Sweethearts Of The West: THE TRADITIONAL WEST--A DREAM COME TRUE!

Sweethearts Of The West: THE TRADITIONAL WEST--A DREAM COME TRUE!: In the category of “dreams come true”, here is one of my best ones so far. I became a member of the WESTERN FICTIONEER group a couple of y...

Can You Do It? - L.J. Martin

(This is an excerpt from L.J. Martin's book WRITE COMPELLING FICTION, reprinted with his permission. Thanks, Larry!)

Anyone who has a basic understanding of the structure of written English or is willing to learn—and has a story to tell, or the imagination to make one up—can write and sell a novel.

First you must want to.

I sold my first paperback western, Tenkiller, to Zebra Books (Kensington), many years ago. My second, Mojave Showdown, was picked up by the same company. Together, my wife and I wrote and sold Tin Angel, a western romance, to Avon. To Bantam Books, I've sold the westerns El Lazo, Against the 7th Flag, The Devils Bounty, and The Benicia Belle. In addition, Bantam published my historical, Rush to Destiny. My next was a Double D hardback, a novel of the West, Shadow of the Grizzly. Bantam also brought it out as a paperback. Kensington Books, under their Pinnacle imprint, published my Blood Mountain, Condor Canyon, Stranahan, McKeag’s Mountain, Wolf Mountain, McCreed’s Law, Sounding Drum (hardback), it’s paperback version Last Stand, and Crimson Hit and Bullet Blues both of which were co-written with my good friend Bob Burton, who is actually America’s No. 1 bounty hunter with over 3,000 arrests to his credit. Since that time I’ve published many, both fiction and non-fiction, see my webpage. And now, with the advent of eBooks, anyone can publish.

Kat, as I’ve mentioned, is published in several foreign countries in romantic suspense and historical romance, and our joint western-romance effort Tin Angel is published in Norway. I'm published in large print with most of my books and am privileged to work with Books in Motion who published my works in audio.

My wife is a very successful romance writer. Kat's sold an equal number of historical romances to several publishers—many of her novels have appeared on the best seller lists.

We did it. You can do it.

I am not a college graduate. Family took me away from college in my junior year. In English I would probably test in the middle (my loving wife would say lower) of a group of college freshmen and be stuck in the bone-head class. But I'm willing to look up what I don't know, and I'm willing to take the time necessary to make sure my work is neatly presented to the reader—the first of whom will be an editor who will say yes or no to buying the work.

And all of the above is much easier now, with spell and grammar checker on the computer.

And every day I enjoy writing more than the day before. It continues to come easier—and it's more financially rewarding.

It'll never be perfect.

Writing is not a science, it’s a craft, an art. Two and two in writing doesn’t always add up to four.

I keep learning every day. Who knows? If I do it long enough, maybe I can enter college and not have to take bone-head English! Writers learn by doing, every time they sit down and face the blank page.

You've got a great story. We all do. You have to be willing to take the time to get it on paper in a clear and legible manner and with reasonably good English so the editors read past the first two pages. Even the best of stories—most compelling or exciting or touching—may go unread, and unsold, due to misspellings and typographical errors in the first couple of pages. Many editors, most in fact, justifiably feel that if you are sloppy in your technical skills and presentation, odds are you're sloppy in all other aspects of your writing.

But more about that later.

When I first picked up a pencil and yellow pad, I had little knowledge of spelling or sentence structure. I found a little time, a dictionary, and some harsh critics, and all (mostly Kat) contributed to the eventual sale of my first western novel. My first novel, a historical, lingered on the shelf for many years before I made a buck from it.

The chief excuse for non-achievers in all areas of endeavor is, "I just don't have the time." Horse hocky! We all waste time. We watch T.V. We ride in the car and dream non-productive thoughts. You can write in your mind (and most writers do) long before putting it on paper. You can record on a hand-held tape recorder and transcribe later. Time is no excuse.

Write in the car, at the beach, standing on the stream bank casting for trout.

There's only one way to be a writer, and that's to write. Write two pages—two lousy pages —per day, and in six months you have a 360 page novel.

Like most things we set out to do in this life, luck played a part in my selling. But don't be discouraged if you think of yourself as unlucky. Luck, I've found, is nothing more than the inevitable result of hard work.

