Western Fictioneers

Western Fictioneers Members

Terry Burns writes westerns for the Christian market and for young adults. He is also an agent with Hartline Literary http://www.hartlineliterary.com , has over 40 books in print including 10 novels which isn’t many for this group. He has a new 4 book series from Port Yonder Press entitled “The Sagebrush Collection” of his collected short works and the first released March 2010 entitled “On the Road Home.” A Young Adult entitled Beyond the Smoke came out from BJU Press January 2009, won the Will Rogers Medallion and a new book “A Writer’s Survival Guide to Publication” also from Port Yonder Press was developed out of the month long course he held for ACFW. He is consistently listed in the top five of agents placing debut authors on Publisher’s Marketplace and is a popular speaker at workshops across the country. A bookstore of his available works as well as a regular blog can be found at www.terryburns.net. Terry is Married to Saundra Burns, has five kids and ten grandkids ranging from 24 years of age down to one month

A. Steven Clark
imanthonyclark@hotmail.com

 Born and raised in Missouri near the banks of the Mississippi, A. Steven Clark teaches economics and environmental courses while writing and telling stories part-time. He’s performed as an oral storyteller; has published short stories, nonfiction articles and book reviews; and in 2003 won a Parents’-Choice Award for a CD of original children’s music. His children’s songs have aired on radio stations in over thirty states and in several foreign countries. One of his songs was featured on the nationally syndicated Dr. Demento radio show. Clark lives with his wife in St. Charles, Missouri. His hobbies are hiking, playing and singing Americana music, collecting ghost stories, and throwing knives. His first novel, The Guerrilla Man: Bloody Trail to Kansas, is available from Solstice Publishing.

Cranmer, David
paladin2100@yahoo.com
David Cranmer's first western "Cash Laramie and the Masked Devil" was featured in A FISTFUL OF LEGENDS and the second "The Wind Scorpion" will appear in the forthcoming BEAT to a PULP: Round One anthology. He regularly updates his blog The Education of a Pulp Writer (http://davidcranmer.blogspot.com/) and is editor/publisher of BEAT to a PULP (http://www.beattoapulp.com/). He lives in Maine with his wife. 

Crider, Bill
macavityabc@gmail.com
BILL is the author of more than fifty published novels and numerous short stories. He won the Anthony Award for best first mystery novel in 1987 for Too Late to Die and was nominated for the Shamus Award for best first private-eye novel for Dead on the Island.  He won the Golden Duck award for “best juvenile science fiction novel” for Mike Gonzo and the UFO Terror.  He and his wife, Judy, won the best short story Anthony in 2002 for their story “Chocolate Moose.”  His story “Cranked” from Damn Near Dead (Busted Flush Press) was nominated for the Edgar award for best short story.  Check out his homepage at www.billcrider.com, or take a look at his peculiar blog at http://billcrider.blogspot.com. 

Dunlap, Phil
Dun46032@aol.com
Phil Dunlap has lived his entire life in Indiana, but that hasn’t kept him from immersing himself totally in the Old West. His wife thinks he’s been possessed by a long dead gunfighter. Could be. He’s seen six of his novels published, and is contracted for five more, three are done and awaiting pub dates. His “Saving Mattie” won the 2009 Best Traditional Western award from EPIC. “Cotton’s War” (coming in June) begins a new four-book series from Berkley.   

Fisher, Dave P. 
davepfisher@aol.com
 
Mountain men and explorers make up the branches of Dave’s family tree. His mother’s side was from Canada where the men plied the fur trade, ventured into the Rocky Mountains during the beaver boom in the 1820’s.
His father was born in 1905 and saw the last of the Old West. His grandfather was Blackfoot born in a tepee on the reservation in Montana. He was a hunter and horseman who brought a great deal of Old West influence into the Fisher family. From them Dave heard the stories of the West that was.  A life-long Westerner Dave inherited that pioneer blood and followed in the footsteps of his ancestors. Originally from Oregon, he worked cattle and rode saddle broncs. His adventures have taken him across the wilds of Alaska as a horsepacker and hunting guide, through the Rocky Mountains of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado where he wrangled, guided and packed for a variety of outfitters.  Dave weaves this experience through his writing, drawing readers into his stories by their realism and his personal knowledge of the West, its people, and character. He has over 400 fiction and non-fiction works published which include several western novels and books, over 40 short stories, numerous cowboy poems, and two CD’s of cowboy poetry.  His novels include the Poudre Canyon Saga trilogy, and Bitter Grass. He won the Will Rogers Medallion Award for Western Fiction for his collection of short stories Bronc Buster – Short Stories of the American West. He has earned 8 People’s Choice Awards for western short stories and has been included in 12 anthologies.  www.davepfisher.com.

