{"id":122950,"date":"2013-11-20T22:39:20","date_gmt":"2013-11-21T05:39:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/pleasant-view-author-lands-first-book-deal\/"},"modified":"2013-11-20T22:39:20","modified_gmt":"2013-11-21T05:39:20","slug":"pleasant-view-author-lands-first-book-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/pleasant-view-author-lands-first-book-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"Pleasant View author lands first book deal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Briana
Briana Vedsted signs copies of her new book, Me and Billy the Kid, at the Cortez Library.<\/span>Sam Green\/Cortez Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

When Briana Vedsted, 20, isn\u2019t working for her parents\u2019 Pleasant View ranch, she is spinning tales about the Old West, a habit she picked up as a child that has led to her first book deal.<\/p>\n

Vedsted\u2019s latest novel, \u201cMe and Billy the Kid,\u201d was picked up by Tate Publishing last year and was released Nov. 5.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so awesome find out about it,\u201d she said in a phone interview. \u201cWhen I first got the email, I thought they were joking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Editing, cover design and printing took a year, and now it is time for a nationwide book tour \u2026 right?<\/p>\n

\u201cNot exactly, I\u2019m still working on the ranch, but I will be promoting it locally,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe and Billy the Kid\u201d is historical fiction that is based in fact but takes creative license with missing parts of the well-known rebel\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of times in his life that nobody knows what happened, so I filled in the gaps by creating some adventures with a girlfriend named Angel,\u201d Vedsted said.<\/p>\n

In the weeks before he was shot dead, Billy the Kid traveled to Fort Sumner, a true event that Vedsted uses as a fictional setting for a kidnapping-and-hostage situation involving Angel.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is basically a Western romance,\u201d she said. \u201cThe key to any good story is a convincing portrayal of the fictional characters.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mystery and symbolism of Western characters is an attractive topic for the young writer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was inspired to write about Billy the Kid after visiting a museum in New Mexico that told about his legend,\u201d Vedsted said. \u201cHe has a reputation for being a bad guy, but in my research I found he had good in him too. He was deputized to kill, but it was done to avenge his friend\u2019s death. Also\u2019 he was good to the poor, an Old West Robin Hood from the late 1800s.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is Vedsted\u2019s fourth book \u2013 she self-published the other three. Her writing trends toward western romance set in the old-time worlds of gold mines, bank robbers, cattle rustlers and pioneer life.<\/p>\n

Exploring the supernatural is an interest as well, brought to life in an earlier work, a ghost story called \u201cThe Night I Walked Off of Boot Hill.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vedsted was homeschooled through Lighthouse Christian Academy. She credits her family for encouraging an early habit of storytelling, writing and reading. Plus, they make good editors.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was younger, my mom was always making up stories about tumbleweeds, coyotes or cows,\u201d she says. \u201cI was planning on becoming a teacher, but when my parents read my early stories, they thought they were good and encouraged me to change my mind and become an author.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vedsted will have another book signing at the Cortez branch of Mancos State Bank, (across from Cliffrose Gardens) at 1 p.m. Friday, Nov. 22. Copies of the 90-page book will be available for $10. Her books are being sold online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.<\/p>\n

\u201cI try to write for young adults, but older folks have told me my stories are interesting to read for anybody,\u201d she said. \u201cI am pursuing a writing career, but I also love working on the farm and ranch.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vedsted encouraged to write at early age<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":122951,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6363],"tags":[188,13],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-122950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ds-news","tag-dolores-star","tag-frontpage-lead"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122950","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=122950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122950\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122950"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=122950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}