A HISTORY OF WESTERN UNION by Meg Mims

First off, a confession -- which I'm sure you've heard before from me. I'm an Eastern greenhorn, and this month I was stuck for a blog topic. So I opened up Google and typed "western" and voila! What did I see that seemed interesting? Western Union. Yep -- what is it? Oh, sure, it's the telegraph. But beyond that, I didn't know much. The poles were raised before the transcontinental railroad, but when? And what is Morse code all about?

So I started digging. First -- the telegraph machine. In 1836, an artist Samuel Morse worked with physicist Joseph Henry along with machinist and inventor Alfred Vail to develop the instrument that used electric current -- whoa! Electric current? Why didn't people use electricity to light their houses and shops back then? Their streets? Guess I forgot that batteries were invented around 1800 -- which built upon good old Ben Franklin's kite experiments, and his coinage of terms like charge, plus and minus, positive and negative, conductor and condenser. But electrical charges go back to ancient Greece, when philosophers noted static electricity but couldn't explain it.

Okay, back to the telegraph machine, which sent electric current in pulses -- short and long -- along wires. The receiver has an electromagnet, by the way, but of course cannot transmit language itself. The electromagnet was invented by William Sturgeon in 1825, and that paved the way to the invention of both the first electric motor and the telegraph.

Morse and Vail had to invent a code, therefore, that translated letters and symbols plus the silence between them. Morse and Vail first operated the line between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. Vail improved the sending key, relay magnets and recording registers, while Morse took the credit for the code. But few people have ever heard of Alfred Vail -- and no, he didn't lend his name to Vail, Colorado. Poor Alf.

Back to Western Union, which began as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in 1851. How's that for a mouthful? Within four years of operation, the company changed its name to Western Union. Why, you might ask? Consolidation -- the western-most areas of the U.S. telegraph system joined with the original telegraph line under the company. And by 1861, a mere decade later, Western Union had finished building the transcontinental line of wires across America. It could very well have lit a fire under those who wanted a railroad to link up the two coasts.

In fact, 1869 brought the first stock ticker -- giving Wall Street a boost -- and two years later, money transfers over the telegraph line boosted business transactions. Wow, that must have helped ratchet the industrial leaps through the rest of the 19th century. Is this a big deal? Consider how communication happened before the telegraph, come on! It's a very big deal.

Telegraph means "to write" and "at a distance" (like telephone means to speak at a distance). Think of how much easier communicating during the Civil War must have been (although they still used couriers, of course) compared to the War of 1812 -- remember the scene in The Last of the Mohicans, when runners took messages through the Indian-infested woods? Uh huh. Didn't make it, did they? Try a passenger pigeon -- in medieval times, trained hawks could bring them down, cutting messages off in the same fashion. How about smoke signals? Passable, depending on the weather -- try sending a message that way in a thunderstorm. Ha.

Flag waving? Same problem. Beacons of fire? Lighthouses used beacons, via whale-oil lanterns at first -- in 1716, a lighthouse in Boston was built, but the British blew it up during the Revolutionary War. (It was rebuilt, however, in 1783.) Sandy Hook Lighthouse -- the oldest working lighthouse in the U.S. -- celebrated its 250th anniversary on June 11th when the beacon was first lit in 1764. And Fresnel lenses improved the beacons, fueled by kerosene, until electricity was introduced in the early 1900s.

But this post isn't about lighthouses, or signal flags (also used in maritime history) or beacons of fire lit on the Mountains of Gondor like in The Return of the King to ask for Rohan's help in fighting the hordes of Isengard... oh, all right. Can I help it if I loved Tolkien's Middle Earth saga before I ever saw John Wayne in True Grit? I'll drag myself back to the real world -- and American western history. Remember, even the Pony Express didn't last long. The horses are thankful of that. Trains quickly followed the telegraph wires across America. Here's a 1911 chart of the code Morse invented -- and operators learned to listen and interpret.

Telegraph operators out west usually did double duty -- to add to their wages, of course, which helped offset the danger of working alone in a station with the danger of Indian raids or plain loneliness. They would work for the railroad and even the Railway Express, and then Western Union. 

The first singing telegram didn't happen until the 1930s, after Western Union introduced the first customer charge card. Wow, another innovation that spurred on credit cards and fraud craziness of today. Western Union operated throughout the 20th century, however, despite the huge leaps of computers. In fact, the last telegram was sent in January of 2006! I had no idea.

But without the telegraph and Western Union, American inventors would never have pushed communication forward to cell phones and modern emails of today -- and "social media" like Twitter, Facebook, even blogs like this one! How cool is that? I know, some of you are probably groaning. Social, ha. Horse patootie.

Well, I think it's a good thing. I wouldn't want to climb that huge wood pile and get burned up, trying to light the silly thing, like Pippin. 

