Trail Drive

Series · 34

books · 1992-2021

By Ralph Compton, Terrence McCauley, Robert J. Randisi, and more

Books in series

The Goodnight Trail

1992

Former Texas Rangers Benton McCaleb, Will Elliot, and Brazos Gifford ride with Charles Goodnight as he rounds up thousands of ornery, unbranded cattle for the long drive to Colorado. From the Trinity River brakes to Denver, they’ll battle endless miles of flooded rivers, parched desert, and whiskey-crazed Comanches. And come face-to-face with Judge Roy Bean and legendary gunslingers like Clay Allison. For McCaleb and his hard-riding crew, the drive is a fierce struggle against the perils of an untamed land. A fight to the finish where the brave reach glory—or die hard.

The Western Trail

1992

From bestselling author Ralph Compton-an extraordinary saga of the hard-driving Texans who locked horns with a ruthless railroad baron in a bloody battle for an untamed land. In the aftermath of the Civil War, cash-starved Texans turned to the only resource they possessed in abundance: longhorn cows. Despite the hazards of trailing longhorns across some three hundred miles of Indian Territory, this was the only way to access the railroad... THE WESTERN TRAIL Benton McCaleb and his band of bold-spirited cowboys traveled long and hard to drive thousands of ornery cattle into Wyoming's Sweetwater Valley. They're in the midst of setting up a ranch just north of Cheyenne when a ruthless railroad baron and his hired killers try to force them off the land. Now, with the help of the Shoshoni Indian tribe and a man named Buffalo Bill Cody, McCaleb and his men must vow to stand and fight. Outgunned and outmanned, they will wage the most ferocious battle of their lives-to win the right to call the land their own. "Very seldom in literature have the legends of the Old West been so vividly painted." - Tombstone Epitaph

The Chisholm Trail

1993

Armed with only a Colt rifle, a Bowie knife, and courage as big as the West, Ten Chisholm—the bold, illegitimate son of frontier scout and plains ambassador Jesse Chisholm and a Cherokee woman—arrives in the heart of Comanche country with a price on his head. His only loving the beautiful daughter of a powerful New Orleans gambler who has promised her to a wealthy man she hates. Now that Ten has returned to the harsh Texas brakes with a team of battle-toughened cowboys and ex-soldiers—and a vow to return to Priscilla and make her his wife—he must round up wild longhorns, ward off angry Comanches, and survive treacherous outlaw attacks as he crosses the Red River and sets off on a brazen quest to open a new trail to Kansas on the savage frontier.

The Bandera Trail

1993

The only riches Texans has left after the Civil War were five million maverick longhorns and the brains, brawn and boldness to drive them north to where the money was. Now, Ralph Compton brings this violent and magnificent time to life in an extraordinary epic series based on the history-blazing trail drives. Set on rescuing their old friend Clay Duval who is trapped inside war-torn Mexico, Gill and Van Austin, nephews of Texas founder Stephen Austin, cross the border after him and soon discover half of Mexico's army wants them dead. Taken prisoner by Santa Anna's soldiers, the brothers make a daring escape and head into Durango country, where they stumble on a valley full of longhorns—and a chance to build a future north of the border. All they have to do now is break Duval out of prison and drive the cattle to safety. But faced with outlaws, soldiers and the cunning plans of a beautiful woman, the Austins are finding out that this isn't a trail drive, it's a war to reach the Bandera Range alive. And the only way to do it is the Texan way—figting for every bloody, dusty mile ahead.

The California Trail

1994

Please don't delete. This is an alternate cover for ISBN 0312951698. Gold fever had hit California, and suddenly, the land was full of hungry pioneers. For Gil and Van Austin, two Texas brothers, it meant the chance to sell well-grazed longhorns after years of hard ranching and a treacherous cattle drive up through Mexico. The only trouble was that California was on the other side of a searing desert, swollen rivers, a barrage of Indian attacks, and a whole passel of outlaw trouble. And while the Texans and their men were ready and willing to take it all on, there was one thing they weren't prepared for: the ultimate act of treachery and deceit in a land of schemers, dreamers and gold!

