Writing

"Hayfoot, Strawfoot: The Bucktail Recruits" ISBN 1-57249-250-3 and

"The Bucktails' Shenandoah March" ISBN 1-57249-293-7 are two novels of historical

fiction by William P. Robertson and David Rimer.

Available at Barnes&Noble.com and Amazon.com.

The books trace the adventures of two lads who join an elite Pennsylvania rifle regiment

and battle the Rebels in the American Civil War. A must read for anyone who enjoys

historical fiction, the Civil War, and action-packed adventure. Researched from the

double perspectives of history and folklore, these books give a vivid account of a

famous Union rifle regiment and the coming of age of two young frontier recruits.

The first poem I wrote was for a ninth grade creative writing assignment.  It told the story of

Frank Luke.  Luke was a WW I American flying ace nicknamed "the Balloon Buster" because

 he specialized in shooting down German observation balloons.  My teacher made such a fuss

over  the poem, I guess I was hooked on writing from then on.  Because I was an overly shy

kid, poetry became my favorite means of expression.

It took me five years of freelance writing before I got my break winning first prize in Reality

Library's  monthly poetry contest.  I entered a poem entitled "The Prophecy" which dealt with

the slaughter  of the American Indian.  I wrote the epic during a college lit class rather than

 listen to the professor, who bored me out of my skull.  It took most of the semester to refine

 the poem to its final form.

I began specializing in horror poetry when I discovered that nearly 80% of my horror stuff got

accepted by magazines, while only 10% of my general interest work was taken.  I always had a

flair for the dark side, anyway, after spending my youth listening to the music of the Doors.

My Swedish grandmother also loved to tell me ghost stories and tales of trolls and gnomes,

and my father read me Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft at a young age.

I soon began producing horror chapbooks like WATERS BOIL BLOODY and audio books

 like UNTIL DEATH DO IMPART.

Historical fiction has also been one of my favorites since elementary school.  My teachers had

to practically hold a gun to my head to get me to read something other than the

Hornblower books, NORTHWEST PASSAGE, or THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL.  My love of

such work eventually led me to write the Bucktail novel series.

The first time I heard of the Bucktail Regiment, who fought in the American Civil War, was

when I was in sixth grade.  I was a member of the Safety Patrol and was rewarded at the end

of the school year with a trip to Washington, D.C. with other patrol boys from my class.

On the trip we were given Civil War caps and got to march down Pennsylvania Avenue to

 represent the Bucktails with kids from all over the United States.  I guess the seed was planted

to write about the Bucktails on that day!  I was also a hunter and woodsman from the time I

was twelve, so writing about similar men from the 1860's was a natural.  Also, the Bucktails

 came from McKean County where I grew up which made describing the landscape a cinch!

 I guess I just followed the advice of some wise teachers who always told me, "Write what you

know best."   I got David Rimer to help with the editing and storyline when I discovered

 how big a job being a novelist is!

BILL'S BIBLIOGRAPHY

Poetry Books

Burial Grounds (Triton Press, 1977)

Gardez Au Froid (Triton Press, 1979)

Animal Comforts (Vega Press, 1981)

Life After Sex Life (Four Winds Press, 1983)

Waters Boil Bloody (Robyl Press, 1990)

1066 (Robyl Press, 1992)

Hearse Verse (Robyl Press,1994)

The Illustrated Book of Ancient, Medieval & Fantasy Battle Verse

(Robyl Press, 1996)

Desolate Landscapes (Robyl Press, 1997)

Bone Marrow Drive (Chuck's Electronic Press, 1997)

Audio Books

Gasp! The Haunted Recitations of William P. Robertson

(Robyl Press,1999)

Until Death Do Impart co-written with ShadowFox

(Robyl Press, 2002)

Novels

Hayfoot, Strawfoot: The Bucktail Recruits

co-written with David Rimer

(White Mane Publishing Company, 2002)

The Bucktails' Shenandoah March co-written with David Rimer

(White Mane Publishing Company, 2002)

E-Books

Brothers of Darkness, a collection of horror photos and poetry

co-written with G.W. Thomas (Kingfisher Books, 2003)

Coming In The Near Future

The Bucktails' Antietam Trials co-written with David Rimer

(White Mane Publishing Company, 2003)

The Battling Bucktails at Fredericksburg

co-written with David Rimer (White Mane Publishing Company)

The Bucktails at the Devil's Den co-written with David Rimer

(White Mane Publishing Company)