WOLF CREEK DAY: Coming Attractions by Troy Smith

by Wolf Creek editor Troy D. Smith

This month, I thought I'd tease you with a sneak peak at the volumes we plan to have available for the rest of 2013.

Now that folks are becoming aware of our series, I've made some slight changes to the font of our covers, including making the "Wolf Creek" part smaller than the main title; let me know whether you think it works or not.

With no further ado, here are our upcoming installments and tentative writing teams:

Wolf Creek 5: Showdown at Demon's Drop

The surviving members of the Danby Gang have regrouped, and come back to Wolf Creek for a horrible  revenge. Several Wolf Creek citizens will be forced into a showdown with the outlaws in their hidden Indian Territory lair...

With:

Bill Crider
Wayne Dundee
Cheryl Pierson
Robert Randisi
L. J. Martin
Troy D. Smith




Wolf Creek 6: Hell on the Prairie

A short story anthology, in which Ford Fargo shines a solo spotlight on several of our upstanding citizens (and some not so upstanding.) Some of your favorite characters gain a little more depth, and there are some big surprises.

Contributors TBA (depends on who else chips in!) For anyone wanting to join our motley crew, this would be a good opportunity to introduce a new character, just sayin'... (if you can get a story in by June 1, that is!)



Wolf Creek 7:  The Quick and the Dying

Notorious bank robber Sampson Quick has been laying low in Wolf Creek, disguised as an effete artist. But his old partners have finally caught up with him, and threaten to expose his secret unless he joins in their scheme...

With:

Matthew Mayo
Frank Roderus
Bob Vardeman
Phil Dunlap
Wayne Dundee
 Troy D. Smith

Wolf Creek 8: Night of the Assassins

Tsu Chiao, owner of the opium den and brothel The Jade Chamber, has marked several Wolf Creek citizens for death. To achieve this he has sent word to his Tong associates in San Francisco, and requested their best boo how doy... also known as The Hatchet Men.An all-out war between Tsu Chiao and Ira Breedlove may ensue...

With:

James J. Griffin
Bill Crider
Chuck Tyrell
Clay More
Matt Pizzolato
Troy D. Smith

Wolf Creek Book 9: A Wolf Creek Christmas

Another anthology, with a self-evident theme... open to any WF member who wants to participate. Deadline: October 20.

As you can see, the people of Wolf Creek have a busy few months ahead of them!

West of the Big River The Lawman Review and More

West of the Big River is an exciting new series by the members of Western Fictioneers. These traditional novels feature real people and places in history.

THE LAWMAN Review

It's no secret to most of us that James Reasoner is a fine writer, especially when he's penning traditional Westerns. THE LAWMAN will only add to his already sterling reputation. Based on the life of Deputy United States Marshal Bill Tilghman, this is an action-packed novel, with enough twists and turns to keep the reader turning the pages until the last word is read. I neglected finishing the rest of my next short story once I started to read THE LAWMAN. Didn't get to bed on time, either, and I really can't afford to miss much sleep. That's how engrossing this book is. THE LAWMAN is another star in the firmament of James Reasoner's work. Get yourself a copy. I highly and enthusiastically recommend THE LAWMAN.

--Jim Griffin
Coming soon:

Award-winning author Michael Newton spins an action-packed, historically accurate yarn in THE AVENGING ANGEL, another exciting adventure west of the big river to be published May 29th.

THE AVENGING ANGEL is a novel based on the life of Orrin Porter Rockwell, religious enforcer, and Deputy United States Marshal.

Michael Newton has published 263 books since 1977, with 19 more scheduled for release from various houses through 2014. His work includes 200 novels (published under his own name and various pen names), plus 82 nonfiction books in the fields of true crime, history and cryptozoology. His history of the Florida Ku Klux Klan (THE INVISIBLE EMPIRE, University Press of Florida) won the Florida Historical Society's Rembert Patrick Award as Best Book in Florida History for 2002. In 2006 the American Library Association chose his ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CRYPTOZOOLOGY (McFarland Publishing) as one of the years 12 Outstanding Reference Books. His novel MANHUNT (written as "Lyle Brandt" for Berkley Books) won the Western Fictioneers Peacemaker Award for Best Western Novel in 2010. Newton lives in Indiana with his wife, Heather. Visit him on Facebook or through his Web site at www.michaelnewton.homestead.com.

