Matthew Pizzolato: The Wanted Man

The Wanted Man
by Matthew Pizzolato

Romancing The West welcomes a friend of all Western readers and writers, Matthew Pizzolato. His short stories have been published online and in print in such publications as: BEAT to a PULP!, The Copperfield Review, Pulp Modern, Frontier Tales Magazine, and The Storyteller. Matthew also writes a weekly NASCAR column for Insider Racing News and is a contributing writer for Suite101.com. He's a member of Western Fictioneers.

Matthew can be contacted via his personal website or on Twitter at @mattpizzolato. When he's not writing, Matthew is the editor and webmaster of The Western Online.

RTW: Thanks for stopping by this week, Matthew. To get us started, please tell us about your new release.

MP: The Wanted Man is a collection of eight short stories set in the American West and touches on themes of vengeance, abuse and honor. Texas Ranger Jud Nelson appears in the title story and receives some aid from an unlikely source in chasing down a killer. Outlaw Wesley Quaid discovers that not only is the law on his trail in the form of Ranger Jud Nelson but a hired assassin has been paid to kill him. Is Texas big enough for the three of them?

Contest!

Matthew is giving away a $20 Amazon Gift Certificate.

(See details below)

RTW : What aspect of life in the Old West intrigues you the most? Did you work that into The Wanted Man?

MP: Self reliance. In my opinion, self reliance is something that is lacking in today's culture that was prevalent during the Old West. During that time period, people had to fend for themselves. There were no policemen to call if someone harmed them. They had to provide food and shelter for themselves and their families. People have become too dependant on modern convinces and forget that hunger, thirst and cold are still lurking in the shadows.

All of my characters, whether they are lawmen like Jud Nelson, outlaws like Wesley Quaid, killers like the assassin Sabrina, or just everyday people are self reliant. They may work together to help each other on occasion, but they depend on no one but themselves.

RTW : If you lived in during the Old West, what modern convenience would you miss the most?

MP: Air conditioning. I work as a meat cutter when I'm not writing, so I've become accustomed to being inside in cool temperatures. That is one convenience that I take for granted and am reminded of how much I miss it whenever I spend a weekend civil war reenacting. Everything we do has to be period correct, from how we cook our food to the tents and the clothes we wear. I live in Louisiana, so wearing wool in ninety degree plus temperatures can get quite warm.

RTW: You'll get no argument from me on the air conditioning! If a person who had never read a Western asked you for a recommendation, what novel or movie would you recommend and why? What did the author do to bring the story alive for you?

MP: The Sackett Brand by Louis L'Amour, or anything else by L'Amour for that matter. His characters are portrayed as real people who live by a code. The Sackett Brand exemplifies what I consider to be the three virtues of a Western: honor, integrity and loyalty. Even the villains in L'Amour's work had a sense of honor. There was a line that they wouldn't cross and that is what draws me to his work.

RTW : Are there any common errors in westerns that bug you? If so, please set us straight.

MP: There are too many to name. The Old West mythology that is portrayed in the popular Western is highly romanticized and not always historically accurate. As an example, the role of women in Westerns is probably the most glaring error. While the whore with a heart of gold actually did exist, it's been so overdone in Westerns that it's become a cliché.

It's historical fact that while women were repressed during the time period, some of them still lead successful lives in the same roles as men. Belle Boyd was a civil war spy. Charlie Parkhurst was a female stagecoach driver. There were women outlaws, such as Belle Starr and also Flo Quick, who regularly dressed like a man and went by the name of Tom King. Then you have Poker Alice and of course, Calamity Jane, just to name a few.

RTW: What drew you to writing Westerns? Where do you draw your inspiration from?

MP: I started writing Westerns because I ran out of Louis L'Amour stories to read. When I realized I'd read everything he'd written, I felt like I'd lost my best friend. But aside from L'Amour, I draw my biggest inspiration from two of Clint Eastwood's movies, The Outlaw Josey Wales and Unforgiven.

Those two movies dumped Western mythology on its head and introduced the anti-hero. Suddenly, there were shades of gray in the Western instead of clearly draw lines of black and white. Yet while Josey Wales and Will Munny are both killers, they still possess elements of the hero, namely honor and integrity.

It is these characters that were the inspiration for Wesley Quaid and I drew on the historical record for inspiration for the assassin, Sabrina. Jud Nelson is my version of the typical Western hero, and he appears in one of the stories alongside Wesley Quaid.

