An Accidental Novelist

In his early forties, Richard Wheeler had never given a thought to writing fiction. By his early seventies, he had published over sixty novels with a variety of hardcover and mass-market publishers.

This late-in-life novelist plunged into the world of popular fiction, where publishers' advances barely paid the rent. He wrote westerns at first, but soon was doing large-scale historical novels, and then biographical novels, largely set in the American West.

This is also a story about the generous help he received through his entire career from friends and colleagues, including editors, publishers, and best-selling novelists.

Along the way he won six Spur Awards, the Owen Wister Award for lifetime contributions to the literature of the West, plus some starred reviews.

Here, Mr. Wheeler describes his early struggles and failures, and how they contributed to his life as a novelist. He discusses shattered dreams and unexpected joys. And running through his narrative is his passion to write about the West in new ways.