Ron Scheer, at his always excellent blog, Buddies in the Saddle, has honored me with a fine, in-depth review of my novel, DEAD MAN’S RANCH. And he followed it up with an interview in which I may or may not reveal secret locations of buried treasure….

I’m also very happy to report that my friend, Larry Sweazy, won a Spur for his fine novel, THE COYOTE TRACKER. And another friend, James Reasoner, was a finalist with his Redemption, Kansas novel, HUNTERS.

So … how many times can a fella say “Wow” before he sounds like a goober? I aim to find out.

Here’s a link to the full list of this year’s Spur winners and finalists: westernwriters.org/spur-awards.

Two for the Trail: A Pair of Gritty Western Short Stories

Jen designed a cover that I think is some of her best work, and I couldn’t be more pleased. This twosome — available right now on the Kindle and Nook (and soon on Kobo and iBooks) — includes the following stories:

Half a Pig
(2010 Spur Award Finalist, Best Western Short Fiction Story, Western Writers of America)
Blood is thick. Rope is thicker…. Rancher Eamon Riggs is a hard man disinclined to tolerate theft—no matter the thief, no matter the reason.

Snows of Montana
On his way north, Texas cowboy “Pal” Palchik stops at a small farm for a hot meal. Then he meets the farmer’s daughter…. Pal should have kept on riding.

PLUS: This e-book includes an excerpt from Roamer, Book 1: Wrong Town!

Look for Two for the Trail everywhere fine ebooks are sold (Amazon, B&N). Stay tuned for more soon from Gritty Press! And remember … Keep it Gritty.™

Well sir, it could be the chili speakin’ … or it could be the audiobook version of my recent novel, Tucker’s Reckoning. (Let’s assume for the moment that it’s the latter…. )

This unabridged version on seven CDs, by Recorded Books, lasts for 8.5 hours! I had no idea I was so windy (and no, I’m still not talkin’ about chili). It’s narrated by the actor Mark Zeisler, and from the sound of it, he did a dandy job.

I believe it’ll be for sale at the usual online outlets before too long (I’m told digital and cassette versions are coming soon, too.) I expect this package is primarily intended for sale to libraries, which still do a brisk trade in audiobooks. At any rate, I’m pleased as punch to have this great new version of the book available.

Now, back to the chili….

Haunted Old West

My recent book, Haunted Old West, has earned a dandy review in the February, 2013, issue of Western Writers of America’s magazine, Roundup. Here’s what reviewer, Lynn D. Bueling, had to say about the book:

A sleepless night spent in a haunted Irish hotel fascinated Matthew P. Mayo enough to set him on the trail identifying similar hair-raising sites in the Old West. He includes stories that could unsettle spook-prone readers or interest thrill-seeking travelers enough so they’d visit and experience the phenomena themselves.

The specter of a murdered miner with a hatchet buried in his forehead wanders about his claim, music plays in an abandoned saloon and a rocking chair persists in relocating itself to a window where a woman always sat. Mayo features 28 stories set in brothels, ghost towns, battlefields, mansions and much more to acquaint readers with the world of the paranormal in the Old West.

—Lynn D. Bueling, Roundup Magazine

Matthew Mayo offers up 50 bite-size chunks of dramatized history in this enjoyable read. While based on actual incidents, the author “used poetic license by adding dialogue and supporting characters” when necessary. He used his license well and the stories race along, conveying the excitement of the hunt for riches.

Mayo’s tales cover the mining frontier from the furnace of the Mojave to the icebox of the Yukon, and misfortunes and misadventures ranging from Indian attacks to avalanches, cave-ins to cannibalism. You’ll meet famous figures such as Soapy Smith and Nellie Cashman, as well as obscure and unfamiliar folks, all of whim played roles in mining in North America.

Coronado’s 1541 search for the Seven Cities of Cibola breaks a chronological trail that carries the reader to Fairbanks, Alaska, in 1905. The text is illustrated with more than two dozen paintings and photographs to complement the narrative. While not always illustrating the stories they accompany, the images do add atmosphere while showing the ins and outs of prospecting and mining.

—Rod Miller, Roundup Magazine

MURDER IN DOGLEG CITY

A pile of Western authors came up with characters to populate the fictional town and write chapters based on an outline by series’ editor, WF President Troy D. Smith, who then added his own magic, smoothed and shaped, and pulled it all together. The resulting novels–three so far with several more in the works–are written under the collective pseudonym of “Ford Fargo.”

Appearing as Ford Fargo in this installment,  MURDER IN DOGLEG CITY: L.J. Washburn, Phil Dunlap, Chuck Tyrell, Jerry Guin, Troy D. Smith, and Matthew P. Mayo.

My character, one-armed Rupe Tingley, swamper and town drunk, makes his wobbly self known throughout the book, and I was able to flesh him out more fully in chapter five. Maybe we’ll see more of Rupe weaving on down the road, but only if he survives … MURDER IN DOGLEG CITY!

About WOLF CREEK, BOOK 3: MURDER IN DOGLEG CITY:
Dogleg City is what folks in Wolf Creek call the seedy part of town. Life is cheap there, and death is common. At first this murder seemed like any other — but the more Marshal Sam Gardner and his deputies learn about it, the more it seems this death will blow Wolf Creek wide open.…

About the author: Beneath the mask, Ford Fargo is not one but a posse of America’s leading western authors who have pooled their talents to create a series of rip-snortin’, old fashioned sagebrush sagas. Saddle up. Read ‘em Cowboy! These are the legends of Wolf Creek.

HOT LEAD, COLD HEART: One Last Mission for Mason the Mankiller

The new GRITTY PRESS version is revised and expanded, reformatted in and out, and sports amazing cover art! (It also includes a sample chapter of the next book in the Roamer series: THE GREENHORN GAMBLE).

But back to HOT LEAD, COLD HEART…. Who’s this Mason the Mankiller fella, and why’s he so riled up?

His Honor Newland Pontiff III, late of Exeter Territorial Prison, now presides over a vast tract of land with the ambitious town of Cayuse Falls at its center‚ town he’s confident he can transform into the ‘Washington of the West,’ given enough time. But a demon from his past haunts the horizon, and time is running short.

Mason the Mankiller, vigilante hero to the downtrodden, has come out of retirement to settle one last score‚ the only one that ever mattered‚ with a man who long ago forgot he’d wronged the famous ‘killer of killers’. A tonic peddler, vengeful sisters, and a reluctant lawman all dog Mason’s trail. But he vows that nothing will stop him from seeing this last mission through to its end‚ an end he knows he won’t survive.

Pick your poison: Kindle, NOOK, Kobo, or paperback, then sink spur, and hang on!