Read Write Edit Play Repeat vol. 29
A Western Nobody Wants to Read
A Western Nobody Wants to Read
Author Ed Kurtz joked online a while back about thinking about writing some westerns nobody wanted to read. I joked back that westerns nobody wanted to read were really hot right now. I mean, some people want to read them, right?
I’ve been working on a horror western for a little while. Over the last few years, there has been an upsurge of westerns, both traditional/ straight, weird, horror-themed, and splatter. Some of them are very good. I didn’t start writing mine for that reason though. I had an idea hanging in the back of my head. I created a short story around that idea. I then expanded the idea into a full novel.
My father loved traditional westerns. They were never really my thing as a kid. The only straight westerns I’ve written have been ghostwritten. On my own, I’ve done a number of cross-genre western short stories including steampunk, supernatural, and horror.
When I write, I’m usually working on multiple things at a time. I can write 8000 words on one story during a day, if I push really, really hard on that story. I will be burned out for days afterward though. I can write a thousand or so words on several different stories during a day and not feel spent at all. In this way, I gradually make progress on several things until they are finished.
A couple weekends ago, I passed the 70k word mark on that western novel. I thought, well, I’m close to finished on this thing. If I just focus on this, I could knock it out. I was several days ahead on my ambitious list of things to do at the time, so I figured I could afford the time. I worked on only that for the weekend and leading into the next week. It ended up being about 83k words by the time I finished. I wasn’t quite as close to the finish line as I first estimated. I went from being ahead on my list of things to do to being behind. I finished the story though and edited it rapidly.
The first three chapters of that edit were on livestream. It’s not a public video, but you can follow this link to see the reading and edit of those first three chapters here.
I think it turned out a lot better and more coherent than I first thought. It’s bloody and crazy and fun, I think. I look forward to people seeing it in whatever form it eventually comes out. Ultimately, I’m just proud I wrote it.
Here are some things you might be interested in:
The Footprint of Eraserhead Press
by Jay Wilburn via LitReactor
Eraserhead Press and all its imprints have had a huge impact on the most boundary pushing genres over the last couple decades …
Author’s Note: Every once in a while, I’ll find myself writing an escalating revenge story. These lend themselves well to splatterpunk tales. It took a couple passes, but I think I got this story to finally work. It was one of 7 stories I completed during a 24 hour writing challenge. It was the 7th one I got around to editing. I believe the voice, tone, and beats work now. I believe it has good layers to it now. I feel a lot more confident presenting it now than I did one edit ago.
“Grogan Farms”
by Jay Wilburn
Chief Lucas Grogan Sr., I’m writing this “unofficial account” to you only because Sheriff Felix “Fell” Tagert unofficially told me to, or else. As you’ll see in the account of what happened, this deserves a real police report, probably a few dozen. But you’re related to the two men involved, even if you’re only a third cousin once removed. That must be enough. Or at the least, it’s enough for Sheriff Tagert. It should have been enough for you to step in sooner …
I’m fast at work on the remaining books in this series. So, check out book one of the Old Southern Gods series from Raven’s Tale Press. Pick up the ebook here.
Thanks, Everybody
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Loved Grogan Farms!