Weird Westerns discussion

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message 1: by Justin (new)

Justin (justinbienvenue) | 345 comments Hey Everyone!
I know it's been a long time since this group has talked and discussed. I'd love to get things going again. See if anyone has had luck finding an audience, has new books or or projects they'd like to share. I'd love to see a revival of this group to talk shop!


message 2: by Justin (new)

Justin (justinbienvenue) | 345 comments I just revised my western horror from 2013, I'm planning on writing two more western horror books in the future and I'd love to see this group liven up again! No more tumbleweeds I wanna see and hear those guns go off!


message 3: by Andy (new)

Andy DeJong | 9 comments Cool of you to get the fire started again. I wrote my first weird western in 2018. I didn't promote it or anything at the time. I had just planned on it being something for friends and relatives to see. Being very green, I didn't think I needed an editor, so I went without (I know, terrible mistake, but I learned my lesson the hard way). I shoved that book out of my mind and forgot about it and chalked it up to a learning experience gone wrong.

Anyway, I finally had it edited recently and decided to promote it on Freebooksy and Bookraid. I ended up moving about 1600 copies between the two, which for me was fantastic. Maybe that is low to other people, but I felt pretty excited about it considering I had about 200 copies move the previous 3 years. I have gotten about a dozen new ratings and a review, which has lit the weird west fire back up for me. I have an outline done for a sequel and have gotten to work on the first draft. The goal is to get it done and out before the end of the year. The Kindle Vella has been a bit of a distraction for me though, as I have started a project for that. Are you going to give that a try? Also what projects are you currently working on?


message 4: by Justin (new)

Justin (justinbienvenue) | 345 comments Hey Andy, thanks for sharing your story. I think we all sometimes tend to put stories on the backburner only to remember them years later and ask ourselves why we ever pushed them aside. Glad your getting back into the story and are writing a sequel.

I love your covers and titles on here, very interesting.

I just recently published my 7th novel which is the second book of a gothic horror series. I plan on publishing a book of short stories at the end of the year. Im currently working on a Steampunk novel novel and will be getting back to weird westerns with a western horror about a train robbery gone wrong.

I've seen Kindle Vella and it sounds interesting. With as many projects as I have going on one would think I could give it a try right?


message 5: by Andy (new)

Andy DeJong | 9 comments Yeah I think you should give Vella a try. Good thing about doing it when it starts is getting in at the beginning when it is less saturated with stories and hopefully be easier to get noticed. I plan on doing 5 to 10 episodes at the beginning and see if it pans out. Worst case scenario is nothing comes of it and then you can just pull your work off it and rework what you have into a regular novel. No idea when amazon plans on starting it though. I would assume in the next month or two.


message 6: by Justin (new)

Justin (justinbienvenue) | 345 comments Good idea I may just do that.


message 7: by Justin (new)

Justin (justinbienvenue) | 345 comments Still hoping this group gets a few more people to be more lively. I even thought of a way for us to become more active on here.


message 8: by audrey (last edited Jun 23, 2021 04:38AM) (new)

audrey (oddmonster) | 108 comments Justin wrote: "Still hoping this group gets a few more people to be more lively. I even thought of a way for us to become more active on here."

Would love to see this group be more active! Hit us up with the idea.

ETA: Ah, just seeing the other notifications for this group. Is your idea the one over in the Authors thread?


message 9: by Justin (new)

Justin (justinbienvenue) | 345 comments Yes that is also me lol


message 10: by Joe (new)

Joe Kilmartin (papajoemambo) | 1 comments I just joined in myself, having recently asked myself why I've not read any Joe Lansdale yet and not being able to answer that satisfactorily.

Howdy Everyone!


message 11: by Justin (new)

Justin (justinbienvenue) | 345 comments Hey Joe! Welcome!


message 12: by Justin (new)

Justin (justinbienvenue) | 345 comments Hey everyone! Since I tried to revive this group last year I am once again trying to revive..or rather now resurrect this group from its dormant state. One reason is that I feel like a lot of us are still itching to make this genre work and all we need is that one thing(whatever that might be) to get the tumbleweed ball rolling once more. One thing that makes me want to get things rolling again in this group is that if you've ever seen the western horror/weird west category on Amazon you'll see that it's particularly low. So low that I feel we could(we all got together) we could really start making some sales on our books and see our books climb to the top of the Western Horror fiction category.

I myself am currently working on my second western horror novel, Brimstone Express. I've written 9 books since my first western horror and wanted to go back to my roots and I think I found just the right tale to do it with.
I am also doing a revamp of my 1st western horror, A Bloody Bloody Mess in the Wild Wild West. I've added editorial reviews, changed certain information in the book, and also changed the cover from glossy to matte. Not big changes but they will help me sleep better at night knowing I took the effort to make these changes. I would even love to get a few more reviews for it over on Amazon so it's in tip-top shape when I run ads on it I might actually start getting sales.

