BEMIDJI — Robert Saxton never expected the bedtime stories he told his kids to inspire a series of novels. He just wanted his kids to spend more time outside.
Those stories and some life experiences ended up being the inspiration for three books in what he is calling the Gichi Gami Trilogy. The first book, Shades of a Warrior, was published in 2024. Return of the Manitous, his second, is now available as well.
The book continues the story of BJ Mackie and his sister Charley. Their close family friend goes missing, and they suspect foul play and begin a search for clues. They, along with their neighbor Amy, suspect there are dark forces putting the people and lands of the North Shore in danger. All the while, they hope they don’t become victims themselves.
For his whole life, Saxton has been a storyteller and performer. Over the years, family and friends have encouraged him to put his stories into books. One day, he finally sat down and started writing.
The longer he wrote, the more complicated and the longer it became. He realized the story now encompasses not just one book, but three.
Saxton said, “As you get into a story ... characters start to do things that you don't expect. Other times, characters show up in the story that you don't expect. So, it'll take twists and turns that you're not quite prepared for, and that's one of the most fun things about creating these types of stories, is the surprises that hit the author.”
Even with his history of oral storytelling, Saxton said it didn’t make writing any easier.
“I had lots of stumbles and had to do lots and lots of editing and restructuring and rearranging,” Saxton said. “My very smart and seasoned editor Ian Leask made me redo a bunch of chapters and a bunch of themes and things like that. So, that is just plain tough work.”
Saxton is well aware of the importance of telling a larger story throughout the trilogy but also having a strong enough story within each book. He doesn’t like outlining as much as writing, which he describes as dropping story seeds here and there.
Saxton said he also understands including characters who are Ojibwe — like Amy in this recent installment — lends a certain responsibility to being culturally respectful as a non-Native author. Living in Bemidji for the past 21 years, he’s in an area infused with Native culture and has made friends who are Native.
“I feel like if I'm going to be writing about Northern Minnesota, I should be writing about people that I know and care about, so that's what I've tried to do.”
Saxton continued, “There's a lot of parts of the culture and the historical trauma and the resilience and the renewal that is worth bringing to light and discussing as a greater community and in the country in general. I'm trying to do a little bit of that, and I hope I've done it justice.”
The book Return of the Manitous is available on Amazon and at local bookstores through the Ingram system. The book will eventually be available on Audible and other streaming formats as well.
Though it has been a long and tricky road creating these books, Saxton has been grateful for the response from readers. He is currently at work on Book Three.
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