"I've never read a Western before..."

"I've never read a Western before, but after reading this I plan on reading LOTS more..."

Man, I love hearing that.

Some of you may already know that I wrote a novella (or long short story or whatever you want to call it) for Edward A. Grainger, author of the terrific series of stories about U.S. Marshals Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles. It's out today.

It's called "Miles to Little Ridge", and focuses tight on Gideon Miles. Here's the product description from Amazon:

"Edward A.Grainger's Gideon Miles hits the trail in this fast-clip western novella written by Heath Lowrance. The U.S. Marshal finds himself in the sleepy town of Little Ridge, Montana, on the search for a wanted man. But just as Miles enters town, he's spotted by a hard case who recognizes Miles as the lawman that killed his friend. Now Miles must face the wanted man, who claims his innocence and is raising a daughter on his own, while the hard case and a ne'er-do-well partner are gunning for him."

When I first read the stories of Cash and Miles, I never thought I'd be writing one myself. I was fairly new to Westerns myself at the time. But Grainger's sure hand with the Western genre was part of my inspiration for writing "That Damned Coyote Hill", the first Hawthorne adventure. Granted, Hawthorne exists in a different version of the Old West than Grainger's intrepid lawmen (one where there are were-coyotes and swamp witches and ghouls) but most of the basics remain the same-- an emphasis on action and wry humor.

I loved the experience of writing about Gideon Miles, and I'm pretty satisfied with the results. Hopefully, you'll dig it too. And if you're new to Westerns, maybe this will inspire you to read more of them!