West of the Big River: The Lawman by James Reasoner

William M. "Bill" Tilghman had one of the most illustrious careers of any Old West lawman, serving as sheriff, town marshal, and deputy United States marshal in some of the toughest places west of the Mississippi. But he faced perhaps his greatest and most dangerous challenge when he rode alone into the wild Oklahoma Territory settlement of Burnt Creek on the trail of a gang of rustlers and outlaws with some unexpected allies . . .

James Reasoner has been a professional writer for forty years.  In that time, he has authored several hundred novels and short stories in numerous genres. Writing under his own name and various pseudonyms, his novels have garnered praise from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and the Los Angeles Times, as well as appearing on the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists.  He lives in a small town in Texas with his wife, award-winning fellow author Livia J. Washburn. His website is http://jamesreasoner.com and he blogs at http://jamesreasoner.blogspot.com.

Center Point recently acquired the large print rights and the first hardback of Western Fictioneers' West of the Big River: The Lawman is now available. The Avenging Angel by Michael Newton, The Artist by Jackson Lowry, and The Ranger by James J. Griffin are already up for pre-order and more will follow. This would be a great series for your local library to pick up.

   

Now Available -- West of the Big River: The Dime Novelist by Clay More

Adventurer, showman, charlatan, best-selling author, Ned Buntline was all of these things and more, including one of the most colorful characters in American history. Buntline, whose real name was Edward Zane Carroll Judson (he called himself Colonel Judson, but the rank was as fictional as the pseudonym), produced hundreds of dime novels during the second half of the 19^th Century and was the leading author of popular fiction during this period. He was also a womanizer, a liar, and a self-promoter who made heroes out of Buffalo Bill Cody and Wild Bill Hickok but never missed a chance to build his own name and legend. Acclaimed Western author Clay More has painted a vivid portrait of this larger than life figure in THE DIME NOVELIST, the latest historical novel in the popular West of the Big River series from Western Fictioneers. It’s a tale filled with adventure, fantastic characters, and the raw enthusiasm of a young, expanding country.

“Ned Buntline is sometimes credited with creating the mythic version of the Wild West. THE DIME NOVELIST is a fascinating exploration of that legend and a brilliant portrayal of a largely forgotten but hugely influential figure in American popular culture.” – James Reasoner, best-selling author of THE LAWMAN

EXCERPT

Nashville, Tennessee

March 14, 1846

     The judge rapped his gavel on his desk and called for order.

     “I will have silence in this court! Now pipe down all of you or I’ll have the marshal and his deputies begin arresting folk.”

     He grunted, pushed his wire-framed spectacles further up his aquiline nose and turned his attention to the defendant sitting nonchalantly as he wrote in a small notebook at the table by the window.

     “You, Mister Edward Judson, have stirred up a dust storm of trouble for yourself. If you haven’t already, I would suggest you start praying that Robert Porterfield makes a full recovery, instead of scribbling away. Now put that book away and have some respect for this hearing.”

     

LEARNING FROM THE MASTERS by Vonn McKee

Humor me if you will. Or, rather, be humored yourself by a true master.

During those times when the creative well is running a little low and the plot lines lie flat on the page, I try to prime the pump with some good reading. There are several contemporary authors who inspire me but I also enjoy reaching back into the archives to see how the old guys did it.

One book that I never tire of revisiting is Roughing It by Mark Twain, based on his stagecoach journey to the west and subsequent adventures in silver prospecting, real estate speculation, and (after a side trip to Hawaii) newspaper reporting in San Francisco. During these years of 1861-1867, he honed his rough-hewn, almost madcap, style of writing into the Twain style that forever set him apart: sharply satirical (as in The Gilded Age) but capable of tender character portrayals as well (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn). For spot-on, wry descriptions of the mundane, Twain is hard to beat. I’d like to share a few of my favorite excerpts from Roughing It.

First off, the western landscape provided Twain with all sorts of writing fodder and I love this meandering passage that manages to work in references to sagebrush, mules and anthracite coal all in one sitting:

“Sage-brush is very fair fuel, but as a vegetable it is a distinguished failure. Nothing can abide the taste of it but the jackass and his illegitimate child the mule. But their testimony to its nutritiousness is worth nothing, for they will eat pine knots, or anthracite coal, or brass filings, or lead pipe, or old bottles, or anything that comes handy, and then go off looking as grateful as if they had had oysters for dinner.”

From the stagecoach, he observed this forlorn creature:

“The cayote is a long, slim, sick and sorry-looking skeleton, with a gray wolf-skin stretched over it, a tolerably bushy tail that forever sags down with a despairing expression of forsakenness and misery, a furtive and evil eye, and a long, sharp face, with slightly lifted lip and exposed teeth. He has a general slinking expression all over. The cayote is a living, breathing allegory of Want. He is always hungry.