The Shawnee Trail

1994

Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here Stampedes, rustlers, and hostile Indians wouldn't slow them down. They were bound for Kansas, and a Texas-sized fight! The only riches Texans had left after the Civil War were five million maerick longhorns and the brains, brown and boldness to drive them north where the money was. Now, Ralph Compton brings this violent and magnificent time to life in an extraordinary epic series based on the history-blazing trail drives. The Shawnee Trail Long John Coons, the Cajun son of a conjuring woman, was driving 2,000 head of cattle north from Texas to the railroad in Kansas—through Indian Territory and outlaw strongholds. At his side was a beautiful woman with a sordid past, three ex-cattle rustlers, some renegate Indians, Mexican vanqueros and a straight-laced young trail boss. And while Long John tried to keep his hot headed crew from killing each other before they reached the end of the line, the biggest dangers was waiting up ahead—where an all-out war in Kansas make the Texas fight together, or die at the same time.

The Virginia City Trail

1994

Through a thousand miles of dust, fists, and guns, they found the courage to keep on driving. The only riches Texans had left after the Civil War were five million maverick longhorns and the brains, brawn and boldness to drive them north to where the money was. Now, Ralph Compton brings this violent and magnificent time to life in an extraordinary epic series based on the history-making trail drives. The Virginia City Trail With a dream of building a ranching empire in Montana, Nelson Story sets off on one of the most extraordinary journeys in frontier history. By his side was a bunch of misfits and renegades-hard-fighting, war-bitten Texans with nothing left to lose. On his tail as the worst kind of enemy-brutal outlaws fixing to bleed his trail drive dry. Pushing his way through four harsh territories and three brutal seasons, Story would defy the Union Army, get a hold of a hundred Remingtons, and take on a thousand riled-up Sioux warriors, before he reached Virginia City-and came face-to-face with the man who wanted him dead...

The Dodge City Trail

1995

For a brave band of Texas pioneers, new enemies awaited on the thundering trail. But old enemies were the deadliest of all. The only riches Texans had left after the Civil War were five million maverick longhorns and the brains, brawn and boldness to drive them north to where the money was. Now, Ralph Compton brings this violent and magnificent time to life in an extraordinary epic series based on the history-making trail drives. The Dodge City Trail Dodge City was a businessman's dream. And a cattle drive north-with thousands of unbranded longhorns and a remuda of stolen Mexican horses-was a dream of Texans like Dan Ember, who'd come home from the war to find a rich man's hired guns living on his land. Now Dan and his neighbors would risk everything on a drive across the Llano. Along the way, two bands of killers would fight over them, the gunslinger Clay Allison would join up with them, and Quanah Parker's Comanches would try to thwart them-in a bold adventure fueled by the courage to face death, the pride to keep going, and the knowledge that now, there was no turning back.

The Oregon Trail

1995

They Risked Their Lives To Bring Cattle to Missouri. Now They Faced A Journey Twics As Dangerous... The only riches Texans had left after the Civil War were five million maverick longhorns and the brains, brawn and boldness to drive them north to where the money was. Now, Ralph Compton brings this violent and magnificent time to life in an extraordinary epic series based on the history-making trail drives. The Oregon Trail Lou Spencer, Dill Summer, and their fourteen Texas cowboys briught a herd up to Independence, Missouri, and sold half to a wagon train heading West. Then the Texans hired on, leading the battling greenhorn pioneers across the Missouri River, across Nebraska Territory, and into the wilds past Forts Laramie and Bridger. With winter closing in, Spencer's men were running out of time to reach the wide-open land of Oregon. And with a fortune in gold hidden in one of the pilgrims' wooden wagons-and outlaws circling like wolves-there were miles of shooting and dying still ahead.

#10

The Santa Fe Trail

1997

An extraordinary saga of the trail-blazing cowboys who made their fortune driving cattle from Texas to the Great Frontier. They left Missouri and were headed to Santa Fe. Standing in their way was a parched desert, a land of outlaws and enemies-and one man's dangerous past. He was a wealthy englishman with two beautiful daughters. They were five dusty texans and a gambling man. And they were all on the ride of their lives. The only riches Texans had left after the Civil War were five million maverick longhorns and the brains, brawn and boldness to drive them north to where the money was. Now, Ralph Compton brings this violent and magnificent time to life in an extraordinary epic series based on the history-making trail drives. The Santa Fe Trail Gavin McCord and his brawling cowboys came to Missouri with a 3,500 longhorns and not one buyer. That's where Gladstone Pitkin came in. A man with money and a dream of ranching in New Mexico, Pitkin bought McCord's cattle and hired his Texans for a trail drive from Independence to Santa Fe. But with an ill-fated gambler on the drive, the courageous, hardened riders weren't just a thousand brutal miles from Santa Fe-they were heading into a death trap.

