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"It’s bedlam by the bay, chaos on the coast, another dustup in Devil’s Harbor."
Yes! The next book in the Devil's Harbor Mystery series goes on sale now at Cover to Cover Books, 1817 Main St, Vancouver, WA 98660. It can also be found at other popular sites such as Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com and Kindle.
That's good news.
Carolyn J. Rose co-wrote the mystery with her husband Mike Nettleton. She laughs a lot about the joys of writing with a spouse, but secretly we know that whenever the atmosphere gets tense someone gets knocked off in the book.
So, who dies in this commotion? Here's the scoop:
Thanks to reporter Molly Donovan, the person who killed The Big Grabowski is in jail, but things are hardly back to what passes for normal in the quirky coastal community. With the aging sewage treatment system at its limit and huge penalties looming, the mayor orders extreme water conservation. Townspeople complain, but comply; they make every flush count.
Then Elspeth spots an image scorched into a breaded crab cake served up at the Devil’s Food Cafe. Swarms of pilgrims descend on the town and the mayor, despite threats of impeachment or worse, plants a portable toilet on every lawn. Only selling timber from town trust land can supply funds to fix the sewer system. But a tree-sitting activist for hire keeps loggers at bay.
When someone takes a chainsaw to his perch, Molly discovers the fall alone didn’t kill him-he was poisoned, strangled, and struck with a blunt object. Who did him in? The mayor? The girlfriend he cheated on? The environmentalist he defrauded? Loggers with their payday on hold?
While Molly delves into the dead man’s past, hoping to untangle a snarl of lies and name the killer before Sheriff Greg Erdman, others chart stranger courses-her father falls for a shady lady, Henri undertakes an extreme makeover, Adam flees to the forest, Elspeth sees the light, Icky becomes a writer, and Shelley takes bold steps to turn back the tide of tourism.
Run on down to Cover to Cover. Make a commotion. They'll point you toward the right shelf.
"Husband-and-wife team Carolyn J. Rose and Mike Nettleton have written several mystery and suspense books. But the Vancouver couple recently lent their talents to another project: a cookbook."
Ron Gompertz, author of No Roads Lead to Romespoke at the April Vancouver Writers Mixer. He's an entertaining guy who pokes a bit of dry humor into his presentation to make a point on the pitfalls of self-publishing. “It's hard to talk about money when we're artists, but money is not a bad way to analyze things,” he said, and walked us through slides of math and graphics to demonstrate how many books a self-published author needs to sell to break even with print-on-demand options.
Gompertz coordinated the March 5th First Friday Author Event in Camas, Washington. We got a kick out of looking up the news article and noting that the paper gave a shout-out to Carolyn J. Rose and Mike Nettleton, two of Active Qu3st's favorite authors.
Read the entire article here.
Read more about Ron Gompertz from Karen Gilb's article on Examiner.com
Camas First Friday had perfect weather for the avid audience that meandered in and out of shops on Fourth Avenue in Camas, Washington.
The Deadly Duo, Mike Nettleton and Carolyn J. Rose, packed them by autographing their latest book, The Big Grabowski, at Navidi's Olive Oils & Vinegars, 322 NE Cedar Street. Navidi's handed out awesome tastings of their organic offerings. Don't ever leave town without purchasing the gently flavored lemon olive oil. Incredible. (Pictured above: Carolyn, Mike, and sister Lana).
Thank you, Ron Gompertz, for organizing the “Arts and Letters” event that spotlighted so many wonderful authors. Can't wait to finish reading your book, “No Roads Lead to Rome.”
Carolyn J. Rose and Mike Nettleton will be signing copies of their first book in the Devil's Harbor Mystery series, "The Big Grabowski" on March 5th from 5PM – 8PM. Follow the trail of salad croutons left by the duo to Navidi's Olive Oils & Vinegars, 322 NE Cedar Street, Camas, WA 98607.
