American Westerns discussion

Can't say that I've read alot of Westerns, but I love the movies. I figure this may be a good place to learn more about the genre. I remember really enjoying Shane when I read it as a kid, and I've read some Larry McMurtry. I'm interested in the history of the West as well.

Vince,
If you are interested in western history, a number of contemporary authors are writing in a style Kirk Ellis calls "Speculative History." You may remember Kirk as the Exec. Producer and writer of the HBO mini series John Adams. He also won an Emy for his work on Into the West. Speculative history takes historical events and dramatizes them. The stories stay close to the facts but sometimes use fictional elements. Authors in the catagory that you might enjoy would include Matt Braun, Loren Estleman and a number of others. Both Matt and Loren have won multiple Spur Awards. If you enjoy audio books, you might try my Grasshopper in Summer. It was a Spur Finalist in 2009.
Paul Colt

I have so many childhood memories of watching westerns (both films and television programs) with my father. He loved the genre, at least on the big & small screen. My dad wasn't a fan of written fiction, tending to read only non-fiction, although of all sorts.

Being more of a fiction reader, like my mother, it was easy to get into western novels, I think SHANE was probably the first. Honestly, I had not read any in years until I picked up LONESOME DOVE when it hit the NY Times Bestseller list.

Currently, I'm reading just about as much Louis L'Amour as I can get my hands on, along with finally downloading copies of early classics like THE VIRGINIAN & THE RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE to my nook.

Dale, thanks for the heads-up. I'll see if I can get a copy of the book from the Library and compare the two editions.

Every discussion group on Western writing goes almost immediately to Western movies. Not complaining, I enjoy the movies, too.
There is lots of great writing, too. I particularly enjoy Elmore Leonard's books, and most of them became movies. Leonard, whether writing a potboiler or a western, is a master of dialog.
My interest lies more in the period before the classical, post Civil War Western. I like the period from post Revolutionary War, Northwest Passage, Drums along the Mohawk (both books became movies) to the stories of the fur traders and explorers like Lewis and Clark. Moving forward we have the Mexican War and the California Gold Rush. I'm trying to fill that gap with my own book series.
My inspiration was Irving Stone's Men to Match My Mountains: The Opening of the Far West, 1840-1900 a non-fiction book covering the era and populated with people bigger than the typical western encompasses. Its a great one to get acquainted with the period and places right through to the Silver strikes and the construction of the railroads

I'd never heard of Stone's book. Thanks for the recommendation, Ken.

You're right about Western films popping up in many of the threads here. I think part of that is that Western fans take their fix where they can get it.

Which reminds me that the new AMC series "Hell on Wheels" looks pretty good. :-)

My first impression from the commercials reminded me of the recent 'western' where the hero has the burned face and does superhero stuff. Just a first impression.

If you are interested in having greater access to western literature there is plenty available. Western Writers of America had 400 entries in fifteen categories for the 2011 Spur Awards. We've got contemporary authors turning out work every bit as good as the old classics. You might try talking to the manager of your local Walmart about their western selections. Walmart is driving the print book business these days. If they don't have what you're looking for, there's always Amazon.

Hey Paul, how does one get in the running for a Spur award? Is it like HWA where you pretty much have to spam the Horror Writers' boards and get to know the members? I'm approved for WWA but I haven't sent the dues in yet and I've got a brand new western out, Buff Tea

Edward,
Spur Award entries are 'usually' submitted by the publisher. Some authors don't rely on the publisher and do their own submissions. WWA is now accepting entries for consideration in 2012. You can find submission information at www.westernwriters.org. Judging in each category is done by a panel of WWA members. Spamming would not be a good idea. You do not need to be a member to be considered or win. That said, if you are eligible, I highly recommend the organization and their conventions. WWA provides invaluable contacts and experiences. Good luck with the new book.

Ah, I looked it up...it looks like a much more straight shooting contest than the Stokers, which only allow submission of eligible works to 'interested' members (which pretty much guarantees the same members who know each other's works are almost always going to be nominated). Thanks very much for the info, Paul. I'm gonna give it a shot...and I'll see you over there.

Ken wrote: "My first impression from the commercials reminded me of the recent 'western' where the hero has the burned face and does superhero stuff. Just a first impression."

Ah, JONAH HEX! A horrible and ham-fisted attempt to make a movie of the best western comic currently being published and a character with a pretty decent fanbase. The AMC series looks a bit better, IMHO.

AMC's gonna have a Jonah Hex series?

LOL! I wish. No, Ken was saying the promo for HELL ON WHEELS reminded him of the ads for the JH film.

Ahhh! My mistake. Yeah that looks interesting (but so did Jonah Hex at first - eesh).