Griffin, James (Jim)

keeneyanke@yahoo.com
I've been interested in the Texas Rangers since I was a kid, so when I started writing it was only natural I would write Texas Ranger novels. My friend Texas Ranger Jim Huggins helps with the technical aspects of the books. I've got two series, Texas Ranger Jim Blawcyzk and Texas Ranger Cody Havlicek. Some are POD books, others were released by two small presses, Condor Publishing, Inc., and Silverjack Publishing. My books are all very traditional Westerns. I've also been a horseman most of my life, and like nothing better than climbing into the saddle and getting out in the woods, just me and my horse.  While I love everything about the West, I love New Hampshire even more, and live for the day when I'll be able to move back there for good. Right now I split my time between Branford, CT, where the job is, and Keene, NH. I've got my horse Yankee and my late dad's Shih Tzu Dogie for company. My website is www.jamesjgriffin.net . Home town: Keene, NH and Branford, CT (I split my time between them). Marital status: never married. Still looking for the woman with the right qualifications: very elderly, very rich, and with no relatives who would contest the will leaving her vast wealth to me (hey, if you're a writer, particularly one who writes westerns, you need a steady source of income you can depend on).

Guin, Jerry
jlgin.4765@gmail.com 
Jerry Guin is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and former lumber trader and propane gas distribution manager.   He wrote “Matsutake Mushroom”in l997, a guidebook published by Naturegraph Publishers.  Then he turned his abilities to writing Western fiction and had short stories appear in Western Digest, The Shootist, and Great Western Fiction Magazine.  He also has appearances in Roundup Magazine.  Jerry became an Associate member of The Western Writers of America in 1999.  “Likker Money,” appeared in the short story anthology, “White Hats,” edited by Robert J. Randisi, 2002 ISBN 0-425-18426-9. His book, “Trail Dust,” a collection of a dozen short stories, by Publish America, was published in 2007.  ISBN 1-4241-04404-03 “All The Water You Want,” appears in the anthology “Award Winning Tales,”compiled by R.L. Coffield, January 2011 Moonlight Mesa Associates, Inc. ISBN 978-0-9827585-1-9.

Hirt, Doug
fictioneer@douglashirt.com
---

Joyner, C. Courtney
olcourt@yahoo.com
Courtney Joyner is a screenwriter and director with over 25 produced movies, including the cult films PRISON starring Viggo Mortensen, CLASS OF 1999, and the new telefilm RETURN OF CAPT. NEMO starring Hugh Bonneville.   A graduate of USC, Courtney’s first movie was THE OFFSPRING starring the legendary Vincent Price. After the movie’s theatrical success, he found himself in demand as a writer of horror, thrillers and action films.  His work in television has included TV movies for CBS, (DISTANT COUSINS), the USA Network (BETRAYAL, GUILTY AS CHARGED), and Showtime (WHITE RUSH).  He wrote the pilot for the Western series DEPUTY DIARIES, and just optioned his original screenplay, THE LEGEND OF BELLE STARR.  As a film journalist, his articles have appeared in WILDEST WESTERNS, ROUND-UP, FANGORIA, CINEMA RETRO, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, EMPIRE and others.  He has written chapters for such non-fiction books as JOHN FORD – A LIFE IN FILM, THE CINEMA OF H.P. LOVECRAFT, THE BOOK OF LISTS: HORROR, and DUKE: WE’RE GLAD WE KNEW YOU.  His latest movie book is THE WESTERNERS – INTERVIEWS WITH ACTORS, DIRECTORS AND WRITERS, which was published by McFarland in November to excellent reviews, and he will be following it with VOICES OF THE WEST.  His short story “Bloodhound” was included in Express Westerns FISTFUL OF LEGENDS, and his story “Two-Bit Kill” will be appearing in the anthology LAW OF THE GUN from Kensington in November. He is currently finishing his first western novel, TRACKING THE DEVIL.  Courtney is a member of the Western Writers of America, the Horror Writers Association, and The International Thriller Writers. He lives in Los Angeles.

John Legg
jackwriter@gmail.com
 John Legg has had more than 50 Westerns published, including a number of series novels, and one book of Western nonfiction. He has also done a number of articles on Western history for national magazines. John has been a newspaper copy editor for more than 30 years. He also has edited novels, articles, short stories, and other works through his editing/critiquing service, JL TextWorks. He has a BA from William Paterson College (now University) in New Jersey and an MSJ from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Born and raised in New Jersey, John spent almost 30 years in Arizona and is now living (temporarily) in Florida. leggbooks.com

L. J. Martin is the author of 22 western, western romance, mystery, and thriller novels from Bantam, Pinnacle, Avon, and Wolfpack Publishing, in addition to having a dozen or more articles and short stories published in national magazines.  He’s also an optioned screenwriter.  He lives in Montana with his wife, Kat, who has over 50 romantic suspense and historical romance novels internationally published in a dozen languages and more than two dozen countries.  L. J., when not writing fiction, spends a good deal of his time running a conservative political blog at http://fromthepeapatch.com, hunting, fishing, cooking; and in the back country with his cameras, both video and still.  His photography has appeared on magazine covers and in periodicals.  Over two dozen videos from Martin can be seen on youtube.com at ljmartinwolfpack.  Over two dozen non-fiction articles, most on writing fiction, appear on ezine.com, search for L. J. Martin.  Learn more about the Martin’s at www.ljmartin.com, www.katmartin.com, and www.wolfpackranch.com. 