The harder you work, the luckier you get.

Now I want to help you get lucky.

It took eight years for lady luck to seek me out. By then, I'd had almost forty years to harden my head. I'd read hundreds of westerns and many more novels of other genres, and I thought I knew how it was done. But I didn't even know the questions yet much less the answers. And for the first six years of the eight years I wrote before I sold, I didn't bother to ask. Form rejection slips told me I wasn't doing it right. I decided it must be a craft, kind of like painting a picture or building a fine saddle, and I decided to learn it. So I went to classes and conferences. Two years after we began that effort, we sold our first novels. Six wasted years!

Kat, who’d begun writing much later than I actually sold six weeks before I did.

I wish I'd had this manual years ago.

The self-satisfaction of seeing your name on the cover of your paperback at the local market or drug store, on the jacket of a hardback in the book store, or on the box of an audio, is well worth the effort—not to speak of the multi-thousand dollar advances and, if you are diligent and keep after your new trade, the continuing royalties. Many times a novel will pay off for many, many years. In some instances, if your reputation grows, you’ll sell reprint rights for much more than your original deal on that same novel.

For twenty years western novels written by a Manhattan dentist sold more copies than any other book save the Holy Bible and McGuffey's readers. Even today, fifty years after his death in 1939, Zane Grey's work sells many, many copies a year. Today, Louis L'Amour dominates a good share of the western novel market—look at the western section of any bookstore or the book rack in any truck stop! L'Amour has sold well over two hundred fifty million books.

Long live the Kings. But Mr. Grey and Mr. L'Amour are gone, and the throne—the western one—is vacant. And there's always room for a good writer in any genre.

Write the great one!

Genres, and consumer taste, can be fickle. They can come and go.

So many poorly represented westerns have appeared on television and movies, it has almost destroyed the genre. Today's contemporary producers and directors continue to try to place 20th Century values, mores, and lifestyles in the 19th Century. They portray children as assertive and mouthy when in that era "a child should be seen and not heard." They try to put women in business at a time when it was commonly believed "a woman's place is in the home." They continue to write men who swear and wear their hats inside in the presence of women, when a man would have been horsewhipped for swearing in front of a woman and the nearest man would have at least reminded him to remove his hat. They write away from all of the things that attract viewers to westerns and historicals. But that's not to say you can't write a great and historically accurate novel featuring a woman who rose to the top of most any profession in the 19th Century—you can, and you can be historically correct. As long as you respect the little things, and as long as you write her as an anomaly, outside of the norm.

Western and historical readers and viewers know the West and know history. They not only read western and historical fiction, but many read and study history—including journals and autobiographies. They know how it was in the West, or wherever and whenever they care to study.

Writers of both novel and film would do well to emulate them—study time and place and write to it, not away from it.

But the western and historical genres are also changing for the better. Women are being written about accurately...strong, proud, women who deserve being admired and copied for the values they portray. The Native American is coming into his own by being accurately chronicled as proud people with values and mores that deserve being written as they were and from a Native America point of view.

And other minorities are finally being represented in westerns and historicals. Accurate writers are discovering that around most any 1870's southwest cattle drive campfire would seldom be ten whites, but rather two blacks, six Hispanics, a Chinese cook and a white—or European, as whites were known in most of the Americas and as they are still known to a good part of the world.

In a Publisher's Weekly article by Dennis E. Showalter entitled Blazing A New Trail, he maintains that "American West themes are making a major comeback. The box-office success of Clint Eastwood's Unforgivenhas made the western a hot Hollywood item."

Even though I will tell you what I feel is the easiest way to get published, and how to "write to" what New York views as the West, there are still great inroads to be made by writing away from these guidelines—it's just that the risk of not getting your work sold is greater. But never write away from good time and place—it's not good writing to do so and it's not good for the profession—unless you’re writing a parody, such as Blazing Saddles.

So much for westerns and historicals.

Romance represents 48% (or more) of the mass market paperback industry. A huge number. Women read 80% of all the fiction written in America and buy romance in huge quantities. If you can write what makes them laugh, makes them cry, and turns them on, you can have a piece of this huge market, and see your romance alongside Kat's and many other fine writers on the nation's bookracks.

