Trains, Trains, and More Trains

Fellow Western Fictioneers Scott D. Parker takes a look at movies featuring railroads and drops a cover reveal to the latest Cash Laramie novel! Check it out right here. 

Move It On Over

Thanks for stopping by but my latest post titled Forgotten Western Classics: The Spikes Gang (1974) is at the Western Fictioneers. C'mon, lets head on over there together.

Buddies in the Saddle: Ron Scheer

I finished my first Cash Laramie short story in over seven years and before I crossed the finish line, I spent some time with an old cowboy friend of mine named Ron Scheer. I met Ron online, here at Blogger, over our mutual appreciation for the Western genre. Before he sadly passed away in 2015, I had the distinct privilege of publishing his three volume series How The West Was Written with BEAT to a PULP. The third volume contains colloquial words he had found in the numerous classics he had read, and it was an indispensable resource while working on my latest hardboiled western. Thank you, Ron, for sharing this gem not only with me but with everyone.

Cash Laramie, The Outlaw Marshal

I'm not sure why Cash Laramie returned, and quite frankly, I wasn't looking forward to it because I thought his story arc had been fully realized. Still, a few weeks ago, the antihero I created many moons ago tapped on my shoulder with a well formed short story. Over the course of an afternoon, I knocked out the rough draft and have been polishing it up ever since. It reminded me that stashed in my coffer was a Nik Morton* novel called Death For a Dove featuring both Cash and his fellow marshal, Gideon Miles, and I immediately began readying that dynamite for publication.  

On Twitter, I teased Cash's return and was astonished anyone had remembered, but many did with enthusiasm. To tease a bit further, my story takes place in 1902 when Cash is fifty years old and has pursued a wanted man from his home base in Cheyenne to New York. Nik's upcoming piece occurs in the 1880's on a riverboat with owlhoots, gamblers, a European princess, and a tiger! I enjoy working with Nik -- besides being a top wordsmith, he's been with me and these creations since the beginning. We've already begun plotting more Westerns for 2021. Well, time to stop yapping and get writing.

*Nik recently wrote about the previous Cash and Miles adventure, Coffin for Cash (2015): Disinterring Coffin for Cash - 1 | Disinterring Coffin for Cash - 2.

The Outlaw Marshal is Returning

Nik Morton discusses writing about someone else's series character. That someone else is me and I couldn't be happier when Nik breathes continuing life into Cash Laramie.

Rumors and Impending Action

Hope all bloggers had a superior weekend!

Monday finds me typing away at new articles for Criminal Element where I moonlight as a freelance writer. The latest post is my take on the Westworld debut. Did you watch? I thought it was a bit familiar but overall has my curiosity piqued with what Anthony Hopkins has planned for his unusual amusement park. So I'll be reviewing that for the next ten weeks and, in addition, finish Longmire season five recaps by Friday and every Tuesday whittle my way through The Dark Tower. Tomorrow we come to the conclusion of The Gunslinger and I hope you have your library cards ready to pick up the second book in the series, The Drawing of the Three.

On the publishing front, I'm looking to release Garnett Elliott's Two Trick Pony very soon. This will be the eighth book in The Drifter Detective series and it may just be where the road comes to an end for Jack Laramie, grandson of Cash Laramie. I'm not saying for sure but there are rumors, pilgrims.

That's it for me on the work front—never slow down, never grow old.

Cash & Miles Free eBook

BEAT to a PULP extraordinaire dMix has given face lifts to my Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles series that also includes new art by Chuck Regan for Further Adventures. To honor the occasion I'm offering Vol. II for free for the next few days. Here's Alec Cizak's foreword to the collection:

The Western is one of those things. Like rock and roll. Like theater. Jackasses in coffee houses everywhere are always pronouncing it dead. There’s seductive evidence to suggest that diagnosis correct—Hollywood has a hard time prying its big fat wallet open to finance a Western (never mind that the God damn town was practically built on the genre). The only way television could get a Western going in this day and age was by shuffling it off to the “naughty” corner of cable and filling its character’s mouths with nonstop profanity. Stroll into most book stores (the ones that still exist, speaking of a dying species) and you’ll probably find one shelf of Westerns with the safe, traditional names on the spines. Here’s the problem, though, here’s why there’s no authoritative signature on that particular death certificate: The Western is not dead. People read them, people watch them, and people like Edward A. Grainger, aka David Cranmer, are fueling the genre with fresh stories and characters that satisfy both old and new conventions.

Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles has been out for a short time and garnered enough attention to demonstrate that there is not only sustained interest in the Western, but new blood ducking in to take a peek and, if we are to believe the avalanche of praise Grainger’s first collection has received, liking what they see. And why not? Without the self-conscious posturing of postmodernism, Grainger has, in fact, crafted a postmodern west that takes into account the conspicuous absence of non-white, non-protestant members of the American family. Grainger is not one, I suspect, to bellow about “political correctness” and “inclusion” and “diversity” and all the other buzz words that college campuses and public service announcements like to drill into our heads in effort to keep the masses civilized. Like that old adage about faith, them that shout the loudest, we should assume, believe the least. No, Grainger very quietly sits wherever it is he writes and creates stories about the old west that fill in a lot of spaces left by previous generations of writers and filmmakers.

I compared Volume I to John Ford’s The Searchers and I stand by that comparison. Like The Searchers, Grainger’s stories address America’s racial and ethnic realities in a straightforward manner so refreshingly free of self-consciousness that one is able to read the stories purely for entertainment or as the subtle political statements that they are. Grainger has, in short, achieved that great balance between form and function. In my opinion, this should be the goal of any serious artist.

On the surface, these are entertaining tales. Cash Laramie is part Dirty Harry, part Billy Jack. Of course, he walks the Earth a hundred years before those great vigilante characters of the 1970s. He benefits from a more relaxed attitude towards rogue justice. The result is a character who punishes bad guys the way all of us, deep down, would prefer. Thus, men who abuse children are dispatched without all the pesky paperwork and legal acrobats criminals benefit from today. Bigots who hang people simply because they don’t like the color of their skin are brutally tortured and left for dead. In Volume II, Cash continues his brand of “outlaw” justice, repositioning that tricky line between “right” and “wrong.” We are also treated to the story of Cash’s origin. Gideon Miles does not play as significant a role as he did in the first collection of stories, but his appearance here reinforces my belief that Edward Grainger is telling tales of the west in a much more honest manner than any writer or filmmaker has attempted before and he is doing so without begging for an “atta’ boy!” from the coffee house crowd.

There are some who would argue that Cash Laramie’s “outlaw” justice is just that—beyond the borders of the law and therefore suspect. I think they are missing the point. American mythology is twisted in contradictions that brutal lawmen like Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles untangle with gut decisions we all wish we could execute every time we watch in horror as the justice system fails to discipline someone who is obviously guilty. These stories nurture a basic human desire to create a world that makes sense emotionally. In that way, they are a kind of medicine, don’t you think?

Alec Cizak

August 2011

Available Now: Coffin for Cash

New Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles written by Nik Morton.

Miles to Lost Dog Creek by Ron Scheer

Ron Scheer completed “Miles to Lost Dog Creek” in 2012. Unfortunately, I was top heavy at the time with Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles stories, so I set it to the side with the intent of publishing it much sooner than this. In the interim Ron approached me about publishing his How the West Was Written series, and I jumped at the chance.

Sadly Ron passed away in April, and after releasing the last in the How the West Was Written books, I turned my attention, once again, to “Miles to Lost Dog Creek.” However there were several developments in the Miles character over the past three years that needed the writer’s touch, but I didn’t have my friend Ron to turn to. So I went to two mutual friends of ours and fellow Western authors, Chuck Tyrell, aka Charlie T. Whipple (who’s worked with me from time to time on this series) and Richard Prosch. I sent it their way for their skilled eyes to run through the pages … thank you, both!

Knowing that “Miles to Lost Dog Creek” may very well be Ron’s final published work, I wanted the cover art to be special. I asked Chuck Regan, whose talents have been previously on display with another BTAP cover, and he turned in this exceptional piece. Many thanks, Chuck.

"Miles to Lost Dog Creek” is available as an ebook and later this week in print. Because it’s a long short story I’m pricing the ebook at the affordable $1.49. But if you are a fan of the series and of Ron’s work, I really recommend the print copy which is a beauty.

A Further Nod

What a nice way to end the year! Ron Scheer takes a look at my Further Adventures.

The Lawyer: Stay of Execution by Wayne D. Dundee

Coming soon...

In the Old West, J.D. Miller had been an attorney at law. A respected and successful one. Until the horrific, soul-scarring day when he returned home to find his entire family gruesomely slaughtered—the charred remains scarcely recognizable in the smoldering ruins of what had once been their house. Like a phoenix rising out of the ashes, The Lawyer—a killing machine—was born, and he’s leaving a blood-splattered revenge trail as he searches out those who murdered his family.

THE LAWYER: STAY OF EXECUTION is the first novella in a thrilling new hard-boiled Western series by bestselling Amazon author Wayne D. Dundee (Manhunter’s Mountain, The Empty Badge) and BEAT to a PULP books. Based on characters created by Edward A. Grainger, author of the Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles adventures.

