AUTHOR CARLA NORTON will speak at Bookshop Benicia on Thursday. The former city resident said she is working a fictitious version of Benicia into her next novel.
Courtesy photo

By Keri Luiz
Assistant Editor

Writer Carla Norton’s first foray into fiction, “The Edge of Normal,” was released Tuesday. And on Thursday the former journalist will be at Bookshop Benicia for the only California stop on a tour to promote the novel.

It’s fitting that Norton would choose Benicia as the only California stop on her book tour: The “true crime” writer and novelist lived in the city for 15 years.

“It seemed like the appropriate place, and I was really glad when (bookshop owner) Christine (Mayall) called me,” Norton said.

Originally from Redding, Norton is also the author of a pair of crime books, “Perfect Victim,” about a woman who was kidnapped and held as a sex slave for seven years, and “Disturbed Ground,” about a Sacramento landlady who murdered her tenants and buried them in her garden.

While her latest is her first work of fiction, it grew from her previous work, she said.

“‘Perfect Victim’ is about what the victim goes through. You can see ‘The Edge of Normal’ as projecting into the future,” she said. “‘The Edge of Normal’ is about a survivor of kidnapping and captivity, and how she has worked to overcome that and is still working on those issues.”

In “The Edge of Normal,” she said, she wanted to empower the victim, to “make her a strong protagonist who is not a martial arts expert, who does not have any special gifts except that she has inner strength because she has had to endure so much, and has a hot sense of justice.

“She’s not duty-bound, but (she is) compelled by her inner demons to try to avenge herself in a way. She gets involved in helping other victims of kidnapping and captivity, and basically goes after the bad guys.”
Norton said she wrote the book “as a page turner. For people who like compelling fiction, I see it as kind of a combination as (real-life kidnapping victim) Elizabeth Smart and Clarice Starling (from ‘Silence of the Lambs’).”

“The Edge of Normal” is mostly set in San Francisco, Seattle and the fictitious town of Jefferson, “which is basically based on Shasta County where I grew up.”

But she has news for local followers of her work: She’s currently at work on a sequel to “The Edge of Normal” that will feature a fictitious version of Benicia.

“It’s a lovely place,” Norton said of her former home. “I left several years ago, and I’ve been a nomad since.

“I’ve moved many times. I will be looking forward to seeing some friends from my many years in Benicia.”

If You Go
Author Carla Norton will speak at 7 p.m. Thursday at Bookshop Benicia, 636 First St. For more information on the event call 707-747-5155 or visit bookshopbenicia.com or carlanorton.com.

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