Sara Caldwell, Professor at College of the Canyons (COC) and Santa Clarita filmmaker, recently signed a deal to publish her first young adult novel, “Raven Dock.”

The filmmaker has been writing and directing all of her adult life and established a production company ‘House of Gorey Productions’ with her husband, Walter Gorey, in 2010.

Caldwell adapted “Raven Dock” from a screenplay she wrote under the same title, and was immediately given a deal to publish after the book was completed.

White Bird Publications is scheduled to release the novel on paperback and e-book on Oct. 2, and is accepting advance orders through Amazon and the Barnes and Noble websites.

“Raven Dock” focuses on a 17-year-old girl who lost her parents and is trying to find herself through life’s tragedies, according to Caldwell, who modeled the character closely after her own experiences growing up.

“I moved all over the U.S. as a young child, and even to Guatemala, Spain and England. I didn’t have a hometown and always struggled to fit in,” said Caldwell. “I know there are a lot of teens out there who’ve also lived as tumbleweeds, and I wanted to write a character they could identify with.”

As a first time novelist, Caldwell said that she was surprised to receive a call from the owner of “White Bird Publications” to finalize the deal, according to Caldwell.

“Unlike many publishers these days, they offer print as well as e-book sales. I could tell that White Bird’s owner Evelyn Byrne-Kusch really cares about her authors when she personally called me to seal the deal.”

The COC professor has been teaching aspiring filmmakers for the last 14 years and has lived in Santa Clarita since 1997.

Under “House of Gorey Productions,” Caldwell has produced several award-winning short horror films, and is currently a finalist in the 2018 New Orleans Horror Film Festival for the screenplay version of “Raven Dock.”

Caldwell is invited to be a guest speaker as a panelist for Women in Horror at the NOLA Horror Film Festival and at the Oaxaca Global Screenwriting Challenge.

The script has also been optioned by independent producer Barrett Stuart of “BS Productions,” and is seeking investors to fund production.

For more information about “Raven Dock” the novel, visit the book’s website here.

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