Um…
February turned out to be a month filled with
loss, with infinitely more mayhem than magic. Three people of whom I was fond
died in February (well, four, if you count Leonard, Nimoy, and I certainly do).
My cousin died. Pat Browning, a dear cyber-friend and longtime journalist died.
But the one that got to me the most was when I learned of Wallace J. Swenson’s
death.
Most of you have probably never heard of
Wally Swenson, but if I have my way, the entire world will know about him and
his wonderful books soon. I had the honor of editing three of his books for
Five Star’s Frontier Fiction line: BUELL, PINE MARTEN, and CARLISLE. Wally had
more books in the works (I believe they were all written, actually) and Five
Star aims to publish them. I will be proud to edit as many books as Wally had
lying around at the time of his death.
Wally’s dream was to be a published writer of
western fiction. He didn’t rely on the Old West shoot-‘em-up myth, but told
stories about people who felt like friends, and he put them into situations
that might actually have occurred. Don’t know how many of you have seen “Deadwood”
on TV, but that will give you an idea of how Wally’s books worked.
Well, Wally died before he could even hold
his first published book, BUELL, in his hands. Broke my heart, as well as the
hearts of his many friends and family members. Perhaps you have to have had a
dream like Wally’s in order to truly appreciate what a cruel loss his death
was. I still feel like crying.
Here’s the cover for BUELL, which will be
published in August of this year:
Wally chose this photograph for the
cover of his book, because he says this guy looks just like Buell, and I agree
with him. Please buy this book when it comes out. You won’t be sorry. And it’ll
be available electronically, too, so you don’t have to spend a bunch of money. The
book itself is worth a bundle, but e-books are nice like that.
As for me, life goes on. I’ll be in
touch with the winners of February’s contest, so they can tell me which of my
books they want me to send them.
And for this month’s contest… um…
well, I dunno. How about I give away a couple of copies of SPIRITS REVIVED,
Daisy Gumm Majesty’s six-and-a-halfth adventure? If you’d like to enter my
contest, please send me your name and home address in an e-mail to alice@aliceduncan.net
If you’d like to learn more about
my books, please visit www.aliceduncan.net
and if you’re really a sucker for punishment, check out my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/alice.duncan.925
Thanks!
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