Matthews, Christine aka Marthayn Pelegrimas
Deadlywife@aol.com

Marthayn Pelegrimas has been writing professionally for more than twenty years. Her mystery short stories, written under the pseudonym “Christine Matthews,” have appeared in such places as DEADLY ALLIES II, ELLERY QUEEN’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE, LETHAL LADIES, FOR CRIME OUT LOUD I & II, Mickey Spillane’s VENGEANCE IS HERS, CAT CRIMES ON HOLIDAY, THE SHAMUS GAME, TILL DEATH DO US PART, GREATEST HITS and the recent HOLLYWOOD AND CRIME.  Four of her stories have been chosen for Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg’s BEST OF . . . books, the most recent being “And Then She Was Gone,” which will appear in the 2008 edition.  Her first novel, MURDER IS THE DEAL OF THE DAY was published by St. Martin’s Press in January 1999.  The second novel in the series, THE MASKS OF AUNTIE LAVEAU, was published in 2002.  The L.A. Times called it “ . . . a textbook on how to create a lively, accessible, smartly paced, entertaining suspense novel.” The third book, SAME TIME, NEXT MURDER, was published in July 2005 by St. Martin’s Press.  She served as co-editor on the anthology LETHAL LADIES II (Berkley Books, 1997), and is the editor of—and contributor to--DEADLY HOUSEWIVES, published by Avon/Morrow in April 2006.  Her short story collection, GENTLE INSANITIES AND OTHER STATES OF MIND, was published in the Fall of 2001. Under her real name, Marthayn Pelegrimas, she has written over forty short stories in the dark fantasy, science fiction and horror genres, appearing in such anthologies as BORDERLANDS 3, BEST OF THE MIDWEST, HOT BLOOD IX and HOT BLOOD X.  She also edited and appeared in the original audio anthology HEAR THE FEAR (Durkin Hayes).  Her story “The Living Donor,” was nominated by the Horror Writer’s of America for Best of the Year.  Her short story, “I’m a Dirty Girl,” was optioned for a film.  Her one act play, “Good Golly, It’s Holly” has been regionally produced twice.  She is also the author of over 100 published poems.  Her freelance articles and interviews have appeared in Omaha Magazine, Penthouse, St. Louis Magazine and Hot Talk.  Her western short stories have appeared in the anthologies TIN STAR (Berkley, 2000), BOOT HILL (Forge, 2001), GUNS OF THE WEST (2001), DESPERADOS (2001), THE FUNERAL OF TANNER MOODY (2004) and TEXAS RANGERS (2004).  Her historical novel, ON THE STRENGTH OF WINGS, was published in July of 2001.   Presently she serves as Membership Chair and Event Coordinator for the Private Eye Writers if America.  She will also be coordinating WF’s first awards ceremony in Bismarck, North Dakota. She is currently at work on a stand alone Paranormal thriller. 

Mayo, Matthew
mmayo@matthewmayo.com
 

Matthew P. Mayo has written a number of novels and non-fiction books, including the Westerns Winters’ War, Wrong Town, and Hot Lead, Cold Heart. His non-fiction books include Cowboys, Mountain Men & Grizzly Bears: Fifty of the Grittiest Moments in the History of the Wild West, and Bootleggers, Lobstermen & Lumberjacks: Fifty of the Grittiest Moments in the History of Hardscrabble New England. He is also managing editor of Big Sky Journal, a publication of the Northern Rockies. Matthew’s short stories have appeared in a variety of publications, including two recent DAW Books anthologies. One of his short stories, “Half a Pig,” in the Express Westerns anthology A Fistful of Legends, was a 2010 Spur Award Finalist for the Western Writers of America. Matthew and his wife, photographer Jennifer Smith-Mayo, fly their dirigible all over the world in search of lost treasure … and tasty coffee. Visit him at: www.matthewmayo.com.

Meals, Jim 
jmeals@aol.com

 
Jim Meals' childhood was spent watching Hopalong Cassidy on TV and devouring Fran Striker's Lone Ranger novels. Not surprisingly, he yearned to be a western hero. But people laughed whenever he put on a cowboy hat and he came to realize that his goal would have to be achieved vicariously. He writes westerns under the name, James Clay. Jim's idea of a fun evening is to discuss western writers from the nineteenth century dime novel era to the present. A collector of old time radio programs, he has been known to pontificate for hours on the differences between the TV and radio versions of Gunsmoke. Perhaps for that reason, he doesn't get invited to many social occasions, which allows him plenty of time for writing. A literary agent, James spends much of his working day grumbling about writers who consider their high school careers to be a source for The Great American Novel. He lives in San Diego with his wife and two cats, all of whom, he notes, are remarkably patient with him.

Miller, Rod
rod@holmesco.com
Rod Miller is author of six books; two novels (The Assassination of Governor Boggs and Gallows for a Gunman), two works of nonfiction (John Muir: Magnificent Tramp and Massacre at Bear River—First, Worst, Forgotten), and two books of poetry (Things a Cowboy Sees and Other Poems and Newe Dreams). More than 100 of his poems have appeared in magazines and anthologies, and he had had short stories published in several anthologies. Magazine articles and book reviews under his byline have appeared in a number of periodicals including American Cowboy, Ranch & Reata, Western Horseman, and Roundup. He is also author of several essays on the art and craft of writing poetry, which appear on CowboyPoetry.com. Other work includes Forewords and Introductions to books and magazine articles.
Rod grew up in a cowboy family in Utah working with horses and cattle, and rode bareback broncs for several years, including for the Utah State University Rodeo Team. He’s a member of the Executive Board of Western Writers of America.

