character should have Native background; I felt that his being "half" was pivotal in defining his character in the story.

Native Indians were built for warfare; hunting game and shooting an enemy in combat are based on the same principal: survival. The Native Indian probably understood this concept better than anyone did. It was inbred into his genes for the last thousand years.

What's more, the Native Indian was suited for the type of combat fought in both World Wars. In fact, two of the most prolific Allied snipers on the Western Front were Natives. Their names were Francis Pegahmahgabow of Parry Sound, and Henry Norwest of Labrador. Norwest was killed in action, but Pegahmahgabow, or "Peg", as he was affectionately known to the white soldiers in his regiment, survived the war, and was later acknowledged as being the deadliest of all snipers, Allied and German, to have served on the Western Front. Francis Pegahmahgabow was a hunter; that was his heritage. Pegahmahgabow was revered by the white soldiers in his regiment, because his forte was hunting German snipers in No Man's Land which invariably saved the lives of many white soldiers, because he kept their area of the front lines clear of enemy snipers.

I based my main character loosely on the exploits of Francis Pegahmahgabow. Being half-breed, my main character possesses the "best" of both worlds; the cunning and stealth of the Indian coupled with the ferocity of the Scottish Highlander. Thus, he was 'bred' to be an instrument of war.

It's 1945 in Holland and my character has just been pulled out of the fighting and given a mission by two shadowy officers: to track down and assassinate a renegade SS man. Only later does he realize the officers and the SS man were not who they appeared to be. I don't want to give away any more than this, but he does join forces with a female IRA terrorist, and completes his mission.

To sum up, the Native experience and participation in both World Wars was the basis for The Devilhunter. These helped shape my main character. I thoroughly enjoyed writing The Devilhunter. I hope I can think up another idea of this magnitude again.

At the moment I am not writing; I need a break after The Devilhunter. I put a lot of energy, sweat, and soul into this story. I guess I'm more or less recharging the creative batteries. Being one who enjoys creative writing, I always have ideas, or the germ of ideas, kicking around. Writing is like a spark. Once it ignites, you got fire. So, I'm confident I'll get another idea to turn into a story soon enough, though I hope it will be as fresh and original as The Circle, or The Devilhunter.

This is for any potential Native screenwriter out there who may read this: I know how tough it can be at times to properly set and work out a scene or sequence. You know what you want to say or express, but it's just not coming out that way on paper. I've been through it. For the fun of it, just to keep the instincts sharp, I write screenplay scenes about anything. I find it enjoyable and fun just to write for the sake of writing. So, if you're having trouble with a particular scene, let me play around with it for the fun of it. No strings attached on my part. I'd be glad to help out another Native writer. And if it gives you the inspiration you need to take it by the horns--then I'm glad to have helped.
 

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