Lure of the Gun: The New Frontier or?

Lure of the Gun: The New Frontier or?: Life is just full of surprises, isn't it? My latest surprise came when I received an e-mail informing me that my long-time hardcover publish...

The New Frontier or?

Life is just full of surprises, isn't it? My latest surprise came when I received an e-mail informing me that my long-time hardcover publisher, Avalon Books, had been sold to Amazon, which had formed a new, traditional publishing arm. Whoa! I didn't see that coming. Avalon had been a distinguished publisher since 1950. That's one heck of a run for anyone in today's publishing world. Naturally, I was curious, and a little apprehensive, as to what the deal might look like for all of us authors. Avalon had published five of my books and was getting ready to put out number six. I wasn't disappointed by what I saw.

When things started happening, I was again surprised, though I shouldn't have been, at how professionally and smoothly it all went. Amazon made lots of promises that would thrill any author, and easily make up for any possible disappointment at losing an old friend. They started by sending editorial correspondence aimed at assuring the manuscript met their standards. Excellent editing, I might add. Then they did something I'd never seen before from any publisher, they actually sent several covers from which I could choose my choice. And, to my surprise, they were all incredible. I immediately picked one and was told it was a go. I love it.

The book that Amazon is publishing as an AmazonEncore Western is called "Apache Lawman" and continues the U.S. Marshal Piedmont Kelly series. It will be out in paperback and Kindle ebook on November 13. Here is the cover. Let me know what you think.

There are several other new developments that I'll be announcing soon. Oh, by the way, an earlier Avalon book in the same series, called "Ambush Creek", came out today on Kindle for the first time ever. The Hardcover was published in 2010. The way they've priced it, I hope I might see some new readers. I've got my fingers crossed. 

WHERE HAVE ALL THE COWBOYS GONE?

When I was in my impressionable youth, I lived for the weekends. Every Saturday was another double-feature at the movies. The Western movies. I’d get popcorn and a Coke and scoot down in the middle row and take up residence for the next two or three hours. All my heroes were cowboys or sheriffs or gunslingers or, well, you get the picture. As I got older, and finished high school, went to college, got my first real job, I just naturally figured I’d just move on and adopt a new set of heroes.

Problem was that it didn’t happen that way. I was somehow unable to mentally separate myself from the dusty trails and boulder-laden desert of the southwest. Oh I had other interests, of course: illustrating, flying, graphic design, all of which I immersed myself in to one degree or another. And I seemed to be sailing along quite well, until I actually went out west and walked among those very same boulders, cacti, and hot, dry sands that had held my interest for so long. And the mountains, those incredible mountains. The renewal of all those wonderful dreams of being on the streets of Tombstone or hunkered down behind a rise to await the inevitable ambush from Apaches, or riding a horse up and down the arroyos and across dry riverbeds in pursuit of outlaws. There’s even a smell of something that lingers just out of reach, it’s the smell of life and death, and it whisks you off to a time when good and evil clashed so demonstrably that you couldn’t escape the clarity of its presence. And maybe just a hint of fear that it might catch up to you.

So, today I write Western novels. Why? Maybe I’m still just a cowboy at heart. If that’s true, I know I need to reach out to all the other cowboys to share what I love about the West. Wouldn’t I like everyone to read my books and get caught up in the excitement of the early gunfighters, Indians, ranchers, and railroaders? You bet. And that’s why I’m here. Because, while to some it may seem a stretch, I think we’re all cowboys. We all love to ride in a convertible with the top down, race along on a motorcycle, or jog on a mountain trail in the cool morning air. Almost just like cowboys. Therefore, In my mind, every single one of us is a cowboy at heart. I know I am.

And that brings us to the National Day of the Cowboy, which will be celebrated July 28, 2012. Yep, just around the corner. It’s a celebration of all that’s the old West, but it’s also about the spirit that lingers in us all. It’s the spirit that drove men to do marvelous things in the most dangerous conditions imaginable in an effort to accomplish a dream: to build a nation. And they did. Those hardy pioneers–the cowboys, ranchers, farmers, railroaders and merchants–all worked tirelessly together to build what we enjoy today: the greatest nation in the world. And, by golly, we’re still doing it.

***

I hope you’ll visit my website at: www.phildunlap.com and peruse my books, events, and tidbits. I've posted the cover of my next Berkley Western, "Cotton's Devil" on the website.

TO WRITE OR TO BLOG, THAT IS THE QUESTION

Okay, I admit it right here before the whole world (or the two or three of you who are reading this)! I am a BLOG SLACKER! Apparently, my head cannot live in two worlds at once. I have deadlines to meet, story lines to invent, and words to hammer out on the computer. How can I be expected to come up with a Blog every two or three days? If my history is any indication, I can't. So, what is the solution? Got me.

I could stop Blogging and concentrate on those things that are of immediate importance, or I could slog along cranking out some inane Blog every few days. Now which shall it be? Hmm. Perhaps I should rely on you two readers for guidance. Or not. Mostly because, by now, you have both yawned and turned on the TV, or just clicked off the computer completely to save electricity. I give up. My heart says to dribble out a few words–hopefully well-chosen–whenever I feel up to it. Guess I'll follow my heart. There, I've said it and I'm stickin' to it!

