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WELCOMEWelcome to the Official Website of the Northwest Independent Writers Association, NIWA (pronounced: n-eye-wha). Feel free to browse our website often to stay up-to-date on our New Releases, Author Appearances as well as our Featured Author and Reviews. Check out our Blog for writing tips and our Catalog for your next read.
We hope to see you soon. Wednesday WriterThis week's featured author: Donald McEwing
Pamela Cowan is an award winning, Pacific Northwest author, best known for her psychological thrillers. Cowan is the author of the Storm Series, which includes “Storm Justice,” “Storm Vengeance,” and “Storm Retribution.” These books follow Probation Officer Storm McKenzie on her single-minded quest for justice. She is also the author of two stand-alone novels based in fictional Eulalona County, Oregon, “Something In The Dark” and “Cold Kill.” Her short stories have been published in Alien Skin, Argus, Space and Time, Visions, numerous anthologies and collections and have been read on radio. An army brat, she was born in Germany and moved with her family 17 times before her father retired to Oregon, where she has steadfastly remained. She has two grown children and lives with her remarkably patient husband and various four-legged roommates. As Pam Bainbridge-Cowan she is the author of the fantasy series Yetzirah. She recently published a new book, ”Fire And Lies,” first book in the El & Em Detective Series. Click here for more about: Pamela Cowan 2020 New ReleasesClick on the cover for more information and to buy.
2020 EVENTS
FEATURED REVIEWS
Thrilling and intense. Cowan is a master at creating believable characters that feel so real and then putting them in situations that keep you on the edge of your seat. Several times I wanted to put the book down, but couldn’t. I had to find out what was next. Fire and Lies is a story of two sisters: Emma, a recent divorcee and private investigator, who needs to prove her competence not only to herself but to her ever protective sister, and Ellen, a retired military investigator turned new business owner. When a case of arson turns to murder, Emma can’t walk away. She turns to her sister for help. Together they dig deeper until they uncover the truth and confront the killer, unaware that a hidden enemy is watching their every move.
'Running' is a story that grabbed me right from the start and never let go. My heart rose and fell a lot over 30-some pages. A beautifully nuanced portrait of the confusion, guilt and joy of discovering who you really are.
In a futuristic but flawed world, discrimination born from fear and jealousy is everywhere. Hushed slurs, outright lies, injustice - the fight for equality is taken to the streets where, even there, injustice prevails. Author Jeff Monday paints a realistic, vivid world filled with believable characters and, sadly, situations. His understanding of human nature is evident as he sometimes poetically describes life for both the Born and the Made. This story pulled me in with the first paragraph and still hasn't let me go. I find myself thinking about it a week after reading it. I would highly recommend this book to everyone! It's topic is current and relevant for today's world.
The latest in William Cook's increasingly addictive Driftwood Mysteries series is a major thrill ride. I stayed up after midnight because I just had to finish it - and I'm usually asleep by 10 p.m. His cop protagonists are real people with real families, and Chiara is delightful. The pace is electric and the plot, while initially mysterious, is more suspense thriller than mystery. Not that I minded. This book, like the others, has character and depth to go with the evil plots of the bad guys, and I strongly recommend it for readers of thrillers, literary suspense, crime fiction and murder mysteries. But if you've not read the others, do start from the beginning; while each book can be read as a stand-alone, the series develops from one book to the next.
As the delightful pun in the title suggests, bad things are about to happen to a group of Catholic nuns. The Sisters of the Abbey of the Sacred Heart have been granted the gift of a two-hundred-acre estate in the wilderness of Eastern Oregon if they can fulfill one condition--they must live in the lodge for two weeks without leaving. They quickly discover that the only way out is death, as they get picked off one by one in ways that would do Agatha Christie proud. Huff has created a fast-paced page-turner to keep us warm in the winter doldrums. He treats the good sisters kindly--no caricatures of the ruler-wielding, hand-slapping, black-caped crusaders here. These are real women with convictions and dreams, problems and aspirations. The first stirrings of human love in Sister LaNora since her adolescence are described with respect and compassion, not ridiculed. The rivalries and competitions are the stuff of real relationships. I found it difficult to stop reading once I had begun. In fact, I think I read the novel in two sittings. My thanks to Mr. Huff for providing welcome respite from another rainy evening!
A captivating tale that drew me in. The first sentences describing the cast of characters seemed awkward in how they were presented. Other than that, the book is incredibly well written with wonderful character development. I had every intention of reading the book over several sessions, but just couldn't make myself stop reading until the story was done. There were two potential villains trolled past the reader, either of which could have been the culprit, but as the book developed, there were enough clues to support the final perpetrator. There aren't many books that capture my attention like this, but every one of Huff's books has done this same thing to me! 
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