Thursday, July 22, 2010

New Short Story at The Western Online


My Colt's Last Song by Nathan Wellman is a very good story. Stop by the site and check it out, you won't be disappointed.


Monday, July 19, 2010

Another Western Online YouTube Video

The first video promoted the site. This new one promotes the writers featured at The Western Online. Check it out and let us know what you think.


Tuesday, July 13, 2010

A New Interview at The Western Online




Writer John M. Whalen granted an interview to The Western Online. His recently released book, Jack Brand is available on Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.



An Interview with John M. Whalen

Monday, July 12, 2010

The Western Online on YouTube

Our Associate Editor Michael T. Pizzolato designed a YouTube video for The Western Online. It's pretty neat. Check it out and feel free to repost.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Louis L'Amour's Influences

L'Amour has always been one of my favorite writers. I was a voracious reader when I was in school and read everything he published. It was this love of reading that translated into a love of writing. I realized that if I couldn't read any more of his stories, I would have to create my own stories.

Not only has he influenced my writing, but reading his work shaped me into the man that I am today. His stories are full of tidbits of wisdom for a hungry young mind and preach things like self discipline, loyalty to family and responsibility.

On of his lines that I has stuck with me over the years is: "The difference between a man and a boy is the willingness to accept responsibility," though I couldn't tell you what story it came from. It became a mantra that I repeated to myself over the years because I wanted to become a man just like the characters he described.

Some people grow up with sports stars and celebrities as their heroes; my heroes were William Tell Sackett, Milo Talon and Borden Chantry, and of course Louis L'Amour.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

New Edition of The Roundup

A new edition of The Roundup went online today:

Stop by the site and leave us a comment. We'd love to hear your opinion on the topic.


We also published some new Western Artwork by Michael T. Pizzolato.




Thursday, July 1, 2010

The Westerns of Robert. B. Parker

I was browsing through the shelves of my local library the other day, searching for a book that I haven't read yet when I stumbled across Appaloosa by Robert B. Parker. I read the first few pages and was hooked. I'd heard of Parker before and knew he wrote detective fiction but I'd never read any of his work. And I was totally unaware that he wrote Westerns.

Appaloosa was made into a movie a few years ago starring Ed Harris and Viggo Mortenson, but I never got the chance to see it. It's just as well though because it would have spoiled the novel for me. Needless to say, when I finished Appaloosa, I quickly read the following books in the series, Resolution and Brimstone. The fourth book is Blue Eyed Devil. I plan on reading it as soon as I can get my hands on it.

He also wrote a Western featuring Wyatt Earp titled Gunman's Rhapsody. Generally, I don't like fictionalized accounts of the lives of real historical figures, but Parker does it very well.


His writing is sharp and to the point with no wasted words. Most of his chapters are rarely more than a scene long, but each scene advances the plot and deepens characterization. If you like Westerns, you can't go wrong with Parker. I highly recommend picking up his work.

A New Story and Article at The Western Online

Today we published a new story story by Richard Prosch, "Regina's War." It's a sequel to Prosch's short, "Last Day at Red Horizon," a story that we published back in March, featuring the Peregrin, John Coburn.

We also published a new non-fiction article about a key historical figure in Western history, Charles Goodnight: Legendary Cattleman.

We try to update the site once a week, so stop by often.