Launching two new books

 Let them eat cake !!!!!

 

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 Dozens of people converged on Cover to Cover books in Vancouver on a recent Saturday to help celebrate the joint book launch of Carolyn J. Rose's Through a Yellow Wood, and Drum Warrior, co-written by Mike Nettleton and Carolyn. There was lots of book chatter, laughter and frosting glazed faces. Our commemorative cakes, crafted by the Fred Meyer bakery were a big success. 

 Smedley, the official bookstore cat greeted our guests, ably assisted by social media guru and digital cheerleader for the launch, Carol Doane.

 Book lovers were treated to a slice of either carrot cake or chocolate with raspberry filling (or possible both), lovingly served along with the other snackage and beverage by the analog cheerleader for the launch Melanie Sherman and Mel Sanders helpful and smiling niece Amanda. Thanks to all for your help. Aside to Smedley. There'll be a little something extra in your catnip mouse this payday. 

Carolyn read several passages from Through a Yellow Wood, her suspenseful sequel to Hemlock Lake, and I took listeners inside the magical world of Humbug Mountain by reading passages from Drum Warrior.

As usual, Cover to Cover proprietors Mel Sanders and her husband Mark were gracious hosts and went above and beyond in allowing us to shanghai their store for several hours. If you haven’t been to Cover to Cover, you owe yourself a visit. The joy of independent bookstores is not only finding a great selection of new and used books at competitive prices, but spending time with other people who know, love and appreciate good books. Plus, Mel and Mark are unstinting in their support of local writers and poets. You can also enjoy a great cup of cappuccino or mocha while you’re browsing.

One of the things we love about these happenings is visiting with former students from our novel-writing boot camp classes at Clark College and catching up with their lives and writing adventures. Several have completed novels and have taken steps to publish them. Linda Schwab has just released Badlands Wrath a mystery/suspense novel in paperback, Kindle and Nook. Pam Deane’s The Byers Avenue Bunny Club has been out for a while and both of these ladies continue to hunch over their keyboards to create new and innovative fiction.  As writers and teachers it makes us proud to see our students accomplish their goals.

We  made some new friends at the launch, sold and signed some copies of Through a Yellow Wood and Drum Warrior and reveled in talking books and writing with those who were kind enough to come by.

A final note. I am, without reservation, almost embarrassingly proud of my wife and sometimes collaborator. Not only is Carolyn dedicated and prolific, she continues to grow as a writer and challenge herself to produce books that thousands of readers have found impossible to put down. I enjoy the fictional worlds she creates nearly as much as the one I’m lucky enough to share with her and our two loveable but ever-so-gently twisted little dogs.

We continue to write. Carolyn is picking up the life of Kate Dalton and Way-Ray in the sequel to An Uncertain Refuge. I'm trying to learn screenwriting and figure out how to convince Pixar to buy my first effort, an adaptation of Drum Warrior. We greatly appreciate the people who have bought and read our work and will continue to do all we can to support and encourage other writers in Southwest Washington.