gaslightwestern

[gaslightwestern]

Happy STS! Which of your ocs are you most similar to?

Thank you for this question!

I prefer to write about people who aren't like me in personality or appearance. However, there are pieces of me inside of all my OCs.

Charlotte and Mabel's unwavering determination in pursuit of their goals. Elijah's longing for authentic connection and a sense of community. Thomas and Warren's insecurities about not measuring up to others. Sam's love of helping others and zero tolerance towards disrespect. How all of them struggle with grief and try to control things that ultimately can't be controlled.

Whoops this turned out more personal than expected!

[gaslightwestern]

Jason Lohmeier

[gaslightwestern]

Three Questions About Your OC

How would you describe their personality / aesthetic?

Elijah Addison is a reserved, kind-hearted cowboy who drifts from town-to-town. Life has taught him to always keep a knife in his boot and he mostly keeps to himself despite longing for companionship and a sense of place. Highly observant and great at reading people, he slips into the detective role easily. A crumpled letter from his on and off again boyfriend // Wide-brimmed hat tilted low over watchful eyes // Sun-faded clothes save for a new blue duster (last one caught fire) // Gunsmoke, trail dust, and prairie grass // Certified Horse Girl™

What’s your favourite thing about them?

Everyone makes the mistake of underestimating Elijah who takes advantage of this because he knows far more than he lets on. I also love how accepting and understanding he is of others.

Fun facts about them / their creation?

Elijah began as a grizzled 40-something bounty hunter trapped in my head for years. All I had were vibes and no story. However when I started imagining Thomas's crime-solving friend in Hell's Half Acre, his personality and backstory reminded me of Elijah. I realized he could be the younger, less cynical version of him and HHA could set him on the course to becoming a bounty hunter. That's when his character really started to take shape and I saw Elijah for what he was: main character material.

I was tagged by @gioia-writes-and-others here, thank you!

Tagging: @orphanheirs, @wildgeraniumwrites, @mauvecatfic, @roselinbooks, and @winterandwords. No pressure as always. <3

[gaslightwestern]

So we doing it?

[gaslightwestern]

Tag Game: Who's in their Wallet?

Rules: Pick an OC and think--if they were to carry a picture of someone in their wallet, who would this person be?

Of all my characters, Sam would most likely carry pictures in his wallet. A family man through-and-through, he'd need a big wallet as three of his four children have started families. If forced to pick one person, rather than choose between his kids or grandkids he'd pick his wife, Katherine.

Sam: Isn't she a knockout?

*It's a black and white picture of a half-asleep Katherine with her eyebrow raised because he dragged her down to the photography parlor bright and early JUST for a wallet photo*

Cameras didn't transition into household objects until the 20th century. Good thing because Sam would be an absolute menace with a camera.

I was tagged by @orphanheirs (thank you!) whose answer can be found here.

Tagging: @winterandwords, @gioia-writes-and-others, @wyked-rebellion, and @mauvecatfic. No pressure, as always.

Hell's Half Acre Taglist: @cirianne, @oliolioxenfreewrites, @jacqueswriteblrlibrary, @thelaughingstag, @shouldyouwakethewriteblr, @mauvecatfic

Please let me know if you’d like to be added or removed!

[gaslightwestern]

Dress

1900s

United States

Goldstein Museum of Design

[gaslightwestern]

Gaslight Historical fiction, westerns, and noirs Paris, France. My laptop so I can write!

Check In for Summerfest 2025!

You approach the check-in counter. A bored attendant hands you a clipboard.

To receive your boarding pass, just reblog this post with:

Your name (or handle)

What you write

A fictional or real destination you’d love to visit

One thing in your "writer carry-on"

Example:

K.E. Koontz Horror & weird fiction Fog-covered mountain town A notebook filled with suspiciously wet pages

When August hits, we’ll match you with a gate or terminal based on your vibe. This is just for fun and no pressure to participate daily—hop in and out as your flight schedule allows!

[gaslightwestern]

oh im sure

[gaslightwestern]

Happy STS! Who's your favorite character from Hell's Half Acre/When Sins Haunt to write, and why? If you don't have a fave character to write, what's your favorite thing about writing each of your ocs?

Thank you so much for this question and giving me an excuse to ramble about my scheming-gentleman-turned-ruthless-outlaw.

In When Sins Haunt, Warren Howard is a violent, hedonistic criminal full of sarcasm and self-loathing with a knack for outsmarting his enemies. Horribly depressed and full of longing for the life he lost, Warren will stop at nothing to get some semblance of it back.

Although it's buried beneath hatred, poor decisions, and his inability to let go, Warren still has a deep capacity for love. I adored writing him so much I had to explore him further. Hence: Hell's Half Acre.

Various circumstances (and people) led this exceedingly privileged man to always view himself as lacking and no matter what Warren achieves, it will never be enough. Trying to fill the void inside causes so many problems. He's not trying to hurt others but actions have consequences, especially when things spiral out of his control.

