JO. B. CREATIVE

Author & Multi-Disciplinary Artist
Showing posts with label Wild West Woman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wild West Woman. Show all posts

Tuesday, 21 October 2025

RIP-ROARIN' REVIEWS!


 
RIP-ROARIN’ REVIEWS!

This is a long one - so hitch your pony, grab yourself a dubious alcoholic drink from one of the many saloons in Coyote Creek, Wyoming (home of dynamic cowgirl Jeannie Morgan alias Delaney, bisexual and fastest gun west of the Mississippi), settle your rear on one of the booze stained pews and sit awhile with your gut rot whiskey while I ply you with news of my progress on  Alias Jeannie Delaney- Book 3.  

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I'm ploughing through the editing of Book 3 of Alias Jeannie Delaney, so the fans who've been following my progress and are waiting like cats on hot tin rooves for the emotional and big bang ending, just hold your wild stallions. I will get there, with the magnificent help of my PA/hubby. A few months later, admittedly, but, as some readers have said, I've got to look after my mental health after author burnout, which is dodgy at the best of times!

I'm sharing some of my approaching fifty reviews and ratings on Book 1 - Go West, Girl! & Book 2 - The Outlaw's Return - most of them 5*, which is fantastic, and, thirty+ on Book 2. I don't know precisely, and I don't read them. My successful author daughter stated: "Don't read your reviews, Mum. They can do your head in!" My editor, who was the first professional to assure me of the quality of my writing, told me my narrative was '24 carat'. Thank you so much, Caroline! 

There are a couple of more negative reviews: One observes that Jeannie doesn't believe in God. -  your point is? - and her conversation and humour is ripe. This is the old west we're talking about! And anyway, the reviewer still read the story, so there must be something that made them keep going. That's a positive in my book, so to speak! 

I want to shout the reviews from the top of that hot tin roof, but I can't, so I'll post a selection instead. Here they are:


'Brilliant reviews - and for the record, I’m reading ‘The Outlaw’s Return’ at the moment and am thoroughly enjoying it although it isn’t my normal genre. I’m on holiday and it’s a great holiday read. Looking forward to Book 3!'


'The premise of a charismatic and skilled cowgirl on a journey of self-discovery is absolutely captivating. Kudos on the rave reviews and the unique twist Kit Mackenzie has brought to the western genre.'


'Yee-hah! I'm enjoying this soooo much! Not just because of the story but also because of the quality of the writing, and the loving detail put into it. Clearly a lot of research - Kit Mackenzie writes as though she's actually been there. I so enjoyed reading the novel in detail, and relishing the nuances of the fab writing. Rereading it and absorbing the world and the atmosphere she's created. It's a terrific story with strong characters (to put it mildly!) and a powerful arc.'


BOOK 2 - THE OUTLAW'S RETURN

'And here it is -- what a story! When I started reading I couldn't think how on earth Kit Mackenzie would be able to make something interesting from the situation Jeannie was in, but OMG...'


C S. Ashley-Cooper

5.0 out of 5 stars

A different -- and memorable! -- Western adventure

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 February 2024

This story took me right into the world of the wild west -- but far from your usual male-centred shoot'em-ups, this is the story of a young woman of extraordinary courage and skill, and powerful sexuality. What a combination! Highly recommended.


C S. Ashley-Cooper

5.0 out of 5 stars

Fast, furious fun with historical insights

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 24 August 2024

I enjoyed 'Go West, Girl' so much that I couldn't imagine that this, the next book in the series, could possibly top it. But ... it did! 'The Outlaw's Return' is a whizzbang adventure, yet full of authentic detail, giving me a window into a world long gone, yet still relevant to our own lives. Lovely job, Kit Mackenzie!


'A unique and fascinating Western theme. Kit Mackenzie has an enviable writing skill!'


'A unique western read. well written and entertaining! Five stars.'


'This is a different take on a western and I really enjoyed it. Jeannie is an independent woman focused on living her life on her terms before it was socially acceptable to do so. It is well written and entertaining!'


'A great western story!' *****

'Not like any Western book I've ever read... Jeannie is best described as a difficult child. I love her grown-up character. She lives life on her own terms, not always liked but well-respected. I'm looking forward to more stories of her life.'


