March 23, 2016
Bryan wrote, Mounting Up: A Horse Themed Christian Devotional for Youth because she saw horses as a good way to translate the themes of faith to youth. She starting forming the idea for the book her sophomore year and designed it to be interactive for the reader.
My thesis advisor gave me a lot of encouragement and continually challenged me to keep the material understandable and accessible for young people, Bryan said.
Bryan submitted her thesis to Tate Publishing whose mission is to discover and market unknown authors. After she signed with the company they started a rigorous editing process before publishing.
Bryan grew up in Montana, where animals and literature were consistent parts of her family and a way for her to connect with her spirituality and creative side. Through her book Bryan was able to combine her three passions, animals, literature and spirituality, and share it with readers.
I was a very imaginative child and was always reading and telling stories to my sister, Bryan said. I wanted to make a meaningful impact with my writing the same way that classic literature taught and inspired me to live with honorable character and integrity.
Bryan chose to come to Montana Western because of its unique Experience One program, the affordable cost and caring community.
By taking one class at a time I was able to dig into the material. I liked the intense focus for eighteen days because I could bounce ideas back and forth, create quality work and then move on, Bryan said. Otherwise I would have to take a broad variety of subjects all at once and inevitably become overwhelmed.
Bryan will graduate this spring with a Bachelor of Arts in English and plans to begin work on her second book soon.
MONTANA WESTERN
