Dakota Epic, Bill's first book, reveals what it was like to be an extra
on the set of Dances with Wolves. He has also been an
extra in four other movies: Son of the Morning Star, Far and Away, Gettysburg, and
Crazy Horse.
Up The Missouri River With Lewis and Clark,
Bill's second book, tells
of the beginning stages of the United States’ first overland
expedition to the Pacific Ocean. The men had to contend with
shifting sandbars, treacherous currents, submerged trees,
mosquitoes, rattlesnakes, wicked weather, disease, and unpredictable
new people. Meet the men of the expedition—deserters, drunks,
sergeants, and hunters. See how the first four months of their
journey transforms a loose group of individuals into Clark’s Band of
Brothers.
Spirits of The Mound, is Bill's first fiction short story. In 1804, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, leaders
of the United States Corps of Discovery, climbed Spirit Mound located
near present-day Vermillion, South Dakota. Local tribes believed a
fierce tribe of little spirit people lived on Spirit Mound. These little
spirit people would kill anyone approaching Spirit Mound. I researched
Lewis, Clark, and the sergeants journals to portray what it might have
been like for the Corps of Discovery the evening before and the day of
the visit to the mound. What if there really were little people living
at Spirit Mound? And what if there was an encounter not recorded?
A member of Western Writers of America and Toastmasters International, Bill is available to talk about Dances
With Wolves, the other movies he's worked on, reenacting, and Old
West history. Contact:markley@pie.midco.net
"Sometimes humorous, sometimes
poignant, always fascinating, Dakota Epic is a superb, up-close
scrutiny of the trials, tribulations, and successes of a great movie and
highly recommended reading..."
-Mid-West Review on Dakota Epic
, Bill's first book, reveals what it was like to be an extra
on the set of Dances with Wolves. He has also been an
extra in four other movies: Son of the Morning Star, Far and Away, Gettysburg, and
Crazy Horse.
