C.G. Faulkner's Blog, page 4
January 19, 2017
Old West Groups on Facebook
I’d like to share with my readers some of the very interesting groups on facebook that I have joined that concern the Old West. You will find some good information, as well as very friendly folks, there.
Legends of the Old West
https://www.facebook.com/groups/724363704322984/
Christian Westerns
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Christianwestern/
Explorers of the Old West
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Explorersoftheoldwest/
Western Fictioneers
https://www.facebook.com/groups/160537787363259/
Old West Legends
https://www.facebook.com/groups/204190439914193/
Western Writers of America, Inc.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/46367269246/
Cowboy Classifieds
https://www.facebook.com/CowboyClassifiedsCom-211092009082
Legends of America
https://www.facebook.com/LegendsOfAmerica
January 18, 2017
Recommended Western Books
In addition to great Western Movies and TV, of course I enjoy Western novels (in addition to my own). I’d like to share a few of my favorites that you’d probably like, even if you’ve already seen them on film:
‘Lonesome Dove’ by Larry McMurtry; the epic story of two old Texas Rangers leading a cattle drive.
‘The Lawless’ by John Jakes; the Western volume in the multi-generational Kent Family Story.
‘Hondo’ by Louis L’Amour; one of the earliest, and best of the master of Western stories.
‘Shane’ by Jack Schaefer; a great story.
‘The Virginian’ by Owen Wister; one of the earliest realistic Western stories, written in 1902.
‘Last Stand at Saber River’ by Elmore Leonard; excellent Western by one our greatest writers.
‘True Grit’ by Charles Portis; some of the most entertaining dialogue ever put on paper.
‘The Rebel Outlaw: Josey Wales’ by Forrest Carter, a gritty revenge Western, and a major inspiration for me.
There are many more I could recommend, but these are a good start, I think.
Happy Trails (and Reading!),
C.G. Faulkner
January 17, 2017
The Tom Fortner Trilogy Book Trailers
My daughter, a talented young filmmaker, has created some excellent trailers to help promote The Tom Fortner Trilogy. These can be viewed on the YouTube links below. Please take a look!
Book Trailers
My daughter, a talented young filmmaker, has created some excellent trailers to help promote the Tom Fortner Trilogy. These can be viewed on the Youtube links below. Please take a look!
January 7, 2017
Author’s Note ‘Unrepentant’
Author’s Note
The American Old West was a dangerous place, overrun with lawlessness, which is reflected in this story, the darkest of the trilogy. But it was also a place of hope and dreams of a better life, which I believe is the note that it ends on.
Obviously, John ‘Jack’ Brown Cain is a fictional character. John Brown the extremist abolitionist was, of course, real, and was said to have had 20 or so children. It’s certainly believable he had some that were illegitimate, and would carry on his mad ways, and see themselves as modern day ‘prophets’ as their father did. Many new and unorthodox religious movements popped up in the 1800s, and doomsdayers were not unusual, though of course, the death cult of the fanatic Cain’s is just a creation of my imagination. There are links below to some of the historical references in the story.
This concludes the adventures of Tom Fortner, for now. Next I will be releasing a story for children, and then a trilogy concerning Cold War CIA Agent Jeff Fortner, who happens to be Tom’s great-great grandson. Don’t worry, the three in-between generations will be filled in eventually. Please follow me to this different, but equally action-packed, change in genre. Thank you for reading!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_prophet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomsday_cult
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxim_gun
December 29, 2016
My First Author ‘Interview’
C.G. Faulkner
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have been creatively writing since childhood. I have written 6 novels as an adult (working on 7) along with a collection of short stories and a children’s book. I have only just begun to publish.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Unreconstructed-A Story of the Old West is my newest release. I have always wanted to write a Post-Civil War Western, and one day I sat down with a pad and started it.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really; occasionally I will write in my barn, or on the front porch, or on break at work. You can take a notepad anywhere.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Bernard Cornwell, Ian Fleming, Tom Clancy, Jeff Shaara, Elmore Leonard…to name just a few.
What are you working on now?
A World War Two Spy Thriller, part of the Fortner Family Saga.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Still learning what works…
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write! Write what you know,and what entertains you and your family.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
When my wife told me to self publish on Amazon after 8 years of rejection letters from New York agents.
What are you reading now?
Wool, by Hugh Howey
What’s next for you as a writer?
To keep on with what I am doing, and see where it goes.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Bible, A James Bond book, Patriot Games by Tom Clancy, and my own books on a kindle!
