Robert Randisi: 400 books in ONE series! #western #oldwest #fiction

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Celebrating Robert Randisi's 400th Gunsmith!

by Jacquie Rogers

Robert J. Randisi

Normally, I’d write an article on a topic pertaining to  my own books, but today is very special, so I’m going to write about... a writer’s writer. Several of you know who I’m talking about and have either met him or know him through Western Fictioneers, which is how I know him.

My friends are astounded that I have seven books and a couple dozen short stories published. Well. Robert Randisi has over seven hundred books published and four hundred of those are in one series, The Gunsmith. That’s right, one series. He’s written a book every single month since 1981 in that series.

The four hundredth book just came out April 1. That would be The Gunsmith #400: The Lincoln Ransom. Randisi has several more in the pipe, and I have a hunch that as long as he draws breath, there’ll continue to be a new Gunsmith book for us to look forward to every month. (I hope so!) Originally, the series was published by Jove.  These days, the digital books are published by Piccadilly Publishing and the print books are through Western Trail Blazer.  And wow, the covers are gorgeous!

Kindle | Print

I don’t know about you, but I’m astonished by Robert Randisi’s talent as well as his production and commitment to his career. After reading a few books in this series, it’s obviously why The Gunsmith has dedicated fans and why Randisi should be admired as a talented author and a great storyteller. Yes, he can write most of us under the table when it comes to word count, and he can do that while producing first-class stories. During the time it has taken me to write this blog article, he probably just wrote a couple chapters.

To celebrate, we’re having a Facebook party and I hope you can all drop in for a while. This will be a fun two hours! The first hour, Clint Adams (The Gunsmith) joins us and you can ask him anything you want. Remember, these are adult westerns, so don’t be shy. The second hour, we’ll have Robert Randisi himself, along with his publishers, Mike Stotter from Piccadilly Publishing and Troy Smith at the helm of Western Trail Blazer, along with the president of the Western Fictioneers (and co-owner of Prairie Rose Publications) Cheryl Pierson. Kathleen Rice Adams will be helping me with hosting duties.

Celebrating Robert Randisi's 400th Gunsmith!

April 4

4pm Eastern, 3pm Central, 2pm Mountain, 1pm Pacific

Yes, there will be prizes! 

We’ll be giving away three digital copies and three autographed copies of The Gunsmith #400: The Lincoln Ransom.

So give yourself the luxury of attending this once-in-a-lifetime event!

And now for the obligatory promo, which seems a bit on the paltry side.  You see, I have four books published in the Hearts of Owyhee series.  Ha!  Four.  No hundred at the end, just plain four.

Hearts of Owyhee

Much Ado About Madams

Much Ado About Marshals

Much Ado About Miners

Much Ado About Mavericks

coming soon:

Much Ado About Mustangs

Amazon Author Page

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NO SMALL TEMPEST (Muleskinners #2) #NewRelease #Western #Mule

No Small Tempest

(Muleskinners #2)

by Jacquie Rogers

Amazon | Smashwords

It's here!  The second story in the Muleskinners series took a while, partly because I got caught up in a bunch of other projects and partly because of the publisher's schedule.

What's it about?

Elsie Parry aims to get this load of salt delivered to Kearney, Nebraska, come hell or high water. Or outlaws. Or Indians. Her other driver, Hank, and her former outlaw brother Zeb will help – but her eight draft mules (who think they are Greek gods) will make the difference. If she can keep them from being stolen – or eaten.

The inside scoop

The Civil War wasn't kind to Elsie, her family, her home, or her neighbors.   In 1863, border ruffians abducted her brother, Zeb, along with the neighbor boy, Hank, from the family farm in Missouri. The next year, more came – she didn't know which side – and burned the farm to the ground. Elsie was given responsibility for eight draft mule foals and sent to live on a forested hill out of harm's way. She had little contact with the outside world, but her father visited infrequently.

She learned her mother had passed away, whether from sickness or hunger, Elsie didn't know, and neither did her father. In fact, he disappeared the last year of the war and Elsie thought he was dead, too, but imagine her elation to find him alive and relatively well five years later.

Meantime, those eight mules were her only friends and she'd named them after the Greek gods in her mother's book: Hermes, Zeus, Poseidon, Hephaestus, Aries, Apollo, Hades, and Plato (who's not a god but he's quite the thinker).  They have a good rapport, and she's very protective of them. 

Her papa was born with the gift of blarney, and he's a lot better at making deals than actually coming through with them. Still, he's her father and she loves him dearly – her only family other than the mules.

The underlying theme of the Muleskinners series is undoing the emotional damage that the war caused.  It tore her family apart--killed some of them, and scarred the rest.  But Elsie doesn't let these things get her down.  She's determined, bold, and can be a little hard-nosed at times.  She's also compassionate and has a wicked sense of humor.

Part of her character is patterned after my late aunt, who could get just about any animal to do whatever she asked of them.  Some people have it--most don't.  My aunt had it and so does Elsie.  My aunt also lived by her beliefs--right, wrong, or Bisquik.  Elsie has that trait, too, super-sized.  She also has a lot of other traits that my aunt didn't have.  Elsie is, bein's she's a fictional character, larger than life.

The series

Yes, you're better off reading Muleskinners #1: Judge Not first because this is a true sequential series.  Judge Not is the first leg of her journey, so while No Small Tempest could be read as a stand-alone, you'd get a lot more out it if you've read the first one.

Amazon | B&N | Smashwords	Amazon | Smashwords

About the cover model.  Or not.  We simply couldn't find any photos that worked for Elsie.  The one we chose was the least worst, so you'll see the same picture on the next three stories, and she'll be wearing the same thing unless we can find something else.  Despite that, I thought Karen M. Nutt did a great job with the cover.  Thanks, Karen!

I'd also like to thank Troy Smith who got me into this mess in the first place.  He told me I could write a story for the Wolf Creek series and I did--but used my own cast instead of the Wolf Creek characters as he intended.  Through that misunderstanding, this series was born, and now he, at the helm of Western Trail Blazer, is publishing it.  Go figger.  

May your saddle never slip.

Amazon Author Page

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