Recently there was a story in the UK press in which armed police swooped on a Cowboy themed party after one guest was seen with a toy rifle - (the wild west party goers are pictured left)
Toy gun-wielding revellers at a cowboy-themed party were left gob-smacked when armed police teams swooped on the pub venue.
Roy and Val Worthington, from Castle Donington in Leicestershire, were celebrating renewing their vows with friends and family when a police helicopter and cars turned up.
A member of the public had called the county's force after spotting a man walking down the street with what appeared to be a rifle over his shoulder.
Well, never one to miss an opportunity western writer Nik (Ross) Morton wrote to The Daily Mail, one of the UK's most popular national papers to drum up some publicity for Wild West Monday. Here is his letter:
Enjoyed your piece about the silly police swoop. Helicopter was in the area... oh, right.
You might be interested in covering another western themed item of news. On Monday 2 March in the UK, the US and even Australia and New Zealand it's going to be 'Wild West Monday'. Fans of the western in literature are going to besiege booksellers and librarians to promote western books. Many of those involved also write westerns for UK publisher Robert Hale under their imprint Black Horse Westerns, which can be found in most libraries. A number of blogs and internet groups have sprouted up in an attempt at creating a small resurgence of this once popular genre. Indeed, several western movies have been released recently to add to the interest. Perhaps in these straitened times a return to escapist stories of the past would be welcomed. It’s surprising how many readers say they don’t read westerns. Usually, the majority who say this haven’t actually read one. If they did make the monumental decision to read a western or two, they might be surprised. On the surface – judging by the covers - these books may just appear to be shoot-em-ups, but they’re much more than that.
'Wild West Monday' is the brainchild of Dr Who actor Gary Dobbs and his blog is at http://tainted-archive.blogspot.com/
and his email is garydobbs@hotmail.co.uk. I'm copying this to Gary so he knows I've contacted you - I live in Spain, he lives in Wales.
Best wishes,
Nik Morton
A member of the public had called the county's force after spotting a man walking down the street with what appeared to be a rifle over his shoulder.
Well, never one to miss an opportunity western writer Nik (Ross) Morton wrote to The Daily Mail, one of the UK's most popular national papers to drum up some publicity for Wild West Monday. Here is his letter:
Enjoyed your piece about the silly police swoop. Helicopter was in the area... oh, right.
You might be interested in covering another western themed item of news. On Monday 2 March in the UK, the US and even Australia and New Zealand it's going to be 'Wild West Monday'. Fans of the western in literature are going to besiege booksellers and librarians to promote western books. Many of those involved also write westerns for UK publisher Robert Hale under their imprint Black Horse Westerns, which can be found in most libraries. A number of blogs and internet groups have sprouted up in an attempt at creating a small resurgence of this once popular genre. Indeed, several western movies have been released recently to add to the interest. Perhaps in these straitened times a return to escapist stories of the past would be welcomed. It’s surprising how many readers say they don’t read westerns. Usually, the majority who say this haven’t actually read one. If they did make the monumental decision to read a western or two, they might be surprised. On the surface – judging by the covers - these books may just appear to be shoot-em-ups, but they’re much more than that.
A good western tale is about character and morality with a historical perspective. Often there’s romance too. Take, for example, ‘Death at Bethesda Falls’. It begins with Jim Thorp riding into Bethesda Falls intent on finding and possibly killing a man. The man in question happens to be the brother of Anna, Jim’s girlfriend, the schoolteacher of the town. There’s every possibility of the old romance blossoming afresh, save for the vendetta against Anna’s brother. Elsewhere, Ellen’s father is dying and she’s being courted by the ranch foreman; little does she know that the foreman is hastening her father’s demise with poison. A convoluted and fast-paced plot which will end in violence and death.
'Wild West Monday' is the brainchild of Dr Who actor Gary Dobbs and his blog is at http://tainted-archive.blogspot.com/
and his email is garydobbs@hotmail.co.uk. I'm copying this to Gary so he knows I've contacted you - I live in Spain, he lives in Wales.
Best wishes,
Nik Morton
2 comments:
Interesting post, I live not to far away from Donington and I didn't hear anything about this.
Be interesting to see if the paper follow this up.
That's a great post to promote the western books.
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