More, Clay (Keith Souter)
dr_keith.souter@btinternet.com
I live in England within arrow-shot of the ruins of a medieval castle. I am a part time doctor and I write medical books, general non-fictions books and westerns for Robert Hale. Also crime novels and historical crime.
 
Morton, Nik
nikmorton@yahoo.co.uk
nikmorton@hotmail.com

Writing as Ross Morton, Nik has 4 western novels published: Death at Bethesda Falls, Last Chance Saloon, The $300 Man and Blind Justice at Wedlock. He’s the editor of A Fistful of Legends, 21 stories of the Old West, which contains a generous Introduction by James Reasoner.  Nik is the author of the crime thriller Pain Wears No Mask and two psychic spy Cold War thrillers The Prague Manuscript and The Tehran Transmission, a collection of 21 crime short stories, Spanish Eye, a modern vigilante crime thriller, A Sudden Vengeance Waits, and a vampire crime thriller, Death is Another Life. As Robin Moreton, he’s the author of a World War I erotic thriller – Assignment Kilimanjaro.  He sold his first story in 1971 and has had many articles and 107 short stories published, including ‘Spend it now, pay later’ in the Beat to a Pulp - Round One anthology. He won the Bookawards 2010 short story competition with the French Resistance story ‘Codename Gaby’ - see http://thebookawards.com/. Nik served in the Royal Navy for over twenty years and now lives in Spain with his linguist/musician wife Jennifer. Their daughter, son-in-law and grandson live nearby. Nik is Editor in Chief of Solstice Publishing and also reads submissions to their Solstice Westerns imprint – westernsubmissions.solstice@live.com.
Website: www.freewebs.com/nikmorton
Blog:http://nik-writealot.blogspot.com

Nesbitt, John D.
john.nesbitt@ewc.wy.edu

John lives in the plains country of Wyoming, where he teaches English and Spanish at Eastern Wyoming College.  He writes traditional western novels and short stories, contemporary fiction, mystery fiction, and retro/noir fiction.  His articles, reviews, fiction, and poetry have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies.  He has had about thirty books published, including short story collections and novels as well as textbooks for his courses.  John has won many awards for his work, including two awards from Wyoming Writers for encouragement of other writers and service to the organization, two Wyoming Arts Council literary fellowships (one for fiction, one for non- fiction), a Western Writers of America Spur finalist award, and three Spur awards.  Visit his website at http://www.johndnesbitt.com

Newcomb, Kerry
kerrynewcomb@sbcglobal.net
I write or have written novels, stage plays, short stories, screenplays under my own name and as James Reno, Peter Gentry, Christina Savage, and Shana Carrol. I have been at this job for about 35 years. I've come this far, reckon I'll keep at it. I wish you well.

Parker, Scott 
sdparker7@yahoo.com

When I was an undergraduate at the University of Texas, I had the running joke that I used when people would ask me what I planned on doing with my history degree. "Probably sell insurance." I have a similar disjointed pathway that landed me here in Western Fictioneers. It goes something like this: As a child, I was purely an SF geek. So, when it came time to write my first novel, naturally it was a historical mystery. When it came time to write a short story for the Beat to a Pulp website (and, eventually, the print anthology), of course a western emerged. Go figure. Even though Star Wars ruled my childhood, westerns were never far away. I had a cousin who was a Texas sheriff and another who was a Texas Ranger. My parents loved the genre in books as well as television and old radio. I knew the Lone Ranger primarily through collections of the radio programs and comics. My paternal grandfather loved western novels and devoured them. He amassed quite a collection, all of which went into storage after he died. A couple of years ago, my father and I went through some of those boxes. For some reason, I wanted to read some westerns. As a result, my father took the boxes full of L'amour and I took the box that contained everything else, not all of it westerns (the Bertha Cool and Donald Lam mysteries were a were a big surprise since I only thought Erle Stanley Gardner wrote Perry Mason stories).  From this treasure chest, I got to see many of the covers whose images I still remembered from childhood. Among the names I knew (Luke Short, Max Brand) were others I didn't (Burt Arthur, J. T. Edson, William Colt MacDonald, and others). It was a particular character, MacDonald's railroad detective Gregory Quist, that was the inspiration for my own detective, Calvin Carter, the subject of "You Don't Get Three Mistakes" from Beat to a Pulp. When I wrote the tale, I had only one thing in mind: I wanted to write something my grandfather would have liked. I'm now working on Carter's first book-length adventure as well as other, shorter tales. By day, I'm a technical writer in my native Houston. I have a wife who is a jewelry artist and a son in third grade. I write a blog at http://scottdparker.blogspot.com. As a newbie in the western genre--both as a reader and a writer--I am excited and feel like a pioneer, setting out on a great journey to discover all that I can about westerns. I'm looking forward to participating in Western Fictioneers. 

