The first novel was first composed in 1981 on a Smith-Corona manual typewriter. In 2005 I returned to the manuscript. This is the voice of a very young writer. The emotions are raw. I did my best not to edit that young intense man out of the manuscript. Noel Sanderson is living and travels by van from San Luis Obispo to Portland, Oregon. While working side jobs at a truck stop he is learning his way around black and white photography. Frustrated, impatient, after a summer romance he ends up back on the road and lands in Jiggs, Nevada along the Ruby Mountains. He is befriended by a local woman, a ranch operator who helps Noel get his head screwed on straight. Noel returns to the California coast to set down roots and to rekindle a relationship vowing to make good on his passion for photography.
Pleasure Craft is a kind, funny, satisfying novel about a 50-something man who is confronted by the life he had believed was both successful and secure. Much of the action takes place in San Rafael, California boatyard, among a community revealing itself to be a convincing metaphor for both the world in microcosm and life’s oft unexpected corners. The evolution of the main character, Ryan Waters, carries you along, leading to unexpected friendships and more in the wake of his shattered life. Pleasure Craft is a personality-driven tale played out through a remarkable Zen-like journey.
There’s falling in love for the first time, and then there’s falling in love all over again with the ex-wife. Next are six girlfriends, one turquoise miner, and he can’t bring himself to make a choice. And when the Chamber of Commerce drags the town into Tea Party politics with a plan to privatize every stinking thing the government does, that when the citizens fight back. It’s madcap high desert hijinks, it’s the new Naked Night at the hot springs, and a burro with stronger feelings for her miner than words could ever say. And most important there are the newly vowed married couples arriving at the resort for the biggest day of their life. Why, it’s time to unpack those bags, hop in the water, and enjoy your very own Hot Spring Honeymoon.
Joann after a long successful career as a circus performer settles down in Yountville, California. Having only recently arrived she is swept up into wine country politics and volunteers with a group trying to slow real estate development on the valleys surrounding hillsides. An encounter with a professional motorcycle racing champion turns her life upside down— he’s gone and she learns she is pregnant. Tensions mount over a hillside parcel that had been approved for development. To halt development Joann and a band of pregnant activists blockade the road into the land. The Sheriff’s tactical unit confronts the blockade, the woman are arrested, and the fight to preserve an important piece of rural Napa County is lost.