T. Jefferson Parker Moves, Takes O.C. With Him

After helping put Orange County on the literary map with “Laguna Heat,” “Little Saigon” and five other county-set mysteries over the past two decades, longtime resident T. Jefferson Parker has packed up and moved to San Diego County.

Parker, who had lived in Orange County since his family moved to Tustin from Los Angeles in 1959 when he was 5, sold his Laguna Canyon home of 11 years at the end of January. He, his wife, Rita, and their sons--8-year-old Tyler and 1-year-old Tommy--now live in Fallbrook in northern San Diego County.

Their new home, a 3,400-square-foot single-story house built in 1945, is on nearly four acres. The property includes a 1,500-square-foot out-building once used as a machine shop and part of which Parker is now using as an office.

The critically acclaimed author had been renting an apartment in Club Laguna a few miles from his Laguna Canyon home for use as an office since 1998.

“When Tommy was born, there was no way he could work at home anymore,” said Rita Parker. “Jeff wanted a little bit more room, and he’s got it. I tease him about his ‘commute’ in the morning.” Parker said the move south was prompted primarily by their need for “more elbow room.”

“I also think a change of venue and change of scenery was something we wanted to try,” he said. “I lived in Orange County roughly 40 of my 46 years. We’re only about 50 miles away from Laguna now, but I feel like Magellan, and it’s kind of exciting.”

Parker also felt the move might stir his imagination and, he said, “I’m hoping north San Diego County will give me the same kind of inspiration Orange County gave me for so many years.”

Parker is the latest in a string of Orange County authors who set mysteries on their home turf but, over the past decade, have pulled up stakes: Robert Ray (the Murdock mystery series) moved to Seattle; Ann and Evan Maxwell (who, as A.E. Maxwell, wrote the Fiddler mystery series) moved to Anacortes, Wash.; Maxine O’Callaghan (the Delilah West mystery series) moved to Lake Elsinore; and Noreen Ayres (the Smokey Brandon mystery series) moved to Houston and is now relocating to Seattle.

Then there’s Joseph Wambaugh, who skewered the moneyed elite of Newport Beach in his 1990 mystery suspense novel, “The Golden Orange,” then put his Linda Isle home up for sale and moved to Rancho Santa Fe in San Diego County.

Since those authors moved, only O’Callaghan has continued to tap Orange County as a fictional setting.

Her Santa Ana private detective last showed up in 1997, in “Down for the Count,” the sixth in the Delilah West series. But O’Callaghan, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America last year, says she’s working on No. 7.

And just because Parker no longer maintains an Orange County address doesn’t mean he’s abandoning his favorite fictional setting.

His next novel, “Red Light,” will be published by Hyperion in April. A sequel to his 1999 mystery thriller, “The Blue Hour,” it’s about the investigation of a murdered prostitute and is set in San Clemente, Santa Ana and Modjeska Canyon.

And Parker is already three chapters into his next novel, “Silent Joe,” that’s also set in Orange County.

“So, I’m here in San Diego and still writing about Orange County,” he said, adding, however, that he doesn’t have a long-term game plan.

“If inspiration leads me to north San Diego County and this area, I’ll certainly follow it,” he said. “If the inspiration stays in Orange County, I will stay there on the literary map.”

Coming Up:

* John Crean and Barbara Venezia will sign “At Home on the Range: A Cookbook for the Deranged” at Borders Books and Music, in the Block, 20 City Blvd. West, Orange. 2 p.m. today. (714) 385-1025.

* Bobbie Sandoz will discuss and sign “Listening to Wild Dolphins: Learning Their Secrets for Living with Joy” at Crown Books, 32411 Street of the Golden Lantern, Laguna Niguel. 1 p.m. today. (949) 240-2789. Sandoz also will speak and sign at Barnes & Noble in Fashion Island, 953 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach. 7 p.m. Friday. (949) 759-0982.

* Poet Lee Mallory will read poems from his late daughter Misty Mallory’s book of poetry, “Two Sides Now,” at Diedrich Coffee, 730 Imperial Highway, Brea. 8 p.m. Tuesday. (714) 256-6790.

* Barbara Seranella will read and sign “Unwanted Company” at Barnes & Noble in the Tustin Marketplace, 13712 Jamboree Road. 7 p.m. Tuesday. (714) 508-9707.

* Barbara DeMarco Barrett’s prerecorded “Writers on Writing” discussion with authors Maxine O’Callaghan, Carroll Lachnit and Gary Phillips will air on KUCI (88.9 FM) in Irvine. 4 p.m. Thursday.

* Historian Bob Hine will discuss and sign “The American West: A New Interpretive History” at the Men’s Breakfast Group at Coco’s in Fashion Island, 151 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach. 7 a.m. Thursday. $10. (949) 786-7104.

* Lois Haddad will discuss and sign “Sleep Talk” at Barnes & Noble in the Huntington Beach Mall, 7777 Edinger Ave., Huntington Beach. 2 p.m. Saturday. (714) 897-8781.

Send information about book-related events at least 10 days before event to: Dennis McLellan, O.C. Books & Authors, The Times’ Orange County edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626. Or e-mail to [email protected].