New books that I think you’ll like

I’ve been extremely busy of late with westerns. In addition to my several series, the western soap opera series that DSP publicist Nick Wale suggested, finally launched after a rough ride. You can get the first six episodes of Life of a Texan: A Family Story on Amazon. For now, it’s only an e-book, but hopefully reader interest will justify issuing it in paperback. We’ll keep our fingers crossed and Mike Mackessy and I will keep cranking them out.

I’ve been trying a few new things as well. For starters, a tale of knights in the Middle Ages.  A Clash of Colors: A Medieval Knights Adventure is also available as an e-book at https://www.amazon.com/Clash-Colors-Medieval-Knights-Adventure-ebook/dp/B0DF86L21K/ .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve also done four Vietnam War novels which you can check out in the Other Fiction Page of this site.  One of my favorite non-western projects, though is my dystopian political thriller. I’ve done two so far which are available as e-books and paperbacks. The third and final of this trilogy, Resistance, Retribution, and Redemption, should be finished by the end of the year. The first one, The Last Election is at https://www.amazon.com/Last-Election-Charles-Ray-ebook/dp/B0D8DMNPXY/ 

And, number two, The Web of Deceit, can be seen at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CW1HB63S/

Helpful Hints: Writing for the Modern Reader

When I wrote How to Write Westerns for the Modern Reader it was intended to be just that, a kind of how-to book for authors who were interested in penning a book in the western genre that would appeal to the generation of readers born after 1990, or thereabouts. In that book, I wrote about the structure of the western novel (or novella or short story), some of the historical elements that make westerns resonant with a generation that didn’t grow up reading the western paperbacks or watching the TV westerns that we older readers had access to.

    It occurred to me, though, that the things in that book can apply to other genres as well, but there is even more to writing that appeals to a multi-generational audience than just types of plots, vocabulary, etc. There’s also the matter of writing style. That, I am well aware, is like entering a minefield because every writer has his or her own unique style and with the large and fragile egos that most writers have, when you start to analyze style you risk some blowback. I will nevertheless enter that minefield, armed with over six decades of published writing experience, eight years of teaching professional writing to a select group of college seniors, four years of teaching foreigners to speak, understand, read, and write English, and several years of experience as a first reader for an Australian publisher and as a book reviewer.

First of all, just what is writing style? It’s choice of words, sentence, and paragraph structure that a writer uses to convey meaning. Each of us has our own distinctive style based on voice, personality, tone, and grammatical choices.

It’s been my experience, though, that certain choices are more effective than others in conveying shades of meaning, or in earning the trust of readers—regardless of their generation. In the follo0wing paragraphs, I share some of the more important stylistic choices that each writer can still further modify to reflect his or her unique voice. These helpful hints have worked well for me and for legions of other writers. They are not ironclad laws, however, but just suggestions for you to consider as you create your story.

Point of View

Point of view, or POV in writer’s shorthand, is the angle or perspective from which a story is told. In other words, it is the eyes of the character through which the reader sees the story unfold, or the person who is telling the story. There are a number of POVs from which a story can be told, and it’s up to the author to decide. But there are some guidelines that authors ignore at their own peril. One of the most frequently encountered in amateur writers, and the most annoying personally for me, is what is known as ‘head hopping.’ This is where the POV jumps from one character to another within a chapter: sometimes within the same paragraph. Unless the book is being told by the omniscient narrator (not one of the story’s characters), this should be avoided. So, let’s look at some of the types of POV.

First Person POV: The narrator is telling the story from his or her own perspective, using ‘I’ and ‘we,’ which gives the reader direct access to the POV character’s thoughts, feelings, and experiences (but not other characters).

Second Person POV: A seldom used and tricky POV is second person, which is told from the reader’s perspective, using ‘you.’

Third Person Limited POV: From the perspective of one character at a time, using ‘he’ and ‘she’. The reader only knows what this character knows. This is one of the most common POVs and the one in which amateurs head hop, which should be avoided. If two or more characters or in a scene the reader can only ‘know’ what the POV character knows or is thinking or feeling. For other characters in the scene, the author should ‘show’ not ‘tell.’ More on ‘show versus tell,’ later.