The Western Fictioneers Library --Three Fantastic Western Reprints

DEAD MAN'S GUN & OTHER WESTERN STORIES by Ed Gorman

From acclaimed author Ed Gorman and the Western Fictioneers Library comes this powerful collection of Western stories, many of which have never been reprinted. This volume includes the stories "Dead Man's Gun", "Pards", "The Old Ways", "The Face", "Gunslinger", "Guild and the Indian Woman", "Mainwaring's Gift", "Blood Truth", "Dance Girl", and the article "Writing the Modern Western". Gorman's unforgettable stories feature fine writing, compelling characters, and an undeniable sense of authenticity and realism. You can feel the cold, smell saddle leather and gunsmoke, mourn along with the tragedy-haunted men and women who populate Ed Gorman's West. Read DEAD MAN'S GUN and see why Ed Gorman is one of today's most honored Western authors.

FINDING NEVADA by Frank Roderus

Frank Roderus's critically acclaimed, award-winning Harrison Wilke trilogy comes to a rousing conclusion in FINDING NEVADA, which finds reluctant hero Harrison embroiled in a dispute over a potentially valuable gold mine. From Denver's high society to the rough-and-tumble mining camp of Goldfield, Nevada, Harrison has to navigate a treacherous path that includes murder, action, and romance. The Western Fictioneers Library presents another classic traditional Western novel from one of the most popular authors of our time! The order of this trilogy is Leaving Kansas, Reaching Colorado, then Finding Nevada.

GUN FOR HIRE by Jory Sherman

A fortune in gold dust, two beautiful women, a pair of deadly bushwhackers gunning for him, a dangerous blizzard, an avalanche, and an unknown plotter masterminding murder and robbery . . . These are just some of the things Clay Brand has to deal with when he signs on to guard gold shipments coming down from the mining country in California's San Bernardino Mountains. But before Clay can get to the bottom of the violence plaguing the mountains, he'll have to shoot straight and fast and escape the unexpected menace of a lynch mob!  Available again for the first time in more than thirty years, GUN FOR HIRE is the first Western ever written by acclaimed author and poet Jory Sherman, who has been honored with lifetime achievement awards from both Western Fictioneers and Western Writers of America. It's a classic action-packed novel filled with suspense and also includes a new introduction by the author written especially for this volume in the Western Fictioneers Library. 

           
nook link             nook link             nook link          

APRIL WINNER----LAURIE POWERS!

Hi everyone,

I'm a little bit late in the drawing for the prize from our blog follower list for April's winner, but here it is!

MEG MIMS is giving away a signed print copy of her SPUR AWARD winning debut novel, DOUBLE CROSSING, for our April drawing.

And our April winner from the WESTERN FICTIONEERS BLOG FOLLOWERS list is......

LAURIE POWERS!!!!!!

Laurie, if you will e-mail me at fabkat_edit@yahoo.com I will see that you get your copy of DOUBLE CROSSING! Congratulations, you lucky lady!

Cheryl

SIX SENTENCE SATURDAY--KANE'S PROMISE by CHERYL PIERSON

Several months ago, I started to write a short story for a western anthology that I wanted to submit to. I had an idea that wouldn’t let me go, no matter how hard I tried to shake it off. But this story was to be a western, with no romance involved. My “what if” concerned the long reaching effects of an Indian massacre and kidnapping on a young white boy, Will Green.

To tell a story like that, I was going to have to be inside the boy’s head. So the story would have to be told from the first person POV—something I just never do. It’s always been a temptation of mine to write something in first person. But could I pull it off? First person, a boy, a child. I had to try, because there was just no other way to do it.

