This appeared in the Brighton Standard Blade, November 29, 2007
From paperboy to third novel
From a paper inserter and delivery boy for the Brighton Blade to a newspaper editor and racetrack manager in Delaware, published author and former Brighton High School student Bob Buckholz lives a life with almost as many twists and turns as the novels he writes.
The 53-year-old suspense author, who is working on his third novel, didn’t start writing until last year. He presented a copy of his first book, “White House Deception,” to his dying father three days before his death.
“When (my father) held the book in his hands he said, ‘This is my son’s,’” Buckholz said
Buckholz said holding that first copy in his own hands was the most humbling experience of his life.
“I remember thinking, ‘these are my words forever,’” he said.
The novel, released in late 2006, is a fiction, conspiracy thriller involving a fictitious president and his family. The former Colorado senator is elected to the presidency; however factions inside the White House decide he is too young for the job. The senator’s 8-year-old daughter is kidnapped in an attempt to force the president to resign.
Buckholz said the idea for the novel came from a dream, a dream that launched his writing career. It took just four months to finish the novel.
Then he discovered the biggest challenge was not getting the novel written but getting it published. Buckholz said many publishers don't accept unsolicited articles and some charge a reading fee. He found a publishing company, Publish America, in Maryland.
“I have to do most of my own marketing, but it’s a good way to get started,” Buckholz said.
His second novel, “Aubrey’s Innocence,” comes out in early December. The book is about a young girl whose father forces her into prostitution. The girl decides to take her life back at the same time the men involved start dying around the city of Knoxville, Tenn.
“It’s funny, I guess,” Buckholz said. “One of my first jobs was at the Brighton Blade stuffing papers downstairs by the press room. I used to watch them put the paper together and loved to talk with the writers that were there. I guess it was also a big part of getting my love for writing started.”
Buckholz attended North Junior High School (now Brighton Heritage Academy) and Brighton High School. He moved with his family to Phoenix, Ariz. for his final year of high school but considers Brighton High School his alma mater. He returns for class reunions on a regular basis.
Playing a big role in the bond he formed with the school and students was former auto mechanics teacher, Mike Oliveri. To this day Buckholz refers to Oliveri as his mentor.
“Mr. Oliveri was a teacher that guided you through whatever it was you needed from him,” Buckholz said. “He really communicated well with high school kids.”
Buckholz said students and drugs were a problem, even in the early 1970s. To encourage the students to do something constructive and educational with their time and money, he would let them bring their cars into the high school shop to work on.
Buckholz credits Oliveri for his success as a writer as well.
“No matter what your goals were, he encouraged you. He taught me to stick with things I didn’t think I could do and to do the best at whatever it was I put my mind to,” Buckholz said. “He was an important part of my young life and I took his advice into my adult years.”
Buckholz’ first job as an inserter for the paper paid $1.15 an hour. He also delivered papers. At that time the pickup point, for all the carriers was at Benedict Park and his route was along Strong Street.
After graduating from high school in Arizona, he served 14 years in the U.S. Air Force. He left the Air Force to work for the family-owned glass business where he made and installed windows for large commercial buildings. Buckholz also was the the manager for NASCAR Collectibles, a retail franchise chain owned by racecar driver Bobby Allison.
Four years, later he left Allison to manage 411 Raceway in Seymour, Tenn. outside Knoxville. The job lasted three years until one day when he came into work and was told the company was closing.
“I was shocked,” Buckholz said. “I went from making $70,000 a year to nothing in one day. They just closed the place and sold it at auction.”
Buckholz turned to writing for a daily newspaper but found the 60-hour weeks too demanding.
“I’ve always loved to write,” he said. “I used to teach writing in the Air Force. The only problem at the paper is that I was the only writer for 2 ½ months. I was using nine different pen names so people wouldn’t think the whole paper was being written by one person.”
Buckholz was offered the editor’s job but left the paper after just one year to work for an automobile racetrack in Delaware.
For the past three years Buckholz has been managing the racetrack by day and writing by night, every night from 10 p.m. to midnight.
“Sometimes it’s hard to get started,” he said. “It takes a few minutes. Sometimes it’s hard to turn it off. Some nights I get 200 words written and some nights I’ll write as many as 12,000 words.”
Buckholz is already two-thirds through his third novel. The story centers around a young boy named Adam. The government murders his mother and kidnaps Adam, who spends the next 13 years watching television and playing computer games as part of a government experiment. One day, Adam decides he has had enough and escapes.
The book is due out sometime in 2008.