Warren is a selfish mess of a gentleman who wants to help others, is generous, and has a healthy disdain for authority and all forms of bigotry. His witty dialogue and thoughts are a delight to write. Also, Warren is so down bad for someone he knows he shouldn't pursue but knowing better has never stopped him before. 👀

[gaslightwestern]

WIP INTRO : TEOEH : PART ONE : 1921

In the early hours of a blue September morning, stokers pull the body of a venerated priest from a coal-polluted port in the Fox River. Still dressed in his white vestments, Father Anthony Menas’ body shows no signs of fight, with the exception of a clean, surgical cut below his Adam's apple.

When a priest is found drowned in the Upper Fox River Valley, war journalist and heir to the Thomas-Milliebank Coal fortune, Samuel Moses Thomas travels north to Rapides de Nicolet, responding to the call of a grieving and terrified parish. The assumed murder of Father Anthony Menas has rendered many in the community adrift and struck down with a mysterious, paralyzing illness that has left both local doctors and the Premonstratensian Abbey searching for answers in unorthodox ways. Tangled up in the troubles of his host family and the emergence of a young mystic who hears the voice of her guardian angel, Samuel soon finds himself drug into the depths of a bitter plot deeper than the waters of the Bay.

General:

Status: Draft Zero/Plotting Stage (2nd time).

Genre(s): historical fiction, murder mystery, gothic horror. 

Setting: the mill-town of Rapides de Nicolet, the coal yards of Green Bay, and the foothills of Richmond, Virginia; 1921.

[from left to right: Dr. Lawrence Hall, Christian, Ferdinand, and Henrietta Généreux-Klarmann, Samuel M. Thomas, Gerrald Müller, and Maria Mattenberg and the Eternal Friend]

Main Cast:

Samuel M. Thomas - The Journalist

tag: oc: the journalist

The Généreux-Klarmanns - Ferdinand, Henrietta, and Christian

Dr. Lawrence Hall - the Physician 

Gerrald Müller - the Detective

Maria Mattenberg - the Postulant and the Eternal Friend

[gaslightwestern]

Happy STS! Who's your favorite character from Hell's Half Acre/When Sins Haunt to write, and why? If you don't have a fave character to write, what's your favorite thing about writing each of your ocs?

Thank you so much for this question and giving me an excuse to ramble about my scheming-gentleman-turned-ruthless-outlaw.

In When Sins Haunt, Warren Howard is a violent, hedonistic criminal full of sarcasm and self-loathing with a knack for outsmarting his enemies. Horribly depressed and full of longing for the life he lost, Warren will stop at nothing to get some semblance of it back.

Although it's buried beneath hatred, poor decisions, and his inability to let go, Warren still has a deep capacity for love. I adored writing him so much I had to explore him further. Hence: Hell's Half Acre.

Various circumstances (and people) led this exceedingly privileged man to always view himself as lacking and no matter what Warren achieves, it will never be enough. Trying to fill the void inside causes so many problems. He's not trying to hurt others but actions have consequences, especially when things spiral out of his control.

Warren is a selfish mess of a gentleman who wants to help others, is generous, and has a healthy disdain for authority and all forms of bigotry. His witty dialogue and thoughts are a delight to write. Also, Warren is so down bad for someone he knows he shouldn't pursue but knowing better has never stopped him before. 👀

[gaslightwestern]

I love when trauma makes characters messy. I love when characters don't know how to show love. I love when they lash out. I love when they're vile and break down. I love characters who aren't perfect victims. I love when stories don't excuse behaviour but allow you to understand it

[gaslightwestern]

it’s missing evelyn and celia hours <3

check more of my work on instagram // buy prints here  

[gaslightwestern]

2025 can end right now because nothing is gonna top snagging last-minute floor tickets for Kendrick Lamar.

[gaslightwestern]

"I was worried about you. All alone, with so many problems to solve."

[gaslightwestern]

Hey happy STS!!! What other era/time period would the cast of Hell's Half Acre/When Sins Haunt fit in if not their canon one?

I LOVE this question. Thank you! Historical AUs are SO underrated.

Fun Fact: My crazy ass back in the day came up with a World War II AU for When Sins Haunt.

With Hell's Half Acre, the core story is Charlotte trying to start over so it could work in any decade following the 1870s up until the rise of the 24-hour news cycle. Charlotte couldn't pretend to be someone else with her face plastered all over the news.

Both would work as a 1920/30s AU because noir archetypes stem from the western genre. For HHA, maybe something like a gangster-turned-private-eye (Elijah) works with a femme fatale (Charlotte) to solve a murder.

Wait, that sounds too familiar. Let's go back in time instead. 👀

*Pirates of the Caribbean music intensifies*

Golden Age of Piracy AU - Disguised as a man, Lady Charlotte O'Shea gets caught as a stowaway by Captain Sam Quinn. A stolen map and her unique knowledge about the treasure it leads to saves her from being tossed overboard and she joins his crew. Only First Mate Elijah Addison knows "Charlie" is actually a woman, but he and others don't know they aren't the only ones after the treasure. Commodore Warren Howard wants his map back and the thief that stole it even more.

[gaslightwestern]

The Illustrated Police News, April 21, 1877

Caught in the act - the way Miss Elsie Livingstone bulldozed a burglar, at New York City.