L'Amour didn't get his first novel published until he was forty-six. Mine came at forty-seven. Yours may come at seventeen or eighty-seven.

The first criteria for a novelist, as far as I'm concerned, is loving to read. If you enjoy reading mystery, romance, horror, fantasy, science fiction, or westerns, or any other genre, then I suggest you turn your writing talents to the particular genre you love to read. You already know a lot about it—length, structure, basic rules such as a happy ending for a romance. You may not realize you know those things, but you do. And that's one of the reasons you should write what you love to read.

If you love to read novels, chances are you'll love writing them even more.

How else could you sit back, God-like, and become a cavalry general attacking the Cheyenne or a gunslinger walking down the main street of 1880 Dodge City or Tombstone to draw down on the fastest gun in the West? How else can you become a swash-buckling pirate or his petulant captured flame-haired heroine?

And if you don't like the way the action comes down, you can do it again. Writing is a wonderful way to make all those fantastic dreams you had as a youth, or have today, come true—at least on paper.

Dream, and get paid for it.

I've never been one for long, intricate, manuals which tell you every detail necessary to accomplish a goal—although this one continues to grow. I'm impatient. This manual is designed to give you the hard-hitting facts about what and how. The when, why, and where is up to you.

I will also give you a list of reference materials and books that are invaluable—and there are thousands more equally so. After a number of years of collecting, I have most of these mentioned in my own personal library, but all of them and many more may be found in local lending libraries, or may be inter-branched or inter-city borrowed.

Of course, the web is now the ultimate research tool, and no one could have a reference library to match it. But you have to be careful, as not all the information you might find on the web is accurate. Anyone can post.

I've also included a list of weekly, monthly, and bi-monthly magazines that will help you with craft and keep you up on the marketplace. These, too, are available at the library.

You'll also share with me the agony of defeat. In writing, it's called a rejection slip. But sometimes you can use them to your benefit! So if your writing glass is half empty a rejection slip is defeat; if half full, it’s a learning process.

With the exception of a couple of optioned screenplays, every dime I've made writing has been made from westerns, historical romances, historicals, suspense or thrillers, so the meat of this manual is going to center on writing well, not writing any particular genre. Many of the examples are from the western genre, but description from point of view, as an example, is applicable to any genre.

I'll show you how and why the question "How do you get your ideas?" is such a foolish one. History, current events, your everyday life…is replete with novel ideas, for every genre, including science fiction.

Now, sit back, read, then do what you've always wanted to do—write a novel.

Peacemaker Award Nominations Announced

Western Fictioneers (WF) is proud to announce the nominees for the 2011 Peacemaker Award. Winners will be announced on the Western Fictioneers (WF) web site (http://www.westernfictioneers.com/) on June 1, 2012. Entries were accepted in both print and electronic forms with a 2011 copyright date.  The Peacemaker Awards are given out annually.  Submissions for the 2012 awards will be open in July, 2012. Submission guidelines will be posted on the WF web site. The following list of nominees is in no particular order. Best Western Short Story: ***There were  two ties in this category, which is why there are seven nominees instead of the required five. “Planting Season” by Johnny D Boggs (Cactus Country Anthology, Volume I – High Hill Press) “The Way of the West” by Larry J. Martin (The Traditional West anthology, WF) “Blackwell’s Run” (Western Trail Blazer) by Troy D. Smith “The Sin of Eli” by Troy D. Smith (The Traditional West anthology, WF) “Panhandle Freight” by LJ Washburn (The Traditional West anthology, WF)     “The Death of Delgado” by Rod Miller (The Traditional West anthology, WF) “Stay of Execution” by Lucia St. Clair Robson (Cactus Country Anthology, Volume I – High Hill Press) Best Western Novel: The Sonora Noose by Jackson Lowry (Berkley) Redemption, Kansas by James Reasoner (Berkley) Blood Trails by Lyle Brandt (Berkley) The Assassination of Governor Boggs by Rod Miller (Bonneville Books) Between Hell and Texas by Dusty Richards (Kensington Pinnacle imprint) Best Western First Novel: Unbridled by Tammy Hinton (Roots and Branches Publishing) The Black Hills by Rod Thompson (Berkley) Dismal River by Wayne Dundee (Oak Tree Press) Blessings, Bullets And Bad Bad Men by B.A. Kelly (Oak Tree Press) The Guerrilla Man by Steven Clark (Solstice Publishing) Western Fictioneers (WF) was formed in 2010 by Western writers Robert J. Randisi, James Reasoner, Frank Roderus, and other professional Western writers with the mission of preserving, honoring, and promoting the Traditional Western in the 21st Century. Western Fictioneers (WF) is the only professional writers organization composed entirely of authors who have written Western fiction, the classic American genre. A writer or publisher does not have to be a member to be nominated, or win, the Peacemaker Award. Contact: Larry D. Sweazy, WF Awards Chair, larrysweazy@prodigy.net