He is always poor, out of luck and friendless. The meanest creatures despise him, and even the fleas would desert him for a velocipede. He is so spiritless and cowardly that even while his exposed teeth are pretending a threat, the rest of his face is apologizing for it.”

In Carson City, Nevada, the young Twain is caught up in a romantic desire to own a horse and is tricked into buying one at an auction, described to him in a secretive whisper as a “Mexican Plug.”

“I did not know what a Genuine Mexican Plug was, but there was something about this man’s way of saying it, that made me swear inwardly that I would own a Genuine Mexican Plug, or die.”

As you can imagine, the partnership between horse and tenderfoot does not last long:

 

“In the afternoon I brought the creature into the plaza, and certain citizens held him by the head, and others by the tail, while I mounted him. As soon as they let go, he placed all his feet in a bunch together, lowered his back, and then suddenly arched it upward, and shot me straight into the air a matter of three or four feet! I came as straight down again, lit in the saddle, went instantly up again, came down almost on the high pommel, shot up again, and came down on the horse’s neck—all in the space of three or four seconds. Then he rose and stood almost straight up on his hind feet, and I, clasping his lean neck desperately, slid back into the saddle and held on. He came down, and immediately hoisted his heels into the air, delivering a vicious kick at the sky, and stood on his forefeet. And then down he came once more, and began the original exercise of shooting me straight up again. The third time I went up I heard a stranger say:

‘Oh, don’t he buck, though!’

While I was up, somebody struck the horse a sounding thwack with a leather strap, and when I arrived again the Genuine Mexican Plug was not there. A California youth chased him up and caught him, and asked if he might have a ride. I granted him that luxury. He mounted the Genuine, got lifted into the air once, but sent his spurs home as he descended, and the horse darted away like a telegram. He soared over three fences like a bird, and disappeared down the road toward the Washoe Valley.”

You can view the first edition of Roughing It in its entirety online, along with the wonderful original illustrations at:

www.gutenberg.org

I'd love to hear about some of your go-to Western books!

All the best,
Vonn

2015 Western Fictioneers Peacemaker Finalist, Short Fiction
2015 Western Writers of America Spur Finalist, Short Fiction





Keep up with Vonn! 
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WEBSITE

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO NAME IT?

At some time in the past, a tiny idea was germinated. It divided and grew and finally got its own little legs. You carried it with you everywhere…musing about it while you wandered through grocery aisles or drove the ten hours to your mother’s house. You had conversations with it when you were showering. You began to eat strange foods, most of them unhealthy, and drank lots of black coffee. (Health statistics, be damned.) Pretty soon, your clothes no longer fit, but you stopped caring.

Simple tasks like carrying laundry and taking out the trash became a struggle. The burgeoning babe took all your time, attention and energy. Friends began to make comments about your complexion. “Are you getting enough vitamin A?” Or maybe, “My, you have such an otherworldly glow about you.”

Somewhere along the way–right near the end of things–you grew tired of the whole ordeal. You just wanted it to be OVER. You wanted to lie on a beach and go to movies with friends and live a normal life again. Each minute seemed an eternity.

At last…the momentous day came and, after much groaning and writhing and primal screaming, you produced a bouncing, beautiful creation that left you speechless with pride…even if it was in need of a good hosing off and some scrubbing behind the ears.

Congratulations. You just birthed your first draft.

After all the oohs and aahs and phone calls to family and friends, you are faced with a decision of utmost gravity. Just what are you going to name your little hatchling?

While book titles are not protectable by copyright laws, you don’t want to use a generic title or one that’s been used extensively. You could devise a formula for choosing a title, such as Adjective Noun Verb (as in, Dead Man Walking). You could get all alliterative (Of Mice and Men) or just use a name (Elmer Gantry, The Sacketts).

Of course, the title and book subject should convey the same tone. If you pick up a copy of Lee Child’s Killing Floor, you can bet it’s not a good bedtime read for the kiddies. On the other hand, it sometimes pays to find a title that makes what could be considered a mundane subject appear more tantalizing on a shelf. Dee Brown's manuscript, originally titled A History of Indian Tribes in America, found its wings when renamed Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.