'Just finished reading Alias Jeanne Delaney. I found it a really fascinating and an interesting read. Quite extraordinary. Loved your ability to set the scene, making it feel as if the reader was there themself experiencing the scene and the surroundings. I know that you said it might not be my kind of book but I have to tell you that it is! quite unlike anything I have read before.'


Jeannie's adventures continue...

'Jeannie is back with her band of followers. The author wastes no time in kicking this story in gear. Gun fights, fist fights, bar fights, a dalliance with a saloon girl... On to chapter three... There was a time in the middle-ish that the story seemed to drag a bit. Stay with it - it picks back up and the last third of the book just flies by. I've enjoyed seeing her find her way, trying to do the right thing, and hope to see more.'


'This is a crack shot story, a unique blend of adventure, humor, and powerful storytelling that blazes across the wild frontier into the heart of the country at that time. It will leave you hungry for more!'


'This is a top tier telling of an unconventional child to woman experience in the 1800's west. I'm loving everything about this story'

BOOK 2

A strong sequel in this Wild West world

'I really enjoyed the Western element to this book, it had everything that I wanted from the first book. It was a great follow up and had the characters that I was invested in. It worked with everything that I enjoyed from the wild west and enjoyed the main character and cast. I can't wait to read more in this series and from Kit Mackenzie.'








If you enjoy these stories, you might like Alias Jeannie Delaney!


ALIAS JEANNIE DELANEY - THE STORYLINE     

Dynamic pants-wearing cowgirl Jeannie Morgan is the fastest gun west of the Mississippi, but when she discovers that her sexuality is as fluid as a miner's whiskey & both men & women enjoy her magnificent lovemaking, she feels as though she's been trampled by a cattle stampede. 

She's born in vibrant New Orleans in 1865 and strongly rebels against the upbringing of a Victorian girl. The family head west where she finds her true calling on her Pa's ranch. However, the explosive combination of her tomboy beauty, her powerful persona and her lethal gun go against her and people want her out or dead. 

How will she survive? Will she survive? Or will those very qualities see her through to a charismatic conclusion?


IF YOU'VE READ & ENJOYED THE STORY SO FAR, I'D BE INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL IF YOU COULD LEAVE A POSITIVE REVIEW ON AMAZON. THANK YOU SO MUCH!





                                                                    Alias Jeannie Delaney - 
                                                         Book 1 - Go West, Girl!
                                                         Book 2 - The Outlaw's Return

Available as e-novel & paperback & on Kindle Unlimited.




                 MY ORIGINAL DRAWINGS
                             OF JEANNIE






CHAPTER SAMPLE
BOOK 1 - GO WEST, GIRL!



CHAPTER SAMPLE 
BOOK 2 - THE OUTLAW'S RETURN





                ALIAS JEANNIE DELANEY BOOKS 1 & 2  HAVE APPEARED IN 
                                           THE FOLLOWING BLOGS & ON YOUTUBE:





























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Wednesday, 23 July 2025

ITS THE FINAL CHAPTER...



(The figure of Jeannie is mine, the background is ai)

I've reached the final chapter of Book 3. 

And I've blubbed. Got really emotional. That's what I do. It's a bloody pain in my ass but it's what I do. I was born so super sensitive I gush at the sight of kittens. 

This post is more for the benefit of those who have read Books 1 &/or 2 of Alias Jeannie Delaney and are waiting in line for Book 3. The writing of this socking great tome has sometimes been torture, sometimes satisfying, but mostly incredibly intense. 

The story is a right ol' rollercoaster of highs and lows, life and death, gunfights, fist fights, sex, blood, sometimes funny, drugs an' rock an' roll. Just kidding - omit the drugs an' rock an' roll. 

I've spent the last forty years - give or take, and intermittently - writing, researching, editing, self-publishing and marketing the first two novels of Alias Jeannie Delaney. My visual artistry has been largely neglected in my impassioned longing to introduce my heroic western protagonist Jeannie Morgan out into the world. She's my OTT charismatic, scary and funny tomboy-beautiful pants-wearing cowgirl who's the fastest gun west of the Mississippi and a magnificent lover to both men and women. 

