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Larry Bjornson

Goodreads Author

Born

The United States

Website

http://www.wideopennovel.com

Genre

Historical Fiction, Literature & Fiction, History

Member Since

May 2012

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I graduated from the University of California with degrees in history and political science. My family has owned a farm in North Dakota for three generations.

My grandfather met and married my grandmother in Cody, Wyoming, a town founded by Buffalo Bill Cody. On one occasion, grandfather, who was a member of the town’s band, played a violin solo for Buffalo Bill. And, of course, Buffalo Bill was a close friend of Wild Bill Hickok, a prominent character in my current novel, WIDE OPEN.

The most important factor in forming my impulse to write was my parents’ love of reading and history. In recent years, I wrote a number of self published books that were a valuable training ground for the eventual acceptance of WIDE OPEN by Penguin/Berkley.

WIDE I graduated from the University of California with degrees in history and political science. My family has owned a farm in North Dakota for three generations.

My grandfather met and married my grandmother in Cody, Wyoming, a town founded by Buffalo Bill Cody. On one occasion, grandfather, who was a member of the town’s band, played a violin solo for Buffalo Bill. And, of course, Buffalo Bill was a close friend of Wild Bill Hickok, a prominent character in my current novel, WIDE OPEN.

The most important factor in forming my impulse to write was my parents’ love of reading and history. In recent years, I wrote a number of self published books that were a valuable training ground for the eventual acceptance of WIDE OPEN by Penguin/Berkley.

WIDE OPEN is historical fiction set in 1871 Abilene, Kansas. The story is based on the actual events of the legendary 1871 cattle season in Abilene, the first of the great prairie cowtowns.

A tiny exotic dot of roaring humanity on the vast vacancy of the wilderness prairie, Abilene is a place in which good and evil are so evenly matched that no one knows which will triumph. In its Texastown district, recently hired marshal, James Butler Hickok, the West’s most famous gunman, struggles to control streets teeming with thousands of hostile cowboys. Violence seems a certainty, but no one expects the tragedy that ultimately unfolds. It is the story of a magnificent secret, a stunning tragedy, and the earliest days of a romance that will last 73 years.

It's a bit early for reviews, but I do have a few. Here's one--

"Countless novels have been written about Wild Bill Hickok and the rough cattle town of Abilene, Kansas, of the 1870s. Larry Bjornson, however, makes the story fresh, unique, and moving. WIDE OPEN is a delight, a literate story with a wonderful cast of characters, boundless energy, and a perfect sense of place and time."
-- Johnny D. Boggs, Spur Award-winning author of EAST OF THE BORDER and NORTHFIELD

WIDE OPEN has a fairly extravagant web site at http://www.wideopennovel.com. Lots of history of the era, old photos, interesting graphics, and info on the novel.
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Combine Editions
Larry Bjornson’s books

Average rating: 4.1 · 287 ratings · 86 reviews · 3 distinct works • Similar authors

	Wide Open 4.10 avg rating — 284 ratings — published 2012 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Why Cows Need Cowboys: and Other Seldom-Told Tales from the American West by Nancy Plain (Editor), Rocky Gibbons (Editor), Larry Bjornson (Goodreads Author) (Contributor) 4.50 avg rating — 4 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Wide Open Paperback June 5, 2012 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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7 posts
Larry Bjornson's Blog: How I Wrote a Novel and Got It Published by Penguin

In the Long Run, Most Aspiring Authors Mostly Aspire — Part 7

Being a chronicle of Wide Open's creation, from first idea to publication...
To read in sequence, go back (or down) to Part 1.

After all the blood, sweat, and tears of research and preparation to write my novel, you'd think I would've been dying to get at what is presumably "the fun part." The drudgery was over, let the creative joy begin! Nothing between me and the Great American Novel. Don't hold Read more of this blog post »

2 likes · Like • 1 comment • flag

Published on March 13, 2013 15:39

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Larry is Currently Reading

Larry Bjornson is currently reading

J. Frank Dobie: A Liberated Mind

by Steven L. Davis (Goodreads Author)

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May 13, 2012 10:57AM

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message 3: by Larry

Mar 17, 2013 12:07PM

WIDE OPEN has won the Western Writers of America SPUR AWARD for Best Juvenile Fiction (young adult) and is a finalist for Best First Novel.

http://westernwriters.org/spur-awards/

The Spur Award is one of the oldest and most prestigious honors in American literature. Previous Spur winners include Larry McMurtry for Lonesome Dove, Michael Blake for Dances With Wolves, and Glendon Swarthout for The Shootist.

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message 2: by Larry

Nov 26, 2012 06:30PM

Thanks for the friend request.

When I was a small boy (very small), I lived in Quebec for about two years. Don't recall too much, but I'm told I was quite contented.

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message 1: by Paul

Nov 24, 2012 07:00PM

Thanks for the friend accept; wish me luck... :-)

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