Randy Roeder

Independent author Randy Roeder is a lifelong Midwesterner and former academic librarian whose fictional hero, Cletus Efferding, discovers there is more to life in sleepy Eastern Iowa than he ever thought possible. Sins of Intent, his first novel featuring the indefatigable Efferding, is set in the city of Cedar Rapids and appeared in 2017. His second Efferding adventure, Sins of Omission, involves a vacation trip to the small town of Bellevue and is scheduled for publication in fall 2018.

Like Cletus, Roeder lives in Cedar Rapids, a city he's called home since 1973. A woodworker and ballroom dancer, Randy spends his time writing, messing up the basement, and exploring the stubborn intricacies of the quickstep. While he longs to upgrade his pedestrian wardrobe, his wife and dachshund prefer he spend the money on them.

Roeder has spent a good part of his life in academe, madly cataloging and classifying books for libraries at Coe College and the University of Iowa. Aware that catalogers enjoy a reputation for anal-retentive eccentricity, he has devoted countless hours reassuring friends and relatives that, while the rumors are true, he has managed to escape the affliction. He finds the frequent reminders necessary and remains puzzled when they point out two decades spent recording every known variation on the hand tools produced by the Millers Falls Company is not a normal human activity.

Scarred, tough, and as world-weary as his protagonist Cletus Efferding, Roeder continues his quest for truth, honesty, and good writing from his Eastern Iowa home.