Wrong Town - Matthew P. Mayo

WRONG TOWN is a new e-book release of the first novel by Matthew P. Mayo, originally published as a Black Horse Western a few years ago. It's also the first book in the Roamer series and has a great opening as the narrator/protagonist, who goes by the name Roamer, is attacked while he's sleeping by a grizzly bear.

This is a very harrowing scene. It's not a big spoiler to say that Roamer survives his encounter with the bear, but then things get even worse. While he's still in bad shape from that battle, he's robbed and left a-foot by a couple of drifting outlaws. Despite everything that's happened to him, Roamer is stubborn and a survivor, and those qualities allow him to make it to the town of Tall Pine.

Where, you guessed it, things continue to get even worse.

In the great tradition of noirish Westerns by authors such as Lewis B. Patten and H.A. DeRosso, the town of Tall Pine is full of dark secrets, and Roamer finds himself being blamed for a murder he didn't commit. With nobody he can trust and with a truly despicable villain manipulating things, it's all he can do to stay alive and try to untangle the deadly web being woven around him.

WRONG TOWN has a solid plot and fine characters, but its strongest appeal is the narrative voice that Mayo gives to Roamer. Ugly enough to make babies cry and somewhat antisocial because of his appearance, Roamer is also highly intelligent and well-read, in addition to being pretty doggoned tough. He's a great character, and I'm glad there are more novels about him on the way. In the meantime, WRONG TOWN is a top-notch traditional Western yarn and well worth reading. -- James Reasoner

FREE For Two Days!

For 2 days only, starting today, March 22nd, 2 of Jory Sherman's ebooks, both short story collections are available at the Kindle Store on www.amazon.com.  The books are: LITTLE JOURNEYS and THE SADNESS OF AUTUMN.  They can be read on Kindle, Kindle Fire, or on computer, and they are absolutely FREE for these 2 days.

Western Writer Jerry L Guin

1.   What was your first Western novel or story and was it published?

My first western short story was “Caught Red Handed” published by Western Digest of Calgary back in 1995.

2.   What Western writer or writers of the past were the biggest influence on your work?

Douglas Sharp (Western Digest).  He not only critiqued my work but challenged me to do more.  He taught me to speak more western; for example, using (most likely) instead of probably; limit the use of ain’t in dialogue and cut down my use of commas.    “Write the way people talk,” he said.  Eventually Western Digest published seven of my short stories before ceasing publication.  That’s how I got started in western fiction. 

Robert J. Randisi took a chance and included my story “Likker Money” in the anthology “White Hats” in 2002.  That gave me a big boost.  I’ve been trying to equal it since.  I’m very grateful for that opportunity.

Harry Drago – I love his factual authenticity.

Louis L’Amour  - A true master of fiction.

3.   Is there a particular scene from a Western novel that was so powerful when you read it that it stuck with you? Perhaps has become a scene you've tried to live up to/equal in your own writing?

It wasn’t a novel.   It was the short story “Wine on the Desert” by Max Brand.   The whole story is full of intense drama, very effective.   

4.   What's the first Western you remember reading from cover to cover?

Zane Grey’s “The Thundering Herd.”  I was in high school at the time.

