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BARRY L. BECKER

MICHAEL BERSHAY

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D. DEAN BOOM

LORI BEASLEY BRADLEY

ANNA BRENTWOOD

S. L. BROWN

ANDY R. BUNCH

SIMON CALCAVECCHIA

BAER CHARLTON

L. B. CHERYL

JAMES CHESKY

MIKE CHINAKOS

DEMETRI CLASON

KATHLEEN CONCANNON

JEFFREY COOK

WILLIAM J. COOK

ADAM COPELAND

KELLY COSTON

PAMELA COWAN

LISA CROMWELL

STEVE DAVALA

DISA DAWN

SHEILA DEETH

RAVEN J. DEEMERS

WENDY DEEMERS

MICHAEL DESCAMP

BRAIN DORSEY

LAURA DOYLE

LIAM R. W. DOYLE

PATRICK DWYER

JONATHAN EATON

APRIL EMERSON

JONATHAN MICHAEL ERICKSON

THOMAS ERIKSON

JOSEPHINE FAULK, MPH

JOHANNA FLYNN

LELIA ROSE FOREMAN

TAMARA FOWLER

DAVID FREEDMAN

LEE FRENCH / L. E. FRENCH

TAMARA FUCHS

SEAN GALLAGHER

T. K. GILB

JAMES L. GILLASPY

THOMAS GONDOLFI

BRIEN GORHAM

LINDA GRAHAM

JOEL GRAVES

JUDY GREENE

STEPHEN HAGELIN

SUZANNE HAGELIN

HEIDI HANSEN

JIM HARDISON

MINDY HARDWICK

JEAN HARKIN

AUDRA HARLEY

DAVID CHARLES HART

ANNE HENDREN

ANGELA HIGHLAND

MICHAEL HOPCROFT

M. W. HORSES

A. M. HUFF

MOLLIE HUNT

MAQUEL A. JACOB

MAGGIE JAIMESON

CONNIE J. JASPERSON

SHEILA JOHNSON

F. L. JOURNEY

M. M. JUSTUS

KIMILA KAY

MEG KENAGY

SHERI J. KENNEDY

JAMES KITSON

JERRY KOPEC

SIGNE KOPPS

ANGELA KORRA'TI

MICHAEL R. LANE

JONATHAN LARCH

KATHERINE LEE

KENNETH LETT

ELLIE DERRICK LEWIS

CYN LEY

LARRY LINDBERG

ERIC LITTLE

MAGGIE LYNCH

TONYA MACCALINO

JAMES D. MACON

RAMONA D. MAREK

DAVID MARTYN

TOM R. MCCONNELL

NIKKI MCCORMACK

JAMES M. MCCRACKEN

DONALD MCEWING

ROSLYN MCFARLAND

AGATHON MCGEACHY

K. Z. MILLER

RORY MILLER

K. A. MILTIMORE

JEFF MONDAY

SONJA S. MONGAR

BARBARA J MORITSCH

LINDA B. MYERS

JUDY NEDRY

R. W. NICHELSON

NEIL ORINT

ANN ORNIE

TAMMY OWEN

JOCELYNN PEARL

JULIE PERSHING

NICHOLE PHOENIX

COURTNEY PIERCE

L. WADE POWERS

E. M. PRAZEMAN

KENNEDY J. QUINN

CORDELIA RAINS

SHANNON REAGAN

JMD REID

SHAWNA REPPERT

JOYCE REYNOLDS-WARD

ELLEN KING RICE

P. K. ROSS

R. RODERICK ROWE

NEIL ROSEN

MARY ROSENBLUM

ANDRETTA SCHELLINGER

STEVEN C. SCHNEIDER

ANNE SCHROEDER

B. J. SCOTT

JAMES SCOTT

R. G. SHANNON

ANI SHAYE

CHANDLER YORK SHELTON

ANN SIMAS

SUSIE SLANINA

RICHARD SMALL

JANICE SNYDER

WALT SOCHA

DAN SOLUM

DENI STARR

THOMAS STIMSON

PETER STOCKWELL

BRIAN TASHIMA

CHARLES THOMAS

PATRICK TIMM

CONTESSA TIMMERMAN

BRIAN TRENCHARD-SMITH

JONNA VANDYK

THERESA VERBOORT

CODY VOELLER

BRAD WHEELER

STEPHANIE WEIPPERT

ROSS WINKLER

STEVE ZELL

GREGORY E. ZSCHOMLER

WELCOME

Welcome 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 Wednesday Writer and Reviews.

We hope to see you soon.

Introducing the NIWA Seal of Quality

When you see this seal on a book, you can be assured that the book has earned the NIWA Seal of Quality (NSQ) for meeting and/or surpassing the quality of traditionally published books.
For a list of awarded books, click here.

Wednesday Writer

This week's featured author: Jonathan Michael Erickson

Jonathan Michael Erickson has loved science fiction since he was a kid--especially the kind of science fiction that inspired him to see the world differently. A lifelong learner, he studied English Literature at UC Berkeley and received his PhD in depth psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute, where his research focused on neuroscience and imagination. When he's not writing science fiction, Jonathan is a graduate school instructor, a life coach, a nature enthusiast, an animal lover, and has been known to take the stage as a comedy improviser. He Lives in Portland, Oregon.
Jonathan’s latest release is “Tales of Dharma (Song of Ancients Book 0),” released in September. The “novel-in-stories” chronicles the early colonists of the Planet Dharma in the distant Andromeda Galaxy.