Author Websites and Profiles
C.G. Faulkner Website
C.G. Faulkner Amazon Profile
C.G. Faulkner’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account
December 18, 2016
Author’s Note ‘Undaunted’
Author’s Note
The American cowboy is an icon of our country, perhaps our most famous one. I truly enjoyed writing this story about them, and their most arduous task, a cattle drive. To anyone in these modern times that may have trouble rounding up their dog, cat, or children, the idea of herding thousands of cows across thousands of miles of some of the harshest terrain on the continent may seem almost impossible, but it was done many times. After the War Between the States, when the demand for beef skyrocketed, cattle drives became commonplace.
Of course, along with the cattle drives and western expansion, there came the age of the outlaw, and the greedy cattle baron; as well as the gunslinger- such as Bill Hickock, the lawman- like Wyatt Earp, and the scout- like my fictional Cherokee White Cloud. All of these colorful types of characters populated the west, along with the common cowboy and small rancher that dreamed of greater fortune, like Tom Fortner and his friends.
Also, the William Holland Thomas Legion was real, and my ancestor, Lucius Wilburn Allen served in it.
There are links below for further reading for some historical backdrop to all of this. Thomas Jefferson Fortner will return, to face a demon of his past, in the conclusion of his trilogy, ‘Unrepentant’.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle_drives_in_the_United_States
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_war
http://thomaslegioncherokee.tripod.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle_drives_in_the_United_States
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_%26_Wesson_Model_3
December 7, 2016
Author’s Note ‘Unreconstructed’
Author’s Note
I have always loved Western movies. The frontier exploits of John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Gary Cooper from the 1930s on, and later, Clint Eastwood and Tom Selleck have been some of my favorite movie cowboys. And on television, Gunsmoke and Bonanza. These are all just a few examples. I think most Westerns show fictional American Heroes at their best: independent, rugged, determined, and living by a code. I always wanted to write a ‘revenge’ Western, and to me, a Southerner who lost his family and home to the war is one of the best reasons for revenge. There are many movie examples of this, but ‘The Outlaw Josey Wales’ (1976) with Clint Eastwood, is probably the best.
So, in 2008, I sat down on my break at work with a steno pad and started writing ‘Unreconstructed’. The story just flowed from the pen. Then, I thought of a spy story (the upcoming ‘Edge of Reality’) and I thought, why not a multigenerational saga? I had recently been reading John Jakes’ Kent Family Series, and was inspired. So I wrote the Tom and Jeff Fortner Trilogies, and am now working on filling in the three generations in-between.
Some historical notes: The quotes I included at the beginning of this book, I think, perfectly exemplify what I was attempting to say in the story; whatever the reasons, Lincoln was a hypocrite to pursue War on fellow Americans, as a matter of domestic policy to enforce his will on sovereign States. And, after he honorably surrendered, Lee later saw that the period following the War had become not a reconstruction, but a period of punishment, to remind the Southern States who was in charge, by any means necessary- the Federal Government. I don’t write this now as someone who wished the War had gone differently. Just reporting the facts, as I see them. History is a series of struggles for power, sometimes your side wins, and sometimes it loses. Time marches on. It’s the individual stories that are most interesting, anyway.
Tom Fortner was inspired by a combination of all of my favorite Western Heroes, and of course a bit of myself and my attitudes, but there was a real-life figure I learned about after writing the story, whose life was somewhat similar. Joseph O. Shelby was a Confederate Cavalry General from Kentucky that didn’t immediately surrender after the war. He and his men went to Mexico, and a post-war anthem was written about them, ‘The Unreconstructed Rebel’. Shelby eventually came back, and later became a U.S. Marshal.
Colonel Slaughter, was of course, created as a lunatic version of Sherman, Sheridan, and the rest of the more brutal Union officers.
Reconstruction was a hard time for many Southern civilians, and as during the War, injustices and atrocities occurred. There are links below for further reading for some historical backdrop to all of this. Thomas Jefferson Fortner will return, to lead an epic cattle drive, in ‘Undaunted’.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1868
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavalry_Corps,_Army_of_Northern_Virginia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colt_1851_Navy_Revolver
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roan_(horse)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_O._Shelby
http://www.scv.org/curriculum/part13.htm
Welcome!
Hello, and welcome to my page. Here you will find the latest information regarding my writings, which are published on the amazon kindle. My author site there, where you will find my most recent publications, is:
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First blog post
Hello, and welcome to my page. Here you will find the latest information regarding my writings, which are published on the amazon kindle. My author site there, where you will find my most recent publications, is:
Thank you for your interest, and please check back often for new information.
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