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Stephen Bly was a well known American novelist and author of historical fiction, western, and Christian fiction stories. He had written over 100 novels and numerous poems, short stories, and articles. Bly was the winner of the Christy Award in 2002, which he won for his novel, The Long Trail Home. Three more of his books received the nominations for the prestigious Christy Award and had also been the finalists. Most of the books of author Bly are primarily of the Western genre and set in the American West. He used to write his books from the Christian worldview. The list of book series written by Bly in his career include the Horse Dreams series, the Fortunes of Black Hills series, the Belles of Lordsburg series, the Code of West series, The Legend of Stuart Brannon series, etc. Bly was born on August 17, 1944, in Ivanhoe, California and died on June 9, 2011, in Lewiston, Idaho. His initial upbringing was done on a farm in the San Joaquin Valley in central California.
When he was young, Bly was involved in taking care of a ranch near Coalinga, California along with his uncle named M.J. Allen. He continued this profession along with his father named Arthur Bly until the age of 30 in Ivanhoe. By that time, he had completed his graduation with summa cum laude from California State University in 1971 in Philosophy. In 1974, Bly obtained an M. Div from the Fuller Theological Seminary. Following this, Bly started working in the field of religion in and around his hometown. His popularity began spreading in the entire state of California in the next few years. For a short period of time, Bly was involved in politics as well. He had helped Gordon Duffy win the State Legislature election during his first term and then continued to serve as an administrative assistant to Gordon Duffy for some more time.
Bly’s service as a pastor of a few Presbyterian churches earned him a lot of fame. He went on to become Winchester Community Church’s pastor by riding on his popularity from earlier works. Bly was also elected to the post of city councilman several times. Between 2000 and 2007, Bly held the post of the mayor of Winchester. During a large part of his writing career, Bly was an active WWA member. He was also the roving editor of Big Show Journal. Bly had the hobby of collecting and restoring antique Winchesters. Between 1982 and 996, Bly was part of a group of speakers, who worked for the Moody Bible Institute and organized conferences for a family living. Bly has traveled with Gary Chapman, Gary Ezzo, Kevin Leman, Greg Speck, and Dr. Harold Sala. He and Janet Chester, his beautiful wife, used to mentor aspiring writers as Jerry Jenkins’ writers’ guild.
Author Bly never liked to write about a certain place that he had not visited. This was the reason why he preferred to travel through the eleven western states of the United States. During his travels, he used to explore the unpaved roads more than highways. Bly had met his beloved wife Janet Chester when the two were studying in Redwood High School, Visalia, California. He married her soon after his graduation. After his death, Bly left behind his wife and three grown-up sons named Michael, Aaron, and Russell. His death occurred after a five-year-long fight with prostate cancer. Bly was 66 years old at that time. Just before his death, he had started writing a new book, but couldn’t finish it. So, his wife and sons studied his notes for that particular book, completed it, and released it successfully in 2012 as a tribute to the great author. Janet had already co-authored a number of books with Bly, so it was not difficult for her to complete her late husband’s last book.
A very popular book series written by author Stephen Bly is known as the Horse Dreams Trilogy series. It is comprised of a total of three books released between 2005 and 2006. Bly has set the stories in Illinois, Indiana, and Wyoming. The stories mainly revolve around the life of a teacher of fifth-grade students from southern Illinois named Develyn Worrell. Bly has described the various ups and downs in Develyn Worrell’s life that force her to head out on the path of self-discovery and explore different relationships and romances on the way. The other important characters mentioned in the series include Delaney Worrell, Cooper Tallon, and others. The debut book of the series is entitled ‘Memories of a Dirt Road Town’. It was released by the B Fiction publication in 2005.
The novel begins by depicting that Develyn Worrell’s otherwise happy life as a 5th-grade teacher in a small town in Illinois comes falling down when she discovers the extra-marital affair of her husband. This incident affects her so much that she divorces her husband without explaining the reason behind it to her 21-year old daughter Delaney Worrell. Later, Develyn has a change of heart and desires reconcile with her husband. But, before she can inform him about her desire, her former husband dies of a heart attack. His sudden death shocks, both Develyn and her daughter Delaney, who blames her for the death of her father. Seeing that her daughter hates her and broken-hearted about the death of her husband, Develyn moves to a small town in Wyoming, where she had gone for a vacation during her childhood. She still remembers the beautiful sunset and Roan horses of this town. Upon her arrival, Develyn rents a small cabin and buys a Roan mare along with a burro. Thereafter, she watches herself as fate gets her acquainted with three important men, who become attached to her for the rest of her life.
The second installment of the series is called ‘The Mustang Breaker’. It was also published by B. Fiction in 2006. This book continues to show positive changes in Develyn Worrell’s life and mood as she cherishes the serene beauty of the little Wyoming town. Develyn realizes that the dreams she had seen as a child when she visited the town are coming true one by one because of the Lord’s leading. The novel continues to show the growth of all the characters and the adventures of Casey, Develyn, Renny, Maria, Quint, Uncle Henry, Cooper, and Delaney.
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