#11

The Old Spanish Trail

1998

An extraordinary saga of the trail-blazing cowboys who made their fortune driving cattle from Texas to the great frontier. Hard-riding Texans were braving mountains, desert and Indian war—for the promise of a golden land called California... Over one million copies of Ralph Compton's Trail Drive novels in print! Missouri was closed to Texas cattle. Santa Fe was closed by murder. Now, they had one cross desert mountains and hostile Indian land—to a place called California... The only riches Texans had left after the Civil War were five million maverick longhorns and the brains, brawn, and boldness to drive them north to where the money was. Now, Ralph, Compton brings this violent and magnificent time to life in an extraordinary epic series based on the history-blazing trail drives. For the ranchers riding with Rand Hayes, things had gone from bad to worse. The Santa Fe man who'd contracted five thousand head of cattle was dead—murdered by renegades. Now the Texans had a herd of longhorns and only one cross two mountain ranges and the Mojave Desert to the gold-fevered market at Los Angeles. A trail blazed by ancient Spaniards, this was a route that would lead through a brutal, wondrous land, where a hostile Ute nation was only one danger the cattle drive faced, and California was a shooting war away...

#12

The Deadwood Trail

1999

They had beaten the harsh odds of the frontier. But for the two powerful ranchers, the most formidable trail lay ahead. There had never been a trail drive like this before... The only riches Texans had left after the Civil War were five million maverick longhorns and the brains, brawn, and boldness to drive them to market along treacherous trails. Now, Ralph Compton brings this violent and magnificent time to life in an extraordinary series based on the history-blazing trail drives. For veteran ranchers Nelson Story of Montana, and Benton McCaleb of Wyoming, it was an opportunity a man didn't pass up. In gold camps of the Black Hills, miners were hungry for beef, at boomtown prices. But within the two outfits were Indians, gunmen, Texans, lovesick cowboys, and high-spirited women. Worse, the drive would pass through Crow and Sioux territory, when Custer's defeat at the Little Big Horn was just hours away. The drives were tangled by violent grudges, stampeding herds, and dangerous deception. The two brawling outfits had one thing in common: a deadly surprise awaiting them at the end of the trail...

#13

The Green River Trail

1999

The year was 1853. For handful of cowboys turned California Gold Rushers, it was time to go home. Then Lonnie Kilgore and his fellow Texans met Western legend and former mountain man Jim Bridger, who told them of a lush range waiting to be claimed in northern Utah. Now, the Texans have purchased land on the Green river and come to San Antonio to gather up some longhorns. But with Indian trouble, law trouble, and woman trouble along for the ride, the cowboys are finding out the truth about this paradise: to live on land you bought and paid for, you have to be willing to die...

#14

The Dakota Trail

2001

Hoping to save his destitute hometown of Wisdom, Texas, Dick Hodson returns from the Civil War and plans a cattle drive run by greenhorn children, but a ruthless gang of cutthroats, hired by the evil Bryan Phelps, will do anything to stop them. Original.

#15

The Alamosa Trail

2002

This title has been removed from sale by Penguin Group, USA.

#16

The Bozeman Trail

2002

Three daring individuals—James Cason, son of the owner of the Long Shadow ranch; vigilante Duke Faglier; and Revelation Scattergood, a suspected rustler out to build a new life for herself—brave the perils of the trail to drive a herd of cattle from San Antonio, Texas, to the Dakota Territory. Original.

#17

The Abilene Trail

2003

There's no such thing as safe passage in this western in Ralph Compton's USA Today bestselling series. Ben McCullough was once an officer in the Confederate Army. Now, he’s a rancher in the Texas hill country, hoping to earn enough money to settle down and marry. With eight hundred head of cattle to drive north, Ben is relying on his ex-sergeant, Hap, to watch over the bunch of greenhorns he’s recruited to help. These young cowboys have their work cut out for them as they confront the dangers of cattle driving. But stampedes, raging rivers, and nature’s worst elements are nothing compared to the threat that awaits them—a gang of outlaws determined to rustle the herd… More Than Six Million Ralph Compton Books In Print!

