Richards, Dusty: The Natural

Eight Seconds Is A Lifetime. There's a lot of tough competition in the rodeo arena-from the man behind the microphone to the cowboys and cowgirls that ride, rope, and climb on the bucking stock. The Natural puts you in the boots of famed rodeo announcer Brad Turner, racing his horse Golden Boy into the arena and welcoming the crowd to a pro rodeo performance in Jackson, Mississippi. You'll hit the road with Brad as he criss-crosses the country struggling with life, love, and business on the pro rodeo circuit. You'll meet Zola Johns, the rebellious, barrel racing beauty with her eye on the prize of winning a national championship, and Shoat Krammer, the young rough-and-tumble rookie who's the real natural coming up the hard way. Tough, gritty, and written with the authenticity of a lifelong rodeo veteran, three-time Spur Award-winning author Dusty Richards tells a tale so real, you'll be dusting the dirt from the arena off your Wranglers before you're done.

Dusty Richards grew up riding horses and watching his western heroes on the big screen. He even wrote book reports for his classmates, making up westerns since English teachers didn't read that kind of book. His mother, though, didn't want him to be a cowboy, so he went to college, then worked for Tyson Foods and auctioned cattle when he wasn't an anchor on television.His lifelong dream, though, was to write the novels he loved. He sat on the stoop of Zane Grey's cabin and promised he'd one day get published, as well. In 1992, that promise became a reality when his first book, Noble's Way, hit the shelves. In the years since, he's published over 160 more, winning nearly every major award for western literature along the way. His 150th novel, The Mustanger and the Lady, was adapted for the silver screen and released as the motion picture Painted Woman in 2017. In a review for the movie, True West magazine proclaimed Dusty "the greatest living western fiction writer alive." Sadly, Dusty passed away in early 2018, leaving behind a legion of fans and a legacy of western writing that will live on for generations.