RTW: Why must Wesley Quaid take this story journey? What does he have to prove? Why is Sabrina the perfect match for him?

MP: Wesley Quaid has become discontented with his life as an outlaw and is on a journey of self discovery. He's always been a man of honor but he wants to become a man of whom his father would be proud. Sabrina is a perfect match for him because she's not the typical woman who needs his protection. She's his equal who earns his respect.

RTW: That sounds right up my alley! Please set up your excerpt for us.

MP: This is a scene from one of the stories in The Wanted Man collection, Killer for Hire, where Wesley Quaid meets the assassin, Sabrina. This scene transpires after Sabrina makes an attempt on Wesley's life but fails and Wesley tracks her down and confronts her.

Excerpt from

Killer for Hire, a story in The Wanted Man

by Matthew Pizzolato

Copyright © 2011 Matthew Pizzolato

Not ten feet away, the cloaked figure bent into the water and submersed her head. Behind her and slightly adjacent, a prairie rattler as big around as my forearm slithered toward the water.

The woman appeared oblivious.

So I did what any gentleman would do. I stepped from the trees, drew my pistol and shot the snake.

The woman lunged to her feet and would have sprung at me.

I cocked the pistol again and smiled.

She froze with her legs poised to leap.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"It doesn't matter."

"What's your name?"

Several seconds passed while she considered. Her sodden straight black hair clung to her skull. Beads of water cascaded down her face. "You may call me Sabrina."

"Oh? I may?"

She gave a curt nod.

"I didn't ask what I could call you. I asked you your name."

Anger blazed in her eyes.

I chuckled. This woman wasn't accustomed to impertinence. "In that case, you may call me Wesley Quaid."

"That isn't you're name either."

I smiled and it reached all the way to my eyes. Then I winked at her and raised an eyebrow.

She blinked and the appearance of rage vanished from her face. Her posture relaxed, and she glanced at the still writhing snake. "Are you going to return my gun?"

"No thanks. I kind of like it. Besides, I couldn't find mine."

She rolled her eyes. "I could kill you from here and take it off of your corpse."

"I enjoy shooting knives out of the air. What are you waiting for?"

Her eyes blazed again but not as furiously as before. Or was my imagination running away with me?

"Return my gun and I will let you live."

I snorted. "Do I look stupid?"

"Actually, yes." A trace of humor reached those icy blue eyes.

♥ ♥ ♥
Available at: Amazon ~ B&N ~ Goodreads

RTW: Ha! I love it. :) What’s next? Will you have a sequel to The Wanted Man?

MP: I've just finished a novella length work with the outlaw Wesley Quaid as the protagonist. The stories featuring Wesley Quaid in The Wanted Man are precursors to the novella, Outlaw. I will have it available later this summer or early in the fall.

RTW: It's good to get to you, Matthew, and thanks again for joining the RTW family. Anything else you’d like to add?

MP: I like to thank Jacquie for hosting me this week and I'm eternally grateful to all of the readers who have supported my writing and my website, The Western Online. If anyone has read The Wanted Man and could find the time to write a review on Amazon or any of the other sites, I'd be forever in your debt.

Win a $20 Amazon Gift Certificate!

Contest Question:

What do you consider the best Western (either movie or novel) of all time? Why?  Comment and you'll be entered to win the $20 Amazon Gift Certificate !

Small print:

Email address must be included to be eligible for the drawing (so we can contact you).

Drawing will be held Saturday, June 30 at 9pm Pacific Time.

Jacquie Rogers: Much Ado About Madams

Much Ado About Madams
by Jacquie Rogers

People have emailed and nudged me with a little reminder that I have never answered my own questions on Romancing The West, so now, in a dual role, here goes. First, my bio:

There’s nothing quite like growing up in Owyhee County, Idaho, to fuel a young girl’s imagination. I lived on a dairy farm six miles southwest of Homedale. Stories popped into my head while I was feeding calves, or hoeing beets, or shucking corn. These stories placed me in another time, wild and exciting, full of adventure, handsome heroes, and heinous villains.

At no point did I ever want to be a writer, though. Instead, my fondest dream was to be a baseball announcer in TV. Obviously, that didn't work out, nor did my second dream of becoming an interpreter at the United Nations. Instead, I've milked cows, ran a deli, managed political campaigns, managed offices, and owned a software consulting company, among other things. Nothing holds my interest for long.

