WHERE SELDOM IS HEARD A DISCOURAGING WORD ...

In the past couple of weeks, my work in the Western genre has garnered some very encouraging words from a variety of sources.

Such as:

Wayne D. Dundee (see Righteous Reading) has been nominated for more awards than you could imagine, but few know that he was the innovator in giving new writers their chance to be read ... a little magazine called Hardboiled that was hand-typed, mimeographed, and mailed with stamps. Yeah, that was eons ago ... all the way back to 1985. Even ... wait for it ... before the Internet. But although Wayne made his bones with so-called "PI fiction," his real love has always been the West. And now, with the publication of Dismal River, Big Wayne is where he belongs, and doing it just right. Anyone who believes there's no such genre as "Hardboiled Western" would be well-advised to check it out for themselves.

From: Andrew Vachss's web site The Zero (http://www.vachss.com) 8-03-11 Update.

I've mentioned here before that Wayne Dundee's DISMAL RIVER is one of the best Westerns I've read in a long time, and now he has a new Western e-book out, THE GRAVE OF MARCUS PAULY. It's a really fine story, too, with sharply drawn characters, some very evocative writing about the frontier landscape, and a poignant sense of melancholy about the passing of time and people's dreams. Plus some excellent action scenes and a very powerful ending. All in all, this is a splendid piece of work, as we've come to expect from Wayne Dundee. Highly recommended.

From: James Reasoner's blog, Rough Edges (http://jamesreasoner.blogspot.com)

James was also gracious enough to post a 5-Star review for The Grave of Marcus Pauly on Amazon.

What an outstanding first western novel by hardboiled great, Wayne D. Dundee. Here's hoping he turns his masterful skills to another novel in this genre.

From: A 5-Star review for DISMAL RIVER posted on Amazon by David Cranmer — a busy and talented guy who heads up the fine web zine Beat To A Pulp (http://www.beattoapulp.com) and blogs at http://davidcranmer.blogspot.com

These kind and very gratifying statements, coming on top of the Peacemaker Award from Western Fictioneers back in June from my 2010 Western short story "This Old Star", certainly make me feel like I have turned down the right trail by venturing into the Western genre, as I have long wanted to do.

I am deeply appreciative.

(Personal note: This does not mean, however, that I will be abandoning my old pal Joe Hannibal—the two of us still have plenty of trails to go down together as well. The link between the hardboiled "tarnished knights" of the early 1900s pulp era and the hard-bitten Western heroes of the late 1800s dime novels has been well documented by numerous sources … Joe is merely a descendant of both traditions, so there really is no conflict at all.)

 Persevere --- WD