THIS JUST IN . . .
OUTLAWED!
Hold on to your wigs, kids! Just in time for Hollerween, it’s OUTLAWED! (Book 3 in the jaw-dropping, gob-stopping, hip-popping OUTFIT series!) It’s officially released on October 17, but you can pre-order it here.)
Okay, here’s the lowdown: Cookie McGee finds his trail pard, Rafe Barr, head of THE OUTFIT, near death from a vicious knife attack in a Santa Fe alleyway. The town is a-crawl with soldiers out for their blood, but with Doc at the helm, Ethel the War Wagon slips through. The outlaw duo heads for help in California, but the governor needs THE OUTFIT’s help as much as they need his—he’s being blackmailed by Talbot Timmons, head of covert Confederate group, Brotherhood of the Phoenix, and warden of Yuma Territorial Prison, Rafe’s wrongful address for five hellish years. Then the killer, Turk Mincher, rides in and makes a bloody mess in their midst. Righteous resolution descends at the only place it can—Yuma Territorial Prison, where it all began six years before. Can THE OUTFIT escape unscathed?
STRANDED WINS THE WILLA!
Holy moly–STRANDED has won the Willa Award for Best Historical Fiction by the estimable group, Women Writing the West. I am so grateful for this honor, and I continue to be amazed by this book. Go, Janette, go!
Here’s a link: http://womenwritingthewest.org/willaCurrentFinalists.html
STRANDED is a Finalist … Twice!
I’m pleased to share the news that my novel, STRANDED, continues to make ripples on the awards scene. It’s been chosen as a finalist for two more awards:
• 2018 Will Rogers Medallion Award Finalist
• 2018 High Plains Book Award Finalist
TIMBERLINE! (ROAMER RIDES AGAIN….)
Hey there, Pards! On May 16, 2018, my newest novel, TIMBERLINE: A ROAMER WESTERN, sees its official release in hardcover and ebook versions. Here’s the gritty lowdown:
A high-country train trek turns into a blizzard-bound trainwreck-from-hell for Roamer as a gang of gunmen run roughshod on the rails. They blow the safe, abscond with a mysterious young woman, and torch the train, leaving passengers to burn in the midst of a blizzard. Trailing death in its wake, the gang heads to the high country with Roamer dogging them on foot, the only man bold enough to track them—until he’s joined by his cantankerous old mentor, tough-as-nails mountain man Maple Jack. The men converge on the gang in the mountain valley ghost town of Sapphire City, and drive them beyond . . . deep into the maw of a fresh and vicious blizzard that unleashes its merciless might. With righteous rage and hard justice their only allies, Roamer and Maple Jack prepare for a final showdown at . . . Timberline.
If that’s not enough excitement for ya, TIMBERLINErecently received two great reviews:
Lancashire Post:
“Mayo is a dab hand at carving out enthralling stories set in the American Old West. In keeping with other Roamer adventures, TIMBERLINEis a nimbly told tale of rough justice and frontier survival with fierce action, intense danger, and high-grade excitement. A rousing, first-rate read!” —Nicholas Litchfield, Lancashire Post
Booklist:
“Veteran author Mayo (The Outfit:Blood and Ashes, 2017) has written a readable and intriguing adventure novel. A train is robbed, a young woman is kidnapped, and the desperados ride off into the night. Roamer, a big man, well-read and articulate but, by his own admission, facially unattractive, sets out on foot to rescue the lovely kidnap victim. The trail leads through blinding snowstorms, avalanches, steep, wind-blown mountain passes, and into unknown territory. As the numbers of dead horses and men start to add up, Roamer comes to understand that the escaping kidnappers are much more than simple thieves. Based in the northern Rocky Mountains at the beginning of the winter months, the tale is an adventure of determination, survival, and surprise. The plot twist at the end only adds to the overall readability of the novel. It is refreshing to read a western where the protagonist is a reader of the classics, has a good vocabulary, and speaks in whole words and sentences. Western fans will enjoy TIMBERLINE.”
— Reg Quist, Booklist
STRANDED’s Big Weekend!
Jen, Miss Tess, and I returned to our wee homestead in Maine late yesterday following a stunning weekend in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. What, you may ask, were we doing so far from home?
Well, pull up a chunk of oak and warm your hands by the campfire while I tell you. You see, a couple of months ago, I received the amazing news that my novel, STRANDED: A STORY OF FRONTIER SURVIVAL, was selected by the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, in Oklahoma City, as the recipient of the 2018 Western Heritage Wrangler Award for Outstanding Western Novel. The Museum is dedicated to the preservation of Western culture and promotes education of the same. The event began on Friday, April 13, with a morning Q&A with actor, screenwriter, and novelist, Robert Knott. We then toured the world-class collections—inside and out—of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. A visit to this amazing venue should be on everyone’s list of places to see. That evening, the museum hosted a cocktail reception and book signing. This was followed with a soiree for honorees held at the nearby home of the director of the museum.
Matthew and Jen tour the grounds.
Buffalo Bill in all his oversize glory!
STRANDED: available in bookstores everywhere!
Jen’s figuring out how she can sneak this beauty in her suitcase!
Booksigning and cocktail party.
Cocktail party attended by lots of folks including Michael Martin Murphey (far right).
Q&A with (L to R) Sam Elliott, Barry Corbin, and Rex Linn.
John Wayne really is larger than life!
Hanging with fellow award recipient, Justin Koehler, and his associate producer.
MCs Sam Elliott and Katharine Ross on the big screen.
Speech time!
Look ma, I made it to the big screen!