A couple of notes of interest before signing off: A new anthology from Western Fictioneers is about to come on board, first as an e-book, later as a paperback. This offering shall include some of the best Western writers writing today. I predict a fantastic future for this new organization, if the way it is being run is any indication. The website is: www.westernfictioneers.com. It's well worth checking out. The membership is made up of pros, authors you are all familiar with. I'll bet many of you have books on your shelves right now written by some of these fine authors.

Note #2: Check out the great award news from another Western writer you are probably already familiar with, Larry D. Sweazy. His website is: www.larrysweazy.com. His Josiah Wolfe, Texas Ranger series is a worthy read.

IT ISN'T ME!

Have you ever been mistaken for someone else? Could be embarrassing, couldn't it? Humorous, possibly, but more likely just annoying. It's probably a small thing to be bothered about, but I just got a Google Alert tell ing about my new book, "Cotton's War." Cool, huh. Yeah, but here's the rub: The profile that was attached is a cartoonist with the same name as mine. This cartoonist is a young guy living halfway across the country from me, and he draws something about farm animals. I mean, that's okay. I love cartoonists. I read the funnies every day. Me, I write Western novels. There are seven of them out there. Just check out Amazon. There I am, all seven of my books, a pic, and a short bio, and not one word about me drawing cartoons. Yikes!  So, you can see why I really think that a huge organization like Google should make it a point to get their facts straight. Is that too much to ask? It isn't good for either of us to have to share our careers with the other. Do you think?

I went to the Google Alert site and there is no way to contact anyone at Google to get this corrected. I doubt there are many people in the U.S. who don't have a name double somewhere. I guess I should feel lucky my name isn't the same as some national figure embroiled in a scandal of some type. Google should be ashamed!

MULTI-TASKING IS A MYTH

There, I've said it. Anyone who actually believes they can multi-task and succeed as well as if they were doing single-tasking is a big, fat liar. Okay, here's my problem with the whole new age assumption that because our brains are being fed so much data from many sources all at once, we can adapt and do more simultaneously. Hogwash.

As I was coming in to work today, I looked over to see another driver trying to read his iPad as he drove. He swerved in front of another car when he discovered he really wanted to turn into a shopping center and he'd almost passed the entrance. He'd been too distracted to get ready for his turn. Multi-tasking gone awry? Uh-huh. Ever watch a woman putting on eyeliner or lipstick in the rear-view mirror, shouting at her kid in the back seat, and at the same time trying to negotiate  rush-hour traffic? How's that working for you?

 And it's not just other people, I admit there was a time when I thought I could accomplish several things at once, and do them all equally well. For instance, when I go out to mow the lawn and look over at some bushes that need trimming, what do I do? Yep, you guessed it. I stop mowing and get the clippers and begin taking care of that pesky bush. But, if there are weeds under the bush, I certainly need to get those pulled before the landscape police complain and I'm asked none-too-politely to leave the neighborhood. Okay, now I've spent two hours busy as a little beaver, and yet, after all that time, I've managed to pull fifteen weeds, trimmed half a bush, and mowed part of the front yard. Multi-tasker supreme? You bet. After all that effort, I've finished nothing, my back is killing me, and I've spent too much time in the noonday sun. (Isn't there a song about that? Something about mad dogs and Englishmen?) Time for a rest and a cold one.

Well, I doubt I'll stop criticizing others when I see them trying to do ten jobs at once, none of them well, but I for one am resolving to make a supreme effort to attend to just one thing at a time, and do it the best I can. Right after I finish this silly blog, I'm going to work on the manuscript that is rushing toward a deadline, and then there are those contracts that must be signed and sent out, oh, and the lawn needs mowing again...

Sigh.

I WANT AN OUTLAW

I just bought a Genealogy program for my computer. I'm so excited to get started my fingers are tingling. It's an interest I've had for many, many years, and while I've been able to gather scads of information about past relatives, most of my research is a jumble of papers, photos, scribblings and the like. I desperately need order. This program promises to give me just that. However, after combing through all my existing charts and graphs, pieces of paper, and pictures of tombstones, I find it is likely that something I'd love to find will elude me. So far, nothing I've seen bolsters any hope that I'll be successful, but hope does indeed spring eternal. What is it I hope to find?

I want an outlaw! I'm a fiction writer, so this shouldn't surprise anyone? I thrive on adventure, derring-do, romance, and those colorful characters that have somehow found life more exciting living just beyond the law. How thrilling it would be to find a gunslinging, bank robbing, rough-riding outlaw somewhere in my past. I'd love it. Wouldn't you? Wouldn't most of us? I suspect the main stumbling block will the very thing so many outlaws of the old West turned to: they changed their name. That could obviously prove to be a dead end. They didn't change their names just to make themselves more worthy of being on a movie marque in the 20th Century. They did it to elude capture. And, probably so their families would never find out what happened to them. Some preeminent pang of shame considering their likely demise, I presume. Most 19th Century families were moral, upstanding, hard-working folks who would have shuddered at the thought of a son or daughter following the owlhoot trail.

But me, well, odd duck that I may be, I would still relish a good old-fashioned bad man in my past. Even a bad girl would be okay. Someone to help anchor me in the reality that is today. Also, maybe a little something to stir my fiction imagination. I would love to hear from anyone who'd like to leave a comment on my mental state, or maybe throw in one of your own past family members who've, shall we say, not always followed the straight and narrow. Maybe we could share one. An outlaw, that is.