Twisted Minds

by Aya Walksfar, Deva Walksfar (Illustrator)

Vandalism of a women’s center whose co-founder wears a hijab; an old homeless woman beaten unconscious dies of her injuries. A lesbian woman attacked and raped in her own garage; her home vandalized. The minister of a storefront, white supremacist church posts encouragement to the perpetrator as news of these crimes hits the streets. Sergeant Nita Slowater and the Special Crimes Team follow a bloody trail that twists through a morass of hate rhetoric and a long history of violence. The urgency to stop this predator ramps up when a drive-by shooter takes aim at Nita and her wife, Dawn Samira, as they jog along a public roadway close to their home. Seattle has always prided itself on inclusiveness and diversity. Is the city about to show a far different face to the world? Are these random attacks against minorities or is something more sinister arising from the busy streets of Seattle?

390 pages, Paperback

Published August 4, 2017

About the author

Born in a rougher section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, (and there were several of those areas when I was growing up. I hear they’ve cleaned Pittsburgh up very nicely, now. Haven’t been back in many years.) I soon learned how to make myself invisible. If you tend to be on the smaller side, this is a very good talent. As a result, I got to observe people in their myriad of attitudes and emotions.

They fascinated me.

In self-defense against loneliness, I learned to read very early, and to write. My first story was written in pencil on those tablets for little kids with huge spaces between lines. It was a story about a lost dog. Do you ever forget your first?

Ever since that day, I have been creating alternate realities.
Fortunately, my life has been anything except traditional, and therefore, I have never run out of stories to tell.

I lived on the road for several years, was homeless a few times, have worked non-traditional jobs (and a very few traditional jobs), and have walked many dark roads and city streets.

Currently, I live on a 12 acre wildlife/wild bird/indigenous plant habitat that my wife of 25 years and I have created. During a single year, we host over 68 different species of birds, and many different animals.

When I am not either reading or writing, I love to hike, take photographs, work with my dogs, tend the land, horseback ride, travel, learn new things, and recently, I acquired a motorcycle, so I am having a great deal of fun learning to ride.

Whenever I have the opportunity, I also search for the perfect chocolate. There are many good chocolates in the world, but I am convinced that there is a “perfect one”. Have to eat a lot of chocolates while I am researching!