Third Person Omniscient POV: The story’s narrator knows everything about all of the characters and events and can share any of their thoughts or feelings. This can be a confusing POV, though, if the story has many characters, and I’ve found it not really suitable for action stories like westerns or thrillers.

Whichever POV you chose, be consistent. Don’t mix or switch. Your reader will be confused, and probably not want to read anything else you write.

Show don’t Tell

Novice writers have a tendency to ‘tell’ the reader everything. In every course on fiction writing one of the first injunctions is ‘show don’t tell.’ This allows the reader to experience the story and characters through thoughts, actions, sensory details, and feelings rather than direct exposition. Showing puts the reader ‘in the room’ with the characters and helps in achieving the sine qua non of fiction, suspension of disbelief. Following are some examples of showing and not telling.

Tell: John was scared.

Showing:

      First person POV: My legs were rubbery, and I was having trouble breathing.

Second person POV: You looked as pale as old parchment, and I thought you were going to faint.

Third person limited POV: John’s face turned pale, and his eyes were as round as saucers.

Third person omniscient POV: John turned pale and began to breath rapidly. Mary knew that he was afraid.

Simple examples but I think they get the point across. If you want your reader to go along with you on your journey, you must make them see, feel, smell, taste, etc., what’s happening. If you spell everything out in excruciating detail, the reader quickly becomes aware of being a quiescent receptacle of information and is likely to tune you out.

Be careful with use of Stereotypes

Stereotypes are generalized beliefs about particular categories of people or cultures and are frequently used in fiction to provide conflict for your main character, establish new worlds or cultures, base characters on archetypes, or make characters easy to write. The problem with this is that unless care is taken in using stereotypes a writer risks misrepresenting a category of people causing harm to those in that category and can create a boring, homogenous element that turns readers off. I’ve found this to be particularly true of the western genre, which is a uniquely American genre that as written literature began in the 19th century and as a film genre in the early 20th century, during a time when certain ethnic and gender stereotypes were commonly accepted. This carried down to the late 20th century and, in some instances, even into the 21st, so that in westerns you still find the lazy, duplicitous Mexican, the Native American who is either a bloodthirsty savage or the noble savage who says ‘get-um up Scout,’ the Black who is always happy, dancing, bowing and scraping and is only a servant or enslaved person whose English comes straight from a vaudeville blackface routine, and women who are either prostitutes, long-suffering farm or ranch wives, widows, or fainting weaklings who can’t make a move without a man. These are not only harmful stereotypes that should be avoided in your fiction, but they are also inaccurate as a general description.

Watch your language

If you think this section is an injunction to swear off swear words, you’re wrong. People curse. In the wild west not so much, despite the HBO series Deadwood, but they had their moments. In westerns, too much really blue language should be avoided, but that was covered in my book, so go out and buy it and you’ll learn all you need to know about use of profanity in westerns.

What I’m talking about here, though, is the appropriate words and phrases for the setting of your story. If you have characters in the old west or the revolutionary period—or even earlier—using words and phrases that weren’t even coined until the 1950s or later, most of your readers will notice and call you out on it. Having a cowhand say ‘cool dude’ is a no-no. Do the research and make sure that things your characters say are the things they would’ve said during the period about which you’re writing.

Narrative

A final hint to make your fiction sing. Writing narrative. This is probably more important than you might think. The narrative, or storyline, is the sequence of events over time and space that your narrator is providing the reader. Too much narrative, or narrative that is uber-detailed can bore a reader. Too little narrative can leave a reader wondering what’s going on. The key is to try and strike the right balance. This is where re-reading what you write comes in handy. After you’ve written your story, let it cool off and then read it as if you’re seeing it for the first time. That’s when you make fixes—to everything, but especially to the narrative. One last thing before I let you go. Unless you’re writing a first person POV story, don’t use dialect in narrative. Write it in everyday, correct English.

