My Books
Top-selling DS Productions Western writers
Nick Wales, ace publicist and expert in all things western, commissioned a painting of the top-selling western writers at DS Productions, and I was flabbergasted to be included. I’m the dude on the left in the purple shirt. Yee haw!

Jacob Blade Vigilante series gets a face lift in 2020
Fans of the half-breed vigilante Jacob Blade are in for a treat in 2020. Thanks to the creative ingenuity of renown publicist Nick Wale and the fantastic art of Kevin Diamond, the entire series is being reissued this year with a new and exciting cover that’s sure to appeal to fans of the ‘shoot ‘em up’ western genre.
Jacob Blade was a simple farm boy living with his mother and father in Indian Territory until he came home from a trip to local markets one day and found his parents slaughtered by a group of itinerant outlaws. With his dying breath, Jacob’s father asked him to avenge their deaths, a task that he took on with relish. In the course of his quest, he discovered that there was a lot of evil infecting the western frontier, evil that he determined to help eliminate, one dead outlaw at a time.
This is just one of several series that I currently write, and is second only to the Deputy U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves in the joy it gives me to write.
The new covers give a sense of continuity to the series, and, in my humble opinion, illustrates the protagonist most effectively. I sincerely hope that readers will find them as attractive—and seductive—as I do, and welcome any comments. In the meantime, I’m currently working on another Jacob Blade adventure, with Jacob coming to the rescue of a small community of settlers in Nebraska who are being tormented by a greed rancher who wants to take their land. Keep an eye out for Sins of the Father, coming soon to Amazon.
Second Jacob Blade – Vigilante Has Brand New Cover
Book two in my Jacob Blade – Vigilante series now has a brand new cover. It’s still available, though, at the same great price of 99 cents. Check it out:
https://www.amazon.com/Jacob-Blade-Vigilante-Vengeance-Gunfighter-ebook/dp/B07MV9WZSY/
2019 Readers Choice Awards
I’m so excited because my book, Buffalo Soldier: The Iron Horse, was just nominated for the 2019 Readers Choice Awards contest by TCK Publishing!
Please vote for it at https://www.tckpublishing.com/2019-readers-choice-voting-page/
My book can be found under Category 14, Historical Fiction. It should be the first book on the page.
The latest Bass Reeves adventure
Get the latest adventure of Deputy US Marshal Bass Reeves for your Kindle from Outlaws Publishing, LLC. Now available for only 99 cents. Bass is sent to arrest a young woman who has formed an outlaw gang that is terrorizing traffic on the Red River. You won’t want to miss this one.
Available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MP47117/
‘The Nearest Town is Purgatory’ New from Outlaws Publishing
Get this one; my latest from Outlaws Publishing: ‘The Nearest Town is Purgatory’
‘Vixen’ nominated for Readers Choice Award
I am excited to announce that my novel, Vixen, has been nominated for the Readers Choice Award in the Historical Fiction Category. I encourage all of my readers to go to www.tckpublishing.com/readers-choice-voting/ and go to category 14 (Historical Fiction) and vote for it. Vixen can be found near the bottom of the category page. Your vote will be greatly appreciated. Again, a reminder, go to www.tckpublishing.com/readers-choice-voting/ and vote.
‘Vixen’ Nominated for 2017 Readers Choice Award
I am excited to announce that my historical novel, Vixen, has been nominated for the 2017 Readers Choice Award in the Historical Fiction category. Please go to www.tckpublishing.com/readers-choice-vote/ and cast your vote. It will be greatly appreciated.
End-of-Year Free Book Specials
As a special treat to my readers, I’m making four of my books (Kindle version) available for free each month in November and December. Just click on the link to go to the book’s page on Amazon.
November 2017
If I Should Die Before I Wake — November 4 – 8
Portrait of Africa — November 11 – 15
Buffalo Soldier: Range War — November 18 – 22
Vixen — November 25 – 29
December 2017
Death of Innocence — December 1 – 5
Buffalo Soldier: Family Feud — December 8 – 12
Wallace in Underland — December 15 – 19
A Good Day to Die — December 22 – 26
My Outlaws Publishing titles to be republished under new imprint
My two recently published Outlaws Publishing LLC books, Wagons West: Daniel’s Journey and Wagon’s West: Trinity, part of the Daniel’s Journey series, have been temporarily removed from Amazon (paperback and Kindle version), but will be back soon under a new imprint, Rusty Spurs. They were automatically removed from my Amazon author page, will go back on when they go live under the new imprint. I have also removed them from my author website, http://charlesray-author.com/, but will reinstate them there as well. I apologize to anyone who tried to click on those links over the past few days and were greeted with Amazon’s ‘no such page’ notice.
New Western Series for Younger Readers
Outlaw Publishers, a small publisher based in Texas, has just published the second book in the Daniel’s Journey series, western stories for younger readers. The first, Wagon’s West: Daniel’s Journey, the story of a wagon train journey through the eyes of a ten-year-old boy, was published in April.
Daniel’s adventures, however, don’t end with a wagon train trip. My plans are to follow young Daniel as he grows up in Oregon in the late 1800s, maybe all the way to maturity. The purpose of the series is two-fold; first, to introduce younger readers to the western genre, a uniquely American literary form, and secondly, to show that the American West was populated by more than steely-eyed cowboys and lawmen, dastardly outlaws, and Native Americans fighting to retain their land and culture. There were families as well, including children, and I’ve often wondered what life was like for them. In this series, I’m using my imagination, backed up with a lot of research, to create that world for myself, and hopefully, for a lot of new readers.
In book 2 of the series, Wagons West: Trinity, the little town of Trinity has been established near the ranch owned by Daniel’s parents. it too is experiencing growing pains, as people of different backgrounds learn to live together. I also explore the issue of women’s rights in this story, something that I imagine actually might have happened in a few places considering that the first woman to vote in the US voted in Wyoming.
If you have young readers in your household, or on your gift list, consider introducing them to the western. I’ve tried to ensure that these books contain no material that would be harmful to younger readers, but at the same time, make them interesting for adult readers as well.
I would love getting some feedback, on the books as well as the concept. And, if you happen to like what you read, a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or your blog would be most appreciated.