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Former Chamber director finds new life in old West

By Victoria Parker-Stevens/Current-Argus Staff Writer

CARLSBAD - A former Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce director will be returning to town this summer as a published novelist.

Terry Burns, of Amarillo, Texas, had "To Keep a Promise published by The Fiction Works in March, and will hold his first Carlsbad book-signing at 3 p.m., June 8, at Hastings.

For a spell after leaving Carlsbad, Burns was a full-time writer, but to pay the bills, he now works as personnel director for Panhandle Community Services, a non-profit agency that handles government programs for underprivileged individuals in 26 counties.

Burns' book, an inspirational title, tells the story of a newly married minister who goes West to bring salvation to the Plains Indians. After he is killed in an Indian attack, his wife carries on her husband's work in Clarendon, Texas, a town established by Methodist ministers.

Burns said the idea for the book came when his mother reprimanded him for always writing about men.

A second book by Burns, "Don't I Know You?, will also be published by The Fiction Works. Its main character is someone who has a face everyone thinks they recognize, which leads to trouble when people are convinced he's a murderer.

Burns said the character was a minor character in a friend's book who was "given to Burns. Unfortunately, he said, the friend died before he got to see the book.

"Don't I Know You? has less overt Christian content, Burns said, and he figured it would lead the way for "To Keep a Promise. Instead, the latter was published first.

Burns said he was pleased a secular, or non-Christian, publisher was willing to publish his books, as there is a chance someone might read them who is not a Christian and be affected.

"I have some fairly strong religious beliefs, and I want to incorporate them into my writing, but I don't write anything preachy, Burns said. "If it affects some people, then great.

Finding a niche is tough, he said, as typically, a book's religious theme can't be too overt for a secular publisher, but he doesn't tend to write books with enough religious content for Christian publishers.

Christian books are popular right now, he added, mentioning a survey he saw that said interest in religious publications has increased by 40 percent since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Getting a first novel in print is a long process. It took not only the months of writing, but a couple of years to find a publisher, Burns said, and it took four years before the book was printed, which is pretty typical.

Originally, the contract was for two audio books, he said, but the publisher decided to start working in the print realm, so the books will be trade paperbacks, as well as audio and electronic books. In fact, "To Keep a Promise was already one of five finalists for an EPPIE, given by electronic publishers.

The first paperback run of "To Keep a Promise produced 5,000 books, and since the publisher is small, it's largely up to Burns to get the books distributed, he said, which means lots of book-signing dates around West Texas and New Mexico. Burns said he's starting by going to places where he has friends and relatives, including Carlsbad, where his two children still live.

Burns is originally from Pampa, Texas, about 50 miles from Amarillo, and tends to write historical fiction set in the Panhandle. He's president of the Panhandle Professional Writers, the second oldest writing group in the country, which has 300 members, including some in Oklahoma and New Mexico.

Burns said he's always been interested in Western novels.

"You write what you read, he said, adding some of his favorite authors are Louis L'Amour, Tony Hillerman and Larry McMurtry. "The (pioneer) period intrigues me.

Telling stories comes naturally, Burns said, and his interest in Western history was especially piqued by writing a family history and working as a chamber director. He worked in a number of towns and did a lot of writing, he said, including historical pieces.

Writing historical fiction "means you take a historical situation where the facts are correct, and the people are correct, and you enter fictional people in with them, he said.

The town in "To Keep a Promise is real, as are many of the people in it, "but Charles Goodnight never met my characters, Burns said, with a laugh. "But I have no doubt that he would have acted as he does in the book.

The characters often take on life in the writing process, Burns said.

Sometimes he laughs when he writes, he said, and has had to tell folks, "You're just not going to believe what these people are doing over here.

"I write an initial chapter to get the book started, but I know I'll come back and write it later once the characters are fleshed out because they start writing the story, he said.

Burns said he's also been admonished for killing off a character and he replied, "I didn't know the guy was going to kill him. I had plans for him.

Since finishing his first novel, Burns has completed a four-volume mystery series set in Pecos, Texas, and a short story collection he's trying to sell to various publishers.

Now, he's working on a book that's a departure for him. It's set in the 1960s, when there were many air bases around West Texas "unless it changes on me, Burns added.