Friday, 18 November 2011

Extract from Hell Fire in Paradise by Chuck Tyrell


Jimmy Baker complained. “But Ma, it’s hardly dark. I’m five now. I don’t need to go to bed so early.”

“I know, son. But tomorrow will come before you know it, and I want you in bed right now. Jason’s in the loft and asleep already, and you should be, too.”

“Ah, Ma. How come I have to go to bed so early all the time?”

Laurel Baker chuckled at her sturdy son’s resistance. “Unless you get enough sleep, you won’t grow big and strong like Pa. And if you don’t grow big and strong, how are you going to help on the ranch?”

Read more at Outlaw Journal.

Thursday, 17 November 2011

Dales Westerns - November 2011


Gunfight At Elm Creek by Kyle Black

ISBN: 9781842628270
Large Print (Soft Cover) - 208 Pages
Published - 01-11-2011
Genre - Western
Price - £ 11.99

When Walt Lomax, Sheriff of Elm Creek, appoints his brother, Jed, as deputy he knows he will be bucking trouble, for Jed has just served a prison sentence for robbery. At the same time Walt finds himself having to investigate the buying of the land around Elm Creek. The movements of a stranger and a local lawyer add complications on a trail of arson, kidnap and killing which are not solved until the Lomax brothers face the final gunfight at Elm Creek.


The Shadow Of Eagle Rock by Jim Bowden

ISBN: 9781842628225
Large Print (Soft Cover) - 224 Pages
Published - 01-11-2011
Genre - Western
Price - £ 11.99

When Cap Millet saves rancher Joe Grinley from being rolled in barbed-wire he becomes involved in a range feud. Later Joe's murder makes Cap determined to help Joe's family keep their ranch. The contest for water rights takes an unexpected turn when Joe's son, Sam is accused of murder and goes on the run. In a three-sided race to find Sam, Cap is opposed by the law and by those who want to silence Sam. The final showdown and Sam's emergence into manhood reach an exciting climax in the shadow of Eagle Rock.

Wednesday, 16 November 2011

Review of Cut-Price Lawman by Tyler Hatch


If you’re not a fan of dentists, the opening chapter to this extremely fast moving book will have you squirming in your seat: “Why anyone’d call it laffin’ gas beats the hell outta me!”

Read more at Western Fiction Review.

Monday, 14 November 2011

Bestsellers on Amazon - 14 November

This week's bestseller list makes interesting reading. The top two titles are Kindle ebooks. The next two books are written by authors who were profiled in this month's Writers' Forum magazine (see below). The next two titles are by the most active BH western blogger and the next two titles are by regular western bloggers.

1. The Kansas Fast Gun by Arthur Kent (31 Oct 2011) - Kindle eBook
Buy new £3.19

2. The Black Horse Westerns: Collection No. 1 by Abe Dancer, Dean Edwards, Tyler Hatch and Scott Connor (1 Jan 2011) - Kindle eBook
Buy new £6.86

3. The $300 Man by Ross Morton (29 May 2009)
From £2.37

4. Silver Express by Gillian F. Taylor (30 Sep 2009)
From £5.40

5. The Ballad of Delta Rose by Jack Martin (29 Jul 2011)
From £8.92

6. Arkansas Smith by Jack Martin (31 Mar 2010)
From £4.99

7. Trail of the Burned Man by Thomas McNulty (30 Nov 2009)
From £0.94

8. Gun Law by Lee Walker (31 Dec 2009)
From £1.32

9. Battle at Gun Barrel Canyon by Wolf Lundgren (31 Aug 2011)
From £9.95

10. Comanchero Trail by Jack Dakota (30 Sep 2011)
From £9.48

Sunday, 13 November 2011

How to break into Westerns


The British writing magazine Writers' Forum has a two page article in December's issue looking at the work of two popular BHW writers Nik Morton and Gillian F Taylor. The images below are too small to read, so you'll have to buy the magazine to read them!



More details on this issue can be found here along with a contents page and another picture of Nik wearing a hat.

Saturday, 12 November 2011

Issue #24 of Black Horse Extra available


A shrinking percentage of Black Horse Western authors are veteran, lifetime professional writers with credits in multiple genres and media: film, television, paperback originals, and comic books. Today, many more are novices and sometimes retirees from other professions or trades, realizing lifelong dreams of seeing their work in print through the good offices of the books' UK publisher, Robert Hale Ltd...

Read more, including articles on Paul Green and Cody Wells, Mike Stotter and 'Gunfighters and their weapons' here.

Friday, 11 November 2011

Review of Fort Revenge by Ralph Hayes


Back in the early 1970s Ralph Hayes wrote a short series of books featuring O’Brien, later in 1992 O’Brien made a comeback and here is his next appearance, nearly twenty years later.

Ralph Hayes does make a couple of references to those early adventures, but if you haven’t read, or are even aware of those first books, these references will pass you by, and definitely will not spoil your enjoyment of this book.

Read more at Western Fiction Review.

