Western Fictioneers announces Peacemaker Finalists
For the second year in a row, Michael R. Ritt has been chosen as a Peacemaker Finalist for “Best Western Short Fiction.”
- 2018 – Father Pedro’s Prayer in the anthology, “The Untamed West.“
- 2019 – Aces and Eights in the anthology, “Contention, and Other Frontier Stories.“
I was honored this week to find out that my short story, Aces and Eights, which appears in the anthology, “Contention and Other Frontier Stories,” Published by Five Star Publishing, has been chosen as a finalist for the prestigious Peacemaker Award from Western Fictioneers.
The story is about two friends who were cow-punchers turned gold prospectors in Colorado in the late 1870s. One of them in particular – Pete Canfield – is fun-loving, lazy, and irresponsible. He would rather drink and play cards than do any work, but his ways are about to change, whether he wants them to or not, even if it’s at the point of a gun barrel. Is there anything to the curse of the aces and eights, or is it just superstitious nonsense as Pete believes?
Aces and Eights was originally written in 2013 and was submitted along with another story for the anthology “Rough Country,” published by High Hill Press in August of 2014. The other story was titled The Conversion of Boze Carter and was my first published Western short story. Aces and Eights was slated by High Hill Press to go into their next anthology, “Showdown,” which was published in October of 2016. However, by that time I had submitted a third story, Three Days to Pine River, which wound up going into “Showdown” instead.
Aces and Eights was then earmarked for a third anthology that High Hill was working on, but before that came to fruition, the publisher went out of business.
The senior editor at High Hill thought that Aces and Eights would be a good addition to an anthology that another publisher was putting together, so she passed it on to the senior editor at Five Star Publishing, who was planning a series of Western anthologies. The first of these anthologies was “The Trading Post and Other Frontier Stories.” However, once again, Aces and Eights was bumped out of the anthology in favor of a different story that I submitted – An Hour Before the Hangman, which was published in The Trading Post in June of 2018.
Finally, in May of 2019, Five Star published Aces and Eights in their second Western anthology, “Contention and Other Frontier Stories.” After six years, two publishers, and five different anthologies, Aces and Eights found a home.
A Highly Engaging And Enjoyable Read…
“I’d never heard of this genre but a friend recommended it and I’m hooked! The stories in this collection are varied in style and setting and so far every single one has been riveting. (I haven’t finished the book yet.) I especially loved the one by Michael R. Ritt. What a fabulous ending! No spoilers here so read it! I’m going to get more books by these authors and this editor and for sure Michael R. Ritt.”
– Karen S., Amazon Review
I Didn’t See It Coming…
“Michael Ritt has done it again. He totally buffaloed me with his story “Aces and Eights” in Five Star’s anthology – “Contention.” I usually see the ending coming long before getting there, but I have to hand it to Mike, he misdirected me like a skilled prestidigitator. You have to pick up a copy and read “Aces and Eights.”Great writing, Mike! Bravo!”
– Otto R., Amazon Review
Well-Written, Thought-Provoking, Emotional Stories…
“…the ending to Michael R. Ritt’s Aces and Eights will make the reader gasp and laugh in quick succession.”
– Booklist