Why I Set a Murder Mystery in the Oregon Outback I went back to Lake County, Oregon to get away. To reconnect with that part of Eastern Oregon. To revisit childhood memories. I was not looking for a book setting. That came later. The Trip I had not been back to that part of the state in over forty years. I camped at Dead Horse Lake. The same lake where I camped as a kid. Reconnected to those memories. The fire. The cold nights. The simple pleasure of being outside with nothin

I was a junior in high school when I wrote a short story for English class about how Grants Pass got its name. This was before the internet and easy research. So, I made up an elaborate story about how Ulysses S. Grant was visiting the Pacific Northwest and his stagecoach decided to pass by our small town and visit the more popular Jacksonville, Oregon instead. My teacher laughed. Encouraged me. Gave me an A. Students read it. Patted me on the back. All the things that make a

If you love suspense novels that go deeper than a twist ending — stories built on family secrets, flawed characters you can't stop thinking about, and settings so vivid they feel like a character — indie suspense is where you should be looking. Especially when those stories are set against the moody, rain-soaked backdrop of the Pacific Northwest. This list rounds up some of the best indie suspense books worth reading right now, starting with a psychological thriller set in th

I joined the Air Force to run. Not toward something. Away from it. Away from home. Away from the shame of what happened to me. Away from a family that wanted to pretend nothing had happened. If we don't talk about it, did it really happen? Away from the kid I used to be before everything fell apart. I thought if I could be perfect, it would cleanse my past. If I could be the best at everything, maybe I could erase the ten-year-old who got abused by a man everyone respected. T