Once I began to write KANE’S REDEMPTION, I could see that the “short story” was not going to remain “short.” The word count limit for stories for the anthology was 5,000 per story. When I stopped to count, I was already at double that amount. I laid the story aside and started another shorter story in order to finish it in time to submit. But when I came back to KANE’S REDEMPTION, I was free to make it as long as it needed to be.

By the time the story ended at around 25,000 words, I knew that it truly wasn’t finished, even then. So much had happened to young Will and Jacobi Kane, the man who rescued him from the Apache, that I knew this was going to be a series of novellas. In the first book, Will and Jacobi forged quite a relationship, first of necessity and then of a father/son bond. But that relationship was only just beginning.

I wrote KANE’S PROMISE, the second story in the series, that carries them on into the next year of Will’s life. When a posse comes calling to ask Jacobi Kane to help them track the Apache, will he go? He’s made a promise to his first wife to avenge her, as she lay dying in his arms, but now he has other responsibilities.

Ten-year-old Will is torn between staying with his pregnant stepmother and following Jacobi. He must make a gut-wrenching decision. But they are a family now, and family helps one another, no matter what. Knowing firsthand what it's like to be at the mercy of this particularly brutal band of Apache, Will know what he must do. Though Jacobi might not want him along, Will knows that's where he belongs.

BLURB:

Kane's Promise, the second in a series of three, is the continuation of Kane's Redemption, the story of Will Green, a young boy whose family was murdered by the Apache, and Jacobi Kane, the man who rescued Will from the Indians.

In Kane's Promise, Jacobi Kane must lead a band of lawmen in their mission to find and annihilate the remnants of the Apache renegades who were responsible for killing Will's parents and Kane's wife and children.

But Will knows he belongs at Jacobi Kane's side—not left behind in the safety of the cabin. Once they find the Apaches, all hell breaks loose.

Can Kane protect Will and see this battle to a final end?

DISCLAIMER: I know it's SIX Sentence Saturday, but it's late and I am filling in for Matt Pizzolato who had to attend a funeral and wasn't able to make it today. So please forgive the longer excerpt.


EXCERPT SET UP:

Will and Jacobi are getting ready to leave Colbert’s Ferry Station when Marshal Eddington, one of Jacobi’s old nemeses, causes trouble. He has just insulted Jacobi in front of everyone, and Will, unable to stand Jacobi’s silence, jumps down from his horse and attacks the unsuspecting marshal. Jacobi pulls Will off, but Eddington draws Jacobi into the fight. Here’s what happens:

“I ought to kill you!” Eddington’s eyes were murderous, and now that I had regained my senses, it dawned on me I had made us an enemy for life by making him look foolish in front of the other men. He looked back and forth at me and Jacobi, so I wasn’t certain who he meant to kill, but I was pretty sure he meant me.

Jacobi turned to look at Eddington, rising swiftly to close the few steps between him and the marshal. “If you ever lay a hand on him, Oscar, you’ll answer to me.”

Eddington was busy wiping the blood off his face but he looked up at Jacobi, his thick lips twisting in a sneer. “Go on. Tell me you know a hundred ways to kill me, and all of ’em would make me wish I’d never come into the world at all!”

“You said it, Eddington. Not me.”

Eddington took a final disgusted swipe with his dirty bandana at the trail of blood that kept trickling from his nose.

“I believe ’em, Kane,” he spat. “All those rumors about you bein’ part Injun your own self. You’re no better’n Laughing Wind hisself. A murderin’—”

Jacobi jumped for Eddington, who had quickly gone for his knife. Jacobi landed squarely atop the marshal’s belly and delivered a hammering blow to his jaw at the same time. He easily knocked the marshal’s blade out of his hand as if it were child’s play. Eddington let out a loud “oomph” when Jacobi’s fist connected with his belly.

But Eddington had learned a few tricks of his own, and he was surprisingly quick to be as fat as he was. I’d always felt sorry for his horse, having to tote him all over creation, as heavy as he had to be.