Check out Jonathan Michael Erickson's books.

2020 New Releases

Click on the cover for more information and to buy.

ESCAPE
2020 NIWA ANTHOLOGY

This short story collection includes tales of escape from the ordinary, the disturbing, the frustrating, and the bizarre. Each could exist nowhere but the Pacific Northwest.

Featuring a foreword by
Cat Rambo

Release Date: 11/16/20

And stories by:
Mimi Nickerson
Connie J. Jasperson
Johanna Flynn
L. Wade Powers
William J. Cook
Ann Ornie
Jonathan Michael Erickson
Jonathan Eaton
Agathon McGeachy
Suzanne Hagelin
L.E. French
Patrick Dwyer
Steven C. Schneider
Joel Graves

Release Date: 11/2016

Release Date: 11/2017

Release Date: 11/2018

Release Date: 11/23/19

Release Date: 12/01/20

Release Date: 11/22/20

Release Date: 11/20/20

Release Date: 11/15/20

Release Date: 11/01/20

Re-Release Date: 11/01/20

Release Date: 10/31/20

Release Date: 10/30/20

Release Date: 10/29/20

Release Date: 10/15/20

Release Date: 10/13/20

Release Date: 10/12/20

Release Date: 10/01/20

Release Date: 09/30/20

Release Date: 09/27/20

Release Date: 09/22/2020

Release Date: 09/15/20

Release Date: 09/07/20

Release Date: 09/01/20

Release Date: 08/25/20

Release Date: 08/20/20

Release Date: 08/19/20

Release Date: 08/13/20

Release Date: 07/31/20

Release Date: 07/29/20

Release Date: 07/28/20

Release Date: 07/23/20

Release Date: 07/17/20

Release Date: 07/15/20

Release Date: 07/13/20

Release Date: 07/07/20

Release Date: 05/11/2020

Release Date: 05/03/20

Release Date: 05/01/20

Release Date: 04/24/20

Release Date: 04/17/20

Release Date: 03/20/20

Release Date: 02/28/20

Release Date: 02/01/20

Release Date: 01/02/20

Re-Release: 01/01/20

Release Date: 12/19/19

Release Date: 12/06/19

Release Date: 12/02/19

FEATURED REVIEWS

Larry's
Post-Rapture
Pet-Sitting Service
by Ellen King Rice
Reviewed by
William Cook

Rated: 5 Star

Well, it’s happening. The righteous are being taken up to heaven (in swirls of feathers, no less), the unrighteous are being burned to cinders, and the middle-of-the-roaders are being left behind. As the Rapture proceeds from country to country alphabetically, with the United States closer to the bottom of the list, larcenous Larry establishes his Post-Rapture Pet-Sitting Service. For a modest fee, he promises to take excellent care of pets left behind when their owners are swept heavenward. Business is booming.

That’s the premise of Ellen Rice King’s satiric gem. At times hilarious and at other times sobering in its insightful critique of theological fringes and televangelism, King's book brims with intelligence and humor. Told with as much compassion as “bite,” the story makes us care about Larry, his ex-con mother (“Marjorie Medicare”), and a host of quirky characters trying to make their way in a strange new world. And wait till you meet Dottie, the last dog on earth, and Lucifer, a cat who just might be the spawn of the devil.

King has created a brash, irreverent, page-turner of a book which will provoke as much thought as laughter. Highly recommended.

Fire And Lies
by Pamela Cowan
Reviewed by
Linda B. Myers

Rated: 5 Star

Pamela Cowan writes a cracklin' good mystery. She is equally skilled at plot and character development as shown in FIRE AND LIES. The sister relation between two of the lead characters is a strong one, a very believable duet (speaking as a younger sister myself).

This care is true in her side characters as well. They are not stick figures, but thought out and given mannerisms that make them feel real.

I enjoy a look at cultures that are foreign to me, so McGowan's comfort in describing the lifestyle of Pacific NW tribal members in this book is both interesting and instructive.
This author is unafraid to look close at dead bodies, so her books are not for the squeamish among you. But you'd be missing a grand story if you let that bother you.

Oh, and by the way? A little heat in the romantic intrigue department is a good thing, too!

Fire And Lies
by Pamela Cowan
Reviewed by
James McCracken

Rated: 5 Star

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
by A. M. Huff
Reviewed by
Jeff Monday

Rated: 5 Star

'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.

The Born and
The Made
by Jeff Monday
Reviewed by
James McCracken

Rated: 5 Star

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.

Dungeness and Dragons
by William J. Cook
Reviewed by
D. B. Rose

Rated: 5 Star

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.

AND THEN THERE WERE NUN
by A. M. Huff
Reviewed by
William J. Cook

Rated: 5 Star

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!

STUMPTOWN
by A. M. Huff
Reviewed by
Randal Collins

Rated: 5 Star

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!