#18

Trail To Fort Smith

2004

New from the USA Today bestselling author Clint's wild streak will be the death of Hamp. But a good man stands behind his friend-and steps up when the bullets start flying.

#19

The Ogallala Trail

2005

The trail to riches is lined with danger in this Ralph Compton western... The ranchers of Frio Springs are praying that Sam Ketchum will succeed in driving their cattle to the richer markets of Nebraska. Sure, there’s no one more reliable. But ghosts still haunt Sam from his last drive—and the road north has only become tougher. Comanches and cattle thieves lie hidden in the brush, poised to ambush, and notorious gunslingers lurk in every town along the way. And to make matters worse, the Wagner brothers have picked a fight back home, sparking a deadly family feud that Sam may have to settle before the trail finally ends… More Than Six Million Ralph Compton Books In Print!

#20

The Palo Duro Trail

2004

A thousand-mile journey begins with a single step in this Ralph Compton western... Some think he’s crazy. But Felix Dagstaff has signed on to drive 4,000 head of wild longhorns from his ranch near Quitaque, Texas, up the Palo Duro Canyon to Cheyenne, more than a thousand miles away. Even if the passage were flat, you couldn’t pay most men enough to take on such a job. But poor odds have never stopped Dag before… He’ll have to drive his cattle through blinding storms and swollen rivers. But the setbacks of Mother Nature pale in comparison to the sedition of his own one drover’s not who he claims to be; another tries to make off with part of the herd. With months of heat and hardship stretching before him like the treacherous but impossibly beautiful canyon, the chances of getting ahead are slim. But if he fails, Dag will lose everything he has fought for… More Than Six Million Ralph Compton Books In Print!

#21

The Ellsworth Trail

2005

Bad blood runs deep in this Ralph Compton western... Jock Kane would do anything for his buddy Chad Becker—except drive the rancher’s longhorns to the Ellsworth railhead in Kansas. Having lost his fortune and his faith on the last trail, and his beloved wife, Twyla, to a killer, Jock’s not looking for adventure. What gets him off his tail is finding out who’s vying with Chad for the Kansas sale. It’s none other than Twyla’s cold-blooded killer himself—Jock’s own brother, Abel, now in cahoots with a Yankee carpetbagger. Now there’s no hailstorm violent enough, no Apache savage enough, and no trail-drive turncoat dirty enough to stop Jock from redefining justice and revenge… More Than Six Million Ralph Compton Books In Print!

#22

The Tenderfoot Trail

2006

More information to be announced soon on this forthcoming title from Penguin USA

#23

Trail to Cottonwood Falls

2007

Ed Wright has one last chance to prove himself. The former cowboy and Ranger gets back on the horse to drive a herd of cattle from Texas to Kansas-but must contend with a rival outfit who will stop at nothing to see him fail.

#24

The Amarillo Trail

2011

Doc Blaine needs to drive 3,000 head of cattle from Texas to Kansas, and needs his sons Jared and Miles to help. Unfortunately, his sons are in love with the same woman-and have vowed to kill each other on sight...

#25

The Omaha Trail

2012

BLOOD AND BANKERS Dane Kramer looks forward to the day when his sprawling Oklahoma cattle ranch will truly be his—no strings attached. With only one more bank payment to make, and a buyer in Omaha ready to pay top dollar for a herd of Herefords, he should finally have the banker Earl Throckmorton off his back. But Earl has a plan to keep the ranch for himself, and if he has his way, Dane’s herd will never make it across the Omaha Trail—and Dane won’t make it home alive… Up against Earl’s hired gang of outlaws, Dane must do whatever it takes to bring in the herd—but Earl has more than one trick up his sleeve. Planting one of his own men in Dane’s newly hired team of cowhands could be just the insurance he needs…

#26

Big Jake's Last Drive

2020

Two old ranch hands lead one last trail drive but they can't escape death along the way in a brand new thrilling western in Ralph Compton's trail drive series. Big Jake Motley had been running the Big M spread in Texas for over 30 years. In that time, he's driven thousands of head of cattle to market in Kansas. Now, while both the Nineteenth century and the era of trail drive are coming to an end, Big Jake is determined to make one last drive to Kansas. The only thing is, he doesn't have the cowhands to move that much beef. He drafts his old friend, Chance McCandles, into service, and together, the two aging cowboys put together a crew. The trail to Kansas is fraught with dangers both natural and man made, but when Chance is killed by rustlers, Big Jake has one more task in before him, extract vengeance for his old friend.

