Friday, October 28, 2011

Rejected Books that Became Bestsellers

Jill Harness reports at Flavorwire that these are ten huge bestsellers that were originally rejected numerous times. She writes, "Anyone who has ever wanted to work in a creative field, be it writing, painting or playing music has been told they better develop thick skin. After all, it doesn't matter how good you are, someone will always be there to tear you down. It's hard to think of a better example of this than to look at some rejected books that would later become some of the best-selling titles in the world."

Read her complete article

Thursday, October 27, 2011

What Would the Founders Think? reviews Leadville


What fun!  It’s no wonder that Jim is as popular as he is on Amazon and that readers clamor for him to release his next installment of his Steve Dancy western series.  I recently had a business trip to the east coast and downloaded Leadville and Murder at Thumb Butte to read on the trip.   On the way out, I read another book, which, while entertaining, wasn’t nearly as good.  On the way back, a 5.5 hour flight, I read this fast-paced, fun book and half of Murder at Thumb Butte.  I was almost wishing that the flight were longer! 

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Mr. Madison Writes a Letter to Mr. Jefferson

Prior to championing a Bill of Rights in the First Congress, James Madison wrote a revealing letter to Thomas Jefferson in October of 1788. Interestingly, much of the letter was written in a secret code only the two of them shared. The following extract from the letter gives insight into Madison's mindset and the thinking of many of the Founders.


Read the full article

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Western Fiction Review reviews The Shopkeeper


"With all the plot developments the story has a natural fast pace and before I knew it I had reached the end, leaving me wanting to read the next in the series."

Read Full Review

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Saddle Up ! Denver Post article on resurgence of Westerns on TV

Joanne Ostrow writes a article summarizing television networks new fascination with the Western genre.

"The rugged individualism of myth, the challenge of uncharted territory, the bad sanitation and awful racial stereotypes ... the TV Western is back in the saddle."

Read more ...

Read related article on popularity of Westerns

Thursday, October 6, 2011

2nd Annual Avondale Writers Conference

I will be presenting at the 2nd Annual Avondale Writers Conference in Avondale, Arizona. The title of my talk is How to Get Your Book Published: No Nonsense Advice. The all-day conference is on Saturday October 29th, starting with registration at 8:00 AM. I'm refining my presentation during down moments on my road trip. We've driven from Las Vegas to Salt Lake. City. Great country, great company. Next stop, Butte, Mo.
Conference Link

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Road Trip!

On Tuesday, my wife and I fly to Las Vegas to meet friends with a diesel pusher. From there, we'll drive through Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Nebraska, and then we'll fly home from Omaha at the end of the month. No agenda, no wake-up calls, and only occasional peeks at email. Good friends and the open road in my favorite part of the country. This is gonna be fun. Film at eleven.