Say Howdy To Burt
Burt Tyson almost never takes off his cowboy hat, but he does tip it to the ladies. As a child, he loved historical adventure stories like Davy Crockett and TV Westerns including Hopalong Cassidy, The Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers, and Have Gun Will Travel. As a teenager, his love of history and adventure continued as he read novels of the American Frontier.
Burt continues the tradition of good men and women confronting evil in the 19th century American West as he writes The Devil Appears, the first novel in his The Devil’s Shadow series. Readers won’t have difficulty identifying the good guys and gals: they’ll be the ones who stand tall, saddle up despite the risk and, if they’re men, always respect the ladies.
In the remote small South Carolina town where Burt writes, there are lots of good men and women, but not too much adventure. He has to provide the adventure in his novels.
Contact
Author’s Name
James R. Van Laan
(Burt Tyson is a pseudonym)
burt@burttyson.com
Address
409 Elm Avenue, Landrum, SC 29356
Landline Telephone
864-510-4683
Mobile Telephone
864-457-4134
FAQ's
Why is a 74-year-old man publishing books now?
Writing has been a dream of mine for the last 55+ years. Now, as a widower, I have the time and a little savings to realize my lifetime dream.
Why write Westerns? Haven’t they fallen out of favor?
Probably. But I find something so quintessentially “American” in the Western genre. Honor, courage, loyalty, respect, good vs. evil. I grew up with Westerns…on television, in movies and in books. They formed my sense of what a man should be.
Why did you choose a Confederate officer as your protagonist?
Well, as the son of a Dutch father from Michigan and a Scotch-Irish mother from South Carolina and Tennessee, I was always caught between the “Southern” side of my history and the “Northern” side. Identifying more with the Southern side, I felt a sympathy for the “Lost Cause.” None of my Southern ancestors fought for slavery. They fought for States’ Rights. Now, I know that is a historical theory that has fallen out of favor today, but what is most important to me is the history of my family. They were courageous men who fought for principle and fought steadfastly against all odds. In that regard, they were like the Scots and Irish before them. They all lost, suffered and found a way to survive. Loss and redemption seem like strong themes derived from their experiences.
Why use the pseudonym Burt Tyson?
The books I publish and plan on publishing as James Van Laan are more literary and contemporary in nature. The first book is a collection of poems. The next book, coming out in 2026, is a noir detective action thriller. I think it’s better to keep the genres separate. Burt was the name my mama’s daddy went by and Tyson was my mama’s mama’s first name. Burt Tyson seemed to me to be a good name for an author writing Westerns.
Your background is a little unusual for an author, isn’t it?
Well, life gets in the way of our dreams sometimes and we must adjust to survive. I was in public relations in an earlier life and owned an advertising agency. After that, I survived as a consulting creative director and freelance copywriter. I taught myself computer programming and became a computer programmer and systems analyst at Duke University Medical Center and the Medical University of South Carolina. Then I became a consulting custom programmer for hospitals around the US. And now, retired, I am writing the books I toyed with for all of those years before.
Now you live in a small town of about 3500 people in the western part of South Carolina, just a few miles below the North Carolina state line. Why did you choose that location?
I lived in Raleigh, NC and Cary, NC for about 20 years and then in Charleston, SC for 7 years. I was born out in the country near Manassas, VA when Manassas had a Western Auto Store, a grocery store, a bus station (with a wonderful hamburger stand), a few churches and a school. When I was 7, we moved to Maryland because of the relocation of the company where my father worked. We lived a few miles outside of a town with 350 people and 32 antique shops. Camp David and the Catoctin Mountains were about 30 miles away. I liked the look of the land in both cases. Rolling hills.
Mountains just a little away. I also tired of “city life.” So, when the opportunity to move presented
itself after a hurricane and mandatory evacuation of Charleston, my wife and I found this little town and, at least for me, a sense of peace.
Your protagonist joins General Jo Shelby and the Iron Brigade in Mexico. Why the interest in Shelby?
I read a good bit about the “Confederate Expatriate” movement when I was younger. Even considered writing a semi-intellectual book about it. We talk of “diasporas” quite a bit today. But, there was a Confederate diaspora, too. To Cuba, Mexico, Brazil, Egypt, England, Russia and elsewhere. It just seemed like a reasonable “fit” to have my protagonist join that diaspora.
Why choose the post-Civil War period for your novel?
I think loss and failure are not things men are taught to deal with…at least not men of my age. For Confederate soldiers who lost the war, came home to the destruction of their homes or lost them for back taxes, those were the reality they were forced to face. Some managed and built new lives.
Others were different and became outlaws and renegades. I think, today, men even younger than me still try to cope with that same sense of loss and failure. Whether it’s the loss of a marriage or a relationship. Or the failure of a business. Or the loss of their job and the ability to care for their family. Or just the loss of purpose and hope. I thought that was a theme that deserved examination.
Sell Sheet
The Shadow Appears
The War had taken everything he valued from him. He lost his home. His family. His cause. And his only reason for living now was vengeance. All he had left were his horses, his guns and his sense of honor. So, he pointed his horse toward war-torn Mexico. To find his old life. Or a new one. Or to die with neither. He didn’t care which of the three he found.
~ Burt Tyson
Genre: Post-Civil War Westerns
# Of Pages: 488
eBook ISBN: 979-8-31781-446-5
Print ISBN: 979-8-31781-445-8
November 15, 2025
Formats Available: Print and eBook