#27

Ralph Compton The Badlands Trail

2020

In this thrilling new installment in bestseller Ralph Compton's Trail Drive series, Toby Bishop and the drovers of the Circle K ranch will have to battle the elements, wild animals, rough terrain, and dangerous people to get their longhorn herd to their destination. The drovers of Circle K ranch have to drive the herd of beautiful longhorn cattle five hundred miles northwest to Missouri if they hope to make it through the next year. Toby Bishop, a jack-of-all-trades and drifter, will have to work with the mixed group of drovers, whether they are white, black, Hispanic, lifelong cowboys, drifters, or shamed preachers. On the trail, drovers must set aside their differences in favor of a common goal. As they go north, Bishop finds himself physically by the rigors of the trail; and mentally, by the grim memories evoked by the violence necessary to protect the herd. But if they are to make it all the way to St. Louis, he'll have to call on every skill and ounce of knowledge he's acquired in his checkered and violent past to overcome the unexpected obstacles threatening the drive.

#28

Ralph Compton The Kelly Trail

2020

In this new Ralph Compton Western, William "Bull" Kelly brings his five sons onto the cattle drive, but when rustlers stampede the herd and injure them, he'll do anything to protect his own. Over the past twenty years, William "Bull" Kelly acquired a reputation as one of the best ramrods in Texas. He has led legendary cattle drives to almost every railhead in the middle of the country. Most impressive of all, he once drove his herd all the way up to Montana. But after years of working for other people, he decided to run cattle on his own, with his five sons. Everything starts off fine, but when a group of cattle thieves try to stampede the herd, some of Kelly's sons are hurt in the melee. The rustlers quickly find out that Kelly isn't called "Bull" because he insists on riding at the head of the herd. He's called "Bull" because of his skill with the harsh whip coiled on his belt.

#29

Ralph Compton Drive for Independence

2020

In this brand-new Ralph Compton Western, the drovers of the Bar X ranch will face sandstorms, renegades, and outlaws along the historic Cimarron trail. After a child is accidentally killed in a shootout, Art Catlin decides to give up his life of bounty hunting and finds a new career as a drover, working for the Bar X ranch. The trail is 770 miles from Santa Fe to Independence, Missouri, and Art isn't fool enough to think it'll be an easy journey. As they head east, they seem to come upon countless threats, from environmental to personal. If they're to make it all the way with the herd intact, Catlin will need to use all of the skill and knowledge he's acquired over his long and violent career.

#30

Ralph Compton Red Trail

2020

A cattle drive faces long odds in this exciting new installment in Ralph Compton’s Trail Drive series. An outbreak of hostilities with Comanches has disrupted the usual trail routes. But Mase Durst must get his cows from his Texas ranch to the railway up in Wichita, Kansas, or face losing his land, which the bank is fixing to foreclose on. He's forced to take his herd on a little-used route called the Red Trail—little used for good reasons. It’s a tough dangerous, narrow, and fraught with banditry. Along the way, Durst and his men face numerous obstacles thrown up by Mother Nature, cattle rustlers and crooked lawmen. But even their safe arrival in Wichita will offer no relief if he can’t make it home in time to save his ranch from the bank—and his wife from the predations of their rapacious neighbor. . .

#31

Ralph Compton the Empire Trail

2021

In this thrilling installment in bestseller Ralph Compton’s Trail Drive series, a small ranch owner drives his herd into Mexico and is startled to find that human life comes cheaper than beef on the hoof. Andrew Buchanan has a problem. His modest ranch in Southern California is being pressured by an unscrupulous competitor and the encroaching wave of the future—orange growers. The only chance he has to sell his cattle for real money is to take them south into Mexico. The Empire Trail is five hundred miles of misery that crosses scorching deserts and clings to treacherous cliffs—and it's Andrew's job to find the best way across. But physical barriers are not the only thing he must contend with. A group of dangerous men are trailing the herd, determined to take the cattle or die trying. But this is Andrew's livelihood that hangs in the balance, and he won't go down without a fight.

