Robert D. Bolen

In elementary school, I loved to write book reports on the Sioux Indians and dreamed of writing books someday on that very subject. In High School, I was a cub reporter and photographer for the local newspaper. l covered sporting events and games in Nebraska. In the 80's, I wrote three books on a typewriter, made the covers and self-published them. Later, I worked writing a column on the Indians for a local newspaper. I was middle-aged, but I obtained a degree in Anthropology/Archaeology. While at Boise State University I took a Creative Writing course in my degree and thoroughly enjoyed the Writing Lab.

In 2005, I retired. The first year, I was bored and somewhat disheartened. One day, I walked into a local B. Dalton's Bookseller and asked for a book on Fort Boise. The clerk could not find one. Remembering my first books sold there, she suggested, "You write it." I went home and wrote another book. This time, it was within the parameters of Archaeology and the local Indians. I visited Kinkos Fed-ex and a few weeks later pulled up to my garage with a dozen cartons of books, stored them in the garage and thought, "Now what do I do?" A day or so later, I began distributing books to local libraries, book stores and museums. My first book, "Smoke Signals & Wagon Tracks" wound up in every library in Idaho. Currently, I am writing my tenth book. My books are in 24 Museums, Colleges and bookstores around America, plus there are sales in Australia, Germany, India, Japan, Norway, the UK and the US by Ingram Book Publishers.

I was set up to sell and also sign books at a gun show, when I noticed a five year old boy standing calmly, evaluating what he saw looking at my sign and books. He stood there for about five minutes and then said, "Mister, did you build them yourself?" I laughed at his candor. I do the covers, photos, text and set up before turning the book over to my graphic designer to complete the covers. I have thoroughly enjoyed my new hobby.