I’ve been fortunate enough to
receive wide acclaim already for my Sundown Press novel THE PEACEMAKER, including 5 star reviews from 2 of the most
successful western authors in the business. Spur award-winning and Pulitzer
Prize-nominated author ROBERT VAUGHAN describes it as ‘a great book’. Meanwhile
RALPH COTTON (also a Pulitzer-prize nominated novelist) writes: ‘For pure writing style, McBride’s
gritty prose nails the time and place of his story with bold authority. …this
relatively new author has thoroughly, and rightly so, claimed his place among
the top Old West storytellers.’ I’m very grateful to both Robert & Ralph
for their fantastic support.
I discuss THE PEACEMAKER in the interview I did with Jo Walpole (who writes westerns as TERRY JAMES) on her blog. Find the original
interview (and Jo’s excellent blog) here: http://jowalpoleakaterryjames.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/author-interview-andrew-mcbride.html
Here’s the text of it again:
Saturday, 29 April 2017
Author
interview: Andrew McBride
Please join me in welcoming Andrew McBride. I recently came across
Andrew when his blog came to my attention. Like me, he is a Brit writing westerns and
doing his best to champion the genre. Here's what he had to say when I asked
him a few questions.
How many books have you written?
A bunch of unpublished ones, in various genres! I’ve had 6 published,
all westerns. 2 – THE PEACEMAKER & SHADOW MAN – are currently available.
The other 4 – CANYON OF THE DEAD, DEATH WEARS A STAR, DEATH SONG (spot a
theme?) and THE ARIZONA KID can still be found in libraries but haven’t been on
sale for a long time. However Crowood Press are about to re-issue them as
e.books, so maybe I’ll be able to talk to you about them soon.*
(*THEY’VE NOW ALL BEEN RE-ISSUED! CANYON OF THE DEAD, DEATH WEARS A STAR,
DEATH SONG and THE ARIZONA KID are all out on Crowood Press as e.books.)
See my Amazon author pages, Amazon.com:
https://www.amazon.com/Andrew-McBride/e/B01N9O1C05/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1
What is your latest release called, what’s it about and what inspired
it?
THE PEACEMAKER. The idea came from an episode of the 60s TV Western
series ‘The High Chaparral’, although what was on screen would cover only the
first part of my novel. I used that as a springboard for what I thought could
be a great adventure story. The hero is an 18-year old youth in Arizona in
1871, who, for various reasons, knows a lot about Apache Indians. The Apaches
are at war with the white man at this time. The hero is basically conned into
taking a U.S. government representative to the stronghold of the great Apache
chief Cochise, to talk peace with him. Along the way the hero falls in love with
an Apache girl, and they find themselves caught up in the middle of this war,
under threat from both sides.
Who is the publisher and where can we buy it?
Sundown Press. You can find it on Amazon and the other usual outlets.
What’s your latest writing project?
It’s so much a departure from what I normally write, I’m keeping it a
bit of a mystery, in case talking about it hex’s it! I have just finished a
novel about Robin Hood. I think I may have done something amazing there (pardon
my immodesty); i.e. I think I found something new to say on the subject of
Robin Hood! Let’s see if publishers agree!
(Jo - I'm interested to know more about this since Robin Hood was from my
neck of the woods)
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve heard about writing westerns?
How about: ‘You must be crazy, don’t do it!’ Anyone attempting to make a
living at writing fiction is taking on a massive challenge, and writing in a
relatively uncommercial genre like the western doubly so. But, if you love the
western and want to write them, nothing’s going to stop you.
What advice would you give to a would-be western writer?
Don’t lazily re-cycle clichés from movies and TV, do some research into
the real west and see if you can find something new to freshen up familiar
territory. In my experience, truth’s not only stranger than fiction, it’s
better. For example, the first time I ever wrote a scene in a western saloon I
could have watched a few episodes of ‘Bonanza’ or whatever and given the reader
swing batwing doors, tinkling pianos etc. Instead I researched and found a
saloon in frontier-era Montana that had this written on the wall: DON’T FORGET
TO WRITE TO MOTHER. SHE IS THINKING OF YOU. WE FURNISH PAPER AND ENVELOPES
FREE, AND HAVE THE BEST WHISKEY IN TOWN. That had to go in my novel!