It can prove a particular challenge to name a western novel. With over a hundred years of western fiction behind us, authors have pretty much run the gamut of titles about trails, canyons, riders, wagons, cattle, guns, bullets, horses or posses. And all of those have been described as dark, lone, lost, wild, blazing, cold, lawless, hungry and a hundred other adjectives. We’ve seen the word “of” after vengeance, revenge, attack, or any number of aggressive-sounding nouns.I found this interesting Western Book Title Generator online:

Be careful with this one though. It had a few intriguing suggestions for me when I gave it a try, like Empty Boots, Black Arrow and The Shadow of the Wolf. More often than not, the random selections were nonsensical, if not a little creepy; for instance, The Tumbleweed of the Searching Meadow, The Ravaged Deer*, and The Cry of the Falling Windows. Yikes!

*Name and Likeness Withheld

I’d love to hear how some of the members of Western Fictioneers choose titles. Do you draw words out of a hat? Do you take a poll of the neigborhood kids? Write down whatever your spouse mumbles in his/her sleep?

Until next time, happy writing and happy titling! May your baby book grow up to be a household name!

All the best,
Vonn

 

New from Western Trail Blazer

Troy D. Smith

Western Trail Blazer continues to do our utmost to bring you the best of western fiction. Here's what we have brought you lately...

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Paperback

ebook from Piccadilly Press

More to come!

When Western History Turns Out, In Fact, Finally To Be WESTERN FICTION by Steve Kohlhagen

Those of us who write (or, at times, TRY) to write engaging western fiction and, in particular, western historical fiction, are at times amused or appalled when facts turn out to be fiction. This should be viewed as quite a different phenomenon than those who claim "life is more amazing than fiction."

Such is the case for the famous, and now rightly infamous, 1864 Sand Creek Massacre. One hundred fifty years ago last November, the commander of the Colorado Volunteers, John Chivington took his troops out after the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians camped on Sand Creek. Already a Civil War hero for his efforts at Glorietta, the Methodist Minister-turned-soldier marched his troops from Denver City and routed, destroyed, massacred the sleeping Indians whose warriors were out hunting.

In the century and a half since, many Coloradans and descendants of the early settlers held this battle up, oddly, as a great Civil War victory. And plaques to that effect still can be found in Denver and elsewhere in the state.

The problem is, as many soldiers of the times knew (some refused the order to attack), this was not only not a great Civil War battle, but, as has been chronicled in some history books, movies, and historical fiction (including my forthcoming Chief of Thieves from Sunstone Press), it was a massacre of innocent women and children peacefully camped under both an American and a white flag. Furthermore, many of the soldiers committed horrible atrocities and paraded the results of those atrocities through the streets of Denver City.

Last November 29th, on the 150th Anniversary of the massacre, Governor John Hickenlooper of Colorado publicly apologized on behalf of the State of Colorado.

Here is a thorough Denver Westword article on the issues leading up to the public ceremony and the ceremony itself, both from the white and Indian point of view:

http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2014/12/sand_creek_massacre_apology_colorado_john_hickenlooper.php?utm_source=Newsletters&utm_medium=email

The overriding takeaways from this incident are, of course, horrible: from Chivington's (and some say Governor John Evans') duplicity and bestiality; to the betrayal of Black Kettle's serial attempts at peace with the whites; to the atrocities committed on innocent women, children, and babies by individual soldiers; to the murder of Captain Silas Soule in a Denver City alley after he testified against Chivington; to the enmity and rationalizations that led to the false Coloradan century-long memories and celebrations of an exemplary Civil War victory.

Kudos to Governor Hickenlooper and those responsible for the apology and for setting the facts straight and for putting the fiction irrevocably to bed. And kudos, too, to the patience and grace of the contemporary Cheyenne and Arapaho peoples.





  

A FEW OF MY FAVORITE WORDS by Vonn McKee

I’m watching my grandson, Noah, build one of his amazing Lego creations. He’s already constructed the 237-piece Star Wars-themed set, per the instruction booklet, in just over thirty minutes. (It would have taken me a week.) 

Lo and behold, he breaks down the finished assembly. Now he’s following his imagination and designing on the fly, using the same 237 parts. He calls the new incarnation an Alliance Night Blade. It has rakish wasp-like lines, a number of hinged and rotating parts, and several weapons of planetary destruction. Theoretically, it’s capable of speeds upwards of Mach 5, hovering indefinitely (with no apparent need for refueling), vertical takeoffs and landings, and possesses enough fire power to take out all the bad guys in all the known galaxies combined.

It occurs to me that, just as Noah fashions interlocking plastic shapes into spacecraft, I spend hours (most of them enjoyable) fitting words together…about the West.

