 He wrote five more novels in the 1970s and 1980s while still working as a book editor, before turning his attention to writing full-time in 1987.Two years later he won the first of five Spur Awards from the Western Writers of America with his 1989 book, "Fool's Coach".Wheeler was married to Sue Hart, a professor at Montana State University Billings, who died in the summer of 2014.