The Blog

The history behind the books

Settings, real events and research notes from the Santa Cruz Mountains to medieval Constantinople.

Places4 min read

The Drowned Keeper of Año Nuevo Island

A light station on a bare island off the San Mateo coast. Four men drowned crossing to shore in 1883. Two women were left to run the whistle.

Historical Context3 min read

Hand-cut roads, a hidden hotel kitchen, and the camp cook whose dinners helped create the National Park Service.

Places3 min read

For ten years a wooden river carried redwood from Boulder Creek to Felton. The men who walked it had a plank a foot wide and no railing.