Part-timer Taraneh Saba went from economics professor to lawyer, serving many years as a deputy district attorney. Leaving that behind, she has returned to her lifelong vocation as a storyteller to write a novel based on one of the most terrifying cases she tried.

TC: “How did you find Idyllwild?”

TS: “I have always loved the mountain atmosphere and loved the snow. We were looking to purchase property somewhere in the mountains. A colleague of mine owned a home in Idyllwild and suggested that we check it out. In winter of 2019 we took a trip up the windy road … and that was the beginning of our love for this beautiful village. A few months later we became proud homeowners in Pine Cove. Currently we spend as much time up in Idyllwild as our work schedules allow.”

TC: “What is your professional ‘origin story’?”

TS: “I had gotten a bachelor’s and master’s in economics, and was pursuing a Ph.D. I was teaching at college as a professor in Econ. However, when I passed 30 years of age, I started wondering what I ‘wanted to be when I grow up,’ and I had always wanted to be an attorney. So I quit the Ph.D. program and went to law school full time (having two small children then ages 5 and 1) and in the evenings I taught Econ in college part time. After I finished law school and passed the bar I was hired by the LA County District Attorney’s [DA] office. I continued teaching evenings another 18 years. The trials that I was handling became increasingly complex… I quit teaching to devote my entire energy to my daytime career. I was a Los Angeles County deputy district attorney and a prosecutor for 27 years. [I] tried hundreds of cases.”

TC: “You recently retired from the DA’s office?”

TS: “Right at the beginning of COVID I retired. The plan was that I would go back there on a part-time basis, but the administration changed, one thing lead to another… during COVID lock down I wrote this book. After I retired, and wrote the book, I began devoting my time to handling some clients privately, still working as an attorney. I am exploring the possibility of starting a law firm in Idyllwild to represent clients in Riverside County”.

TC: “Did you know when you began to study law that you wanted to be a prosecutor?”

TS: “Not at first, but as I became more familiar with the law and the process, I wanted to be a trial attorney, to make a difference in peoples’ lives. I decided to join the district attorney’s office to give victims of crime a voice.”

TC: “Where did the interest in writing begin?”

TS: “I always, since I was in elementary school, was interested in writing, in telling stories of the people and situations I encountered. I would write stories and my parents would read those stories to others at parties. So, I always knew that I wanted to write and communicate that way. When COVID lockdown gave me an opportunity to have the time to tell the story of Soraya I decided to take advantage of the situation.

TC: “Your career as an attorney must have developed your skill with narrative?”

TS: “As an attorney I learned how to put a coherent story together for the jury to get the picture.”

TC: “The promotional material describes ‘Soraya’ as based on the true story of one trial you prosecuted. A story of a girl trying to escape a foster home.”

TS: “Initially she was 13 years old when she ran away. She was placed in foster care when she was 2 years old because her mother was in prison, and she never knew her dad. She ran away three times from foster care, and on the third time she encountered ‘KC,’ who professed his love for her, only to force her into prostitution. Soraya tried to leave that life many times but was beaten badly by KC and forced to return. The last time, when she finally left him, he pursued her and shot her five times in the chest at point-blank. Soraya survived and was brave enough to testify at KC’s trial. The rest of the book describes the trial and Soraya’s life after the trial.”

TC: “How close to the facts of the trial is your story?”

TS: “Most of the facts of the crime and actual trial are true. Some events before and after the trial have been changed to protect the identity and the privacy of the people involved.”

TC: “Any more writing on the horizon?”

TS: “I am currently writing a second book which is also based on one of the cases I tried myself, about a 13-year-old boy living in a rough neighborhood who was forced to join a gang and was forced to shoot another boy.”

When asked for more details about “Soraya,” and the differences between life and fiction, the author said, “To find out more they’ll have to read the book.”

“Soraya” by Taraneh Saba is sold at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple and other major book stores. The e-book version is also on Kindle and Nook.