Thursday, March 13, 2014

Zane Grey—A True Explorer of the Old West

By Miralee Ferrell

One question I've been asked several times during blog interviews--who was your biggest writing influence—or what author influenced your writing the most. I didn’t have to think long to decide. While I have many current Christian authors that I love, as well as who wrote in the early part of the 20th Century, none impacted my writing like Zane Grey.


I started reading his books as a young teen, and I was captivated by the thrilling depictions of the Old West, an era I longed to visit. Since I knew of no way to travel back in time, books and movies were my best recourse—and his books definitely fed that hunger. By the time I was in my late twenties, I had read all of his Westerns, as well as some of his boy’s adventure series. After that, I started collecting them, and I own every Western and all of the boy’s books---many in first edition.


My bookcase of Zane Grey books. First 1 1/2 
shelves are first edition, some with dust jackets. 

Zane Grey was born in the era I love to write…the last thirty years of the 19th Century. In fact, he was born in 1872, so he was a teenager in the late 1880s and would have experienced firsthand much of what he wrote.



He passed away in 1939, after writing over 90 books that sold over 4 million copies (amazing in that time period), with many magazine stories, 112 movies, two TV episodes, and one TV series.

Zane wrote his first book at the age of fifteen. His father found it, tore it up, and beat him. The young man then turned to baseball and dentistry (his father’s occupation) and it wasn’t until years later that he wrote and published his first book. He visited most, if not all, of the places he wrote about, camping, fishing, hiking and exploring the mountains and range of the West., and bringing vivid descriptions to his work, as a result.


When he started writing, and even later after he was multi-published, some of his books were serialized in magazines, where 2-4 chapters were printed each issue. That was where I got the idea for my current hero, Jeffery, in Wishing on Buttercups, to have his first novel picked up and serialized by a magazine.


I was very blessed to find one of the magazines carrying the first few chapters of one of my favorite books of his, Raiders of the Spanish Peaks, at an antique store. Here's a picture of the magazine and the first page of the story.

Miralee Ferrell has ten books total, with four in the Love Blossoms in Oregon series, historical romance set in Baker City, Oregon in 1881. The first is Blowing on Dandelions and released June, 2013, the second is Wishing on Buttercups, a brand new release February 1, 2014. The third is Forget Me Not, a novella (see summary below) releasing the end of March on Amazon Kindle and paperback, then Dreaming on Daisies, releasing Oct. 1, 2014 (all three full-sized books are available in all stores and online).

Can a Lost Love Be Redeemed?

Seven years ago, Julia McKenzie rejected the man she loved, wanting to experience more of life. Now, at the age of twenty-four, she regrets that decision. What will Seth think of her, when they encounter one another hundreds of miles from home? Will the man she cared for understand the direction her life has taken and love her in spite of her choices?

Pastor Seth Russell has never completely forgotten the girl he once courted. When she shows up in his new home of Baker City, Oregon, all those feelings return. But why is she sneaking around town late at night? Even more important, will she reject him and break his heart again?




















17 comments:

  1. My dad use to read Zane Grey novels. I dont remember much about it but when he died there were quite a lot in a box in the shed. We had a second hand bookshop and he would get copies there and swap ones he had read for new ones.

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    1. Jenny, do you still have his box of books? You should try one, you might enjoy them!

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  2. Our family, too, had Zane Grey novels when I was growing up. Here readers may enjoy Betty Zane ~ http://www.amazon.com/Betty-Zane-Grey-ebook/dp/B0082RHV1O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394716835&sr=8-1&keywords=betty+zane I love the beautiful cover on my print copy! Thank you for this post and showing us the magazine serial. Kathleen ~ Lane Hill House

    Looking forward to Forget Me Not and ... Tuesday, March 18, for the release party! https://www.facebook.com/events/286664271488270/

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  3. Miralee, I bet you almost had a heart attack when you found that magazine!! What a find! :)

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    1. Yes, Pam, I couldn't believe it when I saw the blurb on the front saying there was part of a Zane Grey book inside. At the time I found the magazine, I didn't even know they did this!

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  4. Miralee, Thank you for the post on Zane Gray. I remember Zane Gray theater on TV growing up but I did not realize he had so many books or that he lived so much of what he wrote about.
    Also interesting to learn how you tied Jeffery's writing to the serialized magazine.
    I am so blessed that I will get to read Wishing On Buttercups soon, I can't wait!

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    1. Hi Jackie, I never saw any of the Zane Grey theater growing up, just read the books. He was a very prolific writer, for sure! Let me know what you think of Wishing on Buttercups when you've had time to read it. You don't have to read it first before you read Forget Me Not.

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  5. I remember the Zane Grey TV show but didn't read his books. Next time in the library, I'll have to pick up one. Books like this help to see the dialogue of the era. Forget Me Not looks amazing.

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    1. Elaine, Start with Arizona Ames, or Riders of the Purple Sage, or Black Mesa, Call of the Canyon, or Raiders of the Spanish Peaks...there are many others I could name, but those are some that immediately come to mind that I enjoyed. Thanks for your sweet comment about Forget Me Not. I loved writing it!

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  6. I 've never read any Zane Grey novels but have heard his name as a good author. I would love to win Forget Me Not!
    I have Blowing On Dandelions on my Kindle and Wishing On Buttercups is on the way to me. Looking forward to the Oct. release of Dreaming On Daisies! I read a book on the Transcontinental RailRoad by Steven Ambrose. So much happened in the early days of the Railroad- incredible that it was finally completed. sharon, CA wileygreen1(at)yahoo(dot)com

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    1. Hi Sharon, have you read Blowing on Dandelions yet? That's great that you have book 2 coming, as well, thank you!!!

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  7. Very interesting post, Miralee. Thank you so much for sharing.

    mauback55 at gmail dot com

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  8. We have bookshelves full of Zane Grey novels. My husband loves them and after a year or so will go back and start reading them again. I never knew much about him as a writer, and I never read any of his books. I know only that he wrote great western novels. Thanks for more insight into this famous author. Maybe I'll read one we have.

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    1. Martha, his descriptions were always SO vivid and I loved the action scenes, as well as his development of his characters, from what I remember. I haven't read any in years, and wish I had time to go back and read them again.

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  9. I've never read Zane Grey but I know I've seen his movies. :)

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    1. Vickie, they made a very good movie from Riders of the Purple Sage, his all-time best seller, and I think Rainbow Trail, the sequel.

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