Who’s who

Randal Houle

Randal’s flash fiction has appeared in “52/250 – A Year in Flash.” Three stories also appeared in the anthologies “Thirteen” and “Twentysix.” He teaches short story and novel writing at Clark College.

Carolyn J. Rose

Carolyn J. Rose grew up in New York’s Catskill Mountains, graduated from the University of Arizona, logged two years in Arkansas with Volunteers in Service to America, and spent 25 years as a television news researcher, writer, producer and assignment editor in Arkansas, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington. She teaches novel-writing in Vancouver, and founded the Vancouver Writers’ Mixers. Her hobbies are reading, gardening and not cooking.

Mike Nettleton

Mike Nettleton grew up in Bandon and Grants Pass, Ore. A stint at a college station in Ashland led to multi-state radio jobs in Oregon, California and New Mexico under the air name Mike Phillips. In 1989 he returned to the Northwest and in 1994 joined KEX Radio in Portland.

Recently retired, his hobbies are golf, pool, Texas hold-em poker and book collecting.

Ron Gompertz

Born in southern California, Gompertz has lived and worked in France and Spain, speaks both languages, and plays the guitar. He got the idea for “No Roads Lead to Rome” while hiking in the hills above Barcelona, Spain. He’s also the author of “The Expat’s Pajamas,” a collection of mostly true stories about life in Barcelona.

Sheila Simonson

Simonson was born in Montana and raised in eastern Oregon. She graduated from the University of Washington, and has advanced degrees in English and history from UW and Portland State University.

She taught at Clark College for more than 30 years before retiring to write full-time. She’s had 11 novels published.

Simonson has been married for more than 40 years.She enjoys cooking, traveling and reading, and has taught fiction writing, science fiction and Irish history, among other things.

Pat Jollota

“Images of America” describes the history of Camas, from when it was known as the LaCamas Colony to its years as a prohibition stronghold, to how the city has evolved in the last half-century, with the influx of high tech businesses, restaurants and antique shops.

Jollota recently retired from the Vancouver City Council after serving since 1990. She also worked as the Clark County Historical Museum curator and for the Los Angeles Police Department.

Bill Cameron

Critically-acclaimed mystery novelist Bill Cameron is the author of the mysteries, “Chasing Smoke” and “Lost Dog,” both featuring Portland homicide cop Skin Kadash.

“Chasing Smoke” received a starred review from Library Journal, and was a finalist for the 2009 Spotted Owl Award for best Northwest mystery. “Lost Dog” was nominated for the 2008 Rocky Award and was a finalist for the 2008 Spotted Owl Award.

Cameron’s short fiction stories has appeared in Spinetingler, Killer Year anthology, and Portland Noir, as well as on Lit 103.3: Fiction for the Ears.

Cameron lives with his wife and poodle in Portland. He loves traveling and bird-watching. He is currently working on his fifth novel.

Ann Littleton

Ann Littleton worked as an animal keeper at the Oregon Zoo for 12 years. A nursery keeper, she reared a variety of mammals and birds. She left the zoo for a career in corporate America as a technical writer and publications manager.

Now Littleton writes mysteries and short stories. She lives in Portland with her husband and a dog. She is active in the Audubon Society of Portland.

Terry DeHart

Terry DeHart is a former U.S. Marine and NASA security analyst. Three of his stories have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. His short stories have appeared in The Barcelona Review, Zoetrope All-Story Extra and Night Train Magazine, among others.

Terry lives with his wife and daughters in Camas.

Pat Gulley

Before retiring in 2001, Gulley worked as a travel agent. She has published several short stories that take place in a moorage for floating homes. The first of the humorous mysteries was in the anthology “Murder Across The Map.” Her latest novel, “Downsized to Death,” is available directly from her website www.patgulley.com. Gulley lives in a floating home on the slough side of an island in the Columbia River.

Bob Ferguson

“Some Days Chicken, Some Days Feathers,” is a memoir set in the 1960s, and includes college football, romance and the Vietnam experience.

Ferguson was student teaching at age 61 when he taught a section on memoir writing to eighth-graders. He thought it sounded fun and wrote his own story about growing up in Oregon.