Event set for Saturday at Barry County Museum

By Sheila Harris Special to the Cassville Democrat

Security Bank president Jon Horner, of Cassville, is at it again with the recent release of “The Bouvier Blunder,” the fourth novel in his “Bouvier” series, books which feature plot lines revolving around a cast of characters from a fictional, rural Ozarks town.

The Blunder is different than Horner’s first novels, though, because it represents a collaboration with his long-time friend, Kerry Hays, of Monett.

“Kerry began helping me with edits and proofreading while I was working on my third novel, ‘The Flight of The Slacker,’” Horner said. “While I was writing ‘The Bouvier Blunder,’ I passed chapters on to Kerry for editing and he began chiming in with storyline ideas. The next thing we knew, the book became sort of a fun, joint project.”

“Jon and I have had a lot of respect for each other since we first became acquainted back in 2009, when I was assigned by the then-editor of Connection Magazine to write a story about Jon’s first novel,” Hays said.

Since then, the two have been friends, said Hays, a music director for the choral department in the Monett School District.

“Because I have a background in photography, Jon asked me to design the cover for ‘The Bouvier Blunder,’” he said. “When I sent him the mock-up, he told me the only thing wrong with it was that my name wasn’t on it.”

Horner insisted that the problem be fixed before moving forward with publication. The book, released Oct. 21, is now available locally at Whitley’s Pharmacy and the Barry County Museum in Cassville, and on Amazon in either a digital or print version. Horner’s first three Bouvier novels, as well as a children’s book – “Gracie’s Giftability,” written in collaboration with his daughter Madison Horner — are available through his website: www.jonhorner.net.

Horner said he was inspired to try his hand at writing a novel after reading the legal thrillers of attorney and best-selling author John Grisham.

“A lot of Grisham’s books are set in a small, rural Mississippi town, which reminded me of Cassville, and made me want to write a book of my own with a similar small-town setting,” Horner said. “When I asked my wife Darla if she thought I could write a book, she told me, ‘Just do it.’ so I started in.

“I got about half-way through ‘The Rev’ when I felt like I needed some honest feedback to find out if the project was worth continuing. I knew close friends and family members would just tell me, ‘This is wonderful,’ to avoid hurting my feelings, so I needed someone who would be brutally honest if necessary. The person who I finally found told me there was only one problem with it. ‘What?’ I asked. ‘It’s not finished,’ he told me.”

That’s all it took for Horner to proceed with his tale of the revered reverend of a Bouvier church with a secret from his past threatening to inopportunely surface.

“There was a sense of accomplishment, but mostly one of just great relief, when that first book was finished in 2007,” Horner said. “I had no idea what I was doing, nor whether I could even land the plane successfully without crashing. I learned a lot from it, though.”

Horner said the main lesson he learned was to figure out the ending before even starting a book, so he’d know where he was going.

A second valuable insight he gained was to take lots of time with the editing process.

“Don’t get in a hurry to get your book published, then regret it later,” he said.

Horner’s subsequent novel, ‘The Deadly News,’ spins off from the untimely death of a teenager discovered to be pregnant by mysterious means. ‘The Flight of The Slacker,’ Horner’s third novel, centers around the escapades of an inept school administrator, who must fake his own death in order to save school district funds, as well as his own life.

Horner is excited about his latest collaboration with Kerry Hays. Already, the two are planning the fifth novel in the Bouvier series.

Horner and Hays are hosting a book-signing Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon at the Barry County Museum, located at 15858 Highway 76, in Cassville.