New Western on the Horizon

It's been just about a year since I last blogged. A stretch, I know. During this time, however, I've mostly been in the Chiricahua Mountains in S.E. Arizona. Besides dodging illegal immigrants slipping through my campsite, I've been exploring the area in depth, as this is the setting of my newest novel, Canyon of Death.

Canyon of Death will be published by Moonlight Mesa Associates, and should be in print this summer. The book will be reviewed by Western Fiction Review and MidWest Book Review for sure. My publisher told me that both of these sources have asked to review my books, so I'm pretty honored by that.

Anyway, back to the Chiricahuas. I never thought it would be necessary that I'd have to travel in my own country carrying a weapon for protection. As a result of the bloodshed and shooting, I often did not camp off by myself like usual, but instead camped in closer vicinity to other people. This was not just for my personal safety, but I wanted to be able to come back and find my pick-up, horse trailer, and extra horse still there in camp.

I probably saw more border patrol agents than actual smugglers and immigrants, but I saw plenty of both.

Canyon of Death is the third book in the Jake Silver trilogy. (The other two titles are Saving Tom Black and Apache.) It won't be the last Jake Silver book, however. I've recently committed to three more books for Moonlight Mesa. Probably one a year if I can discipline myself. We have no firm agreement, however, that the books must all deal with Jake Silver. They just must all be Westerns. That sounds like a win-win agreement to me!!

I've also done a lot of book events this past year. I try to show up wherever the publisher travels and I sign books at the events. I'll be at Mule Days in Bishop, CA., most of the week since no other authors are able to make it. I intend on watching the mule show, too, since I now own a mule! My publisher is partly responsible for this. She said I couldn't use a mule in the book if I didn't know diddly squat about them. (She's particular about these things.)My mule's name is Wild Bill. Named him after the mule in my new book.

Besides a book a year, I'm now going to try to write a blog a month. I know, that's a real stretch for me. I'm not much into this social media stuff, but I'm going to give it a shot. My goal is, let's see, I need to make it something reasonable, how about 15 minutes a day. I think I can manage that!

Next time I write I should have a better idea about the next book. Meanwhile, look for Canyon of Death this summer. The publisher is going to be offering a special on the three books.