Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Rosie Bosse, western author
At a glance: Rosie Bosse’s daughter urged her to write down the stories that Rosie told her grandchildren, which later became a series of children’s books. Then Rosie felt called to write a book of western historical fiction, which also became a series, and led to creating her own publishing company.
More information: Ron Wilson, rwilson@ksu.edu, 785-532-7690
Photos: Ron Wilson | Rosie Bosse
Website: Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development
Aug. 12, 2026
By Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University
On the first day of classes, a college professor told his students: “In this class, C is for average work, a B is for excellent work, and the only way to get an A is to write something that merits publishing.”
Uh oh, that is setting a high bar.
Many students in the class were so scared that they tried to change teachers but all other classes were full. One of those students worked so hard on her writing that she did earn an A in the class, and it had a significant impact upon her life.
Rosie Bosse shares that story because she was one of the students in that English Composition II class at Kansas State University. After the initial concern, she buckled down and earned an A.
At left: Rosie Bosse | Download this photo
“It was one of the proudest grades I ever received,” Bosse said.
During college, she met and married J.R. They live on a ranch near Onaga. She took up writing again when her daughter asked her to write down the stories she was telling her grandchildren.
Those stories became a series of children’s books, as we have previously profiled. Now, she has branched out into writing western historical fiction.
“The kids’ books were inspired by my grandkids,” Bosse said. In 2019, she received a different calling. She felt called by God to write an adult book that would include the value of children.
“I was busy with my Tupperware business and didn’t want to do it,” Bosse said. “But that night, the content for a book started pouring out of my head.”
It was an adult western novel set in the 1860s and included families.
The novel would be titled North to Cheyenne. It chronicled the adventures of a young cowboy, beginning on a Mississippi riverboat and ending up in Wyoming. Along the way, he acquires a wife and son. Much of the journey passed through Kansas which plays a prominent part of the story.
One chapter is titled Manhattan, Kansas and features Manhattan’s historic Wolf House (a later book would include Pillsbury Crossing, a natural landmark near Manhattan). The journey continues on to Ellsworth, Hays and the Arikaree Breaks in northwest Kansas.
Bosse intended this to be a one and only book but it spawned a whole series. She called it the Home on the Range series which would eventually encompass 11 books. The lead characters are fictional but parts of the story include historical research. Every book includes a real historical figure, such as Wild Bill Hickok or others.
After the Home on the Range series was completed, she began a Civil War-era series of books which she calls the UnCivil War series.
Bosse is a master storyteller. Her books include western action, tragedy, triumph, romance and family relationships. Along the way, babies are born and orphans are taken in and adopted. There is gun play but the language is family-friendly.
“I enjoy creating characters that I like: Strong men and strong women,” Bosse said. “I want them to have goodness at their core. They become my friends.”
She does a great deal of historical research and especially enjoys creating a back story to go with historical incidents.
“For example, in the history of the Hyer boot company, it says that an unknown cowboy came into the Hyer’s leather shop and asked for a new boot design. That became the first cowboy boot,” Bosse said. “I created a story that told who that unknown cowboy might have been.”
Bosse worked with several publishers but became frustrated with delays and urban-oriented editors. In spring 2022, she launched her own publishing company known as Post Rock Publishing.
“It was a big learning curve but I’m glad I did it,” Bosse said.
Including soft cover and hard cover editions, Bosse has produced 37 books. That’s quite an accomplishment for someone in the rural community of Onaga, population 679 people. Now, that’s rural.
Her books are available through her website, www.postrockpublishing.com, as well as local bookstores and libraries. They are also available online.
Rosie Bosse rose to the challenge of her instructor, and now she is making a difference with family-friendly western novels. I think she’s earned that A.
Audio and text files of Kansas Profiles are available at www.huckboydinstitute.org/kansas-profiles. For more information about the Huck Boyd Institute, interested persons can visit www.huckboydinstitute.org.
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