She's me. Apparently. I was told. The character I created back in my teens during the late 1960s into the 70s. The individual I craved to be in response to my emotionally neglected upbringing.  Plus, I was becoming a budding UK wild west gal  re-enacting my western persona Kitty Le Roy, who was frustrated with the lousy roles for women in westerns. I wanted to help correct that. So I wrote the story I wanted to read. And Jeannie was and still is ahead of her time. I'm told that this is very appropriate timing for her to be released.

So, as you can see, my heart and soul have gone into this story. 

I've reached the end before, in previous editing, but since publishing Books 1 and 2, PA hubby suggested tentatively, in case I blew his head off, that ideally, the ending should blow readers'  heads off with dynamite. Western style, you understand. 

Therefore I had to change the original ending because it was 'nice' 'Nice' ain't good. 'Nice' don't hack it and have you blubbing into your coffee mug around the chuckwagon. It made you smile like a mule on opium, but smiling don't hack it either. I needed that ending to leave the reader, if not wrung out and suicidal, certainly bawling their heads off into their whiskey. 

So I've changed it thanks to PA hubby. (Yes, he will get the credit). I've woven in a extra piece of plotting to end on a non- opium induced high - a big bang grand finale. Now I've almost done it. I reached the final chapter last night and I just couldn't edit it. I grew sad, emotional and tearful. F**k. I hate that. This is a good thing. I think it means I've done it. I hope so. I hope I've achieved what I set out to do. I'll only know when hubby can barely read out that chapter during the second stage of editing and have to be fortified with his own favourite brand of whiskey. 

So I'm writing this post as a necessary pause in editing before returning to that final chapter. To get my head around it. To gather my emotional reserves in order to tackle that finale. I'm nervous. I read once that J. K. Rowling killed someone off and became miserable as hell. Her husband suggested that she didn't have to do that, but of course she went right ahead and wrote it because she had to. Being a writer sucks. It can f*****g hurt. But if it's a good or even a great piece of writing, you'll bawl into your glass of sarsaparilla or whiskey, wipe your tears and mosey on. That's what I've got to do. 

So, hold onto yer hats, I'm fixin' to dive right in... 😱🤠




THE AUTHOR
LOOKING SUITABLY SCARY
WITH HER WINCHESTER RIFLE 



ALIAS JEANNIE DELANEY - 

THE STORYLINE     


Dynamic pants-wearing cowgirl Jeannie Morgan is the fastest gun west of the Mississippi. Upon discovering that her sexuality is as fluid as a miner's whiskey & both men & women enjoy her magnificent lovemaking, she feels as though she's been trampled by a cattle stampede. 

She's born in vibrant New Orleans in 1865 & strongly rebels against the upbringing of a Victorian girl. The family head west where she finds her true calling on her Pa's ranch. She also discovers with relish that her skill with a gun is lethal. The explosive combination of her tomboy beauty, her powerful  charisma, her sexuality & her lethal gun all go against her. People are calling for her dismissal & even her death. Will it be a case of kill or be killed?

IF YOU'VE READ & ENJOYED THE STORY SO FAR, I'D BE INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL IF YOU COULD LEAVE A POSITIVE REVIEW ON AMAZON. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

 






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Friday, 21 March 2025

SURREAL - I'M BEING READ ALL OVER (THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE)!

SURREAL - 
I'M BEING READ ALL OVER 
(THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE)!



I'm not one to boast. I'm a modest person. Don't like to show off. Never have been. I've been told umpteen times that it's time to tell it as it is. Okay.

It feels surreal and I'm highly bemused. All those people (not just friends and family) globally (UK, Canada and the US - it might as well be all over the world) reading the words I created in response to an idea I formed in my teens as a result of the lack of decent roles for women in westerns.

Very strange feeling, all those readers.

I began writing over intermittent periods between starting my family forty years ago, until a year and a half ago. With the help of my brilliant PA hubby, I self-published Alias Jeannie Delaney - Book 1 - Go West, Girl!. A year later I published Book 2 - The Outlaw's Return. I'm currently editing Book 3 (doing well so far) which will be launched this summer. 

