Ralph Cotton Books

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Ralph Cotton is an American author. He worked various jobs before he started writing crime fiction and Westerns. That includes plying his trade as an ironworker, small businessman, lay minister, and commercial Seaman.

The author doesn’t regret his broad background. He believes that all the careers he explored enhanced his ability to tell interesting stories. This is because the jobs allowed him to interact with people, to understand the different ways they thought and expressed themselves.

Ralph does research the old fashion way. He has a few Western magazines on the internet that he favors. But for the most part, he prefers to research his novels by opening old reference books.

That being said, as far as Ralph is concerned, life experience is the best teacher. The people he has met, the conversations he has heard, the events he has witnessed in person; they all influenced the writer he eventually became.

Ralph Cotton was in third grade when he started writing. He wasn’t the best student. Writing kept him busy. Because he was a terrible student, he liked the idea of pursuing something he was good at.

His interest in writing was further cemented when he encountered authors like Mickey Spillane and Hemingway. He was fascinated by people who could paint scenes and generate emotions in readers using a few clever words.

He couldn’t wait to produce similar works once his career took off. Admittedly, even though he enjoyed writing, Ralph did not set out to make writing and publishing his career. Like most people his age, Ralph was quite practical.

He wanted to pursue interests and activities that could bear financial fruit. It never occurred to him to become a full-time writer until he started publishing his novels and he realized that he could actually make money from them. Once he saw that writing could pay his bills, he abandoned everything else to give publishing his full attention.

He took a substantial risk. But he also understood that abandoning the safety net of a second occupation would compel him to work harder.

Ralph wrote his first novel by hand. It took him three years. It wasn’t the first novel he had ever written. In truth, the author had produced over a dozen manuscripts. His initial objective was to sell them all to publishers after moving to New York. But a fire burned his home down, destroying his novels in the process.

It took Ralph eight years to muster the courage to write again. The first person to read his book was a fellow writer called Marva Callahan. She wasn’t a fan of Westerns and yet she loved Ralph’s book all the same.

Eventually, the novel received a Pulitzer Prize nomination. This was all the encouragement Ralph needed to conclude that writing was a viable pursuit. He also used the nomination to strengthen his submissions to publishers.

Ralph Cotton Awards

Ralph received a Pulitzer Prize nomination in 1994 for his first novel.

Best Ralph Cotton Books

The author has been compared to writers like Twain, Jack London, and Steinbeck. Ralph’s best novels include:

The Shadow of A Noose: Jed and Tim’s sister left when their father died at the hands of an outlaw. She wanted revenge. The twins stayed behind to care for their farm. But their mother is now dead and the farm work they need to do requires more money than they have.

Jed and Tim knew that their decision to search for their sister would present certain challenges. But they did not expect to be accused of murder. Now the pair is on the run. They have to stay ahead of those that pursue them long enough to find the real killers.

Summer’s Horses: Will Summers works as a horse trader. Unlike other horse traders, lawless men don’t intimidate Will. He has a reputation that scares most evil-doers away.

The Bendigo Brothers took a gamble. They thought that they could steal Will’s horses and get away scotfree. They were wrong. Will has a lot of experience with hunting animals.

He has every intention of tracking them down. As cold-blooded as the Bendigo Brothers are, they are not prepared for all they will suffer at the hands of Will Summers.

When Does The Next Ralph Cotton book come out?

Ralph Cotton doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is The Guns of C.C. Ellis and was released on November, 9th 2022. It is the newest book in the The Long Riders Series.

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