We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sequoyah Branham. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sequoyah below.

Hi Sequoyah, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

In the publishing industry, novels are the norm. Smaller projects such as novella’s aren’t popular and definitely not as the leader of a series.
My debut work, In the Company of Cows, is a novella. The story continues in a full length novel, In Between Pastures.
While talking with my mentors we discussed that this isn’t something you see in the publishing industry—like ever—and the repercussions that could happen. Thankfully, this is a freedom that as an indie author I have—to explore new models.
I see it as offering my readers a bite-sized introduction to a world that grows as you move through the series. At this point the second book is only available for pre-order, but fans are PUMPED!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I began writing novels in middle school, creating characters with the courage and boldness I never thought I could have. I was growing up in the ranching community and always set my characters on the ranch facing the everyday trials that come up there.
As a senior in high school I joined the Author Conservatory and spent three years learning story structure, craft, and marketing skills. Possibly more important I learned the courage that I always wished I had.
Now I have two western contemporary fiction books out, In the Company of Cows and In Between Pastures. I get to connect with and encourage readers from ten year old girls and thirty-something ranch moms, all the way to grandmas through stories that highlight things like facing social anxiety, accepting help, and walking through hard seasons with family.
I also get to encourage and guide young writers to give their stories the page-turning punch we all want.

As a cowboygal myself I’ve lived every ranching scene you’ll find in my books pages. I’ve been horseback over miles and miles of country, followed a clueless heifer through the pasture until we find her baby, and watched the dust blow praying for rain. These are real ranch stories.
Whether you know ranching or you’re interested in it you can open these pages without wondering if you’ll bump into a dumb horse moment that would never happen in real life.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding part of being a creative is seeing work that means so much to me connect with other people. There’s themes that I intentionally write into my books and seeing how they connect with people in different ways and because of different experiences is truly a rewarding experience. But sometimes there’s smaller threads in a story that I didn’t intentionally write in that resonate with someone. That is a glowing moment only God can write in.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Two years into my studies of writing I received some feedback on the person and tense that I had been writing in. When I went into writing the first draft of In the Company of Cows I knew I’d need to change it, but first I just wanted words on the page.
I wrote over thirty thousand words in third person present tense. [Mandy shies away from the flying tree branch.] Before submitting it for peer feedback I rewrote it in third person past tense. [Mandy gripped the saddle horn.]
I submitted it to my editor for developmental feedback and was please that the story was structurally sound. My editor’s one piece of big feedback was to rewrite it into first person present tense. [My legs clench against my horse’s sides.] So once again I rewrote thirty-something thousand words in a different person and tense. Thankfully that time it stuck.

It was a lot of extra typing, but it’s worth it to see my readers connecting with the story. I truly don’t think it would have read as smoothly for them in any other format.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sequoyahbranham.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sequoyahbranham

Image Credits

Madeline Alvey, Cheyenne Dawn Photography