PUBLISHED WORKS
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 I worked there, camp was an outpost of defiance in the the cutover forest, and my novel pays tribute to the logging tramps who lived in the bunk houses. We 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
During my “midlife crisis,” I began riding a mountain bike up dilapidated logging roads to old logging shows I had worked on. I was curious to see how the land we had clear-cut was recovering, and what I found made me hope that I was just as resilient. I then started 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 now but most are passable. The book is also a useful guide to out of the way places on the Olympic Peninsula.
Self-published under Strong Spoke Publishing, 2008
Currently out of print but still available at
Amazon.com, E-Bay, Secondsale.com and other used book outlets.
