Western Novels in the works

Absolutely. Why wouldn't it be a Western if it has British characters? Lots of Britons invested in Western ranching, John Tunstall for example or the many British ranchers involved in the run-up to the Johnson County war. I think immigrants make a Western setting more believable, they were pretty common in those days.

I'm working on revising a 60,000 word novel about Spanish Florida. It's based on the events leading up to the 1st Seminole War in 1818. An American backwoodsman is tracking a British adventurer who plans to make an alliance of Indians, runaway slaves, and anti-Spanish "privateers" to set up an independent republic in Florida. Meanwhile bandit gangs are running loose, Spanish authority is falling apart & General Jackson is getting ready to invade.

It's all based on factual history, though I've re-arranged events and created a few characters for narrative purposes. What I tried to stick to was an honest appraisal of the various factions' motives.

Is this a Western? Well, it's about the American frontier and the clash between cultures in a wilderness where you have to make your own law with a gun. Maybe it's just a Southeastern...

Easiest way for me to describe the two-part novel I have coming out is with a condensed version of my query blurb. Don't have a definite date for publication (e-book and print), but should be within the next four months. The editor is currently on the second read-through. I am preparing an audio version for them to market as well (almost as time consuming as writing the darn thing). Here it is:

As a result of a chance meeting, an aging, larger-than-life U. S. marshal recruited an unadventurous, middle-aged blacksmith as his deputy marshal. Out of the marshal's final act of mentoring, a steadfast and playful friendship quickly developed between the two men. Now, six years later, having stayed at his post far longer than most lawmen, the jovial, eighty-one year old lawman is eyeing the end of his career while his protege has settled into his new job as sheriff in the mostly quiet town of Winfield, Kansas. Late to enter the lawman profession, the sheriff has long envied the storied career of his semi-legendary, eighty-one-year-old friend and mentor; that is, until outlaws force newly appointed sheriff into two adventures of his own, both of which hold life and death consequences for him and his aging buddy.

Western? Most definitely, but the focus is on the friendship between the characters. Neither fits the typical mold of the young, tall, handsome, tougher and faster on the draw than anyone protagonist usually found in the standard western. Just ordinary folks doing their job and dealing with the consequences of being in that profession. Set in 1883 after Kansas' heyday as the cattle capital and location of the Old West's wickedest cities. 90,000 words between the two separate but closely spaced (time-wise) tales.

I'm not sure if it's a western, more of a period piece. It takes place in 1875. The MC is a journalist from Milwaukee who also helps people who are wronged. He uses his syndicated feature stories to expose corruption, evil cattle barons, and so on. That's his backstory.

For this WIP he goes to new orleans to help what he thinks is someone in trouble. The antag is a voodoo priest who tries to convince the mc that madam Marie laveau is trying to kill him by sending zombies.

In new orleans the mc meets the territory marshal, an old friend who has his own political enemies because he is running for governor. The mc gets sucked into his friend's fight when he is given "friendly advice" to leave town. Instead he breaks the guy's nose and ends up getting deputized because, as the marshal says, "that way you can legally shoot the sumsa bitches. "

Anyway, there are saloon scenes, shootings, horse chases, and zombies. Oh, and the mardi gras.

So there you have it. Western cross-iver or just a historical?

I'm in the process of cleaning up a Western/YA-fusion Currently at 67,000 words, a sci-fi Western taking place in the middle of the 21st century. Terrestrial catastrophe has transformed the United States back into a more-or-less uninhabited frontier. Scattered and buried after the asteroid impact that caused the catastrophe is Vibrant Meteora -- the gold, so to speak -- that everyone is after to power their homes, their vehicles, and even their bodies.

MC is a small-city boy who gets caught up with a gunslinging disruptionist who swears by her 1969 salvaged Corvette. He learns to shoot, spit, swear & ride (er... drive a stick?), then goes train marauding in an attempt to assassinate the evil corporate gold-monopolizing villain.

Definitely a Cowboys & Aliens/Firefly kind of Western, I guess

Although it's not a novel, I'm working on a short story about a young man who comes home after several years of carousing, robbing, and just being up to no good. He is, of course, broke and without almost any material possessions. He is being chased by the law for murder. He had really just come home to die, but he realizes he can do one good thing for his family. He takes the fall for an accidental killing committed by a close family member. It's really about seeing that we can never escape the consequences of our actions.