The First Friday “Arts & Letters” event celebrates local authors and student artists at select locations throughout downtown Camas. Authors will sign, sell, and read from their books, and a collection of signed books has been donated by the authors for a raffle to benefit Friends of the Camas Library, a nonprofit.
In addition to the literary offerings, participating Downtown Camas businesses will showcase the art of local students. Paintings and drawings will be juried with prizes for People’s Choice, Judge’s Choice, and Honorable Mention for both middle school and high school students. The event is intended to feature the depth of artistic talent of the students in the Southwest Washington community.
For more information on Downtown Camas and Camas' First Friday visit DowntownCamas.com or contact Carrie Schulstad at 360-834-5445 or 360-834-5445.
Rose and Nettleton teach writing skills through the Clark College Community Education program. More about the mysteries they write can be found on their Web-site: Deadly Duo.
Contact us about a speaker for your next event. Topics include writing, editing, curating art, bicycling, starting a small business, and marketing that business via traditional and social media. Email: now@ActiveQu3st.com
Writing Carolyn J. Rose and Mike Nettleton, authors and writing teachers, present an audience-involvement session on the causes of writer’s block and strategies to cure “blinking cursor creative paralysis."
Rose and Nettleton write as a team an as individuals. They have seven published mysteries to their credit, including The Big Grabowski, a cozy set on the Oregon Coast, just out from Krill Press. Two more books will be published next year.
In addition to sharing their experiences with writer’s block, they’ll offer advice gleaned from other writers, and involve the group in exercises to diagnose the causes of creative paralysis and find ways to write with more ecstasy and less agony.
Critique Group Start-up Melanie Sherman has spent two years in an active and lively critique group. Learn how easy it is to start one (coerce strangers to read out loud to each other), the benefits of sharing the writing experience (smile through the criticism), and how her experience led to winning the 2009 Pacific Northwest Writers Association literary award in the mainstream category (a critique partner coerced her to enter).
Researching Historical Fiction Sharon Axlineis a computer programmer with the civil war always running in the background. Her historical fiction follows a woman whose adventures include enlisting in the cavalry (posing as a man) to protect a brother with a young family. She speaks about the process of starting her novel, the search for historical resources, finding a mentor and coach through the local college community education program, and how networking landed her a lucrative spot in the city's most sought after critique group.
Sharon gave the critique group a name, The Dead Bunny Club, taken from a salient scene of one of the member's coming of age manuscripts. Sharon is also a dog lover and boasts two active, in-training Lhasa Apsos who are learning barking is not the only way to greet a guest.
Social Media Strategies Carol Doane brings her years of expertise working for the largest daily newspaper in Southwest Washington to the podium. An avid Social Media fan, she's helped businesses harness the power of online as they build their sales strategies to generate revenue flow. Now discover how to incorporate social media with the larger audience venues offered by traditional media. How do you start? Where do you begin? When can you quit advertising?
Carol blogs on business issues at 360 Convos and on her fiction writing adventures at Pearl of Carol which includes the popular, "Celebrities Who've Met Me!" posts that are entertaining and embarrassing.
Find Carol on Twitter as @TheClassicCarol and @TheFirstCarol. Tweeters beware, either persona may claim to be the twin of the other at any time.
How Not To Start A Gallery Leah Jackson, founding director of Sixth Street Gallery, struck out on her own to open Angst Gallery in 2008. She's one of the founding members of Lower Columbia Alliance for Living Sustainably: LOCALS, keeps tabs on local politics, is active in the Portland metro area bicycling community, while searching for unique art offerings to feature in her gallery. Learn how collaboration with both local and state government offices led to quickly identifying and resolving issues as she ventured into expanding the gallery to the neighboring space for a strategic yet complimentary use.
Your Next Event Contact Active Qu3st about a speaker for your next event. Topics include writing, editing, curating art, bicycling, starting a small business, and marketing that business via traditional and social media.