Oh, all right!! Back to Western Union, with thanks to William, Ben, Sam and Alf as well. I wonder what's next after blogging and email? Hmm.

Award-winning mystery author Meg Mims lives in Southeastern Michigan with her husband, a 'Make My Day' Malti-poo dog and a sweet Lhasa Apso-mix rescue dog -- the "hero" of her Christmas novella Santa Paws. She loves writing novels, short novellas and short stories, both contemporary and historical. 

Meg earned a Spur Award and a Laramie Award for her Double series and is also one-half of the D.E. Ireland team writing the Eliza Doolittle & Henry Higgins Mystery series for St. Martin's Minotaur. You can find her on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. 

Sources: Railswest Western Union history

MAKEOVER FOR WESTERN GENRE? By Tom Rizzo

Do you know who said: "I've always acted alone like the cowboy . . . the cowboy entering the village or city alone on his horse . . . He acts, that's all."

John Wayne? Ronald Reagan? Alan Ladd?

Nope. Henry Kissinger made this remark to the late Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci, during a 1972 interview, although her style more closely resembled an interrogation, which often prompted intriguing answers.

Nevertheless, Kissinger's remark, in his own way, perpetuated the myth of the lone cowboy as the reality of the west.

Much of the perception of the American West was shaped by stories that presented a mostly romanticized view, pitting cowboys against Indians, and lawmen against outlaws. Even though most writers today offer more compelling and realistic views of the Old West, it's difficult to breakdown the barriers of perception.

Novelist Jory Sherman, the Western Writers of America's 2013 recipient of the Owen Wister Award for Lifetime Contributions to Western Literature, contends that "As long as they label our books westerns" publishers are "locking us into a sub-genre that does not appeal to wider markets."

He believes such stories should be called American novels, and many labeled as mainstream.

"We are the only country in the world that has a West. The western is our Native American literature. We have an exclusive on the West and it’s the richest part of American history. And, the books should not be confined to a certain locale or time period."

Using Jory Sherman's comments as a benchmark, several authors and author-publishers were asked to respond to three questions:

• How limiting is the Western classification in attracting new readers to the genre?
• How much merit is there to changing, or re-defining, the name of the genre and would it make a difference in attracting new readers?
• Would expanding the appeal of the Western involve more than changing the genre classification?

-0-

Rebecca J. Vickery, Author & Publisher, Western Trail Blazer

In the minds of most new readers, if you say Western they think only of gunfights, Indian wars, or trail drives. 

This in itself is pretty limiting as to which new readers would be attracted.

And in using the same style covers and the same style blurbs, how are new readers to know that these Westerns are exciting, well told, and worth their time?

Parents, many teachers, and politicians often discourage young people from reading Westerns because the stories contain guns and violence, can be racist toward Native Americans and blacks, are often a bit religious, and most contain some lessons on morality.

At Western Trail Blazer, we've had some success in attracting new readers by adding sub-genres to the classification of Western - Western Romance, Paranormal Western, Contemporary Western, Historical Western, Western Adventure, Traditional Western, etc.

But as a publisher, when we upload books, the classification choices are limited and we are often stuck with Western as the only choice, which fits.

Changing the name of the genre Western as a whole might help, but readers might also feel misled, or that it was another publishing marketing trick, and it could backfire.  My recommendations to expand the appeal of the Western to new readers are fairly simple:

·       Be honest with the readers about what they are getting by using sub-genre classifications and tags when possible

·       Make the covers and blurbs stylish and as true to the story as possible

·       Offer blogs, discussions, and interviews which will be interesting and draw from outside your normal followers

·       Use social networks to make "virtual" friends who often will become customers

·       Cross-promote with other Western authors, publishers, and organizations for the good of the entire genre

·       Don't be such a "traditionalist" that you can't see the merit in the Western sub-genres which are actually drawing in new readers.

      

Nik Morton, Author / Editor

One part of me abhors labels. It's as if authors have to be pigeonholed. That's why some resort to pen names. Some publishers don't want their crime authors to be seen to write westerns etc.

The publishers and critics are to blame, I suspect: western literature isn't - literature, that is, in their view.

Yet labels do appeal to readers who want that type of book. If a reader lives by the credo 'I don't read westerns', simply removing the label isn't going to win him over, unless he's particularly dense, as the blurb alone will tell him what the story is about.

Although I write westerns, they're aimed at any reader, not only a western aficionado; a very few of my readers who haven't read a western before have been pleasantly surprised. So what am I saying? Would those readers have picked up my western if it had been labelled differently? I don't think so - the blurb tells them it's a western, and they don't read westerns...

It's not the classification; it's the public perception of the genre that needs work. There are plenty of readers out there who don't read crime, or sci-fi, or mysteries, or romance. They have set ideas, set perspectives, and it's difficult to shake them.