Writing came as a fluke after I'd been sick and did nothing but read for a couple months. I dreamed a book, so I wrote it. Now I have several published novels in a couple sub-genres. Who knew?

RTW: Why do you write Westerns? What aspect of life in the Old West intrigues you the most? Did you work that into Much Ado About Madams?

JR: The lives of real people fascinate me more than the mythos of the Old West. Women like Malinda Jenkins, hard-working women who weren't the typical East Coast Victiorian woman transplanted to the West are most fascinating. The common thought is if a woman wasn't a schoolteacher or a cook, she was a prostitute. This simply wasn't so. Malinda owned businesses everywhere she went, and she moved from the mid-west to Texas, to several places on the West Coast and Alaska, finally ending up in Idaho. She spent her retirement years betting on horseraces.

I like to look at family history to get a glimpse into the real history of the United States and westward expansion. Often, our families didn't conform to what we were taught in history class. I want to know how they really lived, thought, did, and who they loved. To me, this is far more interesting than the shoot-out at the OK Corral or Billy the Kid. On my mother's side of the family, there was the Alsup-Fleetwood Feud, which lasted longer and was much bloodier than the Hatfield-McCoy Feud we all know about. (We're from the Alsups, by the way.)

As for Much Ado About Madams, well, I confess I have no experience with prostitution other than I once served on a jury in a pimp trial. Actually, the book was supposed to be about suffragists, and when formulating a suffragist heroine I got to thinking what if she accepted a teaching position but upon arrival out West, found out she'd been hired by soiled doves? The Comfort Palace was born and along with the brothel came Fannie, Sadie, Chrissie, Petunia, Trinket, Holly, and Felicia.



Jacquie Rogers, author



RTW: If you lived in 1882, what would you visit first? Is there something you’ve been curious about that you can’t find in your research sources?

JR: Mundane details of day-to-day life are glossed over. Most of us don't really know what it would be like to bake bread and fix a meal using a wood stove, crockery bowls, and cast iron utensils, pots, and pans. These ladies must have had biceps that any male romance cover model would covet. Men's jobs, especially on the ranch, are far better documented.

But I have to admit, I'm curious about how a mid-class brothel would actually operate. We know what they looked like because there are extant brothels, many made into museums, to visit. But how does the whole thing work, exactly? When a gent comes in door, how is he treated? Does he drink and play faro before and after the main reason for his visit? Is the brothel as much of a social club as a sexual outlet? My guess is that every brothel was different in operating methods, and ran the gamut from social club to establishments who catered to men's baser natures.

RTW: If a person who had never read a Western (any sub-genre) asked you for a recommendation, what novel or movie would you recommend and why? What did the author do to bring the story alive for you?

JR: Why not start with my books? Hahaha. Really, my books are light, contain elements of a little bit of all Westerns, and they're purely entertainment.



Louis L'Amour

 That said, my favorite Western author is Louis L'Amour, mainly because he was a master craftsman at weaving romance and sexual tension into his stories. Any Louis L'Amour book is good. I adored The Sacketts, and then of course there's the made-for-TV Sacketts with Tom Selleck and Sam Elliot. That'll get any red-blooded woman's heart pumping. Ahem. But scenery aside, those stories are compelling, the kind you think about for a week after you view or read them. My one grievance is he only included 80% of the romance arc, which is probably why I ended up writing romances.

RTW: Why must Reese McAdams take this particular story journey? What does he have to prove? How does Lucinda Sharpe affect his journey?

JR: Let's face it--Reese doesn't know what to do with a houseful of soiled doves. He feels an extra responsibility toward them because of his father's ill deeds, but running a brothel just isn't in his career plan. Until he figures out that his father's failings are not his own, he can never be truly happy. Then Lucinda bursts upon the scene. Her character arc is very similar, but different in that she truly loved her mother, just not the circumstances of her life. Still, she's chosen the suffragist path in part to help other women who find themselves in the same position as her mother. Put together, there's lots of opportunity for internal conflict. And they turn each other's carefully crafted worlds upside-down in the craziest ways. :)

RTW: Tell us about your excerpt.

