cowboys and dinosaurs – Page 2

A very happy Birthday.

I had a birthday a few weeks ago. Yay getting older!

Even with the Chinese ‘Bat Sandwich’ Flu, it was excellent. My parents came down, with individually wrapped hot dogs for Coney Island Hot Dogs (A Testerman Birthday tradition), sides, and cupcakes. We socially distanced ourselves on the front porch, and had an awesome time together for the first time in months.

But what really blew me away was this:

No, not the red 2020 Jeep Gladiator my wife got me. Although that was awesome as well and will eventually find it’s way from my daughters jewelry box and onto my work desk. (She keeps ‘treasures’ in her jewelry box, so we’re pretty honored she deemed it worthy of keeping there.)

But a new Ruger Bisley Blackhawk in .44 Special. Never fired, only slightly handled. 🙂

Wow, just wow.

So, the Bisley model gives it a nice curved hammer for one handed cocking, a different grip, and nicer trigger. And generally makes it more awesome both in appearance and from what I gather, in shooting as well.

Now, I’m not much of a revolver guy. The newer stuff that is.

The only one I own is a Ruger Wrangler in .22, and that’s a pretty new purchase of a few months ago for the kiddos to use. I’ve never really cared for the newer stuff, but the Single Action Army’s have always been something I’ve lusted for. Especially after doing so much writing about Cowboy guns.

And my parents delivered.

It’s sweet and I’m dying to shoot it.

Now I just need to try and find some ammo.

Got my first International Review. That’s pretty cool!

And it’s a good one, by the Australian author of Guns of Perdition herself, Jessica Bakker.

Book Review – West of Prehistoric – Erik Testerman

Oh. My. God. This book, West of Prehistoric, by Erik (Tracer) Testerman was BRILLIANT. The highlight of my 2020 reading journey. It came out of nowhere – I hadn’t heard anything about it – and perhaps that’s why I had no real expectations going in, but within two pages, I was already blown away, and knew this was going to be a helluva book.

What’s it about? Well, think Red Dead Redemption 2 meets Planet of the Apes, then has a threesome with Jurassic Park. The resulting love-child, is West of Prehistoric.

Ex-outlaw turned rancher, Jed Smith, is minding his own business working on his ranch, when he’s suddenly (and brutally) attacked by a dinosaur. From that moment on, the weird, the west, the carnage, and the awesome, don’t stop.

An excellently fleshed out cast of characters join Jed as he seeks to first understand the dinosaur/ape menace that threaten the west, and then to stop them slaughtering every human they come across. Action is crammed into these pages, but there’s still room for fantastic character development, wry humour, and yes, some romance. You know an author has a great handle on character development when he makes the reader love and care about the main character’s horse!

Though West of Prehistoric is Testerman’s debut novel, he feels like an old-hat at writing – there’s nary a jangled sentence or misplaced word to be found. And while the premise of West of Prehistoric might seem simplistic on first glance, it’s actually absorbing, engaging, and addictive. I had trouble putting this one down.

It’s pretty clear this is a setup for a sequel or possible trilogy, and I can only hope Testerman draws this saga out for a few more books – I for one, will be lining up to get the next instalment when it comes out.

Yes, it’s weird western. Yes, there’s gore. However, even to those of you who aren’t into this genre or gore, I’d suggest grabbing a copy and giving it a go, because at the end of the day, this is just a wonderfully told, greatly entertaining story.

Purchase HERE

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Did you see that? She called it BRILLIANT… in all caps. (I added the bold.)

Awesome!

Cowboys vs Dinosaurs MOVIE!

Why did I not know about this?!

This looks… AMAZINGLY corny .

Wild West Dinosaurs Art by Shaun Keenan

This is awesome.

https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/shaunkeenan/

Did this guy read my book?

First Week After Publishing – An After Action Report.

The response to my book going to print has been overwhelming and humbling.

Just, wow.

I don’t know exact sales numbers, and won’t for some time. But they seem phenomenal so far coming from a basic nobody-newbie author using a few internet forums and word of mouth.

For a cool example, my dad took a copy to read while waiting for his dental appointment and the dentist asked about it. After reading the back cover the guy was so intrigued that he snapped a picture of the front with his phone so he could order a copy after he fixed my old man’s teeth.

Then from the forums, people bought multiple copies for themselves and others. A couple people bought THREE COPIES EACH! Other folks wanted signed copies. Luckily, I’d ordered a stack of books for myself but the day I received them I had to sign and ship them all out the next morning. That’s crazy.

I’m kind of egotistical, but it’s humbling that people would actually want my autograph on something. All I can say in return is that I promise to try and make it big so these will be worth something one day.

And the reviews have already been rolling in. Slowly though, because Amazon is kind of weird… I’ve been told by people that they left a review, only for it to show up a few days later while others show up seemingly immediately. But that aside, it means people are opening my book, getting sucked into the story, and finishing it within a couple days.

Feedback like this is incredible. That was the goal all along, to tell a story that draws folks in, entertains them for hours, and leave them wanting more.

And I have more. The sequel is ready and waiting.

All I need are enough sales to convince the publisher to pick it up.

So buy more copies, send them to your friends and family. If they like dinosaurs and/or cowboys, I promise they’ll like this book because it’s got both. Tell them it’s a mix of John Wayne, Jurassic Park, and John Wick.

If you want a signed copy, shoot me a message using the Contact Page. They are $14 plus $3 for S&H. $17 total. If you want a message written in it, I can do that. If you want me to show off my amazingly lacking but still astonishing art skills, I can draw you a picture in the cover as well. Whatever. So long as you’re happy and you tell your friends about the book and leave an honest review on Amazon and/or Goodreads!

And FB reminded me via Memories, that Oct 5th was two years ago to the date that I posted on FB that I’d written a book. Yeah, it was a rough draft with a rough title, but it still counted. 🙂

How crazy that two years later I’m holding a finished copy in my hand.

Well, I would be holding it, if I had any left over from signing.

Anyways, here’s the link. Buy away!

EDIT – Amazon is now sold out. It looks like they won’t be shipping anymore until Oct 19th. That’s a pretty amazing feat! Thanks for all your support! (Oooh, it does look like Barnes&Noble has some copies still available though on their website!)