A boy and his horse….
Matthew and Jennifer flanking super actor and all-around great guy, Bruce Boxleitner.
Matthew with legendary Buck Taylor!
Matthew with Barry Corbin, freshly inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers.
Matthew with poetry honoree, Karla K. Morton.
Western performer RW Hampton tries to convince Matthew he needs a hat!
Spurred and Shaken!
I am pleased to announce that my novel, STRANDED: A STORY OF FRONTIER SURVIVAL, has won the 2018 Spur Award for Best Western Juvenile Fiction from Western Writers of America.
This grand news, following on the heels of the announcement that STRANDED won the 2018 Wrangler Award for Outstanding Western Novel, has left me smiling. Humility be darned, I am one proud papa.
BONUS: As this is my second Spur Award (my first was in 2013 for Best Western Novel for TUCKER’S RECKONING), I’ve been told that now my horse will no longer gallop in circles…. Onward!
Most of all, my heartiest congratulations to this year’s Spur Award winners and finalists. I am honored to be in such grand company. And I hope to see you all in Billings in June at the annual WWA Convention!
BIG NEWS….
I found out several days ago that my novel, STRANDED: A STORY OF FRONTIER SURVIVAL, has been awarded the 2018 Western Heritage Wrangler Award for Outstanding Western Novel by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Here’s a link: https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/awards-halls-of-fame/western-heritage-awards/western-heritage-awards-2018-winners)
I’m amazed and humbled, as many previous winners are among my favorite writers, including: Cormac McCarthy, Larry McMurtry, A.B. Guthrie, Jr., Dorothy Johnson, Edward Abbey, Barbara Kingsolver, Michael Zimmer, Johnny D. Boggs, C.J. Box, Dusty Richards, Loren Estleman….
It’s an honor I never expected and I’m pleased the judges felt STRANDED was worthy of inclusion.
They asked me to keep it hush-hush until they announced it. Given that they’ve posted their selections for the 2018 Heritage Awards on the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum website, I believe it’s safe for me to announce it.
And now it’s time to celebrate!
ME & HELEN MIRREN….
What, I hear you say, does that Mayo character have in common with super-actress, Dame Helen Mirren? Well, pull up a camp stool and I’ll tell you.
It has to do with the release of WINCHESTER, the new movie starring Helen Mirren, about the intriguing, if odd, Mrs. Sarah Winchester and her singular coastal California abode—a home said to be the most-haunted house in the world.
I’m a longtime fan of stories of the bizarre and unexplained, and have written many horrific and supernatural stories (and working on more as we speak). A few years ago I wrote a book called HAUNTED OLD WEST, that explores the numerous haunted locations—forts, hotels, bars, canyons, houses, prisons—found throughout the American West.
Chief among them is the fascinating home of Mrs. Sarah Winchester, heir to the Winchester Repeating Arms fortune. Her obsessive guilt over pain caused by Winchester rifles, combined with a desire to protect the spirits of her deceased husband and child, manifested themselves in a unique and bizarre way.
Crews of builders, following Mrs. Winchester’s plans, added rooms, wings, and more to her ever-expanding house. They worked around the clock for close to four decades, intentionally never completing it. The result? A humongous, disjointed home filled with stairwells leading nowhere, doors opening onto nothing, windows facing walls, and on and on. Oh, and the place teems with angry, trapped ghosts aching for release and revenge! Perfect.
After I wrote about her, I became convinced her house is as has been claimed, the most haunted in the world. I also came away convinced Mrs. Sarah Winchester was not any crazier than the rest of us.
For my take on the Winchester Mystery House, check out my book, HAUNTED OLD WEST. Helen says she’ll leave a light on for you….
ROAMER REDUX!
Anybody up for a grim, midwinter, high-mountain manhunt? If that is your cuppa, might I recommend pre-ordering your very own copy of my next novel, TIMBERLINE (A ROAMER WESTERN) at the bookstore/online outlet of your choice. This brand-new escapade is the third in my series of novels featuring Roamer and his crusty mentor, the mountain man Maple Jack, and they ride into view in May. Here’s the lowdown on TIMBERLINE:
A high-country train trek turns into a blizzard-bound trainwreck-from-hell for Roamer as a gang of gunmen run roughshod on the rails. They blow the safe, abscond with a mysterious young woman, and torch the train, leaving passengers to burn in the midst of a blizzard. Trailing death in its wake, the gang heads to the high country with Roamer dogging them on foot, the only man bold enough to track them—until he’s joined by his cantankerous old mentor, tough-as-nails mountain man Maple Jack. The men converge on the gang in the mountain valley ghost town of Sapphire City, and drive them beyond . . . deep into the maw of a fresh and vicious blizzard that unleashes its merciless might. With righteous rage and hard justice their only allies, Roamer and Maple Jack prepare for a final showdown at . . . Timberline.
If you’re new to the series and can’t wait to find out more about Roamer and Maple Jack, the first Roamer outing, WRONG TOWN, and the second, NORTH OF FORSAKEN, are up for grabs in paperback, hardcover, and ebook versions … right now!
Pre-order your copy today: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Powell’s
ALL MY SECRETS REVEALED….
Well, maybe not. But I am pleased and flattered to announce that friend and author Johnny Boggs interviewed me recently for the upcoming February issue of Wild West Magazine. We touch on all manner of topics relating to my favorite subject … me! Oh, and writing, travel, books, research, and why my novel, STRANDED, would make a great film … ahem, Hollywood?
The interview is online now at Wild West Magazine’s website, and will be in the upcoming print edition, too.