JR: This is the opening scene where the madam of the Comfort Palace, Fannie, is working hard to write a letter to their lone applicant to tell she's been hired. Fannie's been through third grade but still, spelling is not her forte.

Excerpt

Much Ado About Madams

by Jacquie Rogers

Copyright © 2012 Jacquie Rogers

Dickshooter, Owyhee County, Idaho Territory

June, 1882

Dere Miss Sharpe,

The skool bord of Dickshooter, Idaho, dooly invits you . . .

Fannie clenched the pen with a death grip and pursed her lips as she drew her letters. The five scantily clad women standing around her watching every mark she made, didn’t help matters a bit.

“Fer hell’s sake, woman, quit thinking so hard and write the damn letter,” grumbled Trinket. But then, Trinket always grumbled about something.

The frustrated madam blew a stray lock of dye-pot red hair out of her eyes. “You girls don’t have to stand there like chickens ready to pounce on a snake. You’re making me nervous.”

“You said you knew your letters,” accused Chrissy.

“Leave me alone. I went all the way to third grade, and I writ the ad fer the newspaper, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, but the newspaper man probably fixed it up some.”

“Can I make the letters on the envelope?” whispered Holly, who’d nearly been strangled by a no-good drifter the week before. She still couldn’t talk right. The bouncer had run the worm out at gunpoint and told him never to come back. Fannie had taken a liking to Holly, a young girl who, even though she served drinks in a whorehouse, was ignorant about the ways of the world—a lot like Fannie had been when her old man threw her out of his house so many years ago.

Fannie tapped the spare piece of precious paper lying on the desk. “You can practice on this once I’ve finished here.” That is, if she didn’t mess up this paper, she thought, and she probably would if she didn’t get some peace and quiet.

“This ain’t gonna work, anyway,” Trinket walked across the room, swaying her hips seductively out of years of habit. “What decent schoolmarm would teach a bunch of whores their letters? And how do you know she’ll marry Reese? Hell, he owns a whorehouse!”

Fannie couldn’t imagine a woman who wouldn’t want him. “Reese is a fine, upstanding man, and handsome as sin. She won’t be able to resist, and she’ll force him to close up shop so we can be on our way to new lives.”

“What if she’s some pinch-nosed Bible-thumper?” argued Trinket.

“If she’s ugly, Reese might not want her, but even if she tries to save our souls, at least we’ll all learn reading and writing to help get ourselves a respectable living. We can’t lose.”

Felicia sniffed. “Ha! We’re already losers, or we wouldn’t be stuck in this hellhole.” She’d whored in the best brothels in New Orleans until a crazy man had cut her face up.

Fannie tried to sympathize, but damn, why’d Felicia have to be so uppity? Fannie ignored her remark, like she always did. She’d have thrown Felicia out on her nose a long time ago, but knew no place else would take her.

“Once the mines up in Silver City bring in more customers, no decent businessman would shut this place down,” Felicia added.

Fannie thunked the pen down on the desk, ink splattering clear to the wall. She had to get these women out of the office or she’d never get this letter written. They had a plan, and it was up to her to make it work, but she sure as hell couldn’t do it with all these women pecking at her like a bunch of vultures. “Fer gawd’s sake, Petunia, take a bath! You stink like a bucket of last week’s slop.”

“Aw, Fannie, I just had a bath last Sunday.”

“Like I said, last week’s slop. Now, go!” Petunia left the office, mumbling all the way out the door.

Fannie turned to Felicia. “Go get your room ready before the gents come a calling. It always looks like a pigsty. I want the sheets changed and your butter dish cleaned.”

“Humph! Sadie should do that.”

“Honey, you’re not in some fancy New Orleans whorehouse any more. You have to do fer yourself.”

Two gone, three to go. “Chrissy, help Sadie with dinner.”

Chrissy jammed one hand on her hip and patted her tousled auburn hair with the other. “I ain’t no cook.”

“You are today.”

“It ain’t my turn. Besides, it’ll roughen my hands.”

“Your hands have been through worse.” Fannie waved toward the door. “Go on, now.”

She pulled a bottle of black dye from her desk drawer. “Trinket, your blonde roots are showing something fierce. Take care of it.”

“But the men will be coming in a few hours, and my hair won’t be dry.”

“Go stand in the sun. If you ever went outside, you’d know the sun’s shining today.” She handed Trinket the bottle. “If any of your callers come early, I’ll hold ‘em off for an hour.”

