Wednesday 25 May 2011

Wild West News

There's a new western story over at Meridian Bridge - Eli's Cannon by Richard Prosch. Go check it out.

Daughter of Texas by Celia Hayes (full review later this week) is available now and highly recommended by the Archive. The book is the start of a prelude to the author's popular, Adelsverein Trilogy. Billed as the story of a woman's life in Texas before the cattle drives, before the Alamo, before the legends were born, the book is a change in tack from my usual brand of cordite fuelled westerns and I found it a rewarding read - I was dragged up and swept up by the saga. Celia is now working on a sequel which will see print later this year. Check out Celia's books HERE

The countdown has begun to the publication of my third Jack Martin western, The Ballad of Delta Rose. Yep, this July the book will see publication from Black Horse Westerns and I can't wait to see what my readers will make of this one. Also Jack Martin related - this month saw the trade paperback edition of Arkansas Smith released by The Linford Western Library. Why not head over to your local library and request the book as an appetiser for Delta Rose..go on, pretty please.

Clint Eastwood is rumoured to be considering in a western project. It is highly unlikely that the actor/director will appear in the movie, but here at the Archive we are foaming at the mouth at the prospect of a Eastwood directed oater hitting the big screen.

The next Wild West eMonday is taking shape and a date has been set - the last weekend in August will see the big event taking place here on the Archive. The previous Wild West Monday initiatives have all been hugely popular and, I like to think, have gone some way to put the genre back in the public eye. This time we'll be running a western short story competition (details soon) with the winning story appearing on the Archive and the writer getting a fistful of western goodies.

Once again the emphasis will be on the E in Wild West eMonday - although many of us still don't use eBooks, preferring to stick with dead tree books, there is little doubt that eBooks are the future for mass market fiction, so it would be counter-productive not to celebrate the western's place in these technology driven times. But for the record the medium the western is delivered on isn't important - it's supporting the genre that matters, and as always we'll be celebrating both the rich heritage and the fabulous future of the genre.

True Grit 2010 will make it onto DVD next month, with Amazon already taking pre-orders for the two disc special edition. The second disc will contain some great behind the scenes footage as well as an extensive making of documentary. Now ain't that something to look forward to.

This news item has been previously reported here but it's worth running again and is certain to have all true West buffs foaming at the mouth - The one-and-only authenticated photograph of Billy the Kid - the famous Upham tintype - will be offered to the public for the first time ever at Brian Lebel’s Old West Auction this June. This rare tintype of Billy the Kid (large image below) is believed to be the only survivor of four that were created when he posed for the picture in a Fort Sumner, New Mexico, gambling hall in late 1879 or early 1880. This shot often accompanies stories about Billy the Kid and is believed to be one of the only authenticated images of the young outlaw. It will be auctioned on June 25 at Brian Lebel’s Old West Show and Auction at the Denver Merchandise Mart where it could bring between $300,000 and $400,000. The tintype passed through the family of one of Billy’s rustler partners, Dan Dedrick and is sometimes called the Upham tintype after the Dedrick’s grand-nephew, Frank Upham and his descendants.


Tintype: is a photograph made by creating a direct positive on a sheet of iron metal that is blackened by painting

1 comment:

Kathi Oram Peterson said...

Fun cowboy blog. Glad I found it. Happy Trails!

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