5.   Who is your favorite historical Western figure, and why?

Bat Masterson.  Despite the call that he was a quick draw artist and killed untold numerous others, I believe history shows that he only shot and killed one man, in self-defense, after he was wounded by the same.   Why do I like him?  He was a standup guy that would not back down from anything.  I believe that he did more good than his embellished gunslinger reputation shows.   Bat, like Luke Short, was not a tall overbearing man but his demeanor and undoubtedly no-nonsense facial expressions and eye contact, when confronted, helped to make others think things over rather than push to conclude the outcome.

6.   How much historical research do you do, and how do you go about it?

I read a lot both historical and fiction.  If it is old west 1850 through 1900 then I’m interested.  I use the internet and Wikipedia.  I read reviews.  I go to libraries to look up facts.  Haunting used book stores is a hobby that I’ll never get over.  My desk is littered with historical findings.   

7.   How important is setting? How important is it to get setting right? What's the best use of setting in a Western as far as you're concerned?

You have to get it right.  Setting is a difficult thing, if not impossible, to talk about if you’ve never been to that locale.  When reconstructing the past, I feel that it is my duty to at least get things historically correct even if it isn’t pretty.   All those John Wayne westerns filmed in Monument Valley made good setting. 

 8.   How do you choose where to begin your story? Do you use prologues?

I try to show who my character is and why he is there then build the story from there.  Prologues will certainly set the stage to time and locale.  I usually do not begin a story with a prologue.  

9.    Do you do all your research ahead of time, or as you go along?

Mostly as I go.  Each story requires different facts to support the setting.  The cowboy era was different than the gold rush of 49.  Both time periods had their share of miscreants but oh so different. 

10.   Which of your characters do you identify with the most, and why?  Was there a role model for this particular character?

Charlie Cox “Drover’s Vendetta.”  He is just an ordinary cowboy caught up in circumstance that inspires him to do things others would shy from.  With a little luck he becomes a hero by just doing what he feels is the right thing to do.  I don’t have a particular role model.  If I had a wish it would be to emulate Charlie.

11.   Do you outline and plot your story or do you write as the inspiration or MUSE leads?

I rarely outline a story.  I let the story lead me where it goes.  I usually have the beginning down pat and sometimes I know how it should end.   The middle is the tough part.  I am used to writing short stories; I write the whole story then edit to cut out the unnecessary.   If I am working on a novel then I have to re-adjust, slow the story down in order to tie all the pertinent facts together without giving away or hurrying up the ending.    

12.   Are you a conservative in your writing and stick with traditional ideas for your characters and plots or do you like to go beyond the norm and toss in the unexpected and why?

I write conservatively following history, for time and place, as close as possible.   My stories are set in the traditional old West.  Its fiction so anything imaginable is fair game.  The unexpected can be refreshing and necessary to the story as long as it can be made believable.  Some of the stuff coming out lately has to do with vampires or science fiction.  I’m not opposed to some of it.  I just prefer to write about things the way they may have been traditionally.   

13.   Do you need quiet when you write, listen to music, or have the TV on and family around?

I don’t mind noise.  I have been doing something, my whole life, while noise surrounded me.  I’m usually alone in the room when I write.  I can tune out what goes on in the house.  

14.   Have you experienced the "dreaded" writer's block and how did you deal with it?

When I was in the Navy I was aboard a destroyer.  The ship’s motto was “This Can can do.”  So whenever I think of writer’s block I just sit down; edit the story I’m writing to the point I’m stuck at.   It helps to go to the beginning; by the time I get to the stopped part I usually can pick it up from there.  Sometimes I’ll take a break from writing for hours or days even.  The story doesn’t leave my mind though and often a new inspiration allows me to just get in there and get it done!  

15.   Who is your favorite fictional character that you have created?

Colonel Ben Buffington in the short story “All the Water you Want” in the anthology Award Winning Tales.  He’s so full of it he impresses no one but himself.

16.   Who is your favorite fictional character that someone else created?

Tyrel Sackett.  Circumstance dictated his response.

17.   Do you address "modern" issues in Westerns? Racism. Feminism. Downs Syndrome. Mental disabilities. Genetic disorders. Sociopathy. Immigrant questions. Brutality. Pedophilia. Any more?

Brutality and bullying, in some way, are addressed in most of my stories.  I will mention other touchy issues if they can be put in a favorable light for the victim.  I’m still trying to learn how to do that.