All we writers can do is strive to produce a quality product that can stand up against any other genre in storytelling, style, appeal and narrative flow. Word of mouth can sometimes help. Occasionally, a book becomes a breakout novel - it transcends its genre. If it happens to be a western, then maybe that will help others too.

Cheryl Pierson, Author,  & Publisher, Prairie Rose Publications 

What an interesting perspective from one of the masters! I never thought about it this way until Jory put it in these particular words.

American Novels—what an all-encompassing term that does justice to our writing about OUR COUNTRY!

When you think about it, novels that take place in other parts of our country aren't labeled as such.

What WOULD you call a story that takes place in the 1800's in Boston, New York or Philadelphia? A "patriotic" novel? An "Eastern"? What about a novel that takes place in the 1800s in New Orleans?

These are all "American" novels, and so should the story of the western history of our country be called, as well!

Johnny D. Boggs, Author

The perception can be limiting. For most people, and quite a few publishers, Western brings to mind Louis L'Amour, Matt Dillon and Randolph Scott. If you write those kinds of stories, great. It depends on how you want to market yourself.

You can say, 'I write Westerns,' or 'I write historical novels set in the American West.' When I'm introduced as an historical novelist, the reaction can range from 'Cool' to 'Boooring.' Yet when someone introduces me as a 'Western' writer, the most common reaction I get is eyes-open-wildly-curious-WOW!

So there is immediate name recognition there. Like Jory Sherman says, 'We are the only country that has a West,' and people everywhere know what the West is."

An attempt was made several years ago to use the word Americana. It went nowhere. They have tried Novels of the West, which did a little better.

But you have to be careful about changing a brand, a known commodity. If nobody knows what the label means, you're doomed to obscurity and remainders.

Good or bad, people know what Western generally means. I think the best thing writers can do is write the best story they can, be it contemporary, historical, frontier, literary, mystery, young adult, romance, horror, crossover, whatever.

I was just talking to a couple of editors and an agent—none who represent me —while in New York recently about that very thing. Bottom line seemed to be you have to write something that will appeal to mass audiences, particularly female, and definitely not just the older male Western reader.

You have to have great blurbs from powerful people on the cover. You have to have a publisher that will release it in hardback and do some promotion for it. And you have to have a tremendous amount of luck and timing. None of which comes easy.

But there is a tremendous amount of popularity and sales in Western nonfiction, which seems to be intriguing publishers in Western fiction. Best-selling nonfiction writer Jeff Guinn (Go Down Together, The Last Gunfight, Manson) has signed a three-book deal with Putnam for Western fiction. I'll be interested to see how those novels will be marketed. But if they do well, the exposure should be good for all of us.

Robert Vaughn, Author

During an interview for this blog's StoryTeller's 7, novelist Robert Vaughn addressed this same topic:

Jory Sherman once wrote a brilliant piece about the Western, and how it is the true American art form, a morality play of good verses evil. 

And, and there is nothing I could say that could possibly add a thing to that.

I know this: The Western is Americana, but it is certainly not limited to Americans. 

I met fans of the genre when I was in Germany, I know there are fans in Great Britain, and I have sold them in England, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Japan, so they are there too.

I think a lot of readers, who haven’t read Westerns, may not understand the scope and richness of the stories.

Some may remember the “B” Western Saturday Matinees and equate them with Western novels.

But anyone who has read Frederic Faust (who wrote as Max Brand, and was killed in Italy during WWII) Owen Wister, Louis L’Amour, or Jory Sherman, knows that a well-written Western can have the depth and richness equal to any work of literature.

Review Roundup: Grave Dealings

Sipping Whiskey in a Shallow Grave
By Mark Mitten
Sunbury Press, November 2012
$16.95 paperback, ISBN 1620061465
$4.99 Kindle, ASIN B00A62VXYY
338 pages

As the brutal winter of 1887 descends upon Colorado’s high country, cowhands, miners, townsfolk, lawmen, and even outlaws go about their daily routine, never suspecting their disparate lives are about to intersect in a freakish, though inevitable, series of events that will change them all forever. Metaphorically speaking, no one escapes this tale alive.

Mark Mitten’s debut novel is not for the squeamish or the faint of heart. The landscape is harsh; some of the people even harsher. From the outset, Mitten pulls no punches in depicting death, destruction, and a hollowness of the soul that is difficult to confront. Perhaps that’s the essence of the book, though: By forcing readers up close with both the innocent and the twisted, he forces them to consider the dichotomies inherent in being human.

Sipping Whiskey in a Shallow Grave, nominated for the 2013 Best Western First Novel Peacemaker Award, is not an easy, recreational read. That is a warning, not criticism. Mitten’s voice is distinctive; his characterizations are fresh, engaging, and genuine. Dialogue and actions resonate with authenticity. The cast list is extensive, though, and the novel’s uncommon format frequently leaps between locations, subplots, and character subsets without a hint of segue. Everything ties together in the end, but keeping track of the various threads and players may be a bigger challenge than casual readers feel comfortable undertaking. This book requires a commitment — not that commitment is a bad thing.

