Rolland has always liked history and his appreciation was greatly enhanced when he visited countries in the Mediterranean region, compliments of the U.S. Navy. He majored in History and English in high school and college and retied after 36 years in public education server as a teacher, administrator and in the field staff in state affiliates of the National Education Association.
In the early nineties he wrote his first book, A Prairie Heritage, a narrative geneaology of his and his first wife’s eight family lines, on going back to the Norman Conquest of 1066. It was written as a legacy for his family and not meant for publication. It did, however, provide the incentive for writing his novel, having lifted four years of mid-nineteenth century Switzerland and Germany to provide the setting.
“I have always enjoyed history, but after writing my first book, my sense of appreciation turned to fascination. Now, with this novel, I may revisit my first book, do some revision and see what happens.”
There is a lot of story left for the main characters of Odyssey in Exile, which would cover their departure from Germany to their arrival in America. Rolland says a sequel my be in the making.