We’re back up in Seattle for our youngest grandson’s 4th birthday. I love birthdays,

especially my grandchildren’s birthdays. It’s a beautiful day for a party.

In spite of the festivities I managed to get a little work in this morning on the third Cryptid Hunter (no title yet) installment. I’m still in the research stage, but my work on this book will be put on hold tomorrow because I received the edits for the first book in the “Storm Runners” series today. There will be three books in the series eventually. The first will published Spring 2011…not that far away…so I have some long revision hours to put in.

I’m still excited about the publication of “I,Q Book Two: The White House” And I hope you are tooPlease help me spread the word. If you received a newsletter announcement, forward it to people you know. Watch my YouTube video and forward it to your friends. (You can find the video on my Home page). If you read the book post a review on the Amazon or Barnes and Noble webpages.

Thank you for letting everyone know that “I,Q Book Two: The White House” is finally out!

I,Q Book Two: The White House is out!
You can pick it up at your local book store, public library, or order it online @ Barnes and Noble.com, Amazon.com, Powellsbooks.com.

If you get a chance to read it let me know what you think on my blog, Roland’s Journal, or on my Face Book Fan Page.

I’m looking forward to hearing from you.

And if you haven’t read I,Q Book One: Independence Hall you can find it at your library, bookstore, or online @ amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, powellsbooks.com.

Happy Fourth of July!

Here’s a trailer of my novel Zach’s Lie produced by students at Hobart Middle School in Hobart, Indiana.  It’s a bit edgy, but so is the book.  Thanks to the students for sending this along!  And, no…there is not a film in the works for this novel at the moment.  I wish there was.

This post is a little of everything.

We’re on our way up to the Seattle area this morning to celebrate Jack’s (grandson #3) birthday. We got him a pair of nice binoculars (all 6 year olds should have good pair of binoculars). Quit trip. We’ll be back tomorrow with Jack and his younger brother, Ethan, in tow, and their new puppy Peaches, for
a few days at the farm.

Last night I finished my re-read of Cryptid Hunters and Tentacles. It took longer than I thought it would (as it always does), but it yielded 10 pages if notes for the 3rd and 4th books in the series. I’m just about ready to start the draft, which I’m pretty excited about. If I can squeeze in even half of what I want to in the next installment it will be one heck of a book.

Finally, yesterday I got a copy of I,Q2 sent by overnight mail. It’s not officially out yet, but the fact that I have one in hand means you’ll be able to read it too in a matter of days. Stay tuned. I will announce the real publication date as soon as I’ve verified that it’s readily available in bookstores across the country.

I spent today…well actually, the last few days…re-reading Tentacles in preparation for the third, as yet un-named, third installment.  I hesitate to write this here because it might mislead you into thinking that the third Cryptid Hunter book will be out soon.  It won’t be.  It will be a long time before you get a chance to read it.  First I have to finish the rough draft.  Then I have to revise it over and over again.  Then I send it into the publisher.  Then they revise it over and over again.  Then I revise it over and over again.  Then about a year, or year and a half later, the book comes out.  This is how all books are written and published.

I’ve gotten a lot of emails asking when the third CH book is coming out.  In fact, I got at least a dozen emails about this the DAY AFTER it came out.  I know this means you like the book, and the characters, for which I’m very grateful.  But keep in mind that it takes a lot longer to write a book, than it does to read a book.

I usually don’t read my books again.  The only exception are sequels.  I read (actually kind of skim) the previous book looking for details that I might have forgotten during the various drafts before it was published.  The skimming takes a lot time, because as I’m reading I’m thinking about the current story, madly scratching down notes and ideas that I might use as I write the draft.

I’m not posting this to tease you.  I’m just letting you know what I’m working on.  I’m also working on the 3rd I,Q novel (the second I,Q should be out by the end of the week), and two other books.

I had a great time at the Tigard Library last night.  A big crowd showed up in spite of the beautiful weather outside.  They handed out 50 free copies of Tentacles to the first people through the door.  This is a beautiful new library with a great collection of books, a cafe, and a wonderful event room.  If you’re in the area check it out.

Thanks for inviting me and I loved your artwork?

