Hi and welcome to my web site. I’m Joe Heywood, but I write under the name of Joseph Heywood. I published my first novel as Joe T. Heywood. When my second book, The Berkut, was about to be published by Random House, my editor, the late Joe Fox, called me one evening and told me in a very officious tone, “Your name simply…will…not…do… because ah… Random House does not publish… Joes.” I laughed, told him to pick a name, and it’s been Joseph ever since.  People who know me call me Joe.

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My Partner’s a Real Bear Today!
Iron County. 30 x 24 in, acrylic on canvas.

CO Ryan Aho knew of an old bear bait site in Iron County and in September 2005 went to see if it had been baited. He found a young man there, who was very chatty and said he had not used the site the previous year, but had shot a nice bear. More talk led to fact that the bear had been shot in an area the hunter was not permitted for. Ryan ended up confiscating the mounted bear and I thought the scene warranted a painting.

One of the most interesting times to walk and hike visually is right after a good ice storm. These berries are less than 300 yards from my house in Portage.

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There are a lot of people who believe we have a self-sustaining population of cougars in Michigan, yet noone has ever come forward with convincing evidence. It's also been said that the Wolverine State has never had a population of wolverines. A few years back this one showed up over in the thumb and within days it was confirmed and photos flying all over. Authorities speculate this animal came across the border on a logging truck, but nobody really knows. Still waiting on similar cougar stuff.

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2008 will mark 31 years that the zany anglers of the Baldwin Bullshido Club have met at Little L Lake south of Baldwin to fish the lake, the South and Middle Branches of the Pere Marquette, and the main river itself. Sometimes we visit PM feeder creeks, or run up to the Little Manistee or the Pine. But fishing is rarely the primary consideration. Over the years, I've kept the camp log in the form of a cartoon book; the meaning of most of the toons resonates primarily with Bullshido, but I'm sharing some here to give you a feel for what a fishing camp among friends ought to be. Oh, yeah, it's sexist and old fashioned: Boys only. Okay amend that: Elderly Men.

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Shadow of the Wolf Tree
Available May 2010

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It is the opening day of trout season and Grady Service and Tree are together fishing the South Branch of the Paint River. It's been a great day. Then Newf brings two skulls to the campfire, the next day Tree is wounded by a booby trap and Grady Service and his conservation officer pals are off and running to solve one of the strangest cases he's ever encountered. Working closely with him is Michigan State Police homicice detective Tuesday Friday. Hmmm.

The sixth woods cop mystery, Death Roe will be published by Lyons Press, October 1, 2008 -- just in time for the holidays.

On October 18, 1974, the Kalamazoo Wings played their inaugural International Hockey League game. Through a number of freaky events, I got to know the team's then general manager and coach, and thought it would be interesting to write a book about playing minor league hockey. I travelled with the team over two seasons and took notes, including notes in cartoon form, which appear in the following pages.

For you devout hockey fans, you will remember the film, Slapshot, starring Paul Newman. The writer of that film, Nanacy Dowd, is the sister of Ned Dowd, the First Kalamazoo Wing to score a goal. Ironically, when Sl;apshot came out it was promoted as a bitter satire, but those of us with some knowledge of professional hockey considered it more of a documentary.

Trivia: Ned Dowd played Ogie Oglethorpe in his sister's film. Enjoy the toons.

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