A Change From Western to...Western? by Jen Cudmore

A Change From Western to ... Western?

"Ed Thornton had been murdered, I was sure of it."

Do you like the opening line of my new short story? I just finished the next installment for the Wells Fargo Express series with agent Remington Holt. I absolutely love this project because I get to take a different approach to my writing.

All my stories have been told from the main characters' point of view. Once I decide which scene comes next in the story, I choose a character to focus on. But with this series, I decided to try first-person, which can be tricky when an author wants to convey the thoughts and feelings of different character. Yet it seemed to work so well for this project and I love it!

Also, in westerns, the characters are more rugged, honest, and talk cowboy slang. For some reason it was easier for me to write that way from a first-person approach.

So, I write romance stories, and I'm not afraid to add plenty of that mushy stuff. Yet when I first started on this series (which is not romantic), my editor reminded me how important it is for writers to branch out on new projects. I decided it was good for me to step away from my normal genre. Although I found it tough to tone down the mushy stuff on the first story I wrote, this one I just finished wasn't so bad.

In the first volume I wrote, you meet Nelly, a young woman bent on revenge who crosses paths with Remington Holt and his partner Amos Drewrey. In the latest installment, a backstory, you join Nelly on the beginning of her journey to find a killer and her attempts to hide from Remington, who happens to be riding the same train.

And my stories are just one small piece of the project! There are several other writers who have contributed. Be sure to check out all of the stories in the series!