Author, Canton Man to Release Book

When Cindy Smith began creating a trilogy about the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, one of the Old West’s most famous 30-second gunfights, she realized she needed guidance creating the male voices of her characters.

She soon came to the conclusion that she had a natural co-author in lifelong Canton resident T.B. Burton.

Burton portrayed Doc Holliday, one of the survivors of the gunfight, in Turner South’s Liars and Legends television production. He's also a 2005 Fast Draw world champion.

At 5 tonight, Smith and Burton will sign copies of The Trouble in Tombstone, the final novel in their Time in Contention series, during a launch party at .

"These authors have been very popular," said Farris Yawn, the Downtown Canton bookstore’s owner and founder. "They always have a real nice turn out."

Smith, who is also an artist, met co-author Burton about eight years ago. She was commissioned to capture his portrait as Doc Holliday, a work that now sits in the  in Cartersville.

Smith began seeking Burton's input for the book via email.

"We don’t see each other when we write," Smith said of their writing process. "When it’s all done, we meet and argue."

Like the other two novels, A Western Love Story and The Return from Prescott, the final book illustrates the story and the chaos that ensued before, during and following the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

Using maps, court transcripts, community records and reporter accounts of the fight and the 30-day trial that followed, Smith and Burton share an untold part of the story: The lost city of Contention, AZ, a city that thrived from 1880-1888.

"We followed history," Smith said. "We end our book with the last major fire with a surprise ending."

The fire quickly burned the town hotel to the ground and killed seven people.

"A story has a place to begin," she said, "and a place to end."