Western Wednesday: Ride the Black Horse

Hop yer mount and saddle up, pards, it’s time for another gallop down the trails of yesteryear.

Don’t forget Gary Dobbs’ huge Black Horse Weekend extravaganza coming up this week on the Tainted Archive (http://tainted-archive.blogspot.com/). One-hundred posts in three days, two penned by yours truly. The weekend, obviously, is dedicated to Black Horse Westerns, which I will get to in a moment, for those unfamiliar with these great books. So mark it on your calendar and ride on over.

What are Black Horse Westerns? Black Horse Westerns are small hardcover books (called paperboards technically) published by Robert Hale Ltd in England since circa 1986 (though the company itself has been around since the 1930s). Hale has published six to ten of these per month during that period. They hearken back to the action-packed westerns of yesterday but often deal with modern issues and experiences reflected through the eyes of the past. Some include a generous helping of historical fact, while others rely heavily on character and even mix genres, such as romance, horror, and mystery. There is something for everyone.

I have been writing Black Horse Westerns under the penname Lance Howard since the early ‘90s with my first title, Blood on the Saddle, and have penned 32 since that time. Mine push the boundaries of the western quite often, dealing with spousal abuse, child abuse, characters commonly ostracized in society, even Jack the Ripper, and often cross genre lines.

Last year saw quite an upswing in Black Horse Westerns’ popularity, driven primarily by Mr. Dobbs’ record-selling debut novel and the promotional drive of my own Black Horse Western group, its authors, the Black Horse Express (www.blackhorsewesterns.org) and Black Horse Extra (http://www.blackhorsewesterns.com/) online magazines, Express Westerns’ critically acclaimed short story anthologies and myriad blogs aimed at the line and genre itself. Distribution and price continues to be an impediment but those boundaries are coming down as well and with events like Gary’s Black Horse Weekend this should get even better. Amazon is now listing new releases, and Hale’s own publisher site (http://www.halebooks.com/) offers very nice discounts on new titles. Book Depository offers reduced prices and free shipping world wide.

So check out Black Horse Weekend and learn more about these fine books and the authors who write them. I think you’ll enjoy what you find.