PUBLISHED BOOKS
Loggers Don't Make Love is an unconventional murder mystery, romance and western set at Grisdale in the 1970's. Located on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, Grisdale was the last logging camp in the lower 48. By the time he worked there, camp was an outpost of defiance in the cutover forest, and his novel pays tribute to the logging tramps who lived in the bunk houses. They were searchers, non-conformists, criminals and outcasts who enjoyed the dangerous work of harvesting old growth timber.
Published by Cirque Press, 2020
“In Rowan’s short novel, a young logger recalls a past murder and a search for answers… Rowan was himself a logger on the peninsula for almost a decade, so he clearly knows the life in his bones… It’s effectively revealed to be a hard, dangerous, dirty, and ill-paid existence, but it’s also one in which these skilled men take pride, as it’s evident that most guys would not last a day in their shoes… A generally engaging labor of love with details that truly immerse readers in its characters’ work.” — Kirkus Reviews
Loggers Don't Make Love is available on Amazon, Kindle and from independent book stores via Ingram.
Mr. Rowan claims that riding his bicycle to work in downtown Seattle for 28 years maintained his connection to the outdoors and his sanity. However, when he was 43, he had a heart attack while pedaling to the office. As part of his recovery, he began taking his mountain bike to the Olympic Peninsula on weekends and riding dilapidated logging roads to clearcuts he had worked on, curious to see how the trees were growing back. What he found inspired him to try and be as resilient. Eventually, he began exploring a route encircling the Olympic National Park that could be pieced together with old logging roads and hiking trails. Around the Edge of the Olympics on a Mountain Bike describes 24 day-trips that were rideable in 2008, the time of publication. Not all of them can be followed today but most are passable. The book is also a useful guide to out of the way places on the Olympic Peninsula.
Self-published under the imprint
Strong Spoke Publishing, 2008.
Currently out of print but still available at Amazon and other used book outlets.