Holly whispered, “Do you want to get rid of me, too?”

Fannie didn’t, but the other girls would throw a fit if she let Holly stay. “Do some mending or something. Come back here in half an hour and I’ll let you make some letters.”

“Yes, ma’am.” She paused at the door. “Will I be serving drinks tonight?”

“It’s time. You’ve had a week off.” Fannie didn’t have the heart to make Holly take gents to her bed. The other girls grew more resentful all the time, but she doubted that Holly had ever had a man—and once she did, there was no going back.

The last of the girls finally gone, Fannie finished the letter.

Dere Miss Sharpe,

The skool bord of Dikshooter, Idaho Terr., dooly invits you as to be our noo skoolmarm, startin Septimbr 1, 1882.

Respekfuly,

Mr. Reese McAdams

♥ ♥ ♥

Available on Kindle

RTW: What’s next? Is Much Ado About Madams a part of a series?

JR: The third book in the Hearts of Owyhee series will be Much Ado About Mavericks. It's nearly ready to go right now, so will be published soon. It's set in northern Owyhee County and features a rather unique heroine and a downright sexy hero. Definitely an "opposites attract" story. The fourth book, Much Ado About Miners, is in the early writing stages and the heroine is Iris, the sister of Much Ado About Marshals' heroine, Daisy. It will be a while before that book is published since I only have one scene written, and it might change.

Also, I'm planning to write a mini-series of novellas called The Soiled Doves. These will be the fallen ladies of the Comfort Palace and their paths to Happily Ever After. Those are still in the planning stage since they're a true series, with an overall arc, but a full story in each one, as well. I'm not one for cliffhanger endings, as you've probably guessed.

RTW: Anything else you’d like to add?

JR: If you'd like to enter another contest besides the one here today, I'm also running a contest at Martha's Bookshelf. Comment to win either a print copy of the first ♥ Hearts of Owyhee book ♥, Much Ado About Marshals, or a Kindle copy and a $10 Amazon gift certificate. Martha wrote up a really nice review, too: Book Review: Much Ado About Marshals.

I'd also like to thank the readers and contributors of Romancing The West. In less than a year, RTW has hosted over fifty authors and we have over a thousand hits every week. Who knew? I thought it would be a long shot for a western blog to survive, let alone thrive. So I'm very grateful to all those who have helped make RTW such a success. The authors have contributed some fantastic articles and I've learned a lot for them. I hope you have, too! And what talented writers we've had.

Contest!

You could win

Three Kindle copies of

Much Ado About Madams

♥ Hearts of Owyhee ♥ #2

by Jacquie Rogers

All you have to do is tell me which actor you think should play Reese McAdams, and who you'd cast as Lucinda Sharpe.

Small print:
All comments must have your email address to be eligible.
Drawing will be held May 26, 2012, at 9pm Pacific Time.

Troy D. Smith: Cherokee Winter

Cherokee Winter:
Tales of the West, Vol. 1
by Troy D. Smith

Romancing The West welcomes award-winning author Troy D. Smith, a native of Tennessee and professor of history at Tennessee Tech University. He's published in both periodicals and novels, well-regarded in the industry, talented author, and just generally a good guy to know, so we're delighted he's visiting here all this week.

Troy, thanks for joining us! Please tell us about your latest release, Cherokee Winter.

TDS: Cherokee Winter is a collection of previously published short stories set on the frontier, to be followed soon by a second volume called Red Trail. The story I’ve chosen to highlight with an excerpt here, “The Stealing Moon,” is about a family that has been torn apart by tragedy: one of their sons was killed by Comanches, and the father blames the surviving son for abandoning his brother. Long-suppressed emotions boil to the surface when the Comanches raid the area again…

Contest!

One lucky reader today will win a digital copy of

Cherokee Winter

See details at the end of this article!

RTW: Why do you enjoy writing about the Old West?

TDS: I like writing about people’s emotions, and stripping everything down to the most elemental part. A frontier setting is ideal for that. Your characters are most likely not able to be in a comfortable setting where they can suppress things –they are probably fighting for their lives, whether it be in a dramatic outward fashion like facing Indians (or cavalry), outlaws or lawmen, or just the fact that daily life on the frontier can be a struggle for survival –against the elements, or sometimes against loneliness.