So that's why I'm back on here. Besides the fact that I myself am back on the saddle and looking to get back into the genre, I feel like a lot of us have taken this group for granted as we may be a small genre and group but there is so much potential for it and for us. I think the sky is the limit when it comes to weird west fiction.


message 13: by Justin (new)

Justin (justinbienvenue) | 345 comments I am still very much(as poker players would say) all-in on resurrecting this group or at the very least staying active in it to express my ideas and thoughts on the genre. Seeing as I'm currently writing my second-ever weird western and I just re-launched my first, I feel it's only fitting that I go to where I know the genre gets talked about and where there are people.

So just as I said, I shall be here, willing to talk shop and share ideas with any fellow member.


message 14: by John (last edited Apr 27, 2023 05:07AM) (new)

John | 142 comments I'm currently writing a short story set in my "Ghost Marshal" universe, to be used as a free reader magnet for my mailing list (together with a bio of Wild Bill Hickok that I currently offer). My goal this year is to finish up the Ghost Marshal trilogy of novels, or at least come close. I have the final two books all outlined now and ready to go. I also have a 4th book to produce if sales ramp up.


message 15: by han (new)

han (hanhantap) | 1 comments First time posting in the group! I'm Hannah and I am a new reader of Westerns. I found this group while finishing my first playthrough of Red Dead Redemption 2 and was looking for things to take up some of that pent-up angst and grief following the end of the game. I have read a few alternative Westerns since then, as the traditional Westerns can be...dated, to say the least, and do not find much room for BIPOC, women, or queer folks.

Some of these books include:

Ceremony
How Much of These Hills Is Gold: A Novel
Butcher's Crossing

I would love to read some of the stories and novels that this group has written. I am also trying to get more into steampunk and sci-fi/fantasy and thought this would be a great way to mix that with my newfound love of the Western genre.


message 16: by Justin (new)

Justin (justinbienvenue) | 345 comments John wrote: "I'm currently writing a short story set in my "Ghost Marshal" universe, to be used as a free reader magnet for my mailing list (together with a bio of Wild Bill Hickok that I currently offer). My g..."

Hey John, that sounds like a good idea. I'm assuming you have a good mailing list then if you're giving them a short story. I need to read Ghost Marshal then before I'm way behind lol. Best of luck to you!


message 17: by Justin (new)

Justin (justinbienvenue) | 345 comments Han wrote: "First time posting in the group! I'm Hannah and I am a new reader of Westerns. I found this group while finishing my first playthrough of Red Dead Redemption 2 and was looking for things to take up..."

Hi Han, Welcome! Yeah, we are a friendly kind of people, well at least I think we all are lol. Yeah, playing Red Dead Redemption tends to put people in the weird western/western horror-type mood. There's lots of authors here to read and a lot of great books to read as well.

Steampunk is always fun as well. I'm actually attending a Steampunk festival in my town this Saturday which I'm looking forward to.


message 18: by John (new)

John | 142 comments Justin wrote: "John wrote: "I'm currently writing a short story set in my "Ghost Marshal" universe, to be used as a free reader magnet for my mailing list (together with a bio of Wild Bill Hickok that I currently..."

Good luck with Brimstone Express. That'll be a fun project to work on this summer.


message 19: by audrey (new)

audrey (oddmonster) | 108 comments Han wrote: "First time posting in the group! I'm Hannah and I am a new reader of Westerns. I found this group while finishing my first playthrough of Red Dead Redemption 2 and was looking for things to take up..."

Hi Han! Welcome!

If you're looking for some steampunk-flavored weird westerns that feature BIPOC, women, and queer characters, I totally recommend The God Eaters (I loved it; one of my favorite books in any genre), Cherie Priest's Boneshaker series, Sarah Gailey's River of Teeth, and Seanan McGuire's Boneyard.

And I would love any recommendations you could shoot my way of a similar flavor!


message 20: by Justin (new)

Justin (justinbienvenue) | 345 comments John wrote: "Justin wrote: "John wrote: "I'm currently writing a short story set in my "Ghost Marshal" universe, to be used as a free reader magnet for my mailing list (together with a bio of Wild Bill Hickok t..."

Thank you. I'm currently on chapter 4 so it will likely take me into the summer to write.


message 21: by Justin (new)

Justin (justinbienvenue) | 345 comments audrey wrote: "Han wrote: "First time posting in the group! I'm Hannah and I am a new reader of Westerns. I found this group while finishing my first playthrough of Red Dead Redemption 2 and was looking for thing..."

Boneshaker is such a great book. I still gotta read the rest in the series. Also Mike Resnick's Weird West Tales series is really good. I've read 3/4 of them so far.


message 22: by audrey (new)

audrey (oddmonster) | 108 comments Justin wrote: "Also Mike Resnick's Weird West Tales series is really good. I've read 3/4 of them so far."

I had totally never heard of this series, and now it's on my TBR list. I think there might also have The Other Teddy Roosevelts somewhere. I'm not sure it "qualifies" as weird west, though.


message 23: by Justin (new)

Justin (justinbienvenue) | 345 comments Glad I could help lol. I added The Other Teddy Roosevelts. Idk if it's weird west but sounds interesting.


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