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Interview By: Catherine Terry Terry, you’re known to be a fifth generation Irish storyteller who is also a fourth generation Texas teller of tall tales. Please tell us how you came to be interested in writing. Were there any particular members of your family who sparked this interest? I've written most of my life, first published back in high school in a state poetry book of all things. Being a chamber of commerce professional consumed most of my writing for many years and it is just the last six or eight years that I've been able to try my hand at fiction. The stories of my mother and her mother before her prompted me to try my hand at it, the 3rd and 4th generation storytellers. You possess quite a credible list of published work both in fiction and nonfiction. What is your favorite form of writing? My favorite writing is inspirational, though my love for westerns makes a western setting a favorite. In your writing testimony, you spoke very candidly about the difference between giving our writing talents to God as an offering, and being called by God to write. Once you determined that God called you to a ministry of writing, how do you make sure you include Him daily amidst deadlines, public appearances, traveling, etc.? Daily prayer and Bible reading. I'm well aware than any success I have is the Lord's doing. I very often include the Prayer of Jabez into my prayers, and firmly believe if I use my writing gift out of my own ability, it will be small, but if I am a vessel for God to use that it can be mighty. I believe He has used it, and hope He will use me even more in the future. When you reach Heaven, what would you like God to say to you in regard to your writing? "Well done, good and faithful servant." What more could any of us ask? Please share with us what a day in the writing life of Terry W. Burns generally looks like. Do you plot extensively or do you allow inspiration to take over? I think it'd be nice to be able to plot or storyboard and I envy those who can do that, but I am what is known as a "seat of the pants writer." What that means is, I really don't tell the story, my characters do. Once I flesh them out and they become real to me they take over the story and tell it to me, often going places I may not have intended, or knowing things I do not know until I am inside their head. Often Saundra hears me laughing and when she asks me what is going on I say, "You won't believe what these people are doing over here." Have you ever experienced writer’s block? If so, what did you do to get going again? Sure. Most of the time it seems to be because I am trying to make a character do something that is not in their nature. Stories are a series of crossroads taken, and I find if I'm blocked that I have to go back to the last place I was happy with the way the story was progressing and look to see what I can do differently. I really enjoyed your recent book Mysterious Ways. The central character, Amos Taylor, is quite a rascal. After stealing a black parson’s frock coat off a clothesline in order to conceal his appearance, he finds himself roped into portraying a town preacher to the very congregational members he had robbed from. What inspired you to create this character? Have you considered letting Amos, and his good friends, have another adventure? Mysterious Ways was sold as a series (of the same name) and [River Oak Publishing] bought three books at once. The second, Brother's Keeper, is in development now, and Reluctant Shepherd is waiting in the wings. A 4th book, Second Chances is in their hands under the first right of refusal. Amos and his friends continue in succeeding stories, though not in the leading role. New lead characters come through, but I wouldn't rule out Amos having another starring role again. When writing about the personal elements that make up your life as a cowboy on your website you wrote, “It has to do with standing good on your word. It's having something down deep in your gut that makes you keep on after others have quit because that's what you're out there for. It's working hard and playing hard and holding up your end no matter what." When I read this, I thought of your approach to your writing career. Being an author not only means diligent writing requirements, but also being able to network and market your work. What percentage of your career is given to these two areas? To an aspiring author, what would you have to tell them about this side of the business? Getting published requires persistence and marketing research. There are good writers who never publish because they take rejection personally and give up before they do what is required to get where they are going. Successful publishing means finding out who our readers are, who is writing books for them, and who is publishing those books. So many do not do this legwork and are just shot-gunning queries all over, often burning bridges to markets that with the right approach could be successful. We'd all like to stay home and write and leave the selling of manuscripts and the ultimate selling of the books themselves to others, but it just doesn't work that way. Being successful as a writer demands total involvement, at least until we reach the point where we are a household word. That'd be nice, but I'm sure not counting on it. I noticed that your wife, Saundra, assists with your online newsletter. It’s fortunate to have a spouse so involved. Does she travel with you when you attend conferences, book signings, and such? We're partners, and though she has a career of her own as a massage therapist, Saundra acts as my business manager when we are on the road. She is so wonderful with people that I would be foolish to try and compete with her in that arena. She doesn't do line edit for me but is very good at finding things in my work and particularly good at telling me when something is working and when it isn't. I wouldn't be much without her. Terry, in wrapping this interview up, what is the one thing on your mind that you would most like to share with our readers? I seldom have a book signing or event where people don't tell me they are writing a book or want to write a book, and I always tell them to get on with it and quit talking about it. All that is required to be a writer is to place your posterior in a chair and write, carve out the time and stay after it. True, being a writer and being published are two separate things, and not all writers have it in them to have a career as an author. But what's the worst thing that can happen? We have great stories to pass down to our family, and I have some of those from family members who did not make it as a writer, but who gave us wonderful stories to keep and cherish. There are too many things in our lives where we look back and say "I could have done that," but we'll never know if we don't try, will we? I hope that you enjoyed getting to know Terry. As in his books, this cowboy's gentle manner and enjoyment of life come through. I look forward to reading Terry's upcoming books. ~ Catherine |