Ultimately, Sipping Whiskey is a story of perseverance and survival; of redemption and damnation. As his style matures, Mitten will be an author to watch … if only to ensure one of his characters doesn't sneak up behind you with a weapon.


Kathleen Rice Adams is a Texan, a voracious reader, a professional journalist, and a novelist in training. She received a review copy of Sipping Whiskey in a Shallow Grave from the publisher. Her opinions are her own and are neither endorsed nor necessarily supported by Western Fictioneers or individual members of the organization.

TRUE GREEN, an Irish Western! by MEG MIMS

Faith and Begorrah! It's an Irish Western!

Well, perhaps that's a bit of a stretch. But The Quiet Man *IS* set in the north and west of the Emerald Isle. It has *the Duke* -- a famous Western cowboy movie star! It has *horses* and a *horse race*! It has romance and *Maureen O'Hara*, who also starred as the Duke's wife in several other great westerns! It has a *great fight*! And not just between the Duke and his brother-in-law, either. Duke and Mo "duke it out" too.

In fact, I would have named this movie TRUE GREEN ... for the bits of real Irish language, Irish-born actors, and lush setting. The Quiet Man was filmed in Ireland for the most part. And it's a lot like the westerns we know and love -- an old-fashioned, men-were-men, women-were-women-and-belonged-in-the-home style of story.

It has a "fish out of water" plot, which allows the Duke to learn the local ways after breaking the rules, and then learn that following the rules doesn't always bring him what he expects either. "Mo" gets to show off her own Irish roots and portray a loving woman, yet fierce in the battle to uphold her dignity and pride in what she deserves - her dowry.

Due to her stubborn brother, she has to fight both him and her new husband! Her brother, the village "Squire," is portrayed by Victor McLaglen - British, not Irish, by birth - and another favorite actor utilized in other movies by John Ford. He also was a prizefighter in his youth, the first boxer to take on heavyweight champion Jack Johnson in 1909. Victor does a fair job boxing the Duke in the movie. They both look like they had a fun fight.

Did you know The Quiet Man was first published as a short story in the Saturday Evening Post? John Ford read it, bought the rights for $10 (TEN DOLLARS??) but before he could get financing for the film, he was told to make a western first. Rio Grande also starred John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, with Ford directing. But Ford won the Best Director Academy Award that year for The Quiet Man, which also won Best Cinematography. Indeed! Both well deserved.

Keep an eye on the minor characters in the film, from the pub owner to the local widow, the priest, the minister without a parish since all the residents are Catholic, and Michaleen Oge Flynn - played by Barry Fitzgerald to fine effect - the village's matchmaker. I think he's the best quirky character of the lot. You have to cheer him on and smile at his way of looking at things.

But all of the actors gave fine performances, as well as the Irish extras who no doubt had a blast being in the movie. The green beauty of Ireland is stunning. To the left is the cottage where the movie was filmed, and I've also included an image of the bridge in the gorgeous countryside. What's not to like about such lovely green meadows, charming cottages, quiet village life -- which harbors an underlying layer of healthy gossip about residents -- as in any American western town!

Even the music in the movie gives the viewer a sense of place, with Irish airs and a melody penned by an Irish policeman/songwriter, called "The Isle of Inisfree."

On St. Patrick's Day, I'll be popping in The Quiet Man and enjoying a good Irish western. I'll get my teapot out, make some soda bread or perhaps some scones. Or maybe I'll have a McDonald's shamrock shake! I am an American, after all.

And here's the cover of my newly released sequel to my Spur-Award winning western historical mystery, Double Crossing...  showcasing the continuing adventures of Lily and Ace. Double or Nothing is available on Amazon for Kindle, and will also be available in print soon! Check out the book trailer by clicking here!!

A mysterious explosion. A man framed for murder. A strong woman determined to prove his innocence.

October, 1869: Lily Granville, now heiress to a considerable fortune, rebels against her uncle’s strict rules in Sacramento, California. Ace Diamond, determined to win Lily, invests in a dynamite factory for a quick “killing,” but his status as a successful businessman fails to impress her guardian. An explosion in San Francisco, mere hours before Lily elopes with Ace to avoid a forced marriage, sets off a chain of unforeseen consequences.

Despite Lily’s protests that her new husband has been framed, Ace is dragged off to jail as the culprit. Evidence mounts against him. Lily must learn who was actually behind the diabolical plan… and save Ace from the hangman’s noose. Will she become a widow before a true wife?

Here are the BUY LINKS to the Amazon Kindle, B&N Nook and Smashwords.