Jacobi knew what Eddington’s next move would be before he made it, it seemed like. I’d only seen Jacobi fight twice before. The first time was when Red Eagle found us and tried to jump us. I could tell both Jacobi and Red Eagle knew they were fighting for their lives, but I couldn’t see much, bein’ as how it was in the middle of the night. The fight Jacobi and Laughing Wind had had was just as serious—a fight to the death, for Laughing Wind. But, in the heat of the battle that had been going on around me, I hadn’t absorbed the skill Jacobi had. The way he rolled and punched and parried Eddington’s blows was like some kind of a dance.

After a few seconds, it was all over. I knew it wouldn’t take Jacobi long to end what he’d started.
Eddington had stopped trying to fight and was covering his head, instead. He was making the little girl noises again. Jacobi had sure beat the hell out of him, and it made my heart glad. I reckoned Jacobi understood just how I’d felt only a few minutes ago. I knew there wouldn’t be one word of lecture from him about me tearing in to Marshal Eddington, when he’d gone and done the same thing his own self. He rolled away from Eddington and came to his feet, breathing hard and just looking at the marshal for a few seconds. Then, he reached down and picked up his hat, dusting it off.

The other men had all gathered around, and even Mrs. Colbert and her daughters had come outside and stood watching. Marshal Eddington began to holler like a wild man when he saw everyone watching him.
“I’ve got witnesses! Kane, you’re going to pay, one way or another! You and that whelp of yours—”
Jacobi took a step forward, planting his foot squarely on Eddington’s wounded thigh, directly over the bullet hole.

“Son of a bitch!” Eddington screamed. He tried to roll, but Jacobi dropped to his knees, grabbing Eddington’s arm and twisting as he kept his weight on the wound.

“Don’t threaten me, Eddington. Never, ever threaten my family, or me.” He leaned close and spoke so softly no one else but me and Marshal Eddington could hear. “Don’t force me to pick one of those ‘hundred ways’, Marshal. I promise you, I will do it.”
****
Today I’m giving away a copy of KANE’S PROMISE to one lucky commenter. Please leave a comment along with your contact info to be entered—easy, huh?

You can find KANE’S PROMISE as well as KANE’S REDEMPTION and the thrilling conclusion of the Kane stories, KANE'S DESTINY here at my Amazon site:
Cheryl's Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/cherylpierson
Kane’s Redemption,Kane’s Promise, and Kane's Destiny are available at Barnes and Noble for Nook, as well.

Don’t forget to leave a comment to enter the drawing for a copy of KANE’S PROMISE.

Oklahoma vs. Hollywood

Dust Bowl Oklahoma

By mid-Twentieth Century most citizens living outside the borders of Oklahoma, probably thought of this state as a dusty, wind-scoured flatland populated by ruthless outlaws, brutal savages, greedy oil barons, and downtrodden, dirt-poor rubes. And let’s not forget your lean and slow-talking cowboys. 

This is pretty much the perception Hollywood has foisted on the masses about Oklahoma going all the way back to their movie-making beginnings around 1905. For sure, film-makers have seemed to like Oklahoma for its prospects, both the land and its people; but most often, it appears, not in a particularly flattering way. 

But to be fair to the movie people – which, frankly, kind of sticks in my craw – they weren’t all that far off in their portrayals. A lot of notorious outlaws roamed Oklahoma and Indian Territory at one time or another – Bill Doolin’s gang, the Dalton boys, Belle Starr, Henry Starr, the Youngers, Al Jennings, Frank and Jesse, Bonnie and Clyde, just to name a few. And it did sequester some notable battle-prone Native Americans – Geronimo, Quanah Parker, Cherokee Bill, Lone Wolf, Blue Duck (the real one, not McMurtry’s), Ned Christie, Wes Studi.

Will Rogers

As for the cowboys, off the top of my head, there were Tom Mix, Gene Autry, Ben Johnson, Jim Shoulders, James Garner. And, of course, we can’t forget our most famous son, Will Rogers (himself one-quarter Cherokee).

