Andrew Rafkin: Alumnus Reels in Literary Award with Story of Life and Death on the High Seas

When he was 19, Andrew Rafkin (Class of ’72, B.A., economics) was asked by a friend to take his place on his father’s commercial fishing boat on a four-day trip off the Santa Barbara coast. A storm of epic proportions arose during the voyage, with waves that reached 20 to 30 feet, placing him and the crew of the Diana in a 24-hour fight for their lives that included the boat being knocked on its side, crew members going overboard, and one dying in Rafkin’s arms.

After decades of telling the story and having listeners urge him to write down the harrowing tale for posterity, the San Pedro native finally did so. His book, “Red Sky Morning,” won Rafkin a Colorado Independent Publishers Association (CIPA) 2009 EVVY Literary Award.

The owner and president of Palos Verdes Security in San Pedro, Rafkin says when he began writing, the story “seemed to come back like it was yesterday.”

“I had so much fun doing it,” says the reluctant author and successful entrepreneur. “I’m not a literary person; [the study of] English was not my forte. But I loved the characterization of people. I started going to local seminars [held] by writing clubs. Characterization was about 99 percent of what they discussed, and I thought, ‘Maybe this is something I’d like to do.’”

“Red Sky Morning,” which was published by Outskirts Press in 2008, is the first book Rafkin wrote (in 2006), but not the first book he published. The second book he wrote, “Creating Madness,” was published in 2007. Drawing upon a lifetime spent near the ocean and professional knowledge of the security industry, "Creating Madness" introduces the fictional Ocean Reconnaissance Commission and Associates (O.R.C.A.), an independent group of vigilantes who work for the United States and other free-world governments. It became the first in a trilogy that included 2008’s “Mediterranean Madness” and the recently completed “Mexican Madness.”

The author says that representatives of the Port of Los Angeles have read his books and commented on their believability and authenticity.

“One of the biggest responses I’ve gotten is that [the books are] such an eye-opener and maybe [the Department of] Homeland Security should read it,” Rafkin says. “I read that there are 24 million registered small boats throughout the United States that could easily deliver a weapon of mass destruction, with no one policing them. People involved in the port [have read my books] to see what I’m talking about and they agree there needs to be a lot more work done to protect us.”

Rafkin, who originally shopped “Creating Madness” to traditional publishers, fell back on his education from CSU Dominguez Hills and natural business acumen to steer himself through the choppy waters of promotion. He made the decision to self-publish the book through Outskirts Press in order to have a product in hand. His instincts proved correct and the book was picked up by Strategic Books, a traditional publisher.

“I realized that if my book was accepted by a boutique publisher or even a major publisher, it could take two to three years to get the book on the shelf,” Rafkin says. “I decided that I would have a better opportunity if I had a physical book and could still keep pitching it to other publishers.”

The once-hesitant author says that self-publishing has garnered more respect in the last decade.

“I’m convinced that there are good books that people have written and because they’re not tenacious enough to get through [the difficulty of publishing], they go on the shelf and just end up there,” Rafkin says. “I think this is an opportunity to give these books a life and get them to go somewhere.”

Rafkin is enjoying the spoils of fame, appearing at book signing events at San Pedro’s Williams’ Book Store, the Literary Guild of Orange County’s Men of Mystery Tour, and the 2008 L.A. Times Festival of Books.

“Maybe it was because the line for James Patterson was five blocks long and I got the residuals,” he recalls with a self-deprecating laugh. “He got up, and I sat down and [started] signing.”

Rafkin is currently working on a fourth book based on the further adventures of the O.R.C.A. characters. An avid reader of action adventure novels, he says that there is no mystery to crafting a good story.

“All fiction has to have something valid to substantiate it. You have to have some reality in there,” he says. “You have to work at it, do your research... and stick to an area where you have some experience and background. The other thing that is extremely important is the editing and rewriting. I don’t care how good you are, there are always going to be mistakes you’re going to overlook. Tight writing is what an editor does and it’s an art. A ten-word sentence can be changed into three words, and it will be better.”

“Another thing is... to keep [your story] walking,” he says. “Let it run once in a while – but your story has to keep walking. And if it doesn’t, you need to revise it so it does.”

- Joanie Harmon