Monday, 7 November 2011

Bestsellers on Amazon - 7 November

1. Silver Express by Gillian F. Taylor (Hardcover - 30 Sep 2009)
From £5.40

2. The Kansas Fast Gun by Arthur Kent (Kindle Edition - 31 Oct 2011)
Buy: £3.19

3. Arkansas Smith by Jack Martin (Hardcover - 31 Mar 2010)
From £4.99

4. The Ballad of Delta Rose by Jack Martin (Hardcover - 29 Jul 2011)
From £8.95

5. Trail of the Burned Man by Thomas McNulty (Hardcover - 30 Nov 2009)
From £1.10

6. The Black Horse Westerns: Collection No. 1 by Abe Dancer, Dean Edwards, Tyler Hatch and Scott Connor (Kindle Edition - 1 Jan 2011
Buy: £6.86

7. Gun Law by Lee Walker (Hardcover - 31 Dec 2009)
From £1.34

8. Battle at Gun Barrel Canyon by Wolf Lundgren (Hardcover - 31 Aug 2011)
From £10.13

9. Comanchero Trail by Jack Dakota (Hardcover - 30 Sep 2011)
From £9.66

10. The Drummond Band by William Durey (Hardcover - 29 Jul 2011)
From £8.93

Sunday, 6 November 2011

An Interview with Terry James


Q. Has your storytelling style changed at all between the writing of Shadows to Echoes to Ghosts, either by design, default or just experience, and if so, could you tell us a little about the how or maybe the why?

A. Yes, I believe my writing has changed and is continually changing. I used to write for the enjoyment of the story telling but these days I find the composition the more interesting part of the writing process. Therefore, I'd say my style has changed, and continues to change, because I want every story I write to be unique from anything else I've done...

Read more at Joanne Walpole.

Saturday, 5 November 2011

E-BHWs - October 2011


Gunhawk by John Long

Jeff Rand, a feared and vengeful gunslinger since his family were murdered, is persuaded by Jim Miller to give up his gunning and join him in peaceful gold-mining. All goes well until one day Jeff returns to camp to find Miller murdered and the gold stolen. Jeff rides off in a black mood of revenge. But after a saloon fracas, he is forced by gunmen to take part in a bank raid. Then the raiders are ambushed and though Jeff escapes with half the gang, they accuse him of informing and beat him up. Can Jeff extricate himself? Can he clear his name and can he bring the murderers to justice? Lead must fly before he can find the answers.

Available on amazon.co.uk and amazon.com.


Arizona Pay-off by Duke Patterson

When Tex Scarron, six feet of whipcord and steel, rode home to the Bar X in Arizona, he found Parson Dean and his gang working a lucrative ‘protection’ racket. Any rancher who failed to pay up had his cattle rustled, his homestead burnt about his ears and his cowhands shot in the back. Tex’s earlier experience fighting hoodlums came in handy, and the gunplay was fast and furious before he rid the territory of the Parson, solved the mystery that lay behind the racket, and incidentally found happiness with the mysterious outlaw girl whose trail had so often crossed his own.

Available on amazon.co.uk and amazon.com.


A Colt for the Kid by John Saunders

Johnnie Callum was a half-grown boy when Donovan’s riders stamped his parents’ homestead flat and sent him running terrified into the night. He ran far and fast over the trackless range that was Donovan’s empire and fetched up in the hands of Josh Manders, a brutal sheepherder. Manders worked him hard and in six years came near to breaking Johnnie’s spirit. But not near enough. Finally, there came a day when Johnnie’s resentment took charge and his big, bony hands wrapped around Manders’ throat in an unshakable hold. Johnnie took Manders’ horse and then worked for Sam Stevens. But when Donovan was all set up to wipe out Stevens’ ranch Johnnie began to get gun-minded!

Available on amazon.co.uk and amazon.com.


Dead Man's Range by Paul Durst

The murder trail was eight years old when Jeff Carmody got out of Huntsville Prison and the only clue he had was the rowel of a broken spur he had found that night beside Clint Merriweather’s body. Booth Anson’s rambling Anvil range hemmed the tiny Merriweather ranch on all sides, but Clint’s widow, Anne, hung stubbornly on. Anson had killed to build his empire – his was a dead man’s range. But a woman stood in his way now – would he balk at killing a woman? That was when Carmody picked up his gun.

Available on amazon.co.uk and amazon.com.


The Kansas Fast Gun by Arthur Kent

Dave Frome was a man with a secret past, which only a few friends knew. Holding himself responsible for the death of his family, he had vowed never to carry a gun again. He wanted to be left alone to raise cattle on his Broken Arrow spread, but mining interests were in the hills, contaminating the water which brought life to Frome's cattle.

Hesta Le Roy, daughter of a neighbouring rancher, was horrified when Frome refused to carry a gun against the miners who had, she thought, killed her own brother. It is not until he sees an innocent man brutally lynched that Frome buckles on his gun to battle with the bad men of both factions and eventually win the hand of the girl he loves.

Available on amazon.co.uk and amazon.com.

Friday, 4 November 2011

Review of Ghosts of Bluewater Creek by Terry James


By telling the story mainly through the eyes of the three main characters, Terry James is able to leave one or more of them in dangerous situations before switching to one of the others therefore ensuring the reader will keep turning the pages to find out what happens next...

Read more at Western Fiction Review.

Thursday, 3 November 2011

Review of Encounter at Salvation Creek by Paxton Johns


This is the first book to carry the author name of Paxton Johns, and it proves to be a very good debut. Born Gallant makes for an engaging hero, a man who sees the humour in his own name, can play the out-of-his-depth greenhorn perfectly to throw his adversaries off balance, doesn’t carry a gun of his own, but is exceptionally sharp-witted and can more than stand his ground in a fight...

Read more at Western Fiction Review.