Could’ve been some land and money-grabbing oilmen, too, but the ones I know were hard-working entrepreneurial capitalists who lived the original American dream and came up from nothing. Frank Phillips comes to mind, as does rancher/oilman Charles Francis Colcord. Both of these “oil barons” were very philanthropic, and left a lasting legacy in the state, not the least of which was a mountain of jobs.

In the early Hollywood years Oklahoma outlaws and lawmen appeared on the silver screen; the former glamorized, the latter vilified. And the stilted view of Oklahomans peaked with John Ford’s 1940 film version of John Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath. That’s when the poverty-stricken hicks arrived, the “Okies.” But more on that in a minute.

Bill Tilghman

Lawman Bill Tilghman got into the movie business back in 1908 both as a director and actor. He did a series of one-reelers at the request of a man named John R. Abernathy, despite Tilghman’s insistence that he knew nothing about flim-making. In my imagination, I hear Abernathy saying to Tilghman, “It ain’t no big deal, Marshal. Ain’t nobody else knows much about it, neither.”

The first film, The Wolf Hunt, came about as a result of President Teddy Roosevelt coming to the I.T. to do some hunting, meet some Native Americans, and make some speeches. On one hunt, the old Lion Tamer witnessed Abernathy take down a wolf with his bare hands. The president was so impressed, he told Abernathy that if he’d re-enact the feat in a moving picture, he would show it at the White House (something quite unique at that time). So Abernathy, enlisting Tilghman as his director, and a man named Kent, who owned a Curtis motion picture camera, did just that.

Tilghman made several more films, as did the former outlaw turned lawyer, Al Jennings.

[A short aside: Al Jennings went from outlaw to lawyer to politician illustrating the natural selection of elected officials.]

All of Jennings’ films lionized outlaws - particularly himself - and denigrated lawmen. Angered by that, Marshal Tilghman made a film titled The Passing of the Oklahoma Outlaws which sought to re-create the crimes of several Oklahoma bad guys, such as Bill Doolin, Henry Starr, and Jennings, and show them being brought to justice at the competent and honorable hands of peace officers. The movie became a fair success, and inspired Henry Starr to get into film-making about his own exploits. I explored this some in my novel Red Lands Outlaw, the Ballad of Henry Starr.

In my opinion two films had the greatest impact on the world’s perception of Oklahoma and Oklahomans: The Grapes of Wrath and the musical Oklahoma! 

The movie Joads and a Hollywood goat hired as an extra

While it’s a historical fact that many farmers were devastated by the great drought conditions that led to the Dust Bowl, it’s not a historical fact that most of those migrants to California, as a result of it, came from Oklahoma. Most came from the Texas panhandle and western Kansas, the actual geographic heart of the Dust Bowl. Yet, all of those unfortunates were called Okies.

FYI for you non-Okies, Okie is one of those cultural terms which is okay (no pun intended) to call someone if you are one, but considered a derisive slur if you’re not. 

Someone referred to the movie Oklahoma! as a picture postcard of the state. Personally, I think it’s more of a cartoon. While Oklahoma did adopt the title song as its official state song, I don’t think the film displayed any other redeeming social value. There was, though, that line from one of the songs that has always stuck with me: “Oh, the farmers and the cowmen should be friends.” However, I don’t think that issue has ever been totally resolved.

Phil Truman has authored three of what he calls, “Oklahoma-centric” novels. His first, GAME, an American Novel is a sports inspirational about small town schoolboy football. Legends of Tsalagee weaves a tale of mystery and adventure in a small town. A 2013 Peacemaker Award nominee, Red Lands Outlaw, the Ballad of Henry Starr is Phil’s first foray into the western genre in this historical novel about the life and times of an Oklahoma outlaw. He has won numerous awards for his short fiction, and his western short story “Last Will for an Outlaw” will appear in LaFrontera’s anthology, Dead or Alive, due to be released June 2013.

