This is a Grey O’Donnell story, telling the tale of how he became a bounty hunter in the first place! My momma always told me that sometimes you just have to treat yourself to a little slice of luxury. I told myself that as I sat on the veranda of the general store, where a travelling barber […]
Short stories make excellent writing samples
I posted a few weeks ago that the newest Bloody Parchment anthology of short stories, Beachfront Starter Home, Good Bones was forthcoming. I can now announce that it’s available to buy! You can grab it from Amazon for the Kindle, or if you have an EPUB reader then head over to Smashwords. At £2.80 for twelve […]
What happens if you put zombies in a Western?
It sounds like the start of a bad joke, doesn’t it – what do you get if you put zombies in a Western? Answer? To Kill A Dead Man! In all seriousness, zombies in a Western aren’t such a strange proposition. The weird Western has been around since the days of Robert E. Howard, and […]
What’s the appeal of the Western?
The appeal of the Western lies partly in the scenery. Think of gunfights and horse chases, played out against a dramatic backdrop like Monument Valley or the plains of Kansas. Picture the railroad, curving through the landscape, while cowboys drive cattle across the wide open plains. All very epic, yeah? By contrast, I grew up in Newcastle upon Tyne, […]
Does The Revenant score points for the Western?
You’d think I’d have been over the moon to see Leonardo DiCaprio in a Western, and I had really high hopes that The Revenant would be phenomenal. The trailers certainly promised as much. But sadly… The Revenant is BRUTAL It’s not an enjoyable film, it’s an endurance test. I’ve seen other reviewers toss around the […]
How to write a Western from the UK
When The Guns of Retribution was first published, I got quite a few questions from prospective readers who wanted to know if it was a Western, or an adventure story, or a pulp tale. Really, it’s all three. I actually started describing it as a pulp adventure in the Old West, just to cover those […]