peterson40@cox.net
Pete Peterson is a member of Western Writers of America and of Western Fictioneers, an award-winning artist, the great-grandson of a Confederate veteran and de­scended from Cherokees who trudged the Trail of Tears. He is a devotee and student of frontier history and fiction, a lover of Western art.  “My novels are not great literature, my paintings are not masterpieces. But if you are regular folks like me, you may like what I do. “My writing stems from a lifelong fascination with the American West—it’s history, myths and legends. I became a devotee and student of frontier history and fiction at an early age. My novels are campfire tales, thoroughly researched and true to the conditions and character of the country and its inhabitants as they existed then. “I paint the things I see and love in the world around me—nature, wildlife, and interesting characters I encounter in real life and in the pages of history. I do not believe that a painting must be surrealistic, weird or depressing to be art. Nor do I make apologies that my work is recognizable for what it was intended to represent. If my painting must make a statement, let it say, “Welcome. Enjoy. I hope this makes you feel good.” www.petepetersonok.com 

Pierson, Cheryl 

fabkat_edit@yahoo.com

Cheryl was born in Duncan, Oklahoma, and grew up in Seminole, Oklahoma.  She graduated from the University of Oklahoma, and holds a B.A. in English.  She has taught numerous writing classes and workshops over the past years and also works on an individual basis with many of her students, and other authors, locally and nationwide.  Cheryl’s most recent publications include her third full-length novel, SWEET DANGER, published through The Wild Rose Press. Her debut novel, FIRE EYES, is a western historical also published with TWRP.  She has also sold multiple short stories to Victory Tales Press for their romance anthologies, and was very honored to have had three of her stories selected for inclusion in their “A CHRISTMAS COLLECTION” anthologies.  Although Cheryl has sold articles to local newspapers as well as these many short stories, her first love remains romance novel writing.  With the release of TIME PLAINS DRIFTER, her debut novel in the speculative romance genre of paranormal/time travel, she garnered the Honorable Mention Award in the “Best New Paranormal Author” category in the prestigious PEARL contest, presented 3/21/10. This book will be re-released through Western Trail Blazers sometime in the summer of 2011. Cheryl lives with her husband in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where she has been for the past 25 years.  She has two grown children, ages 21 and 24.You can visit her website at http://www.cherylpierson.com You can e-mail her at fabkat_edit@yahoo.com  You can visit her blogs at:  http://www.cherylpiersonbooks.blogspot.com and also at http://www.westwindsromance.blogspot.com Visit her Amazon author page for a complete list of all work at:  http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B002JV8GUE

Matthew Pizzolato
mattpizzolato@yahoo.com
Matthew Pizzolato has been interested in Westerns all of his life. Growing up, he didn't idolize athletes or musicians like so many other's his age.  His heroes were Louis L'Amour, Clint Eastwood, John Wayne and the characters they portrayed.  He writes primarily Westerns but has been known to dabble in historical fiction and sci-fi.  His short stories have been published online and in print.  He writes a weekly NASCAR column for Insider Racing News and is a contributing writer for Suite101.com.  He can be contacted via his personal website: www.matthew-pizzolato.com.  When he's not writing, Matthew is the editor and webmaster of The Western Online.  

Prate, Kit
trebol01@wildblue.net
I stumbled into writing after discovering Jim Wright’s FAR WEST pocket-sized magazine during a two hour class break while attending Madison Area Technical College.  After reading several of the short stories, I thought: I can do this.  I went home, knocked out two short stories and mailed them off. And promptly forgot about them.  A few weeks later, the Editor, Scott McMillan called to say he wanted the two stories I had submitted and asked if I had more.  It was a very early morning call on a very cold day in Wisconsin.  I thought I was hallucinating.  I hung up and called him back, and was very pleasantly surprised that it had not been a dream.  The rest just happened.  Scott introduced me, via ‘phone, to Greg Tobin, who was then at Tower.  Dale Walker read my second book -- reviewed it for the Round-Up -- and that opened the door to BCI and the Stagecoach Series for Bantam.  I love reading and writing western fiction, and I believe in the genre; which is uniquely “American”.  I’m looking forward into getting back into the game.

Randisi,  Robert J.
rrandisi@sbcglobal.net
ROBERT J. RANDISI is the author of more than 540 books in the Western, Private Eye, Men's Adventure, and Horror genres. As J.R. Roberts he is the creator and author of the long running series "The Gunsmith." He also wrote a created the Tracker, Angel Eyes, Bounty Hunter, Mountain Jack Pike, Widowmaker, Gamblers, Sons of Daniel Shaye and Ryder series. Born in Brooklyn, New York he currently resides in Clarksville, Missouri--a town of 500 people overlooking the Mississippi River--with writer "Christine Matthews."

