Here’s how CARTELIFORNIA came about.
It was the fall of 2016. Four of us admired the beauty of Trinidad Bay on California’s North Coast, with its ancient lighthouse and charming beach cottages perched on surrounding tree-studded hills.
My wife, Cathy, exclaimed, “Trinidad could be a setting for a fiction novel! You should write about it.” Monti, our daughter-in-law, thought it should be a love story. Our son, John, thought it should be a fishing story. We brainstormed about characters and plots. I love the thriller genre, so I knew I’d be adding intrigue and twists, murder, and mayhem.
We spent a delightful few hours enjoying clam chowder and fish & chips from Seascape Restaurant. We walked the pier and quiet beaches while imagining fictional people falling in love, fishing, and exploring the surrounding village, forests, and seashore. I thought about a few stories I had uncovered about secrets lurking in the dark, deep forests nearby—some worth telling about. The marijuana industry and associated drugs, sex, and human trafficking were a sordid part of the culture in this area, and its story begged to be included in the plot. I discovered that over thirty transnational crime organizations–cartels–were operating in California. Many of them concentrated their activities in a three-county area called the EMERALD TRIANGLE–Trinity, Humboldt, and Mendocino Counties. It was my ‘AHA!’ moment. THE EMERALD TRIANGLE – Carpenter & Riley Series was born, as was the name of the first book: CARTELIFORNIA.
Now, several years later, the series is four books and growing. These are stories about human trafficking, serial killers, and other bad actors doing gruesome things to good, unsuspecting people. Carpenter & Riley, our heroes, are two people thrust together because of their common quest: to unravel the dark secrets behind the loss of their siblings. Then, as their love blossoms, their journey unfolds…and leads them on dangerous adventures into the dark underbelly of crime, corruption, and power gone out of control. They will do their part to stop the madness, restore order, and protect those who have become victims of unimaginable evil.
Read about Carpenter & Riley.