#32

The Too-Late Trail

2021

Western Writers of America 2022 Spur Award FinalistA rancher discovers just how many times a man's luck can hold out in this thrilling novel in the bestselling Trail Drive Series After struggling for years to work a raw-patch ranch in the arid flatlands of Texas, young Mitchell Newland learns that his herd of scrubby range cattle will fetch ten times their local price if they're driven to Montana. He strikes a one-sided deal with the devil, neighboring rancher Corliss Bilks, to back his play with cattle, men, and horses. The trail brims with hellish prairie fire, stampede, flooded rivers, hailstorms, rattlers, sickness, long, broiling days and frigid nights. Halfway to Montana, range pirates and a rogue Apache war party close in. Mitch and the boys fight, grim and helpless, watching as their herd is driven westward in a cloud of dust and cackling laughter. Cut down to two bloodied men, Mitch collapses, far too late, and admits the old man has won the bet. But salvation in the form of a Basque sheepherder revives Mitch and his pal, Drover Joe, and Mitch realizes he isn't done. Not by a long shot. And now he has nothing to lose.

#33

Ralph Compton Terror Trail

2021

The daughters of a New Mexican rancher must help their father recover a stolen herd in this thrilling new novel in the bestselling Trail Drive series. In the early days of the Mexican Revolution guerrillas led by Francisco "Pancho" Villa raid a ranch in Doña Ana County, New Mexico Territory. They abscond with a herd of saddle horses earmarked for sale to the U.S. Army, wounding rancher Alejandro Aguirre and killing his only son, Eduardo, in the process. When the army commander and his superiors in Washington, D.C. refuse to violate Mexican sovereignty with a punitive raid, Alejandro's twin daughters, Dolores and Yolanda, must step up. Together they lead a crew of ranch hands and friendly members of the Mescalaro Apache tribe to recover the herd. A perilous road lies ahead, but the sisters will stop at nothing to find justice for their fallen brother and reclaim what was stolen.

#34

Ralph Compton The Sagebrush Trail

2021

In this fast-paced new installment in bestselling author Ralph Compton's Trail Drive series, a trail drive boss faces many challenges. Luke Ross is determined to drive his herd to the trailhead, but along the way he'll have to cope with rustlers, bandits, and warlike Indians.

Authors

Also writes as Terrence P. McCauley

Robert J. Randisi

Author · 87 books

Pseudonyms include W. B. Longley, Robert Lake, Spenser Fortune, Joshua Randall, Tom Cutter, J.R. Roberts, Joseph Meek, Cole Weston, Lew Baines, Paul Ledd and Jon Sharpe Robert J. Randisi is the creator and author of The Gunsmith, the popular Western series with more than 250 novels and more than 5 million books in print, which was written under the pen name J.R. Roberts. Under various pseudonyms, he has created and written the series Tracker, Angel Eyes, The Bounty Hunter, Mountain Jack Pike, and Ryder. Western novels that have appeared under his own name are The Ham Reporter, Targett, The Ghost with Blue Eyes, Legend, and Miracle of the Jackal. He has also edited the Western anthologies White Hats, Black Hats, and Boot Hill.

Joseph A. West

Author · 27 books

Joe West was born and raised in the seaside town of Saltcoats in Scotland. At 19 he became a police officer, but soon turned his love of writing into a career as a journalist, working for the Daily Mirror in London among others. In 1972 West was recruited as a reporter for the National Enquirer, and began working in the United States. Traveling the world in search of stories, West almost froze to death on an Alaska mountain, and a spider bite nearly killed him in the Amazon rainforest. 'I swelled up like a balloon and turned a real pretty violet color,' he recalls. Now a full-time novelist, West and his wife Emily reside in sunny Lake Worth, Florida, where he enjoys tamer pursuits like canoeing the alligator-infested swamps of the Everglades. His daughter Alexandria attends a local college where she studies forensic technology. She will have absolutely nothing to do with canoes and alligators. West researches the settings of his novels by exploring the terrain in person, usually with little more than a sleeping bag and a can of coffee. Recently he and Emily celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary at the Lodge in Cloudcroft, New Mexico, a gift from the students at Rio Rancho High School who use West's first novel as a textbook. They then spent a month in the mountains and deserts of New Mexico, often pitching their tent where the air is thin at 9,000 feet above the flat.

