Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Justice Served

I hadn't planned on finishing another Cash Laramie western so quickly but an editor asked if I had a dark tale waiting in the stable. I did -- titled "Justice Served" -- yet I'm not sure that I'm ready to release it because the hero isn't cast in the best of light. Mind you, I wrote this western with the intention that heroes often fail in our eyes, don't they? Still, since I'm fond of Cash, I've decided to hold his reputation in my keyboard for the time being. And then after a few weeks of sitting on it, which I always do to see how a story ages, who knows, maybe I'll be anxious to let it go.

The Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles canon thus far: "Cash Laramie and the Masked Devil" in A Fistful of Legends | "Miles to Go" | "Kid Eddie" ( at The Western Online in two weeks) | "The Bone Orchard Mystery" (out for submission) | "The Wind Scorpion" in the Round One anthology | and "Justice Served."

What is everyone else working on?

15 comments:

Barrie said...

"hold his reputation in my keyboard"--that is a great expression! I'm just getting to know a new protagonist. Fun, but it does take some energy. ;)

Unknown said...

Your story in NEEDLE hit home with an old guy like me.

Alyssa Goodnight said...

Pretty great track record!

pattinase (abbott) said...

You're doing great! Lots of half-done stories on here.

David Cranmer said...

Barrie, This new protagonist must be outside your Sherry series?

Bill, We really could have used Sheriff Rhodes on that one but Gina did pretty well considering.

Alyssa, I’m doing my best to be sparingly and try not to run the well dry.

Patti, I’m thinking you meant a lot of half-done stories out there or was that a Freudian slip. :)

Ron Scheer said...

MILES TO GO remains a highlight of my whole summer. Thanks.

As you know, I've been using my blog to rough draft what I hope turns into a book on early western fiction, and anybody can watch that project in progress online. Different from writing fiction, which is more of a black box for those of us waiting to see the results of your creative efforts.

Jodi MacArthur said...

I like your westerns, and it seems your keyboard does too. Do you need an extra set of eyes?

This post reminds me I have a half written western werewolf story sitting in a file. Maybe it's time to pull it out again.

G. B. Miller said...

Pretty cool update.

I don't have much at the moment beyond what I posted as a blog update. I started a new story while waiting for my WiP to come back from its physical examination, but events in the past two weeks have consipired to make our pen dry up with an air bubble and produce nary a word.

David Cranmer said...

Ron, I’m constantly amazed by the amount of factual detail you discover and the prose in which you reveal it. The book will be a huge success. Remember, I said that.

Jodi, Two very good writer friends (and damn fine writers they are) took a look at "Justice Served." I never just fling a tale out there.

Western werewolf story!! Please say no more. I’m hooked.

G, It seems like you have your WIP on schedule. It’s just a matter of beating it down a few more times and polishing it up.

Kieran Shea said...

i'm stuck in the third act of a 5K story involving three University of S. Carolina students looking to verify if a stranger in town is actually an on-the-lam bank robber. naturally things don't go well. trying to rub off the R-rating to make it a strong PG13 for submission. then there's this other thing (loooooong) and its giving me the stinkeye.

David Cranmer said...

I have such trouble cleaning up stories for certain publications. I mean writing about thugs and hoodlums without the proper vocabulary is a chore.

Charles Gramlich said...

Cash is cut from stern stuff. He already has a life of his own.

David Cranmer said...

It's amazing how that works.

G. B. Miller said...

We'll find out soon enough this Labor day weekend on what kind of surgery I'll have to perform on it.

David Cranmer said...

I've been enjoying the tweaking process these days. I use to hate it but now enjoy taking the manuscript to another level.