“The Stealing Moon” is an ideal example of what I’m talking about. Here you have a father, mother, and son (and, in a way, the ghost of a dead son), all of whom really want to keep their feelings at bay. But the frontier will not let them. They are forced to face their fears, regrets, shame –and their love –whether they want to or not. My motto has always been that I don’t want to write about things that happen to people, I want to write about the people that things happen to.

RTW: You have written several novels –why do you also continue to write short stories?



Troy D. Smith, author

 TDS: Actually, I think the short story may be my first and greatest love. My first published work was a western short story, “Mourning Glory,” that appeared in Louis L’Amour Western Magazine in 1995 (it is reprinted in this book’s upcoming companion volume, Red Trail.)

Again, this gets at the heart of what I like to do. A short story gets right to the point –it delivers a powerful, concentrated punch. Less really can be more –and it is a unique skill. All those layers I like to strip away –in a short story you just rip them right off, and your characters’ innermost selves can be exposed in a deeply affecting way.

RTW: How important is historical accuracy to you?

TDS: Oh, it’s very important. Especially in my day job, as a professional historian (naturally). But it’s important in fiction, too –anachronisms can jerk me right out of a story in a heartbeat. That being said, I am not slavishly devoted to accuracy when I write fiction –sometimes the needs of the story, and of the larger truth you are trying to share, outweigh the facts. But it is a delicate balance to strike, and should be approached respectfully, or you will lose the readers.

RTW: How do you go about your research?

TDS: Many of the topics I write about in my novelist’s hat are also topics I deal with as a history professor, and my research is ongoing. For example, a couple of years ago I spent an entire summer traveling to archives in Oklahoma and Arkansas; the year before that I did the same thing in Tennessee. Here in our cozy 21st century, an increasingly large amount of historical documents are digitized and available online, and I spend several hours a week scouring them.

The article which will be featured here later this week, The Flight of Opothleyahola, is about an event that is featured prominently in my dissertation, which will hopefully see print soon.

RTW: You have included an excerpt from the story “The Stealing Moon,” in which we meet the Rafer family and the mood is set.

Excerpt from Cherokee Winter, "The Stealing Moon"
by Troy D. Smith

Jim Rafer looked over the rim of his tin cup when he heard the door open--he saw his son’s form through the coffee-steam which curled around his own face. About time the boy showed up. Molly set the milk pitcher in the center of the table and smiled gently at Will, but he did not look at her. He seated himself at the opposite end from his father. A long empty space was left between the two Rafer men--both men in Molly’s eyes--and a vacant chair which had not been pulled out from the table in months, not even to be dusted.

Jim set about quietly devouring the biscuits and bacon his wife placed before him. He did not bother to pray, not anymore, a fact which still left Molly feeling uneasy. Will began to eat as well--still no words had been passed--and he said no graces to God either. Molly released a gentle sigh before nodding her own head in quiet supplication. Her sighs went unnoticed by her family. She took some comfort in the thought that the Lord heard them. She alone still believed.

Molly could not bring herself to criticize her son for his lapse in faith, and in the common courtesies one rendered to the Maker for His small gifts, for he was following the example set by his father. Molly knew, though, that their reasons were different--knowing those reasons made her feelings even more gentle toward each of them, as much as they would allow her or anyone else to be gentle.

Jim Rafer had turned his back on God--at least for awhile, and not forever, Molly hoped--because he felt betrayed. Betrayed by the Lord, and by the life and world around him. Will believed himself a betrayer, and undeserving of grace.

Molly continued to believe, and to pray, and to hope with an anguished intensity. Only her eldest boy Bob knew true peace. She still hated to risk disturbing his peace, at least in her own mind and memory, by dusting his chair.

♥ ♥ ♥

RTW: Thanks so much, Troy! Where can we buy Cherokee Winter?

TDS: You can find it on Amazon [RTW note: be sure to "like" and click on the tags for Troy's book when you visit!], and Smashwords.

RTW: What is next for you?

TDS: I am editing a series of Western novels –the first one will be out in September –that are unlike anything you’ve ever seen, and everyone involved is quite excited about it. All I can tell you right now is that the books are being produced by Western Fictioneers, the only professional organization dedicated exclusively to traditional western fiction (and whose members, in a moment of mass judgmental lapse, recently elected me the group’s president for 2012.) The series is called Wolf Creek, and will involve dozens of your favorite western authors. More info will be forthcoming in the months ahead.