Reasoner, James
james53@flash.net

I write novels and short stories for money (although I'll occasionally write a short story for a non-paying market if it's something I really want to do) and book and movie reviews for fun on my blog, which can be found at http://jamesreasoner.blogspot.com.  I started out as a mystery writer nearly 35 years ago and still work in that genre and others, but I've done more Westerns than anything else.  I've been married to best-selling, award-winning author, uncredited collaborator, editor, and plotter Livia J. Washburn for nearly 35 years.  (Note the similarity between the length of my marriage and the length of my writing career.  Coincidence?  I don't think so.)  We live in the same small town in Texas where we both grew up, although it's not so small anymore.  (We have a Wal-Mart now!)  After all these years, I still love to write and can't imagine doing anything else.  My website is www.jamesreasoner.net. 

Richards, Dusty
dustyrichards@cox.net
Dusty Richards went to those Saturday matinees with Gene, Roy and Hoppy.  He read every western book in the libraries despite his English teacher's complaints, and sold made up book reports to dumb boys in high school for a buck. "Guns On the Brazos" by T J Brown, the story of a Texas ranger who etc…  That was when 50 cents an hour was what you made working. Dusty has written over a hundred novels under his name and pseudonyms, books of short stories, several columns.  He won two Oklahoma Writers Federation books of the year, won a Spur for The Horse Creek Incident, and also an Amazon Short "Comanche Moon."  "The Sundown Chaser" was awarded the Cowboy Hall and Western Heritage Center's Wrangler Award. Book of The Year.  The Cowboy Symposium gave him the achievement award and he's in the Arkansas Writers Hall of Fame. Rodeo announced and has a gold card from the PRCA and the IPRA.  Dusty did lots of ranching, and held lots of auctions.  Doctored chickens for Tyson for 34 years, and was the morning man on radio for a dozen years and then TV anchor in W Arkansas/eastern Oklahoma for almost a decade. Pat and Dusty live on Beaver Lake in NW Arkansas.

Roderus, Frank
whizzer9@yahoo.com
I write book length and a VERY few short stories. Have been doing it full time now for more than 30 years (increedible!) and still love every minute of the doing. Before I started selling fiction I was a newspaper reporter. Used to raise Quarter Horses but now am a city boy. I have lived in the west, the midwest and briefly in Asia. Now I live in Spring Hill FL with my wonderful Filipina wife, four cats and a dog.

Sherman, Jory
jory@countrynet.net

Jory Sherman began his literary career as a poet in San Francisco’s famed North Beach in the late 1950s, during the heyday of the Beat Generation.  His poetry and short stories  were widely published in literary journals when he began writing commercial fiction.  He has won numerous awards for his poetry and prose and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in Letters for his novel, Grass Kingdom.  He won a Spur Award from Western Writers of America for The Medicine Horn.  He has also won a number of awards from the Missouri Writers Guild, and other organizations. Sherman was a book producer, packaging books for many major publishers, including Avon, Bantam, Berkley, Paperjacks, Pinnacle, Harlequin Gold Eagle, Zebra, and others.  His CHILL series of mysteries, published by Pinnacle, appeared in 14 countries.  He has published more than 400 books since 1965,  more than 1000 articles and 500 short stories.  In 1995, Sherman was inducted into the National Writer’s Hall of Fame.  He lived in the Ozarks for over 20 years, last making his home in Branson.  His writing regularly appears in The Ozarks Mountaineer and  Ozarks Monthly his latest collection of Ozarks pieces are in The Hills of Home, published by Hardshell Word Factory.  He now lives on a lake in northeast Texas.  His latest novels, The Dark Land,  Sunset Rider and Texas Dust were published by Berkley.  The first novel in his new series, THE OWLHOOT TRAIL, Abilene Gun Down was published by Pocket Books on June 1^wt, 2004.  He recently completed writing 2 new series for Berkley, THE VIGILANTE, and THE SAVAGE GUN. He also just completed writing a series for Harper Collins, THE SHADOW RIDER.   He wrote 2 novels under the name of his deceased friend, Ralph Compton: The Palo Duro Trail and The Ellsworth Trail for Signet.  His latest novel in The Baron series, THE BARON HONOR, , was published by Forge Books in January, 2005. His  collection of Ozarks short stories, published by AWOC in trade paperback, THE SADNESS OF AUTUMN.   Recently AWOC published two new short story collections, LITTLE JOURNEYS, with an introduction by Richard S. Wheeler, and SHADOWS OF YESTERYEAR, a collection of western stories with an introduction by Loren D. Estleman.  Jory painted the cover of The Alamo for this one. Sherman recently completed THE ABILENE TRAIL for Signet, a Ralph Compton Trail Drive book, SAVAGE VENGEANCE for Berkley, in his Savage Gun series, and DEATH RATTLE, also for Berkley, in his Sidewinder series. Literary critics consider Sherman to be among the top 5 of western writers, according to Dale Walker, historian.  Warren French, former professor of literature at the University of Florida, wrote that: “Jory Sherman has a strange and powerful knowledge of language and an almost perfect ear.” Sherman continues to write novels and short stories as well as conduct writing workshops.  He lives in Pittsburg, Texas with his wife, Charlotte.  www.jorysherman.com

Smith, Troy
troy_d_smith@hotmail.com
Troy Smith is from Sparta, Tennessee, and is currently at the University of Illinois where he teaches history and is finishing his doctorate. In addition to history, he writes short stories of all stripes, has written for several magazines, published poetry (but not lately), and writes western and mystery novels. He has been a lay preacher, high school teacher, and consummate floor waxer.