Okay, that’s all for now. Go forth and create.

New, Exciting And Heading To Market This Week From Charles Ray!

May 7, 2024|Authors

A few days ago, DSP launched a new competition, and one of the first Westerns to result from that competition has already been prepared for market—“Showdown At High Noon” from Charles Ray will be the first of the new competition entries to be released onto the market for readers to enjoy.

This exciting first Western adventure of a series comes from one of the most popular authors in the Western genre, Charles Ray. Charlie is one of the most prolific and popular authors with books ranging from mountain men through to gunfighters, lawmen and every other kind of Western inbetween.

This new adventure is something he has been toying with for some time and readers should enjoy it immensely as they travel with Charlie to the “Showdown At High Noon” in the company of Boone Collins—a new Western hero readers may very well be hearing from again real soon.

What Is This One About?

When Boone Collins’ friend, Hale Orson, marshal of Plata, New Mexico, is murdered, Boone lets the Plata mayor talk him into taking Orson’s job. The new marshal, a loner who came to New Mexico from Texas after the death of his wife, only wants to be left alone and not be responsible for anyone but himself. But his sense of responsibility for a friend compels him not just to take the job, but do it the way Orson would’ve done it in his honor. His first task is to find out who the killer is, but that task is complicated by the web of relationships that exist in a small town that is overshadowed by competing interests. One is the owner of the copper mine that is the town’s economic mainstay, who the mayor thinks might be the killer. The other is a rich ranch owner whose arrogant son acts like the heir to some ancient throne. Boone finds himself caught in the middle of so many intrigues, he doesn’t know which way is up, and without the help of Thelma Battle, owner of the Two Aces Saloon, as an anchor, he fears he might drown in the sea of double dealing and back stabbing.

Boone, though, is not one to give up. He’s determined not to let outside interference or his personal demons get in the way of getting the job done.

Where Can I Get My Copy?

“Showdown At High Noon” will be released this week and will be available as a Kindle e-book and as a paperback from Amazon.

New series coming to DSP

DSP is always coming up with something new for readers. The next great project is one that I’m honored to be working on, an epic saga of Texas from the viewpoint of a family that settles there shortly after it becomes a republic.

Life of a Texan: A Family Story will follow a family thar moves from Missouri from generation to generation and is sure to please veteran western fans and newcomers alike.  The first books will be published in April 2024. Copies of the covers are shown below.

 

Charles Ray Meets Demand For New Westerns With “Badge For Hire”

January 17, 2024|Authors, DSP Articles

For many authors, one series is enough and keeps them extremely busy each month. For Charles Ray, four or five series at one time is no sweat at all. Each month Charles turns out a new book for each of his Western series—and today we will see the release of “Badge For Hire,” the latest book in his “Adventures of Deputy U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves.”  Tomorrow, perhaps, we will see the release of a new book in his “Caleb Johnson: Mountain Man” series. It’s all go in the world of Charles Ray, from managing many of the authors involved in the “Gone To Texas” series through to co-writing a horror series. He’s just a one-man band of achievement, and after reading “Badge For Hire” you will see that he doesn’t just produce—he produces the best quality material. That’s why he consistently ranks within the top one hundred bestselling Western novels—usually towards the top of the list too. What can we say? He’s one of the most talented and you’ll love “Badge For Hire.”

What Is “Badge For Hire” About?

Bass is given a stack of warrants for fugitives to capture, but this time there’s a difference. One of the fugitives is a deputy marshal suspected of accepting bribes to look the other way for an outlaw gang. Bass, a strong believer in following the law, feels that lawmen should be held to an even higher standard than everyone else, and even though there’s no reward for bringing in the crooked deputy, he’s happy to take the case. The law might not be perfect, he thinks, but it’s a lot better than no law at all, and when those charged with enforcing the law fail to respect it, it’s getting too close to there being no law.