RTW: Anything else you’d like to add?

TDS: Just that I am extraordinarily grateful to all those wonderful readers who support my nasty writing habit. And to show that gratitude, everyone commenting today is eligible to win a free digital copy of Cherokee Winter. The winner will be chosen at random at the end of the week (Saturday, April 14 at 9pm Pacific Time) and announced at this site. Be sure to include your email address or I can't contact you if your name is drawn.

It's been wonderful having you with us, Troy.  Thanks again!

Thursday's article by Troy:

The Flight of Opothleyahola

Wagons, Ho! Romancing The West Is Live

by Jacquie Rogers

Copyright © 2011 Jacquie Rogers

With just a few weeks to prepare and thanks to the dozen or so authors who stepped up to the plate, Romancing The West is packed, hitched and on the trail!  We'll hear from traditional western authors, historical and contemporary romance authors, and others.  We now have western steampunk and western paranormal books, too, so maybe a few of those authors will also stop by.
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RTW is a little gift from me and all the talented contributors to you.  Read, enjoy, share, and send in your own articles.  I'd love to hear from you.  And no, you don't have to be an author.  Articles on Old West topics of interest are always welcome.
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Here's the format we'll follow most weeks:

• Mondays, RTW features a western novel and an interview with the author.
• Thursdays, the featured author will post an article on an Old West topic.
• Saturdays, a little bit of everything as long as it has to do with the Old West
• Sundays, contest winner announcements

Lots of authors will be offering prizes--not all, but most--so check back often if you want to win some truly outstanding books.

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Here's the tentative line-up (I say tentative because you never know what will happen)
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July 1: Grand Opening $25 Amazon Gift Certificate and some free books to one lucky commenter! (See deets below)

July 4: Kat Martin and L.J Martin talk about their book Tin Angel

July 7: L.J Martin cooks up some fun in Cooking Wild & Wonderful

Week of July 11: Paty Jager tells us about Spirit of the Lake

July 18 to 22: Blog Tour de Force--Menage a Blog (lots of prizes and free books!)

Week of July 25: Anna Kathryn Lanier

Week of Aug. 1: Cheryl Pierson

Week of Aug. 8: Debra Holland

Week of Aug. 15: Jacquie Rogers

Week of Aug. 22: Karen M. Nutt

Week of Aug. 29: Anne Carole

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CONTESTS!

Authors are scheduled throughout July and many are running contests, so check back every Monday and Thursday. :)
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RTW has a great line-up and is scheduling in October. Authors, if you want your western novel to be featured and would like to contribute an article on the Old West, check out the guidelines.

A little about what's behind this blog:   I fell in love with traditional westerns long before I ever read a western historical romance.  Practically everyone on the planet has read Louis L'Amour and Zane Grey, but there are a lot of other excellent western authors, too.  One of them will be a guest on RTW in a few days, L.J. Martin.

The Old West has always intrigued me, so it's only natural that I'd love the western historical romances of Kat Martin.  In fact, I wasn't all that sold on the romance genre until I read a book by Kat and another by Kathleen Eagle.  And then, of course, I became obsessed. :)

I've written several western historical romances, the first of which debuts today, Much Ado About Marshals.  It will be released in print August 15. 

Here's the book video:

Now, for our Grand Opening Contests:

• one follower will win a $25 Amazon gift certificate!!!

Winner announced July 31, midnight Pacific Time.  I'll be contacting the winner by clicking on the follower's picture, so make sure you check whatever email is associated with it.



Who is the actor?
What's your favorite western?



• one commenter will win a $25 Amazon gift certificate, a signed paperback of Down Home Ever Lovin' Mule Blues (USA mailing addresses only)
• another commenter will win a $10 Amazon gift certificate and a ebook of Much Ado About Marshals (any format on Smashwords, or Kindle)

Winner will be announced July 3rd at 10pm Pacific Time, and any comment left on this blog on any post up until the time of the drawing will qualify you.  Be sure to leave your email address or some way to contact you in case you're one of the winners.

Thanks to all of you who stopped by.  Grab a cup of coffee--it's time to relax a spell and chew the fat a while.  RTW has lots of good stuff parked in the back forty just waiting for you! :)

Jacquie

http://www.jacquierogers.com/