By
Terry Burns’ third novel, Mysterious Ways, is bursting from the chute faster than even he anticipated since its January, 2005 release. If sales continue galloping at this pace, it is a good bet the 5th generation Irish storyteller and 4th generation Texan’s name may not be a mystery much longer to fans of western fiction.
“I’m a storyteller,” said Burns, a down-to-earth man whose favorite food is his own special chili concoction. “I’d gather everybody in a big room and tell tales as long as I could, but I don’t have that available, so I have to settle for writing them down.”
Burns admitted he has been an avid reader since his childhood days, devouring Westerns, The Three Musketeers (“a favorite”), The Hardy Boys series or whatever jumped out at him when he navigated the local library. As years forged him into a young man, his tastes turned towards more traditional western stalwarts, such as Louis L'Amour and Zane Grey. “My library card was one of my most prized possessions,” said the humble cowboy who revealed he has plowed, fixed fence, worked cows, eaten dirt one minute and been rained on the next. One of his most prized possessions now is a big silver rodeo belt buckle he is"never without."
So how does a boy raised in small-town
“River Oak was bought by Cook Communications, a huge Christian publisher, but one that didn’t do fiction,” explained the Texan who draws inspiration from a childhood spent watching Saturday matinees and early TV westerns like Gunsmoke, Bonanza, and Paladin. “The partnership allowed River Oak to (be)… very open to projects that didn’t exactly fit into a preconceived box. The fact that some of the higher-ups seem to have a soft spot for westerns didn’t hurt either.”
River Oak’s “soft spot” for westerns does not mean Burns’
writing fits a “traditional” high noon or stranger-with-a-gun mold. It was Burns’ unconventional style that drew
their attention to his manuscript. After
all, the main character of
“I like that,” said Burns of the reviewer’s observation. “I’d like to do some traditional (westerns) as well, but my success has so far been in the inspirational market.”
While his novels may be inspirational in flavor, readers
should also be prepared for Texas-sized helpings of humor. It is something the XXXX Beaver-hat-wearing
“I don’t know that I want to inject humor into my
writing,” he said of his natural tongue-in-cheek
“I would say that faith has always been evident in my
writing, whether it was an intentional component or not,” offered Burns. “I think the good start (for)
The “market’ appears to back up his observations, with sales of inspirational fiction displaying solid growth over the last number of years. The huge revenue generated by the Left Behind series, Prayer of Jabez, and The Passion of the Christ movie, coupled with a resurgence in the production of western-themed movies such as Open Range, Monte Walsh and The Alamo, show River Oak Press’ foray into Inspirational Westerns may be one which pays off for them in the near future. Meanwhile, Burns has big dreams for his own future.
“Of course, it’d be good to be in the company of notables like Elmer Kelton, Matt Braun or Larry McMurtry,” he replied, when asked to dream which authors he would love to be standing beside if he were to collect a lifetime achievement award for his fiction. “If I were dreaming, then it wouldn’t matter if they were alive or dead. That’d make Louis L'Amour (and) Zane Gray available.”
Burns’ dreams are large, and he hopes his new “fast-paced story that changes directions often,” may cause fans of the western genre to often ask for directions to the nearest local bookstore. Though he would appreciate the sales numbers, Burns does have more than himself in mind for anyone who picks up a copy of Mysterious Ways.
“It’s always family fare,” said the personable cowboy of his fiction. “Though my faith is generally evident, it is seldom pervasive or in-your-face. Mostly I want to have fun writing… and want the reader to have the same fun reading.”
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