I continue to work on my books, although I did take a break yesterday morning.  I was due for an cellphone upgrade, so I reserved an iPhone 4 and stood in line for a couple hours to pick it up.  It was an interesting experience in that I won’t wait in a long line to see a movie I want to see, or at a restaurant to eat good food.  Apparently a lot of other people have no problem waiting in line.  Everyone there was cheerful, even those who did not have a phone on reserve, and were probably waiting for nothing.  The Apple Store passed out water, coffee, and donuts.  I was interested to note that a lot of people in line were reading books on their iPhone or iPad’s.   I read a novel on my old iPhone.  It’s the digital age.  Oh…and the iPhone 4 is great.

I had a little break from the office yesterday by heading over to the Newberg Library (less than an hour from the farm) to speak to their book club.  It was beautiful weather so we met outside under open tents.  A lively group of 100+ young readers and adults showed up with absolutely fabulous questions.  Thank you so much for inviting me Newberg librarians!

Tomorrow night (Thursday) I will be speaking at the Tigard Library.  Hope to see some of you there.

Unrelated to the above I received a very nice email from John Vitti of  the Watertown Splash, the official newspaper of Watertown Middle School in Watertown, Mass.  They have picked “Peak” as their summer read.  Here’s the link to the article.  Thanks for sharing the article, John.

The sun peeked out from behind the clouds down here on the farm for what seems like the first time in weeks. I’m still holed up in my office working on books, but a little shine has made  it’s way through my window.

I’ll get out of the office a couple of times this week. Tuesday Marie and I speak at George Fox College in the afternoon, then we head over to the Newberg Library, where I speak in the evening.  Thursday evening I speak at the Tigard library.  Click the links for more information if you’re in the area and want to drop by.

I’ve been spending my nights  reading and watching old movies on TV.  Oh… And I got me a guitar, which I’m determined to learn how to play over the next few…well, probably years.

This gives you an idea of my dog days of summer. The pace is slower. I seem to have a lot of time. I’m discarding the road sludge, getting into my story groove.

It won’t be long now…two weeks and I,Q2 will be out.  To celebrate here’s the first chapter.  Let me know what you think!

I guess it’s time for me  to weigh in on the tragic Gulf oil spill.  Because of my involvement in the Valdez spill in Alaska (20+ years ago) and my book “Sea Otter Rescue” I’ve gotten dozens of emails from friends and readers asking about the mess in the south.  Below are some of the questions I’ve received and my answers, which some of you may not like, but I have to tell you the truth based on my experience.

The Gulf spill is the biggest environmental disaster in my life time.  It is going to cause unprecedented damage to animals and the Gulf ecosystem for decades.

Are you going to the Gulf to help with the cleanup?  No.  I was sent Valdez, Alaska because of  my expertise with sea otters.  There are no sea otters in the Gulf of Mexico.  The animals that will be affected in the Gulf are birds, fish, dolphins, whales, and mammals that live on the shores.  I’ve worked with all of these animals, but there are people much better qualified than I am to deal with these species.

How can we clean up the oil?  The sad truth is that there is no effective way to clean up an oil spill of this magnitude.  As soon as the rig blew up and the oil started spewing into the Gulf it was too late (just as it was too late when the Exxon Valdez smashed into Bligh reef in Alaska).  This is not to say that we shouldn’t try to do something, but I have to honest here, there isn’t much we can do.  Most of the oil is suspended and flowing below the surface, which means we can’t get to it.

What about the birds?  Our track record with saving and rehabilitating oil infected birds is dismal.  Again, I’m not saying we shouldn’t try, but the mortality rate for oiled birds is probably somewhere around 90%.  Some scientists question the effort and expense of wildlife rehabilitation.  They wonder if the millions and millions of dollars spent on saving a handful of animals would be better spent on restoring the ecosystem.  It’s a valid question, which I don’t have an answer to.

What about the whales and dolphins?   Hopefully, marine mammals will be able to avoid the oil, but if they can’t, and they are injured, and we can capture them (a lot of if’s) we might be able to help them.

What about the fish, clams, oysters, crabs?  There is nothing we can do to save them.  Sorry.

How do we avoid this type of oil spill in the future?  This is the 64 billion dollar question.  We are an oil dependent nation, which means if you have driven in a car, used a cell phone, DS player, or own anything made of plastic… You are an oil consumer.  I’m not letting British Petroleum (or Exxon in Alaska) off the hook, but to find the real culprits all you have to do is to look in a mirror.  We need to aggressively pursue alternative energy resources.  We need to walk.  We need to ride bikes.  We need bike paths.  We need mass transit.  We need to car pool.  We need to be willing to spend a lot of money, out of our own pockets, to get out of this mess we’ve created by our dependence on oil.