We - PA hubby, daughter and son - knew the story would sell, but not how well it would sell. They knew that I would sell to family and friends out of the kindness of their hearts, and a smattering of readers through Amazon, and maybe manage to sell two hundred and fifty copies, which seems to be the average number that self-published books manage, but when I reached well over a thousand readers...  Plus I have a growing number of reviews, most of them five star. I should be/am bloody proud of myself. 

My writing has improved immeasurably over the years - I jolly well hope so! 😄 I look back at my writing from when I first started and it's good but so... school girly (my apologies to all schoolgirls). Even only a few years ago I was still improving. The truth is it never stops. One's writing improves every time one puts quill to parchment or fingers to keyboard. 


My successful author daughter writes period corset rippers and has made US best seller lists (Americans love British history!). We're delighted. It felt surreal to us that she had made it as an author. So imagine how I feel now that my novels are reaching the sweaty palms of readers in the western hemisphere. Surreal doesn't cut it. I'm bemused, mostly. 

We've been using Facebook advertising and my reader number continues to rise. I'm incredibly pleased (not when I'm mentally down, which is frequent, but I'm working on that) because my very nich-ey subject matter won't appeal to everyone. Of course it won't. A life story of a dynamic pants-wearing cowgirl whose gun is the fastest west of the Mississippi, and who is a magnificent lover to both men and women, isn't going to hack it for a whole lotta people. Not their mug of snake bite indeed. 

Traditional westerners who like their male heroes leaving their women toiling at home are highly likely not to enjoy it. People who don't approve of my subject matter won't like it. Never mind. On the subject of negativity, Oscar Wilde quoted: "There's only one thing worse than being talked about, and that's not being talked about." 😄 Love it! I can also use that negativity to my advantage, marketing wise. There are thousands of people who do enjoy it. People who identify as LGBTQ+, women who love and crave a strong female protagonist, particularly in a western, lovers of westerns with a twist. And so forth. But no - we didn't expect it to reach these dizzy heights. 

Several things have contributed towards its success. Apparently a quality read (so my editor told me - the first professional to assure me of that). Striking cover designs. I'm an artist so collaborated with my designer, and the illustrations are based on images I'd created to visualise Jeannie. Book 2 - The Outlaw's Return used an image I made in my school's common room between O'Level exams (as they were then) back in 1969, the year Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid came out in cinemas. (Incidentally that film was a huge influence to me, providing humour and a great story. Another reason I seem to be doing well is consistent promotion. Hubby and I also have the advantage of maturity, experience and wisdom. He was a businessman and I worked in advertising studios. 

The story covers half a lifetime and each novel is lengthy (don't ask me how long, I was too busy writing to think about that, but they're about an inch thick). Slowly and surely I'm gaining exposure. It will take time and I'm not patient. I've been featured in a couple of blogs run by acquaintances - one's a writer, the other is an all-round creative. The other feature is on a Reader's Magnet Festival of Storytellers YouTube clip. The links are below.

On that note, thank you so much for dropping in! 



 


A WILD WEST LIVING HISTORY 
EVENT MANY YEARS AGO -
MEAN & MOODY.



Dynamic pants-wearing cowgirl Jeannie Morgan is tomboy beautiful and the fastest gun west of the Mississippi - her snake strike speed and aim are legendary. Her extraordinary sexuality is as fluid as a miner's whiskey, and men and women alike enjoy the magnificence of her love making.

Jeannie must navigate the grit and sweat of the wild frontier and face her desires and identity through deadly confrontations as she seeks acceptance in this big, bad world and kill or be killed. She takes on roles deemed only suitable for men, but her powerful persona and lethal gun make her the perfect candidate. Will she find what she seeks - acknowledgement and acceptance? Or will her tomboy beauty, her powerful persona and her lethal gun finally be the death of her?

IF YOU'VE READ & ENJOYED THE STORY SO FAR, I'D BE INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL IF YOU COULD LEAVE A POSITIVE REVIEW ON AMAZON. THANK YOU SO MUCH!



Book 2 The Outlaw's Return



MY ORIGINAL DRAWINGS OF 
JEANNIE







TWO CHAPTER SAMPLES
BOOK 1 



















BOOK 2 










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