It’s the end of March 2025, and the last thirty days have been busy.

Between the end of February and the end of March, Red Boar Studios has seen the publication of 5 new titles in 9 different formats. (Whew!) 

Equally interesting to me is that none of these were really planned. Ideas came in from right field that intrigued me, motivated me, and made me work really hard for days at a time. Ideas that were not completely mine or were based on previous stories from the past.

You can preview these releases on my website at BuriedTreasurePublishing.com and select picture books and Spanish translations on the Books > overview page.

I want to share the moment that started this chain of events. It came in the form of a phone call on a Saturday night from a dear friend, Teresa Kidd.

Teresa had a sweet story that she wanted to see in print. She reads with her grandson, Bennett, and her dream was simply to publish and hold the completed story in her hands. Knowing that I had published over 20 books, she reached out to see if I could help her navigate the path to a published author. Of course I agreed.

Teresa’s story was of a little red book that languished on the bottom shelf of the school library. All of the children walked right by this book, never looking down, never checking her out to read the wonderful story found on her pages. Eventually she is noticed, is checked out, and is thrilled to make a child happy to read her tale of adventure.

Now you must understand how my brain works. I can never leave ideas alone. I thrive on enhancing the value and clarity of whatever I happen across. So I tossed this out: “Why don’t we write a separate book that IS this little red book on the shelf? The complete story? So kids can read that book in full, as well as your beautiful story about the little red book who is describing what lies within her pages?”

Well, immediately we had a companion series on our hands. I volunteered to write the actual little red book, while Teresa would finish her original story with my advice and I would provide the illustrations. My suggestion for a good possible first sentence for Teresa’s book was “Lil’ Red was little read, because she was a book that lived on the bottom shelf in the school library.”

I didn’t hear back from Teresa right away, but when I did she said “I love that first sentence! But I have no idea what to write for a second sentence, or what comes after. I’ve talked this over with my husband, and we agreed. Duane, would you be willing to take on both projects? All I really want is a published book I can read with my grandson, and to be mentioned as contributing the story idea.”

Suddenly I have two book projects sitting on my plate from out of the blue, and I’m so excited about the idea that I can hardly wait to dive into them! 

The little red book is actually called “Red Bart and the Pirates.” I wrote and illustrated this one first so I would have the pictures ready to include in the bottom shelf book when Lil’ Red is describing her story. Then I wrote the book from Teresa’s initial dream of “Lil’ Red and the Bottom Shelf Blues.”

I find that I enjoy researching and expanding on historical material. “Red Bart” is loosely based on John Bartholomew Roberts, also known as “Black Bart” Roberts, the most successful pirate in the golden age of piracy. 

Most of my books would never have been published without an AI imaging tool I discovered a couple of years ago. Although I have a pretty good eye for art and graphic composition, I am not a skilled artist when it comes to simply drawing things. 

The best example of this is my book “The Vampire Who Had No Fangs.” I wrote this “scary” story for my granddaughter in 2018 and illustrated it myself with basic geometric shapes and masking techniques. Last month I decided to recreate the images using my AI tool, and it turned out great.

We can all find inspiration in the simplest things. Don’t ever sell your abilities short. You may be inspiring others, and that is a valuable thing indeed.

Duane Porter

Author and illustrator

Buried Treasure Publishing

Red Boar Studios LLC