How many books do you generally read in a month and what are you reading
now?
I’ve been ultra-busy of late and I’m ashamed to say my reading has
suffered accordingly, so it’s more like I manage a book every 2 months. I’ve
only really been active on Social Media for the last 5 months and in that time
I’ve made the Facebook acquaintance of some fine writers whose work I plan to
pursue – Ralph Cotton, Robert Vaughan, Lorrie Farrelly, Patrick Dearen and
others. There’s a western writer called Terry James I plan to check out. Right
now I’m reading a highly entertaining thriller called ‘When Somebody Kills You’
by my FB friend Robert J. Randisi.**
(**SEE MY 4 STAR REVIEW OF ROBERT’S BOOK ON GOODREADS.)
Is there a book you’ve read that you wish you’d written and, if so, why?
Hmm. Tough one. As an adolescent I really enjoyed Ian Fleming’s Bond
books. I’ve read some of the recent Bonds by Sebastian Faulks & William
Boyd etc. and would have liked to have been given the commission to update Bond
to the swinging 60s – I actually wrote, for my own amusement, part of a novel
where Bond gets kidnapped by hippies and carried off to San Francisco in 1967!
Which of your books would you recommend to a first time reader? Why have
you chosen it?
THE PEACEMAKER is my favourite of my books. It’s my first published one
where I could write at length, get into character in depth, Native American
culture etc. It’s not just dependent on pace and action, it also has what John
Ford called ‘grace notes,’ quiet, reflective bits. I also liked the challenge
of writing a love story inside the framework of what is still a tough western.
If you were stranded on a desert island, which book, song and film would
you like to have with you?
Book: SWORD AT SUNSET, ROSEMARY SUTCLIFF’s epic re-telling of the
Arthurian legend;
Song: BROWN-EYED GIRL by VAN MORRISON (Although it’s a great
song, it’s not my favourite. However, I’d want it if I was stuck on this island
as it always cheers me up.)
Film: THE ALAMO – the 1960 JOHN WAYNE version. Not
the best film ever made, it’s a flawed masterpiece I think, but it is my
favourite. I don’t think it’s too much of a spoiler to say the film has a
tragic ending, but it always leaves me feeling uplifted.
Thank you
and good luck with that Robin Hood story.
BLURB for THE PEACEMAKER:
Eighteen-year-old scout Calvin
'Choctaw' Taylor believes he can handle whatever life throws his way. He’s been
on his own for several years, and he only wants to make his mark in the world.
When he is asked to guide peace emissary Sean Brennan and his adopted Apache
daughter, Nahlin, into a Chiricahua Apache stronghold, he agrees—but then has
second thoughts. He’s heard plenty about the many ways the Apache can kill a
man. But Mr. Brennan sways him, and they begin the long journey to find
Cochise—and to try to forge a peace and an end to the Indian Wars that have
raged for so long. During the journey, Choctaw begins to understand that there
are some things about himself he doesn’t like—but he’s not sure what to do
about it. Falling in love with Nahlin is something he never expected—and finds
hard to live with. The death and violence, love for Nahlin and respect for both
Cochise and Mr. Brennan, have a gradual effect on Choctaw that change him. But
is that change for the better? Can he live with the things he’s done to survive
in the name of peace?
Buy it on Amazon — or read free with Kindle Unlimited — here:
EXTRACT:
Choctaw blinked sweat and sunspots out of his eyes and began to lower the field
glasses; then he glimpsed movement.
He used the glasses again, scanning nearer ground, the white sands. He saw
nothing.
And then two black specks were there suddenly, framed against the dazzling
white. They might have dropped from the sky.
They grew bigger. Two horsebackers coming this way, walking their mounts. As he
watched they spurted into rapid movement, whipping their ponies into a hard run
towards him.
The specks swelled to the size of horses and men. Men in faded smocks maybe
once of bright colour, their long hair bound by rags at the temple. They had
rifles in their hands.
Breath caught in Choctaw’s throat. Fear made him dizzy. His arms started to
tremble. He knew who was coming at him so fast.
Apaches.
And you killed them or they killed you.
****
Visit my SUNDOWN PRESS AUTHOR PAGE: http://prairierosepublications.com/authors_2/andrew-mcbride/