Criminal Words

In a previous post, I've mentioned a Cash Laramie noir Western, "Merciless," being a part of Erik Arneson's Word Crimes Podcast. Now that same adventure is in an audiobook called Criminal Words and joins other stellar offerings by the distinguished likes of Joe Clifford, Jen Conley, Chris Holm, Chris Irvin, Tom Pitts, Steve Weddle, and Erik Arneson. Stories are all read by former public radio reporter Scott Detrow.

Here's a link to Erik's website and a little more information on the new release.

Listen for Cash

So a few months back, Erik Arneson approached me and asked if I had a story he could use for his topmost Word Crimes Podcast. I was just completing Further Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles and thought “Merciless” would be a perfect fit, and thanks to Erik and the vocal talents of Scott Detrow it turns out to be something special indeed. This is a first for me, hearing my characters come alive, so to speak, in another medium.

“Merciless” features former lawman Cash Laramie—The Outlaw Marshal—at seventy-nine-years-old. His glory days far behind him, he’s traded his horse in for a car and sits most evenings in a Cheyenne bar conversing with the bartender. Another patron, a young loudmouth named Roberts, sets in motion a series of events that leads to a poignant, tragic ending.

I feel this one turned out pretty darn good, with special thanks going to my buddy Chuck Tyrell who had considerable input (and to whom I dedicate my latest collection). “Merciless” originally appeared in Pulp Modern Issue #4, edited by Alec Cizak.

And, of course, big thanks to Erik and Scott. What a nice, early Christmas present. Guaranteed I'll listen another two dozen times at least.

At Kevin's Corner...

I'm always appreciative when someone takes the time to read a book I've worked on and even more pleased when they take the time out of their busy week to review. In this case, Kevin Tipple was kind enough to write a few words on my Further Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles. Thanks, Kevin!

Further Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles

This is my first new collection of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles short stories in almost three years. Wayne D. Dundee, Heath Lowrance, and Nik Morton have done such a fantastic job while I’ve been away that I knew I needed to dig deep to live up to their recent exploits.

The story of Cash and Gideon begins in the 1880s Wyoming Territory, then thunders through to 1930s New Orleans, and the two Deputy U.S. Marshals continue to find themselves on the outside of societal norms.

My buddy Chuck Tyrell helped me considerably with several stories in Further Adventures, and, in fact, I dedicated this collection to him.

Further Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles is available in print and for the Kindle.

What I'm Working On...

My first collection of Cash & Miles short stories in three years. Almost done.

Free eBook! Manhunter's Mountain (Cash Laramie Adventure) by Wayne D. Dundee

A fast, hardboiled Western that continues the Cash Laramie legend with swagger and good, solid writing. Wayne Dundee brings his masterful voice to the Western and tells a Cash Laramie story in perfect pitch. Manhunter's Mountain should be on every Western fiction reader's bookshelf. -- Larry D. Sweazy, Spur Award-winning author of The Coyote Tracker.

Free ebooks!

For the next several days I'm offering two of my collections for free. Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles, Vol.II and The Education of a Pulp Writer & other stories.

The Education of a Pulp Writer

The Education of a Pulp Writer & other stories* contains some of my earliest, darkest, and most demented characters on the fringe of society. These four shorts were selected from my crime fiction with a bonus story, "Kid Eddie," taken from the noir Western collection Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles written under my pen name, Edward A. Grainger.

“Blubber” -- A morbidly obese shut-in hires a cheeky “lady of the evening” college girl, leading to a deadly encounter.

“Clouds in a Bunker” – An old man holes up in a fallout shelter, preparing to end it all for himself and his long-gone dementia-ridden wife, but the police are there to foil his plan.

“Cold Gray Dawn” -- A rebuffed man plots revenge against his ex-wife and her new-born baby.

“The Education of a Pulp Writer” -- Neighbors in an apartment building don’t really know as much about each other as they think.

“Kid Eddie” -- While bringing a youthful criminal in for justice, US Marshal Cash Laramie begins to doubt the innocent-looking kid is guilty of any crime.

*This rebooted collection appeared in a slightly different form a couple of years back and is only, currently, available as an ebook.

From the Amazon Peanut Gallery

Sometimes a spiteful or half-baked criticism comes along that really makes me chuckle. This is far from the worst that I've been blessed with as it's kinda sorta a good review with the three stars.

Here's the nugget: “I don't like short stories and this is a collection of them.”

Gotta wonder why he picked it up at all since that's laid out in the first ten words of the book description but, I know, I know ... it was a freebie. Then he doubles down at the end with, “I don't like short stories at all, so that is why the 3 stars not because it is bad in any way”

Not bad, though! It's now taped to the right of my computer.