by Saralyn Richards

Thanks to the authors of Booklover’s Bench for inviting me to share space today. I’m honored to be in the same sphere with you!

As I sit in my cool office, away from the waves of heat emanating from the ground outside, I’m so grateful. With Port of Destiny: A Victorian History, Mystery, & Romance I’m realizing a lifelong dream. When I was fifteen years old, I learned a secret about my grandfather. I never told anyone, because I thought it belonged in a book, and I would be the perfect person to write it.

I started the research in the 1970s, the manuscript in the early 1980s. I purchased my first computer, a Macintosh. I was working full-time then as an English teacher, so the writing was slow. Every time I sat down to write, I had to re-read what I’d already written, so after about a hundred pages, I stalled out. Then the computer crashed, taking the manuscript with it.

Eighteen months ago, I set out to learn everything I could about Galveston in 1905, and the research took me to a thousand other stories, many supplied by my newsletter subscribers. All were fascinating tales of resilience and strength, science and engineering, grit and achievement. I’ve read books, interviewed people, watched movies, visited places, and taken lots of notes and photos.

Grateful that my grandparents immigrated to Galveston and stayed, I was able to grow up in the port of destiny. The salty, humid air and the calls of the seagulls are part of my constitution, and it’s been an honor to write about island life with the authenticity of an islander with sand between her toes.

This, my ninth book, is my first foray into historical fiction. The writing process—the development of setting and character details that fit the time period—has been one of the most delightful adventures of my life. I always tell my creative writing students that if they have fun when writing, the reader will have fun when reading. Assuming that is true, my readers are going to have a total blast.

Port of Destiny is the story of three immigrants who arrive in Galveston at different times. It’s told in alternating points of view, and we get to know the characters to their very bones—the hardships they face, the high stakes, the sheer willpower they need to overcome them. I didn’t realize until recently how the themes of the story apply to contemporary times.

While the book is fiction, many of the characters are actual people who lived in Galveston at the time. The mission to “get them right” was one of my primary goals.

Though I set out to write a family story when I was a teenager, Port of Destiny has become much broader. It is the history of all of us, the history of America at one of its grittiest, most challenging, and most innovative times. It is the story of real people, their morals, their dreams, their achievements. And it is the story of Galveston, the city I love most for its Victorian charm, its engineering accomplishments, its optimism to reinvent itself time and again after battering storms.

I’m grateful to tell this story, and I can’t wait share it!

What is your favorite origin story? What makes it so memorable?

P.S. For more info, to invite me to a book club discussion, or subscribe to my monthly newsletter, click here.

Port of Destiny: A Victorian History, Mystery, & Romance

Three immigrants. Two disappearances. One murder. And a love story that defines them all.

When Rosa’s brother vanishes from hurricane-ravaged Galveston, she turns to his best friend Nathan to help her uncover the truth. Together they are swept into the mystery that swirls around her immigrant family in a city rebuilding after the devastating 1900 storm. Just as Nathan’s feelings for Rosa blossom, Chana enters the picture. Bold, resilient, and with a conflicting love interest of her own, she forces them to make the most important decisions of their lives.

Buy Links: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HGMSZ8NS/ref=

About the Author

Saralyn Richard is a multiple award-winning author of mystery novels, a children’s book, and numerous short stories, poems, and essays published in anthologies and magazines. Her works include the Detective Parrott Mystery Series, the Quinn McFarland Mystery Series, A Murder of Principal, Port of Destiny, and Naughty Nana. Saralyn is an active member of Mystery Writers of America and International Thriller Writers. She has taught literature and creative writing to high school students and adults through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. A former educator, Saralyn’s favorite thing about writing is connecting with readers.