A LITTLE HISTORY BEHIND THE JASON COLEFIELD SERIES (RIVER CITY)

RIVER CITY sprang to life one foggy morning while I was gazing at the massive Columbia River from my boat, the Enterprise, a fishing trawler I call home. At the time, I was watching the television series, The Killing, a moody thriller set in Seattle. I was drawn to the troubled characters, the dark settings and the types of physical and emotional violence it portrayed. It had also triggered a muscle memory of my own from childhood, an event where I had stared into the heart of a monster. But young boys imagine all sorts of things….
That morning I hatched the idea to rewrite my own history by creating a narrative as sullen and haunting for Portland. I’ll let the reader decide whether I succeeded.
Many of the locations in this story are real though I’ve taken some creative liberties when describing Sauvie Island. When first researching this novel, I would often ride my motorcycle around the island, placing key scenes in my mind. I passed by Collin’s Beach, the nude beach I had last visited during my college years. The willows and reeds along the shore line provided me countless opportunities to surreptitiously photograph models. Later, when the rains arrived, I drove instead, scouting the island wildlife that make up a key part of this magical sanctuary….