There are two web sites that I'd like to bring to your attention. Both concern the Black Horse Western range as published by Robert Hale LTD as well as the genre at large.
These are - Black Horse Express and Black
Horse ExtraBoth sites are designed to promote the Black Horse Western range by giving the dedicated bunch of talented writers a voice and a web presence.
The sites contain interviews, historical features, articles examining the western genre in both print and film.
I'm a Black Horse author myself, or will be next June, but I've always visited these sites and found the articles and features all make interesting reading. Black Horse Extra publishes the online magazine Extra which features much genre news and reviews as well as interesting articles. One recent article I loved asked, can a western be noir?
Black Horse Express also features many interesting articles and features which are added to regularly.
(Pictured Chap who keeps the black horse extra site in order, though stresses it is very much a collaborative site with many western writers providing copy)
Of course the Black Horse western range itself provides much excitement for western buffs and has been the choice of discerning western fans for years. The stable of writers John Hale has gathered under the Black Horse Corral are truly remarkable in providing no nonsense, all action, traditional westerns.
They provide much variety and between the Black Horse Covers can be found stories of exploration, suspense, empire building, cattle drives, outlaws, killers, romance - pretty much everything under the sun.
I know a great many of my blog readers
are western fans and no doubt, some will know of these sites, but I urge anyone who hasn't seen them to visit them now, bookmark them, visit regularly as updates are always interesting.A parting note - today I was emailed by Black Horse Extra editor, Chap Okeefe and told that I would be mentioned in the next issue of the Extra. I look forward to seeing that and of course it'll provide another opportunity to plug my forthcoming novel.
And remember for the best in western adventure, romance and action watch for the sign of the black horse.
LINKS TO BOTH SITES CAN BE FOUND IN THE "BLOGS AND SITES OF INTEREST" SIDEBOX.
11 comments:
Thank you for the promo for the promo, Gary!
The Extra has been coming out reliably and regularly every quarter since March 2006, and I hope we can keep it up.
The December edition will be posted mid-November and will have news from/about BHW writers including David Whitehead, Alfred Wallon, Scott Dingley, Nik (Ross) Morton, Paddy Gallagher (Greg Mitchell), Ernest Haycox (!), Lewis B. Patten (!), Ray Foster (Jack Giles), Bill Spence (Jim Bowden), Gary Dobbs (Jack Martin) and Keith Hetherington (Tyler Hatch).
All the back numbers of the Extra are available via the Backtrails links from the current edition.
More articles, from the days when I edited the Express along similar lines, can be found in the Archives section at the ".org" site, though in a somewhat altered style of display.
Cheers, Keith (aka Chap O'Keefe)
Thanks for the heads up about these links. Had no clue, since most of my western reading is what I find at used bookstores. Usually relying on series I know or certain authors namely Max Brand. Who it seems every other month has some new book of reprinted material coming out.
I'm going to mark these and go check them this weekend. I'm always on the look out for some good westerns.
Both sites are interesting - and I'm always learning something new.
My blog has highlighted a couple of Black Horse Western writers and more will follow.
The writers are quite diverse as they come from UK, America, Spain, Australia, New Zealand in fact world wide.
It's no surprise how many western fans are unaware of The Black Horse Range. I've always thought more publicity would help these excellent no nonsense westerns. Amazon stack them of course and second hand ones turn up on Ebay from time to time.
Following on from this feature I've decided I will review at least one Black Horse title a month. I've a stack to be read and there are some great titles I'd like to bring to wider attention. Any BHW writers want a particular book featured then let me know.
It seems that the only copy of Mike Stotter's 'Tombstone Showdown' is in Wales. Well, at least, I've now seen the cover. Mike's McKinney books are good as well and he's thinking about writing a third one.
I got that Tombstone Showdown in a library sale.
Black Horse Westerns are definately worth a look. Both these sites and this page
http://website.lineone.net/~adam_and_lynne/
are recommended reading.
As many of you know I review BHW on my site - Western Fiction Review (link can be found on this blog) - and at the moment numbers around 20 with many more to come.
Ray,
Mike Stotter's next BHW will be much more than his third! He told his story in "The Western and I", in the first edition of the Extra.
It's among the bookloads of free reading for western buffs now to be found at the Extra site.
For those not already familiar with the Extra, Ray's own "Jack Giles" story can also be found there. Navigation is easy via chronological, edition-by-edition links (Backtrails). Display is clean and uncluttered, like the books promoted, and visual colour -- again as with the BHW books -- is provided by the cover art.
One of Mike's friends, fellow writer David Whitehead, generously calls the Extra site "an absolute treasure-trove of information and a joy to read".
The hope is that with this site we will continue meeting promised deadlines and updates . . . and that the material from the writers will keep coming in.
Keith
I think my roommate would absolutely love your writing and your work!
Post a Comment