Charles Steel
cowboytales@juno.com
Charlie Steel, Tale-Weaver Extraordinaire:  Charlie Steel has put heart into countless dreams and brought them to life just as he has done with the people in his tales.  Steel has worked since early childhood and  held many jobs.  He has traveled widely, read voraciously, and obtained five academic degrees including a Ph.D.  He is the common man; he is the eccentric man.   Hunting, fishing and the solitude of the outdoors are his great loves.   This solitude provides him with the catalyst for many stories.  Charlie Steel lives on an isolated ranch at the base of Greenhorn Mountain in Southern Colorado.   (submitted by Condor Publishing, Inc.)  Web site:  www.charliesteel.net

Sweazy, Larry
larrysweazy@prodigy.net

I write novels and short stories.  Currently, I'm writing the Josiah Wolfe, Texas Ranger series for Berkley with two novels out, one in production, and one I'm in the middle of writing.  I also write non-fiction articles and book reviews.   Outside of writing, I'm also a full time freelance back of the book indexer.  I've indexed over 650 books in 12 years, covering a broad range of topics; religion, politics, business, and a ton of computer books for Pearson Education and Cengage.  I also volunteer weekly for a local bird rehabber, and my wife of 26 years, Rose, do everything from clean cages to feed the owls and hawks their daily rats.  I've held everything from a baby hummingbird all the way up to a bald eagle--which was one of the most amazing and scary experiences of my life. If I had more time, I'd blog, play guitar a lot better than I do, and spend more time outdoors with my camera, I live in Noblesville, Indiana, which is a suburb of Indianapolis, and I get out west as often I can.  I lived in Texas for five years, and still consider the state my second home--but they still consider me a Yankee. For more info about me check out my web site: www.larrydsweazy.com. I'm also the awards chair for WF, so if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. 

Vardeman, Robert

rvardeman451@comcast.net

I am about 250 titles shy of Bob Randisi's total because in the past decade or so I have slowed down to only 5 or 6 books a year. I've written in a couple western series (more than 100 titles in one since 1984--let me recommend Slocum and the Four Seasons, Slocum Along Rotten Row and Slocum and the James Gang, if you need something to read). I've published 10 or so epic westerns under the Karl Lassiter pen name and will launch a new name in February, Jackson Lowry, with the Sonora Noose. The other half of my novel length output has been f&sf, with a few mysteries, spy books (back in the day Randisi and I both wrote for the Nick Carter series) and high tech thrillers tossed in. I am currently hard at work on the video game tie-in for God of War 2.  Short stories, not so much, but I did have one in Lost Trails.  A considerable amount of my effort lately has been directed toward e-publication. I have a couple dozen on Kindle and iTunes, with the iPad being a new market as well as Kobobooks. My sf cronies and I spend an inordinate amount of time discussing e-this and e-that.  I live in Albuquerque and have for a very long stretch of my life. I used to build H-bombs for the government but decided writing was a lot more fun, if more dangerous work. My son is in his final year of college and doing far better than I ever did academically. I have two cats that look like furry tanks because I feed them too much and am currently smitten with that paragon of tech, the iPad.  Some day I hope to write a book half as good as most of those by James Reasoner. 

Vaughan, Robert
rvaug0575@aol.com
Between 350 to 400 books published under my own name and 42 pseudonyms. Among the more notable are: Brandywine’s War, an iconoclastic novel of the Vietnam War which was selected by the Canadian University Symposium of Vietnam Literature as best comic novel of the war.  This book is also a part of the Vietnam Studies program at Texas Tech University.  The Valkyrie Mandate which was about the assassination of President Diem, parts of which, were read into the Watergate Hearings.  The War Torn, a mini-series about WWII. Twenty-three Romance novels, writing as Paula Moore, Paula Fairman, and Patricia Matthews, with total sales of over fifteen million copies.  Two of these romance novels, Love’s Bold Journey, and Love’s Sweet Agony, were number one on the NYT and PW bestseller lists.  The American Chronicles – a decade by decade account of the 20^th century.  Published originally by Bantam, they are continuing to sell as “E-Reads” books.  The novel Andersonville, which was a television mini-series on TNT.  Wrote, produced, and appeared in the History Channel documentary Vietnam Homecoming..  Two hundred Westerns, mostly under pseudonyms. Personal History -  Served in the US Army for 23 years, with tours in Korea, Germany, and three combat tours in Vietnam.  Participated in the atmospheric  nuclear bomb tests in 1957, participated in the civil-rights deployment during the time of James Meredith’s enrollment at the University of Mississippi, was deployed to Homestead AFB as part of the potential invasion force during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Was a helicopter pilot during three tours in Vietnam, receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Purple Heart, The Bronze Star with three oak leaf clusters, the Air Medal for valor with 35 oak leaf clusters, the Army Commendation Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. During military career was selected as most outstanding military writer (for articles in Aviation Digest) six times.  Was on-air Television personality in Portsmouth, VA, and in Phoenix, AZ, and have been a national military consultant for FOX NEWS and CNN.

