News Headlines

07-06-2005
Meet Archer MacClehan and his nemesis, The Hungry Now, in this novel, released in April 2005. It's a bear of a tale that traverses the territory of love, anger, disaster and danger. Guaranteed to be a page-turner, it's 181 pages of reading enjoyment. Read more and order a copy today.

04-03-2004


This is the on-line home of The Scenic Route, a column which Sandy has been writing for over 10 years in The River Journal, an Idaho newspaper with an interstate distribution. Check below or look in our Archives for past columns, where you will also find some short fiction and a sample of travel writing.

Jason’s Passage was Sandy's second book of fiction It’s been around for a while, but the message is still clear. Enjoy the first chapter.

Come back soon for fresh postings of Scenic Routes old and new, more short fiction and excerpts from books that are on their way.

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Hi. It's a little disconcerting to be the "subject" of this site, but I truly hope you enjoy what you read here. Writing is a form of completion for me - and it could be for you, too. Catharsis is where you find it, after all. ;-)

If you have questions or comments, write to me at scenic.route@sandycompton.com

All my best,

Sandy
The Scenic Route — At the Source of the Missouri
09-18-2007
Time changes many things, but the convergence of the Missouri still looks much like it did when Lewis and Clark — and Patrick Gass — came that way.
The Scenic Route — Fear: It’s What’s For Dinner
12-24-2004
Facing the allegorical ant lion when you have fallen into a self-made pit of fear is not easy, but it can be very satisfying.
The Scenic Route - The Panida Brouhaha
03-14-2005
The Panida, our community-owned theater, is in the middle of a muddle. What to do, what to do? If it's any of my business, I have some suggestions.

A classic Scenic Route - The Eye of the Needle
11-09-2004

OK, so we didn't quite get Mr. Bush out of office. Don't despair. There is reason for hope, and I found it along The Scenic Route

The Scenic Route - Wilderness
09-20-2004
Sometimes, the greatest adventures are just out our own back door. My long-dead grandpa pointed my friend Bonnie and I into one that reminded me of the value of wilderness.
The Scenic Route - The Finger
08-10-2004
A picture is worth 1,000 words, they say. Well, I spent at least 800 on one that appeared nationwide courtesy Associated Press the day after John Kerry and George Bush both campaigned in Iowa.
The Scenic Route - "All I Know ... "
07-15-2004
Will Rogers said, time and again, "All I know is what I read in the newspapers." He also titled a book Sanity is Where You Find It. This, if you ask me, is a dichotomy in philosophy, but maybe Mr. Rogers read small-town newspapers. I am hard-pressed to find much sanity in big-market papers these days.  Click the link to find out more.
The Scenic Route - Selective History
06-13-2004
Wandering the West may be what I do best, and friend Gary and I just enjoyed a great stint of wandering - it's nice to be where the big wheels ain't.
A Scenic Route Classic - The Old Man
06-13-2004
Mickey Compton died in 1986, but he is neither gone, it seems, nor fogotten. Here is a piece written in celebration of his birthday and Father's Day, 1997.
The Scenic Route - Oh, Canada
05-10-2004
Is there a time warp at the Canadian border, or can Canada make a guy feel younger? This Scenic Route explores the question
The Game
03-26-2004
Janet Jackson got all the press, but the real story of the game happened before and after her appearance. Click to read more.
The Scenic Route - Fifteen Below Zero
04-03-2004

When it's this cold and a full moon calls, what is there to do but follow? But be careful. You may end up someplace you didn't expect to be.