Hello, I'm Robert

Where I come from

I grew up in two working-class families in North Louisiana. I went to Louisiana Tech University, where I did a co-op as an industry events analyst at Arkansas Nuclear One. Then I joined the U.S. Army.

From 1998 to 2001 I served as an Air Assault infantry TOW gunner and left the Army as a sergeant with an honorable discharge. When I got home, I went to work at a local bank until it was bought out.

Summer, the kids and the flea market years

Summer and I married in October 2005. We were both working full-time jobs that weren't going anywhere, and we watched too many people work themselves sick and never enjoy their "golden years." So we walked away and started selling at flea markets and festivals across the South and East, so we could raise our three kids and actually be there while they grew up.

It wasn't easy. We were hot, cold and wet, set up hours before the shoppers and left long after. But we made a living, we were together, and the market turned out to be a mission field. We traded some flea markets for Friday-and-Saturday festivals so we could be in Church on Sunday, and we kept at it until December 2019. Reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad along the way changed how I saw money, and it shows up in what I write.

How the writing started

Mrs. Jessie Boyett published my first article in The Banner. Mrs. Mona Hayden had the faith to give me a column in Louisiana Road Trips magazine. I've also written as a reporter for The Banner News and The Baptist Message. Those columns became On Bended Knee (2011) and With Arms Wide Open (2014), and the books have kept coming since.

Summer has proofread every article I've ever written. That's why every book says "with encouragement from Summer S. Lemoine." She means it, and so do I.

What we do now

Summer and I run a family of small businesses out of Farmerville, Louisiana: Backroads WiFi (rural home internet), Forever And Always Boutique (Christian gifts and clothing), The Lemoine Agency (insurance), ViSoR and The MELTDOWN shaved ice. I also serve as chaplain of American Legion Post 149 in Farmerville.

May God bless you and keep you safe in all that you do. Remember, the fastest way up is to kneel down.