{"id":102161,"date":"2018-01-01T13:54:34","date_gmt":"2018-01-01T20:54:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cortez-western-writer-bringing-back-dime-novel\/"},"modified":"2018-01-01T13:54:34","modified_gmt":"2018-01-01T20:54:34","slug":"cortez-western-writer-bringing-back-dime-novel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cortez-western-writer-bringing-back-dime-novel\/","title":{"rendered":"Cortez Western writer bringing back dime novel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Denny
Denny Bertrand\u2019s collection of humorous stories about ranching won the Will Rogers Silver Medallion award. It is the second book in a three-part series based on Bertrand\u2019s life experiences on a Salida ranch.<\/span>Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Cortez author Denny Bertrand\u2019s stories on cowboy life continue to be recognized as part of a growing trend to bring back the dime novel.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of Western writing is from the early 1900s. My stories are different because they focus on contemporary times based on my life experience working on a ranch,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomewhere Outwest: On a Ranch\u201d is Bertrand\u2019s second in a trilogy about Petey and Cecil, two hard-working, accident-prone cowboys working 4,000 head of cattle.<\/p>\n

In October, the book won the Will Rogers Silver Medallion Award presented during the Red Steagall Cowboy Gathering in Fort Worth, Texas. Bertrand traveled to Las Vegas to appear on Ride TV, and be interviewed by the CB Cowgirls about the book, published by Red Dashboard.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was fun going to Vegas and traveling to promote the books,\u201d he said. \u201cI think this second novella reads smoother, I\u2019m improving with each book.\u201d<\/p>\n

A former rancher and semiretired livestock auctioneer, Bertrand is at home in the West. His observational style is comforting and honest, and his agriculture expertise comes through in his storytelling.<\/p>\n

\u201cI lived the life, so I don\u2019t have to research what it was like,\u201d he said. \u201cWe rode tough country, riding broncy horses. We covered so many miles, you\u2019d run out of gas on a four-wheeler.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stories of doctoring cattle on the range are very realistic, and highlight the range of skills ranchers have. Fishing-line pranks, getting dragged through a bog and other misadventures also keep readers entertained in the latest book.<\/p>\n

Bertrand relies on people he knows to form his stories, but he doesn\u2019t use real names or identify the town or county.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hitting my intended target because I\u2019ve heard from folks in different parts of the country who say, \u2018Hey, I think that Cecil and Petey live up the road from me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Bertrand\u2019s third book in the trilogy, \u201cSomewhere Outwest: In the Middle of Nowhere\u201d was released last year. He is also working on a book for kids with stories about Pete and Cecil growing up in grade school.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got plenty of stories still to tell,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Bertrand\u2019s stories avoid violence or cursing and are appropriate for any age. They can be purchased on Amazon, at Notah Dineh in Cortez, and at Maria\u2019s Book Store and Bar D Chuckwagon in Durango. His 2010 book, \u201cWestern Poetry with Cowboy Flair\u201d was also a Will Rogers Silver Medal winner in 2013 for cowboy humor.<\/p>\n

jmimiaga@the-journal.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bertrand\u2019s ranching trilogy wins another award<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":102162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[281,640,639,21,13,1263],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-102161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-agriculture","tag-award-and-prize","tag-book","tag-cortez","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-ranching"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102161"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=102161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}