Author Bio
Mike Blakely, the author of 16 books, most of which are historical novels set in the American West, lives on a ranch in Texas and grew up living a modern wild west lifestyle. Ironically, Blakely increasingly relies on the internet to lend old-fashioned authenticity to his historical fiction, including the western novel he co-wrote with Willie Nelson, titled “A Tale Out of Luck.”
After graduating from the University of Texas with a degree in journalism, Blakely began working as a free-lance magazine and newspaper writer. With influences such as the great Texas historian and folklorist, J. Frank Dobie, and his mentor, western novelist, Elmer Kelton, Blakely naturally gravitated toward stories involving frontier history, ranching, and western folklore.
When his fiction writing career began in 1987, he relied primarily on the University of Texas library system for historical research. Blakely began using the internet in 1999, but still found trips to the library necessary. Now, he finds that a high percentage of his research can be done on his computer from his home office on his ranch in Llano County, Texas.
“I still love my books,” Blakely says, “and I still have to rely on libraries for a lot of details. But, these days I find a great deal of valuable information about the American West available to me on the internet.”
Blakely also uses the internet to promote his books through his website, mikeblakely.com, his weekly e-newsletter, a myspace.com page, and links to other sites such as westernwriters.org. In addition to his fiction writing career, he tours the world as a successful performing singer-songwriter, and finds web connections highly useful to him in promoting his music.
“A Tale Out Of Luck,” co-authored by Blakely and international entertainment icon, Willie Nelson, is Nelson’s first work of fiction, and is designed for Nelson to play the lead role in the planned motion-picture adaptation. The release date of the novel is September 3, 2008.