Along with his friend, Henry Lone Tree, Bass and his posse roam Indian Territory from the Creek Nation to Fort Sill and the Comanche/Kiowa Nation, rounding up those who would walk on the wrong side of the law.

Where Can I Get My Copy?

“Badge For Hire” is available now from Amazon!

Banned Chinese-born author Geling Yan publishes again in Chinese – outside China

June 27, 2023, Berlin, Germany

Chinese-born author Geling Yan 嚴歌苓 has suffered under an informal ban on her work by the Chinese government since March 2020, when she wrote and promulgated an essay criticizing the Chinese government’s initial actions after the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic:

English:

https://paper-republic.org/pubs/read/hide-hide-hide/

Chinese:

https://www.chinesepen.org/blog/archives/145708

Her credit from a major motion picture by Zhang Yimou, One Second, the leitmotiv of which was based on her novel The Criminal Lu Yanshi, was even ordered removed by the Chinese government:

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/23/movies/zhang-yimou-movie.html

https://www.chinesepen.org/blog/archives/188075

 

Chinese Independent PEN stood in solidarity with her:

 

https://www.chinesepen.org/english/she-is-not-alone-a-joint-statement#more-8754

…and awarded her its “Freedom Prize for Writing” for 2022:

https://www.chinesepen.org/blog/archives/188421

https://www.chinesepen.org/blog/archives/188465

Since her ban, Ms. Yan has continued to write and create, but she has had no outlet for her publication or film projects in China.  As a result, she and her husband, Lawrence A. Walker 王樂仁,have set up a publishing and film production company in Berlin, Germany, where they reside:  New Song Media GmbH.

www.newsongmedia.de

The company’s mission is stated here: https://www.newsongmedia.de/about

The company has just published Ms. Yan’s first novel in Chinese outside Greater China:  Milati 米拉帝。It is now available as a print book and an e-book on online booksellers’ websites and will soon be available in Chinese-language bookstores.

Amazon.com:

https://www.amazon.com/%E7%B1%B3%E6%8B%89%E8%92%82-Milati-Chinese-Geling-Yan/dp/3910769012?ref_=ast_author_dp

Amazon Kindle:

https://www.amazon.com/Milati-Traditional-Chinese-Geling-Yan-ebook/dp/B0C8GYT988?ref_=ast_author_dp

Barnes and Noble

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/milati-geling-yan/1143650968?ean=9783910769014

Multiple print and e-book booksellers:

https://books2read.com/u/b5WD81

 

The book, also available in a deluxe collectors’ edition co-published with World Chinese Weekly Publishing Company Inc.(世界华人周刊出版集团) will be launched at an event in Vancouver, B.C., Canada on July 9, also including the launch of works by the poet Yang Lian 楊煉 and his wife, the novelist and painter Yoyo 友友:

The event will be held in Chinese, so the information about it is mostly in Chinese:

严歌苓、杨炼、友友温哥华首场读者见面会

  • 时间:2023年7月9日下午13:30–17:45
  • 地点:Norman Rothstein Theater.
  • 地址:950 West 41st  Avenue, Vancouver BC,Canada V5Z 2N7
  • 门票:50加元
  • 订票电话:604-762-2572,13910272918(可加此微信或支付宝账号付款)

CIBC bank e-transfer:1065780000@qq.com

多一点信息在这里

https://www.meipian.cn/4svxkldu?share_depth=2&s_uid=465831446&share_to=group_singlemessage&first_share_to=group_singlemessage&first_share_uid=109601341

 

Ms. Yan will also have a solo event at the Central Library of the Vancouver Public Library on 13 July:

 

Public speaking event with Yan Geling at Vancouver Public Library, Central Library,

350 West Georgia St., Vancouver V6B 6B1

Thursday, 13 Julyfrom 5 to 6:30 pm.

​More information here

https://vpl.bibliocommons.com/events/648b9520023dc43e0086a9cb

 

We welcome media inquiries, coverage, attendance, and questions.

Contact person:  Lawrence A. Walker

info@newsongmedia.de

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