Growing Up Watching Westerns

I’m sure some of you have wondered how I got into western writing.  I grew up watching Gunsmoke, Paladin, Bonanza, etc.  My dad loved westerns.  Top this with the fact I enjoy reading about history.  I didn’t mind having to read the history textbooks in school, in fact I may have been the only kid that read the whole books.  Now that math textbook was a different matter.

My first toe into western writing came with writing Hallam.  The first Lucas Hallam story which was published as a mystery, but it had western touches.  Lucas was a riding extra/PI in the first stories which were set during the 1920’s in Hollywood.  That story is available as an ebook on Amazon and Barnes and Noble along with 3 other stories I had saved on a usb drive I carried with me the day our house burned down.  This past week I have been collecting our missing stories.  The ones published in Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, and various anthologies.  I’m hoping I can scan them and make them available by this fall.  There are many Hallam stories and he is my favorite ol’ cowboy, but my favorite town would have to be Wind River.  James and I worked on this series together.  We had all six books plotted before the first book had even sold.  The publisher insisted on one name for the author on the paperbacks, so we decided to use James’.  When we republished them as ebooks, we used both of our names.  We were told that they wouldn’t sell with two names.  This time, the publisher was wrong.  They are selling very nicely with both our names.  While Wind River seems like a just a western, we planned a long running mystery to be solved in book six.  If you’ve read the books, you know how much fun we had writing them.  If you’ve only read a book or two, we wrote it where you would never know you missed anything.  But if you read all 6, you'll see what I mean.  Lately I’ve been trying to decide if we should revisit Wind River.  I wonder if there are six more books in the town . . .  The first book is still only 99 cents for the Kindle and Nook.

A Little Irony

Since I finished For Whom The Funeral Bell Tolls, it was time to return my research books on the Florida Keys to the Fort Worth Library.  One book didn't make to to the library.  We started out with seven books, but only arrived with six.  The book we couldn't find was A Hidden Florida Keys & Everglades.  And hidden it was.  We looked all around the seat, no book. We thought it must have fallen out at one of the places we stopped earlier.  Retracing and asking brought no results.  That sucker was hidden very well.  It wasn't until I was sitting in my chair at home that I remembered a click in the seat earlier.  A flashlight revealed the little trade paperback had slid between the drawer under the passenger seat and the seat.  I was only able to see it with a flashlight.  Fingers wouldn't reach.  It required a small grabber slid between the drawer and seat and lots of maneuvering to get it out.  Mystery solved.  A Hidden Florida Keys & Everglades was no longer hidden.  Now we'll have to return to the Fort Worth Library sooner than planned, but that's nothing to complain about, more book looking.

For Whom The Funeral Bell Tolls is now available in trade paperback and ebook on Amazon.

and for the Nook

Last Day

Today is the last day to get the HALLAM Collection Free on Amazon.  Link is in the post below.

Free this Weekend on Amazon

HALLAM COLLECTION includes: 


"Hallam", is the first appearance of Lucas Hallam, a cowboy who has outlived the days of the old west to become a gun-toting private eye and stuntman in the early days of motion pictures in California. Originally published in The Eye's Have It, 1984.


In "The Blue Burro", Hallam's search for a kidnapping victim leads him to a shady bordertown nightclub and plunges him into a deadly tangle of international intrigue with high stakes. Originally published in LONE STAR LAW in 2005.


"Ladysmith", an adventure from Hallam's days as a Pinkerton agent that was originally published in GUNS OF THE WEST in 2002, finds him delivering a legacy for an old friend who has passed away, a chore that has him riding right into unexpected danger.


"Hollywood Flesh", published in The Book of all Flesh 2001.  It's a good thing Lucas Hallam is a hard-headed old cowboy and doesn't believe in such nonsense as Zombies, or this case might give him nightmares.


34,000 words.

Two More L.J. Washburn Westerns Now Available

On Amazon
 
 On Barnes and Noble for the Nook EPITAPH coming soon
 
Epitaph is the first appearance of Hank Littleton, Buffalo Newcomb, and his possum Stink.  Buffalo and Stink reappear in Riders of the Monte.  Hank Littleton shows back up in Bandera Pass.
                               Not sure why Barnes and Noble has the old cover for the link. If you follow the link on the cover, it shows the new cover on the Nook page.


The three western novels were originally published as M. Evans hardbacks in the late 80's and early 90's.