Monday, July 2, 2018

Santa Cruz Noir--blogging the book. Day 10 "Safe Harbor" by Seana Graham

(To learn more about my "blogging the book" challenge to myself, go HERE.)

My own story comes next in this anthology. It actually never occurred to me that it would come across in quite different ways, depending on whether you lived in Santa Cruz or not. Those who identify the real life story that it's loosely based on already know the ending and it's more the "why" of the tale that might intrigue them, as it intrigued me. But for unsuspecting others, there may be genuine suspense, so I won't wreck that for them here.

Although Santa Cruz does have its share of crime, it's not so often of a type that elicits lurid, tabloid style headlines, as this one did. I have to admit that when I first saw the real story in the newspaper it struck me as dark comedy more than tragedy. But when I came to write my story, my thoughts about it turned in a more somber direction.

Ray was still trying to be a good family man. But he felt that there had been a divine dispensation that had allowed him to reach California, that somehow he’d been absolved of everything in advance. All the strict rules of childhood, the black-and-white way of seeing things that had followed him into adulthood, had simply dropped along the roadside on the way west.
Audible sample of  Seana Graham's "Safe Harbor" can be found HERE. Narrated by Nick Sullivan.


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