Washburn, L.J. (Livia)
livia@flash.net

Under the names Livia J. Washburn and L.J. Washburn, Livia Reasoner has been writing award-winning, critically acclaimed mystery, western, romance, and historical novels for almost thirty years.  She began to write in collaboration with her husband, author James Reasoner, and soon branched out into telling her own stories. Livia and James have had a long career working together, tweaking and editing each others stories. In addition to writing, Livia enjoys photography, arts, crafts, and cooking, but she also loves having a pile of lumber, a circular saw, and a building project.  An accomplished carpenter, she has framed houses and built more sets of bookshelves than she can remember, some of which have been filled with the books she’s written.  A good day for her includes having time to create something new in the kitchen, on a story, and in the garage. Livia lives in the Texas countryside with her husband, two daughters, and her dogs.  Her website can be found at www.liviawashburn.com, and she blogs when she can find the time at http://liviajwashburn.blogspot.com. 

West, Joseph A. (Joe)
JosephAWest@aol.com
During his checkered career, Joseph A. West has been a police officer, news reporter, editor and latterly Western scribe. As a reporter in the early 1970s, he had the dubious honor of being blown up twice in the same day by the IRA, and a week later getting his car shot up by a bent-out-of-shape sniper. Of course, it was nothing personal, just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. West lives in Lake Worth, Florida, with his wife Emily - a stern, 23rd generation Yankee - and their three cats. He has one daughter, Alexandria, who is a better writer and much smarter than he is. Born and raised in Scotland, he loves haggis, whiskey, the 1911 pistol, SASS and his wife. Not necessarily in that order. 
  

Western Trail Blazer/Rebecca J. Vickery
Patron Western Fictioneers Deputy
http://westerntrailblazer.yolasite.com/
 Western Trail Blazer is an Independent Publisher with a love of stories of the American West. Founded in June 2010, by Rebecca J. Vickery with the help of Cover Design Artist, Laura Shinn, our mission is to help revive and rejuvenate the Western genre. By assisting authors one-on-one, providing a quality product, and making our books affordable to our readers, we seek to encourage the love of Westerns in an entirely new generation using the latest technology available.

Charles T. Whipple is a native of Arizona who resides in Chiba, Japan. Whipple writes fiction and nonfiction. His articles have appeared in many magazines, including Time, Newsweek, Honolulu magazine,  Tokyo Journal, Cruising World, Boating New Zealand, Sport Diver, and more. His nonfiction books include Seeing Japan, Inspired Shapes, and several in Japanese. He writes western novels under the pen name of Chuck Tyrell for Robert Hale Ltd.'s Black Horse Westerns line, contributed short stories to the Express Western anthologies Where Legends Ride and A Fistful of Legends. He also co-edited the latter volume with Nik Morton. He has won prizes for both advertising and journalism, and received the Agave Award in the Oaxaca International Literature Competition in 2010. Whipple was a lifetime member of the now-defunct National Association for Outlaw and Lawman History. He is a current member of Arizona Authors Association, Western Writers of America, American Society of Journalists and Authors, Tauranga Writers Inc., and, of course, Western Fictioneers. Whipple is married, has one wife, two sons, four daughters, almost 18 grandchildren, and one dog. He is fluent in spoken and written Japanese, and understands many forms of English. His Tokyo-based company prepares English-language corporate literature for clients in Japan.

Williams, Les
Leswilliams1@windstream.net
I live in Lincoln, Nebraska with my wife Phyllis Maurer and one irritable cat. My writing conists of short stories, reminiscing pieces for local books, and a column( A Senior Moment) for our local seniors paper.

Woolard, James R.
ozarkred@roadrunner.com
Fascinated by his father's tales of the frontier, Jim Woolard earned a doctorate researching the early history of Kentucky and Ohio. Jim’s goal in writing historical fiction is to accurately portray frontier life in the form of personal memoirs. His first novel, Thunder in the Valley, won the 1996 Western Writers of America’s Medicine Pipe Award for best first novel and the 1996 Spur Award for best original paperback novel.  Winds of Autumn, Cold Moon, and Blood at Dawn followed Thunder in the Valley.  Jim recently completed Feathered Tide, a major novel based on the River Raisin Massacre and the first siege of Fort Meigs during the War of 1812.  Jim also writes young adult novels. Recent publications include: Colorado Sam, an adventure/murder mystery featuring a huge dog and a young man in great danger set in 1891 Alamosa, Colorado.  Jersey Red, the story of a runt redbone coonhound that helps a young man find the courage to confront the school bully and uphold his family’s good name.  Ozark Red, a novel about a father, his estranged son and the champion coonhound that reunites them.  Jim was born in central Ohio, the setting for Jersey Red and Ozark Red. Most in the events in Ozark Red actually occurred in Jim’s teenage years with his father, a policeman and county dog warden who bred and hunted redbone coonhounds.  Jim resides in Newark, Ohio, with his wife, Nancy, and Monty, a cavalier King Charles spaniel. He spends much time prowling the historical sites, museums and national forests of Ohio and northern Kentucky researching future frontier novels.