Horn book signing Friday

This week, award-winning author Steven W. Horn will be at Storyteller for a book signing.

Horn is the author of “Another Man’s Life,” as well as the first two books in the Sam Dawson mystery series — “The Pumpkin Eater” and “When Good Men Die.”

“The Pumpkin Eater” was a 2014 Benjamin Franklin Gold award winner in the Mystery/Suspense category and a category finalist for the Eric Hoffer Book Award the same year. “When Good Men Die” was a 2016 category finalist for the Eric Hoffer Award.

Horn uses his career experiences to craft his stories. In Wyoming, he was the Dean of the College of Agriculture and professor at the University of Wyoming. After retiring in 2009, he is now Professor Emeritus and lives near Cheyenne.

Horn said he always enjoys coming to the Big Horn Basin, which he describes as beautiful, and Thermopolis in particular. Previous years have seen him not only here for signings, but for the annual People of the Earth Days and PRCA Rodeo.

With regard to his writing, Horn explained he taught senior-level writing-intensive courses at UW.

Though much of the time was spent explaining the different forms of outlining, when it comes to his books he doesn’t use any of them because he enjoys having some freedom.

When he first puts an idea down on paper, it’s something he’s thought about extensively. His first book, “Another Man’s Life,” was something he thought on for 30 years.

“They say all fiction is autobiographical,” Horn said, and that first book was very therapeutic for him. As an Army veteran of the Vietnam War, he said there were some things that haunted him, and writing provided an outlet to get out what had been festering.

“I know the beginning, and I know the end,” Horn said of when he writes a book, but he has to figure out the middle, and be able to guide the reader through in an entertaining way.

At the same time, he also works to evoke an emotional response, and if he can, he feels he is successful in educating the reader as well.

Horn never really planned to sit down and write a novel, though he noted 25 years ago he wrote a “trunk novel,” something authors put away and perhaps look at from time to time.

During his time at the University, he enjoyed writing and educating through essays, but never considered writing a novel. In the seven years since his retirement, however, he has written three, and is currently finishing up the fourth.

That book, the third in the Sam Dawson series under the working title “Morgan’s Canon,” is expected to be out the first quarter of 2017.

Regarding those considering writing as a career, Horn advised they never stop reading. Though there are plenty of distractions and other things to take up a person’s time, Horn said it is important to always find time to read meaningful literature.

Budding writers should also study the craft, Horn said. He doesn’t believe the axiom “writers are born, not created,” noting he believes there are people in this world who are better at expressing themselves through writing than others.

A third piece of advice from Horn is to be persistent. “There’s not a single author out there who doesn’t have a huge stack of rejections,” he said.

Horn looks forward to visiting with people during this week’s signing, whether they buy a book or not, or just want to chat about writing, reading or books in general.

Horn will be at Storyteller for the book signing, beginning at 4:30 p.m. Friday.