Matthew P. Mayo is the award-winning author of thirty-plus books and dozens more short stories. His novel, Stranded: A Story of Frontier Survival, won the prestigious Western Heritage Wrangler Award for Outstanding Western Novel by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, as well as the Spur Award for Best Western Juvenile Fiction by the Western Writers of America, the Peacemaker Award for Best YA Novel by Western Fictioneers, and the Willa Literary Award for Best Historical Fiction by Women Writing the West. His novel, Tucker’s Reckoning, won the Spur Award for Best Western Novel, and his short stories have been Spur Award and Peacemaker Award finalists. He has been an on-screen expert for a popular TV series about lost treasure in the American West, and is an Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America. Matthew and his wife, photographer and videographer Jennifer Smith-Mayo, along with their indefatigable pup, Miss Tess, run Gritty Press (www.GrittyPress.com) and live in the deepest, forested wildlands of Maine. When they’re not battling belligerent bigfoots and foiling the filching ways of hordes of gray squirrels, they rove the byways of North America in search of hot coffee, tasty whiskey, and high adventure. Be sure to rummage at Matthew’s website (www.MatthewMayo.com) for updates about spurious projects, outrageous outings, and a few surprises, too….

Robert Vaughan is an American writer. He has also written a series of contemporary and historical romance novels under several pseudonyms including "Paula Moore" and "Paula Fairman". His father served in the military and Robert followed him in the 1950s, entering army aviation. He served until the Vietnam War and won numerous medals including the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star, the Air Medal with several oak-leaf clusters, the Meritorious Service Medal, and several other medals. His early books reflected his military background: the first novel was about the US Army along the DMZ in Korea, followed by a trilogy set in Vietnam. There are more than 9 million of his books in print under various names. He was inducted into the Writers’ Hall of Fame in 1998.

Dusty Richards

Author · 35 books

Author of over 85 novels, Dusty Richards is the only author to win two Spur awards in one year (2007), one for his novel The Horse Creek Incident and another for his short story “Comanche Moon.” He is a member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and the International Professional Rodeo Association, and serves on the local PRCA rodeo board. Dusty is also an inductee in the Arkansas Writers Hall of Fame. He currently resides in northwest Arkansas. He was the winner of the 2010 Will Rogers Medallion Award for Western Fiction for his novel Texas Blood Feud and honored by the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2009.

Jory Sherman was born in Minnesota and grew up in West Texas, Louisiana, and Colorado. He was a magazine editor for a time and had some of his work published, including some poetry, short stories and articles. Sherman had a friend who owned a publishing company and asked him to write a novel for the company. From that offer came five more novels, all written in one year. He wrote the supernatural mystery series, "Chill," which was somewhat revolutionary for the times, but which earned him an eight book contract. He then came up with the idea for "Rivers West," a series which had each book written by a different western author. Then came the "Baron Saga," the first of which was "Grass Kingdom" which earned Sherman a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize in Letters. Sherman has also won the Spur Award for his contribution to Western Literature.

John Shirley

Author · 59 books

John Shirley won the Bram Stoker Award for his story collection Black Butterflies, and is the author of numerous novels, including the best-seller DEMONS, the cyberpunk classics CITY COME A-WALKIN', ECLIPSE, and BLACK GLASS, and his newest novels STORMLAND and A SORCERER OF ATLANTIS. He is also a screenwriter, having written for television and movies; he was co-screenwriter of THE CROW. He has been several Year's Best anthologies including Prime Books' THE YEAR'S BEST DARK FANTASY AND HORROR anthology, and his nwest story collection is IN EXTREMIS: THE MOST EXTREME SHORT STORIES OF JOHN SHIRLEY. His novel BIOSHOCK: RAPTURE telling the story of the creation and undoing of Rapture, from the hit videogame BIOSHOCK is out from TOR books; his Halo novel, HALO: BROKEN CIRCLE is coming out from Pocket Books. His most recent novels are STORMLAND and (forthcoming) AXLE BUST CREEK. His new story collection is THE FEVERISH STARS. STORMLAND and other John Shirley novels are available as audiobooks. He is also a lyricist, having written lyrics for 18 songs recorded by the Blue Oyster Cult (especially on their albums Heaven Forbidden and Curse of the Hidden Mirror), and his own recordings. John Shirley has written only one nonfiction book, GURDJIEFF: AN INTRODUCTION TO HIS LIFE AND IDEAS, published by Penguin/Jeremy Tarcher. John Shirley story collections include BLACK BUTTERFLIES, IN EXTREMIS, REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY WEIRD STORIES, and LIVING SHADOWS. source: Amazon