Nuggets from the Merlin Fanshaw Westerns

April 01, 2012

Dear Friends, Family and Fans,

HOT NEWS: Yes, more exciting news this week! We're adding a new weekly feature to our newsletter starting in this issue 'Nuggets from the Merlin Fanshaw Westerns.'  They are stand alone' excerpts or 'nuggets' from Stan's Merlin Fanshaw Western Series. So grab your morning coffee (or cup of Joe) and spend some time with our newsletter. Pop over to the blog for some fine new western cartoons and features we're sure will entertain and sometimes touch your heart, mind and funny bone. And while you're over at the blog, if you missed reading the new quarterly blog post by Stan on his home page http://stanlyndeauthor.com/ take a trip back to yesteryear with him and post some of your own comments to share with others. 

WE HOPE YOU WILL RESERVE SOME TIME THIS MONDAY 04-02-12, 7-8 P.M. MDT FOR FIRST 'MEET THE AUTHOR: STAN LYNDE WESTERN CHAT ROOM'!  Once a month you can Meet the Author at his web site. We hope you will set aside time for this wonderful opportunity this Monday and then every month the first Monday at 7 p.m. with a new topic each month. For the first online Chat I would recommend those who have not been online to a chat room get signed up beforehand so that you don't suffer from anxiety like Stan and I do when we try out something new. Go to http://stanlynde.net/chat-room_290.html and click on the white box at the bottom of the chat room and it will (or should) pop a link with the sign up form to fill out (yes, it is quite a simple form). You can come in with your own name, or be anonymous. Or use your 'handle' as some members of western groups do. Once you try it, I think you will be hooked. It really can be fun, and you can test your western knowledge on Stan, or pick up some interesting facts. This week's topic: 'What makes a good western novel or movie?'

Merlin Fanshaw Weekly Contest This week's winner of the 04-01-12 contest first to get the correct answer was Susan Knoop of Columbus, Ohio with the correct answer to Merlin's favorite horse color 'Buckskin.' Answers MUST be submitted on the COMMENTS form at www.StanLynde.net Blog under this Merlin Contest feature at http://www.stanlyndeauthor.com/?page_id=2038.  Check out the cool Bronc Rider pencil drawing with the correct answer artist's print you can win by being the first with the correct answer.

Here is this week's question. You must go to Stan's blog (link above) to answer the Merlin Fanshaw question for the coming week.  Winner will be announced in next week's newsletter (04-08-12 ):

In the Merlin Fanshaw westerns, Pandora Pretty Hawk, Luther Little Wolf, and Archie Young Bull all have ties to an Indian tribe. Which one?:

            a. Northern Cheyenne
            b. Crow
            c. Blackfeet
            d. Gros Ventre
            e. Arapaho

 Nuggets from the Merlin Fanshaw Westerns

 First 'nugget' from Summer Snow:

             'I recall one Sunday afternoon that September, a warm day, full of that special golden autumn light, Pandora and me walking down among the cottonwoods.  She had on her green-checked gingham dress, and I could tell from the look on her face that she was especially happy. She was looking up to where the leaves in the tops of the bigger cottonwoods had already turned bright yellow.  'They seem to know summer's over,' Pandora said. 'They're putting on their autumn finery.'

            'Yes,' I said, feeling poetic. 'They know the seasons are changin'. Soon, they'll shed their leaves entirely and bed down for the winter.'  I looked down at her pretty face and smiled.

            Pandora smiled back and gripped my hand a little tighter and leaned her head against my shoulder. 'But they'll wake again when spring comes,' she said.  'They'll yawn and stretch, and dress again in tender green.'

            By that time I was caught up in it, like we were writing a story together. 'Then along about the first of June, they'll cast their seeds to the winds, and cottonwood fluff will burst out and drift down on the air.'

            'Like summer snow,' Pandora said.'

 This particular Stan Lynde LATIGO Sunday Cartoon Strip Feature 04-01-12 demonstrates some 'troubles with the outlaw business!'  Some lovely stagecoach art work with this post, check it out at http://www.stanlyndeauthor.com/?page_id=2009.

 'Defenseless.' 04-01-12 at http://www.stanlyndeauthor.com/?page_id=2015.  Poor Bob!

'Chuck Wagon' Part I of IV feature posts starting on Thursday 04-05-12  http://www.stanlyndeauthor.com/?page_id=1347.  I think you will find this series fascinating and the cartoon art work educational and fun in this series of Stan Lynde facts! Watch for this post on Facebook and other social media locations.

FYI  NOTICE: THE NEW SUBSCRIBER QUICKSILVER & BRONC RIDER PRINT OFFER IS OVER.  We continue to add new Cottonwood Clarion Fans to our fan list and appreciate the referrals from our friends and fans to our newsletter for all of the latest weekly news and fun cartoons and features at http://stanlynde.net/cottonwood-clarion-signup_314.html.

GREAT NEW FAN EMAIL & BOOK REVIEW THE BODACIOUS KID (first in the Merlin Fanshaw series):

'Dear Lynda and Stan,

Thank-you so much for sending me a copy of Stan Lynde's The Bodacious Kid. I have thoroughly enjoyed it and have already gotten requests from friends to borrow it! I admit that I have never read a western novel before (except recently when I read The Sisters Brothers, by Patrick DeWitt) so I didn't know what to expect. I am thrilled to say I loved it! I have posted a review for it on my blog, Cozy Little Book Journal, and on Amazon.com as well. You can see the links below. 

My review of The Bodacious Kid on Cozy Little Book Journal:'

http://cozylittlebookjournal.blogspot.ca/2012/03/bodacious-kid-by-stan-lynde.html  

'My reviews on Amazon.com:' 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A1WDHQ9V2E4H5C/ref%3dcm_cr_yc_cdp?ie=UTF8&sort_by=MostRecentReview

'Thank-you again for the book and for making me a convert to the genre'! 

Sincerely,  

Mary Lavers

a.k.a Beatnik Mary, Cozy Little Book Journal

Website: http://cozylittlebookjournal.blogspot.ca/ 

Dear fans, while The Bodacious Kid was Stan's first novel in the Merlin Fanshaw series, we are currently ending a contract with a publishing company that has closed its doors on publishing. We have given notice, but we must wait for appropriate response. We will put this wonderful first novel back in print in E-Book and Trade Paperback along with Careless Creek (same publisher and second in the series) as soon as we are able to do so under our own Cottonwood Publishing banner.  Of course these books are available in Audio Book form, and otherwise can be found in 'out-of-print' sources.

That's all of the fan news for this week. Here's wishing you spring in the air and a spring in your step!

Stan and Lynda Lynde
296 Willowbrook Drive
Helena, MT 59602

http://www.StanLynde.net/ or http://www.stanlyndeauthor.com/

Lynda@CottowoodClarion.com

Stan@StanLynde.net

406-495-1020