professional science fiction and dark fantasy writer
Gemma Files is the weird west author of A Book of Tongues, one of the novels included in the weird west StoryBundle which a reader can purchase at a very low price. I had the opportunity to interview Gemma recently and she was kind enough to allow me to post it on my blog. I …
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My weird west novel HAXAN has been included as part of a StoryBundle where wide frontiers, flintlocks, whiskey and revenge meet swords, airships, terraforming, magic, myths, and dragons. There are lots of great writers here working in all kinds of worlds filled with wonder, horror, magic, and the bloody violence of the Old West. It's …
"Fiction writer Kenneth Mark Hoover discusses his love for the true Old American West in literature, not the one born of Hollywood clichés, but the historically rich and fascinating one that is so often forgotten." --Sunnyhuckle Mark here. My latest article "Showdown at the Cliché Corral" is featured on Sunnyhuckle Magazine. Once again I take …
Continue reading "“Showdown at the Cliche Corral” Live at Sunnyhuckle Magazine"
While I was attending SoonerCon a week or so ago a writer friend relayed a conversation she had with a family member. She said the uncle stated he liked to watch westerns because "they were real." She proceeded to tell him, No, they were not real, but only Hollywood's version of the Old West. What …
Wow, this was unexpected but great news. I will be attending the Texas Library Association conference in San Antonio on April 8 and doing Haxan promos for CZP. I will be at the Diamond Book Distributors booth, probably handing out Haxan postcards or something and talking to people. CZP is also thinking if they download …
Continue reading "I’m attending the Texas Library Association for CZP Haxan promos!"
*Press elevator stop button. Cage jerks to a halt.* "I can sum the novel up pretty fast. Jorge Luis Borges said man will one day resign himself to new abominations, and that soon only bandits and soldiers will be left. Which is why I'm going to beat the living shit out of you right now." …
The Best of Frontier Tales, edited by Duke Pennell, has been out a while and I wanted to let you guys know about it. Every story was chosen by readers as the best of that month. I have a Haxan story in there, but I really wanted you to check out the rest of the …
My schedule for ArmadilloCon has arrived. These are the panels I will be attending as a guest. If I am not mistake there will also be a reading and probably signing scheduled as well, but I don't have the times for that yet. When I get them I will list them as well. Fr1800SB …
I guess one of the things that surprises me most is how easy it is to come up with ideas for stories. I wrote about this before. I used to be worried I would never have enough story ideas when I began to write. Now I have too many. I suppose that's growth of a …
Continue reading "In Search of Bold Story Ideas…and settling on the warm safety of cliche."
I have learned I am now eligible for membership in Western Writers of America. I already belong to the Science Fiction Writers of America and Horror Writers of America. Therein lies the problem. Do I need to become a member of another professional writing organization? I am also eligible for the Mystery Writers of America. …
Continue reading "In Which I Opine (whine) about Joining Professional Writer Organizations"
One of my Haxan stories published by Frontier Tales last year will be included in a Best Of" anthology TBA. This is great news for me and one I am happy to share. I'll let you know the date of publication and so forth when I get the word. I'm excited about this. 🙂
My review of the novel Little Big Man by Thomas Berger has been published by The Western Online. Here's the link, and I hope you enjoy reading what I have to say about this classic work. I tried to approach the review from the orientation of both an armchair historian and a writer working in …
Continue reading "Little Big Man: A Classic Novel of Lies and Counter-Lies in the Old West"
More photographs from my research trip. Everything I saw was beneficial. I doubt I will use all this information in the novel, but it's always better to have it and not need it, right? (the bodies were moved when the fort closed down, but this is the original site)
While I was visiting Fort Griffin I heard a story about a man called John Larn. He worked for Bill Hayes. In 1872 Hayes went to New Mexico with a herd of cattle expecting Larn to watch his stock at Fort Griffin. Larn rebranded the cattle as his own. When Hayes got back he discovered …
Continue reading "Doorway to the Past: The Bush Knob Massacre and the Larn Wall"
I didn't expect to stop at Fort Richardson. I meant to visit later in the year or early next year, but imagine my surprise when we were driving and I came upon it. So I thought, why not stop? While nothing in the new novel happens at Fort Richardson I knew it would be helpful …
Continue reading "Fort Richardson: First stop on the research trip"
Forget everything you know, or think you know, about Matt Dillon and Kitty and Doc. This radio series which ran for nine years was meant to be an adult-oriented western that broke the mold and challenged the archetypal Western hero. The creators, Norman MacDonnell and John Meston wanted to shatter all Western stereotypes. They were …
Continue reading "Gunsmoke: “I will not tolerate a disturbance. You know me.”"
Here are some preliminary pictures from the trip to Fort Griffin and Fort Richardson. It was exactly what I was looking for as far as the novel goes. I will post a lot more pictures throughout the week.
One of the things you learn when you research the Old West is how utterly violent it was. It is this long red light, the murderous plain of humanity if you will, that I want to talk about today. From genocide to rape to murder to shotgun blasts from an alleyway into someone's back to …
On this date in 1881, around 3.00 pm, a gunfight occurred which lasted less than thirty seconds. Oh, and for the record, it never happened in the OK Corral but on Fremont Street. Well, that's history for you, always getting in the way with facts and verifiable evidence. I mean, who wants to read about …
Continue reading "Gunfight at the OK Corral – A Retrospective in Three Movies"
About three years ago I read the first 100 pages of Pride and Prejudice and then I bailed. I was taking some very heavy damage from several hardened missile silos down below me. I had lost all aileron control and the self-sealing fuel tanks, well, were no longer self-sealing. I had to eject fast or …
Continue reading "Pride and Prejudice: If People Were Ants We Wouldn’t Need Stories"
Hoover's Corner 