Wednesday 21 May 2014

Western Fiction News

A few years ago I interviewed artist Ken Laager – which is my most viewed post of all time and can be found here – and I thought readers might be interested to know he’s produced the excellent cover art for Joe R. Lansdale’s western novella Black Hat Jack. Ken has also provided a number of superb illustrations that can be found inside the book. Check out Ken’s blog to see more.





Another artist I interviewed, Tony Masero, is busy producing the covers for many of Piccadilly Publishing’s releases, including the ebook versions of J. R. Roberts’ Giant Gunsmith books. The first one, Trouble in Tombstone, was published last month and features some very eye-catching artwork.

Ex-gunfighter Dallas Stoudenmire is now heir to a Texas border town that draws the dregs of the west like flies. In El Paso, being honest is a sure way to get yourself killed. And Dallas is smart enough to know that he needs help. 

But riding shotgun for his friend is just the beginning for Clint Adams … The Gunsmith leaves El Paso behind and teams up with the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday in a showdown against the Wild West’s most notorious killers—in a trouble spot called the O. K. Corral … 

I read this when it first came out and would highly recommended it to all Gunsmith fans and those who enjoy westerns featuring real people and events.






Sticking with Piccadilly Publishing, they seem to be going from strength to strength, putting out around eight ebooks per month, of which the majority are westerns. Their prices are extremely competitive and they specialize in bringing back series from the past as well as stand-alone titles such as Tony Masero’s The Rifleman, a review of which can be found here.






They also publish new material. Here’s a small selection of some of their recent releases:


Click on the above image to see a much larger version.

4 comments:

Oscar Case said...

The cover artist draw some amazing illustrations. They must have a great capability for imagining things.

larrygebert said...

Nice job Steve.

Nik Morton said...

Great coverage, as usual, Steve. Love the detailed lines of Ken's artwork, too. Agreed, Tony and PP are going from strength to strength; it's hard to keep up with their production!

benbridges said...

Many thanks for the kind words, Steve. Running PP is as much a labor of love as anything for Mike and I, and to give these books a second run, to recreate those happy days of our youth in some small way, and to get so much positive feedback for our efforts, is the reward.