My mother tells me that I began forming sentences in fairly comprehensible English at nine months. I love words, always have. They’ve gotten me into trouble on occasion, and out of trouble more times than I can remember. When you love words, it’s a no-brainer to also love books. I worked in the library through high school and college just to be near them. 
I majored in engineering (long story!) and grew accustomed to having professors return my laboriously-researched technical essays with the suggestion at the top: “Have you thought of becoming a writer?”

If you hang around words long enough, you begin to develop favorites. Yes, I know…every word has its place and what would we do without all the unglamorous workhorse words like invoice, vitamin, refrigerator, dentist and the like. I shouldn’t be biased. But, gosh…some words are just so darn gorgeous. For instance, who wouldn’t rather read about lingerie than underwear?

When it comes to literary genres, I can’t think of a more perfect one for the placement of pretty words than westerns. Take a look at the geography itself. Pronounce these words slowly: Arizona, Wyoming, the Dakotas, California, Montana, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico.

ridermagazine.com

I was on the fence about Utah until I said it a few times. It does have a pleasing, ancient ring to it. But, Texas? I’m not so sure about that one. Guess it sounds prettier if you’re from there. Just joshing, Texans.

Oh, the places you’ll write! Coeur D’Alene, Santa Fe, the Sierras. Linguistic loveliness.

By the way, we’re talking about words that are euphonious, which sounds awfully nice itself. It means “pleasant of sound; agreeable to the ear.” Euphoooonnnnioussss. Mmmmm.

The Spanish gave us some beautiful western words with high roll-off-the-tongue factor. Consider canyon, vaquero, adobe, lariat, remuda, and adios, amigo. And, of course, we must remember…the Alamo.

Townes Van Zandt’s song, “Pancho and Lefty” would never have been a hit if not for the line, “All the Federales say they could’ve had him any day.” Just my opinion.

Even the French helped out western writers with ravine, cigarette, cheroot, belle and chignon. The dictionary is a writer’s jewel box.

No boring landscape descriptions for us. We can plant picturesque saguaro, sage, piñon or willow wherever we want. On a mesa or a prairie or a few yards from home, arguably the sweetest of all names.

Why use ordinary colors when you can wordpaint with violet, saffron, vermillion, ivory, maroon, and cerulean or azure blue? Personally, I adore the word silver and use it every chance I get. Silver tongues, silver stars, silver nuggets. Love it.

I even love the sound of certain horse terms: withers, muzzle, dappled, sorrel, appaloosa. I am constantly looking for an opportunity to use the word fetlock. So under-utilized in modern literature, don’t you agree?

Some of my personal faves are silhouette, shadowy, velvet, statuesque, lithe, lilting, and realm. Oh, and demure, dalliance, and crystalline. I’m in porcine paradise. (And to think I could have settled for "hog heaven.")

There are many “Most Beautiful English Words” lists out there and they contain a lot of “ous” words such as mellifluous, voluminous, luscious, sumptuous, and tenuous. According to the Alpha Dictionary, their list-topper is ailurophile, meaning “cat lover.” I’ll have to disagree since I’m neither a fan of the word nor of cats.

Then we have those wolves in sheep’s clothing words that sound fetchingly exotic but, believe me, you want no part of: jaundice, influenza, anemia, shingles, seizures, and E. Coli, to name a few.

This compilation of words into a discussion of words themselves could stretch into infinity. However, I have deadlines and must set about arranging lovely words into, hopefully, even lovelier sentences, much the way my grandson digs for just the right Lego pieces to form an x-wing.

For my next western story, I’m determined to work in a silver fetlock reference or two. There must be a way.

Adios, 

Vonn
www.facebook.com/vonnmckee

READ THE LATEST FROM VONN McKEE HERE!

Review Roundup: Outrage and a Family Feud

By Kathleen Rice Adams

Outrage at Blanco
By Bill Crider
Brash Books, September 2013
$9.89 paperback, ISBN 1941298257
$4.99 Kindle, ASIN B00KAJX6DE
304 pages

Raped and left for dead, newlywed Ellie Taine has not yet come to grips with her grief when her husband is murdered by the same derelicts who destroyed her comfortable, if dull, existence. Dead in spirit, Ellie embarks on a single-minded quest for revenge accompanied by a physically dying former Texas Ranger turned wealthy rancher whose self-involved son also died at the hands of the hoodlums.

Bearing many of the hallmarks of his work in crime fiction, author Bill Crider’s Outrage at Blanco might best be described as a “noir western.” Cynicism, fatalism, and moral ambiguity abound. Ellie’s transformation from earnest farm wife to remorseless killer is chilling, but her desire for retribution is justified. Even though she never overtly engages in introspection about her decision, on some level she must be aware she abandoned her humanity in exchange for reprisal. Once her dark side emerges, there’s no putting the genie back in the bottle.

