Are Westerns Finally Trending?



Jennifer Conner

 by Jennifer Conner
Copyright © 2011 Jennifer Conner

Are the new trends in Westerns changing from what has always been considered the ‘traditional’ Western story line? This is part of being an author. Taking traditional Westerns and adding my own spin, or as they say on Glee, a mash-up. With Rush of Love and Fields of Gold the Western is a changing.

We can head 'em up & move 'em out last summer with movies hitting the big screen such as Cowboys and Aliens (come on, Daniel Craig in chaps was the best part of the movie) and last year's True Grit. These are two movies in complete contrast. True Grit—totally traditional, Cowboys and Aliens...well from the title alone, we know that the showdown at the O.K. Corral will have someone green...from a spaceship.

Did this mark the comeback of the Westerns? And more so, will it transpose over into books and readers? We’re told the hot new genre will be the comeback of Westerns in fiction.

Cowboys are always good, right?



Klondike Gold Rush
Historical Park Museum

Neither of my new releases are tradition western. They take place in Seattle in 1898, during the Klondike Gold Rush. The idea came to me while watching a History Channel show on ghosts. Underground Seattle is the ‘old part’ of Seattle that they rebuilt on top of after the great fire of 1889. Supposedly it is haunted by a young man who they think had his fortune stolen after hitting a big gold find.

A ghost wasn’t going to work for my plot (though ghosts are sexy) so in Rush of Love I made it a young man who makes a few bad decisions and loses his wealth, but will he find love in return?

The second in the series, Fields of Gold is based in the same time with a photo of my husband’s great grandfather who owned a Seattle mercantile on the cover. It has been a fun experience. The research has been equally fun. I went to the Klondike Gold Rush Museum in Seattle and picked the ranger's brains. I was told a big gold pay out in 1898 was $20,000. Can you imagine! That would be millions in today’s rates. That was a lot of money, no wonder they all headed to Alaska.

I’ve never written to the market, I write what story ideas come to me, but. Lordy, I’m gosh darn happy the Westerns are making a comeback! Take a chance and change up your idea of what a cowboy should be!

Enjoy the adventures of Samuel and Theodore Cooper in Rush of Love.

Other books and short stories by Jennifer Conner (all available at Books to Go Now):
Kilt by Love (a novel) 
Christmas with Carol
Christmas Chaos
The Music of Christmas
All I want for Christmas is You
Auld Lang Sigh
Do You hear what I Hear
The Duke and the Lost Night
The Reluctant Heir in the Regimental Heroes Series-
Cupcakes and Cupids
Valentine Encounter

Jennifer Conner: Rush of Love

Rush of Love
by Jennifer Conner
Books To Go Now
Buy links: Amazon, B&N, Android, AllRomance

Romancing The West welcomes Jennifer Conner, columnist for The Seattle Examiner and author of novels and short stories. Check out her bio page to learn more about her.

RTW: Thanks for visiting RTW, Jennifer (and it was good to see you at the Emerald City Writers' Conference!). So give us the set up for Rush of Love, please.

JC: Samuel Cooper just returned to Seattle after hitting it big in the Klondike Gold Rush. After meeting Opal - is money the only thing that makes a man rich, or does he need love too?

RTW: What aspect of life in the Old West intrigues you the most? Did you work that into Rush of Love?

JC: Living in the Seattle area, I love the Alaska Gold Rush era. It must have been a crazy, wild time in Seattle with all the prospectors coming and going to reach Alaska to find fame and fortune. I worked the Klondike into the title: Rush of Love.

Jennifer Conner

RTW: If you lived in 1898, what modern convenience would you miss the most?

JC: Electricity, medicine...Starbucks. We like to romanticize the past, but even a hundred years ago there were still things that we would desperately miss if we traveled back.

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

JC: Many authors touch on this, but times in the past were not easy for women. They had soooo few choices that were accepted in society to survive. My heroine, Opal, works in a bank. When she helps Sam and loses her job because of missing work, she was desperate that she will end up on the street.

RTW: Why is Opal perfect for Samuel?

JC: Opal's father was a prospector who died in the Klondike leaving her mother to die of a broken heart and her on her own. Sam only wants to find wealth in the gold fields, thinking money is everything. They both need to find that love changes everything.

Book video for Rush of Love by Jennifer Conner

RTW: And now we get to read an excerpt!

Seattle 1898

“Gold does not make the man,” Opal argued, as she watched the banker weigh the next nugget on the double pan scale.

The banker shot a disapproving glare at Samuel Cooper.

Samuel ignored him and leaned across the counter to reply, “You’re wrong, Miss Gold is the only thing that a man can rely on in these times of financial recession and bank failures which have swept our fine nation.”

“But what happens when the gold runs out. What will you have then? Do you have a profession other than mining?”

“This money is only the beginning.” A sparkle lit his eyes.

Oh yes. She remembered this devilish man when he blew through town four months ago. But, Opal also knew better than to be sweet talked by a handsome stranger who’d be gone to Alaska in a week’s time. “When I return in six-months, maybe I’ll be a millionaire,” he exclaimed.

She wanted to roll her eyes to the ceiling. Opal heard this story too many times from countless men of all ages. Young, old, it didn’t matter. Since the Klondike Gold Rush hit Alaska, Seattle was a pipeline to the Northern Territory for men like Samuel to seek their fame and fortune. The difference was, from the size of the nuggets on the scale, he found his fortune.

“When I come back, I’ll have more gold. I’ll buy a big house overlooking the water, and court a pretty young woman, like yourself, Miss Grey, to be my wife.”

Opal cheeks heated.

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RTW: Thank you, Jennifer! You have a variety of other projects, so could you tell us a little about what you're planning for us?

JC: I have Historical Romances in my Regimental Heroes series. The Duke and the Lost Night, and The Reluctant Heir. I have a group of fun Christmas stories coming out in the next few weeks: Christmas Chaos, Christmas with Carol and the re-release of The Music of Chrismas, All I want for Christmas is You and Do You Hear What I Hear?

RTW: I love Christmas stories! 'Tis the season, and Books To Go Now has all your stories listed, so RTW readers, please check them out. Anything else you’d like to add, Jennifer?

JC: Thanks for the interview and ask your local libraries to add my stories to their ebook section!

Thank you, Jennifer

Next, RTW will publish Jennifer's article, Are Westerns Trending? So don't touch that dial!