Jonathon Sutmiller, a 2001 HHS graduate, never expected or planned to be a published author.
But sometimes life throws you bones. Now, Sutmiller is preparing to publish his third book Satuday, “The Boat Boys; The Ranch.”
This is the third book of the Boat Boys series, following his first book “Rising Water” which led into “The Challenge”.
He credits a former Heavener teacher, Rene Farmer. for helping him with reading and writing, even helping him a few times after graduating from Heavener.
Here is a summary of his books:
Book 1- “Rising Water” A story of three boys and a terrible hunting accident. A survival adventure!
Book 2- “The Challenge” Becoming famous has its perks, but it can be a challenge. The Boat Boys and their new friend “Old Man Robinson” aim their sights high on a Big Oklahoma fishing tournament. Winning this could grow their fame even more. A new character shows up, Marigold Morgan, as well. We learn that some things are more challenging than just winning a fishing tournament.
Book 3- “The Ranch” dives into the past of Old Man Robinson and looks into the future with the Boat Boys. Robinson has longed dreamed to make his ranch into somewhat of an outdoor paradise and business. Can the Boat Boys turn his lifelong dream into a reality?
The Ranch releases Saturday. It’s available online through most retailers and Amazon. Customers can buy direct from me as well. Amazon has hardback, paperback, and ebook.
Sutmiller lived in Heavener most of his life until round the age of 30. His family still comes back often and he hunts and fishes in some of the locations his books describe.
“The books are action and adventure fiction and based on the areas I grew up in,” he said. “It doesn’t always mention town names, but readers will be able to connect the dots. I wanted to highlight some of the wonderful parts about rural Oklahoma and growing up in rural Oklahoma.”
Sutmiller said the idea for the series came from discussions with his wife and other educators about a need for more adventure books for those kids who love those and often don’t enjoy reading. This series is a modern setting but might feel like some of the classics such as “Hatchet” or “Call of the Wild”.
The books have struck a chord and are beginning to spread into schools around the state and a few outside of the state. I’ve had the chance to visit around 20 schools so far and spoke to more than 2,500 kids last year about the books, learning to love reading, and about loving the outdoors.
“I never expected to be writing books, but I do expect to continue,” he said. “Several of my buddies I grew up with pitched a baseball book to me based around our summer baseball experiences growing up in the 90’s. My next book is taking their idea but taking it back further. It will be a baseball book that also works around World War II. It will also be based out of Oklahoma. I expect to begin working on it in the Spring and hope for a bigger publisher to pick it up and aim for a late 2027 release. From there a prequel to the Boat Boys will be in the works focusing on one of the Boys’ dad.
He has visited a few LeFlore county schools and have a few more on the books for visits this winter.