In vowing to exact revenge on the despicable sociopaths seeks, Ellie stands as a proxy for anyone who’s ever been wronged. Readers will worry about their own moral compass as they root for Ellie to catch and dispatch the callous outlaws before their trail of rape, robbery, murder, and mayhem extends any farther.

As the fugitives turn on each other and die in horrible ways, readers likely will revel in Ellie’s personal brand of justice even as they mourn the waste of human potential embodied by her victims. In the final analysis, Ellie’s quest represents a Pyrrhic victory.

Crider’s ability to turn good into honorable evil is nothing short of scary. Outrage at Blanco is bloody and disturbing, not least because it forces readers to confront the ambiguity of their own nature. On several levels, the story works well: as entertainment for those who enjoy grueling, violent adventures, and as an unsettling study of human nature for those who savor a deeper, more psychologically complex read.


The Prodigal
By Chuck Tyrell
Western Trail Blazer, December 2013
$0.99 Kindle, ASIN B00KAJX6DE
$0.99 most other e-formats, ISBN 9781458137166
54 pages

A lawman friend asks for Ness Havelock’s help in tracking down an outlaw gang wreaking havoc in the vicinity. The kicker? The lawman’s son is a member of the gang.

Tense and riveting from beginning to end, Chuck Tyrell’s The Prodigal is one of those stories readers won’t be able to put down. Thankfully, it’s short…although reaching the end is a bit of a disappointment. The writing is so tight and enjoyable, readers may wish the tale could go on forever.

The twist at the end is astonishing, sad, and wholly fitting. Read this one, if only to watch how a master draws readers in on the first page and never lets them go.


Kathleen Rice Adams is a Texan, a voracious reader, a professional journalist, and an author. She received review copies of Outrage at Blanco from the author. Her opinions are her own and are neither endorsed nor necessarily supported by Western Fictioneers or individual members of the organization. Links are for convenience only; they do not produce affiliate revenue.

Western Fictioneers Peacemaker 2014 Award Submissions

Submissions for the 5th Annual WF Peacemaker Awards are being accepted for works published in the year 2014.

Qualifications:

Copyright dates must be between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2014. Copyright dates must be between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2014.

To be submitted in the Best Western Novel category, works must have been published by a reputable publisher that pays advances and/or royalties. Proof of the viability of the publisher is the submitter’s responsibility and must be provided on request. Publishers that cannot be verified to meet the above standards will not be considered for a WF Peacemaker Award in the Best Western Novel category. Books and short stories may be published in any country in the world (submissions must be in English) in print or electronic format. Electronic submissions must be made with Word or PDF files. WF reserves the right to decline any submission for consideration of an Award. 

Authors, agents, or publishers may submit a work for consideration of an Award.

At least three entrants in the Best Western First Novel must be received during the submission period for an Award to be presented.

Novels and short stories must be set in the time period between 1830-1920 to be considered Westerns under WF guidelines.

Nominees for the WF Peacemaker Award will be announced on 04/15/2015 and the winners will be announced on 06/01/2015.

The WF Peacemaker Award will be awarded in four categories:

Best Western Novel – Any novel published during the award year set in the appropriate time period (1830-1920), 30,000 words and higher. There are no format requirements. The novel may be a hardcover, trade paperback, mass market paperback, or eBook, as long it has been published by an appropriate publisher.

Best Independently Published Western Novel – Any self-published novel published during the award year set in the appropriate time period (1830-1920), 30,000 words and higher. There are no format requirements. The novel may be a hardcover, trade paperback, mass market paperback, or eBook.

Best Western Short Fiction – Any short story, novelette, or novella published during the award year set in the appropriate time period (1830-1920), 500 words to 29,999 words. There are no format requirements.The short story may be published in any publication, print or electronic, and can be self-published.

Best Western First Novel – Must meet the same requirements as Best Novel or Best Independently Published Novel, and must be the author’s first published Western novel. If the author has published novels in any other genre they will not disqualify the author from the Best Western First Novel Award competition. Submissions for Best Western First Novel may also be submitted in the appropriate Best Novel category in the same year. 

Rules, judges,and submission forms are on the WF website.

Western Trail Blazer -New Releases

Howdy, y'all! Here is our monthly roundup of WTB titles... we have some good'uns.


NOVELS:

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SHORT STORIES:

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ANTHOLOGIES:

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And finally, from our sister imprint EBENEZER PRESS, we have two books that are not westerns but that we are quite proud of and think you would enjoy. The first is brand new, the other has been out a little while:

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With much more to come. Onward and Upward!

Troy D. Smith,

Western Trail Blazer