Phil’s website is: http://philtrumanink.com/

BRET LEE HART AND HIS TWIST ON WESTERNS

How does a slightly educated forty-five year old Marine construction worker from Florida become a published writer?

Was it fate; was it luck, maybe destiny – who knows? What I do know is that if you put your mind to something and work hard at it, it can be done; it is never too late to start something new. I would not go so far as to say I was following my dream to one day be a writer; it was more like an idea that sat dormant for many years. It started for me while watching movies and reading books, many were westerns mixed in with horror and the paranormal, for me it is all about imagination. Every storyline I read or watched, I could either predict what was going to happen next or come up with something better quickly in my mind.

So one day, I sat down with my kid’s old laptop and, using my index fingers in a pecking motion, I began to put thought to digital paper and The Half-Breed Gunslinger was born. I wanted to write stories that had not been done before, so I set my western in the swamps of Florida with a character hero that was half-Indian and half-white. I actually considered that many young people of today are of mixed race and they would be able to identify with such a hero as Hunter James Dolin. Hunter is my son's name and Doolin was a family name associated with the Jesse James gang. I dropped an 'O' making it Dolin and I used James for the middle.

I would also like to mention that the cover art for several of these were drawn by my talented daughter Karlee Dawn Hart, for which I still owe monies.

There are many experts out there who suggest how a story should be created. In the case of the three book series of The Half-Breed Gunslinger, Hunter James Dolin, and (coming soon) Montgomery's Revenge, I built the story around the characters. But in the case of my published paranormal western, The Fangslinger and the Preacher, I pulled the characters from the storyline. In other words, I don’t believe it matters how a story comes to be, as long as it is a good one.

And what makes a good story? It would depend on who you ask, but I would tell you that, for me and for most young people, a good story would have characters with "character", they would be someone you can identify with, and there must be humor. I like a story with unexpected twists and turns and plenty of action, and that's what it takes to keep a young mind involved. I also tuck in a bit of history, but don't tell the younger readers. One of the hardest times I have with writing stories is keeping them moving and lengthy at the same time, but the more you do something the better you will become at whatever it might be.

I do hope that my stories grounded in the 1860’s era will help keep alive the importance of the old West to this great country of ours, for without the pioneers that risked it all to explore the wilderness we would not be where we are today. And let’s not forget the horse, one of God's greatest creations and an important part of our survival and growth during our earlier years.

As the world rapidly races into the technological future, we must not forget our past. Our history is important and we must stay grounded in our founding principles and learn from our mistakes so not to repeat them. God bless.

Bret Lee Hart

Please follow me at https://www.facebook.com/bretleehart

You can find my books at http://www.amazon.com/Bret-Lee-Hart/e/B0087OUZR4/

http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/bretleehart

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/bret-lee-hart

and http://westerntrailblazer.com

(Also available at iTunes, Sony Ereader Store, Diesel, and KoboBooks as well as many other online retailers)

Can we come to an understanding about truth?

I came across a little thing I wrote several years ago and thought you all might find it interesting.

* * *

The true or actual state of a matter; conformity with fact or reality; verity; a verified or indisputable fact, proposition, principle, or the like; the state or character of being true; actuality or actual existence; an obvious or accepted fact; truism; platitude; honesty; integrity; truthfulness: ideal or fundamental reality apart from and transcending perceived experience; agreement with a standard or original; accuracy, as of position or adjustment; fidelity or constancy.

And

Conformity to fact or actuality; a statement proven to be or accepted as true; sincerity, integrity; fidelity to an original or standard; reality, actuality; often truth is that which is considered to be the supreme reality and to have the ultimate meaning and value of existence.

Truth is a comprehensive term that in all its nuances implies accuracy and honesty.

Veracity is adherence to the truth: Veracity is the heart of morality.

I realize I have given many meanings to the word truth, but it seems that our art should deal with truth, and we should come to some kind of common understanding as to what the word means. I hope others have additional comments and that we can come to the same starting line when defining the meaning of truth.