18.   Have you found that being able to self-publish through Kindle and Nook that you find yourself writing more of what you want rather than what the agent, editor, and publisher wants?

Yes, somewhat.  It is disheartening to sit and wait on editors, hoping that you have a chance but often do not even get a reply other than a printed form letter.  I’ve a novel set in 1853 titled “River Whiskey” that has sat for over a year at a publisher without word one way or the other.   Self-publishing is okay but you have to promote the work yourself.  It is much more satisfying to successfully write a given assignment and then see it in print.  

19.   Do you make a living writing? If not, what is your day job?

I’m compelled to write but I guess I never considered that I could make enough to live off the proceeds alone.   I’m still learning.   My day job was as a wholesale lumber trader.  I was fortunate enough to work for three different sawmills and made a decent living for my family for 30 years.  I later managed a propane distribution plant for a few years before I retired.

20.   What are you writing right now?

A novel about an 1870’s cowboy who collects on a bounty then learns there has been a bounty put out on him in return.    

21.   What do you plan to write in the future?

Western fiction; both novels and short  stories.   At some point I will write a sequel to “Drover’s Vendetta.”

22.   What made you decide to write Western fiction?

I can’t get enough of the Old West.  Western history is our heritage.  I like to see how western fiction is imagined then put to life.  I began by trying out the magazine markets then short story anthologies and decided that I would like to give it a try and work my way into novels.   So here I am.

Western Fictioneers New Vice-President

Western Fictioneers is composed of writers who love what they’re doing and who believe in the literature of the old west. It’s an honor for me to serve as vice-president of a professional organization that’s devoted to keeping the traditional western alive. 

Stories of the west have been entertaining readers since the days of James Fenimore Cooper, and all of us here believe that western fiction is just as compelling ever. We have already produced a fine anthology of western tales. There’s a lot more to come in 2012, so look for some exciting announcements in the months ahead.

Membership in Western Fictioneers is open to professional authors who have written Westerns, as well as fans of the genre who can join as patron members. If you’d like to join our group and be a part of the fun, you can find the requirements at www.westernfictioneers.com. We welcome everyone who shares our interests and our love of traditional western fiction.

Bill Crider

Western Fictioneers Vice-President 2012

Western Fictioneers New President

Western Fictioneers is a professional organization for authors who work in the genre of the traditional western. Our goal is to promote the kinds of stories we love to write (and read); the western is the Great American Story, our unique history and mythology, and it remains as relevant as it ever was.

Western Fictioneers has a lot of exciting, even daring, projects in the works for the coming year. If you love westerns like I do, I guarantee you're going to love what we have in store for you, both individually and collectively.

I was honored to be in on the ground floor when this great organization was formed in 2010. I am even more honored to have been elected its second president, for 2012, succeeding the award-winning author Frank Roderus.

You will find in our ranks some very familiar names- some of the best in the business, past or present. You will also find some bright new stars in the western firmament, who may well join your list of personal favorites. So mount up and ride along with us, partners- you'll be glad you did.

Troy D. Smith

Western Fictioneers President 2012

www.westernfictioneers.com 

Newly Reissued by Robert J. Randisi

Hard on the heels of the newly reissued Gunsmith #'s 1 & 2 comes TRACKER #1: THE WINNING HAND and ANGEL EYES #1: THE MIRACLE OF REVENGE.  These series appeared in the 80's under the pseudonyms "Tom Cutter" and "W.B. Longely" but are now being published by Speaking Volumes LLC under the Randisi name, with kick-ass covers! Available in POD paper and Ebook, and soon to be on Audio.  Order from the Speaking Volumes LLC website, or Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.

Anthology Review

Favorable review of The Traditional West  can be seen in the online magazine, At Home in the Costa. December edition.

http://www.ahomeinthecostas.com/online-magazine/book/15-december-2011/1-at-home-in-the-costa-blanca-free-magazine-for-property-a-lifestyle-in-the-spanish-costas.html

Award Winning Author: Larry Sweazy

Larry Sweazy just won best fiction in the Best Books of Indiana awards! Congratulations! 


http://www.larrydsweazy.com/

Author of the Week

Check out here how writing saved Western Fictioneer member, Jory Sherman's, life.