BREAKING NEWS!

I'm working on a Haxan novel!

"White Hawk" a brand new Haxan story, will appear soon in Frontier Tales Magazine!

"Strange Charms" coming soon to Drops of Crimson!

Conventions:

Now that some of my writing is done for the month I have time to contact the science fiction and fantasy conventions coming to the Dallas/Fort Worth area. I hope to be able to schedule some readings of my work with them. I am also planning on setting up some readings of my work at local libraries.  If I can get this scheduled I will certainly let all of you know the place and time.  Thanks for caring!  :)

Frontier Tales Magazine is an online magazine of western fiction. They publish pretty good stuff because some of the authors who appear there are Spur Award winners.  What I'm saying is the stories here are not your usual hackery. They are good solid stories, first and foremost.

Duke Pennell is the editor of this magazine and personally I like what he's done with it so far. He presents a wide range of western fiction, even dabbling on the edges of cross-genre. Mr. Pennell's mission statement for the magazine pretty much says it all:

"It's been said that the publishing industry doesn't do Westerns because the market won't support them. That may be true but, it occurs to me, it's awfully hard to sell many Westerns if nobody will publish them. Sounds like a Catch-22 to me.

"I don't like Catch-22 situations. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. My momma used to say, "Do something. Lead, follow, or get out of the way!" So, we're going to do something. We're going to publish Westerns and other stories that deal with the raw edge, where civilization crashes into the frontier. That clash is where the action is, and that's what so many of us love to read about.

"So pull up a chair. The tale-telling is about to start."

I think you will like this magazine a lot both as a reader and a writer, so give it a peek!

The West As Seen Through Rose-Colored Glasses. Can we please give that meme a rest?

I was reading a  western forum a while back when I came across a comment by someone who said the Old West was a better time than today.  It wasn't the first time I've seen such a statement, but, boy, do I ever wish it was the last.

I must admit I have little patience for people who think the Old West was some rose-colored time when men were better men, and women were better women, and people were generally better well-behaved compared to the "coarse" culture we have today.

I mean, seriously. Have these people ever cracked open a history book?  The Old West was not a golden time when people were nicer, used finer language, and were more tolerant.  People killed each other back then with as much relish as they do today. People were as violent back then as they are today.  They stole, raped, killed, beat their wives, abused their children and slaughtered anyone they thought was "beneath" them with unrestrained relish. There were serial killers back then, even if they didn't call them that.  Trust me. People haven't changed all that much since Victorian times.

Not ALL people, mind you, were repellent.  Not everyone back then was like that, just like not everyone today is like that.  But, please, can we stop pretending the West somehow stood outside normal human frailty?

The Old West was not some Lone Ranger Fantasy Land where the bad guy always got caught and the lawmen wore white hats. John Meston, who created Gunsmoke, understood this.  Other modern writers of the genre today like Estleman and Gorman and Braun understand it was well.

But I do see this all too often in comments on other western blogs.  Come on, guys.  The Old West wasn't better.  The people back then weren't better. I swear this just slays me every time I come across it. 

History? Anyone? Bueller...?

And if you keep to that philosophy, where does it end?  Was the Antebellum South "better" because plantation owners were well-educated?  I expect there are people living today who would argue that point with you.  Ancient Greece?  Was it better? Rome, because they had roads?

I think the very best western writers know a secret: Human beings haven't changed much over time.  Oh, we may have different social mores and societal values throughout time.  But the core human being hasn't changed much and all you have to do is look at history to bear this out.

The Old West was a fascinating time.  I like many elements that are inherent in the Old West and that's why I enjoy writing/exploring them.  But I am under no illusion that the Old West was somehow "magical" and that's why when I write westerns I write about the people in them, and not some wish-fulfillment exercise.

Western_Writers, A Live Journal Community

While I was noodling around on Live Journal one day I noticed there wasn't a western community for writers and fans. I have to admit this surprised me. So I created one called Western_Writers.  It's open to everyone and even though it's primarily geared for research we include lots of other posts including reviews and plain ol' fun.  Click on the cowboy below and come on by and have a look.  :)