Daniel Sconce

Born to a Baptist preacher and raised in a small town in central Oregon, I was suddenly immersed in Southern California life when my father developed a fatal disease while visiting the Holy Land and succumbed at the UCLA medical centre in 1959. He was fifty-four, I was eleven.

While still in high School I worked part time at Forest Lawn Mortuary in Glendale, got a young married woman pregnant, robbed a bank, unarmed, to pay for an illegal abortion, and ended up in prison for two years.

As was fitting in my saga, Hollywood became my eventual home, surfing my sport, and turning a craft into a business my occupation. I had a gallery on Melrose, lived around the corner from Grauman's Chinese Theatre and married the daughter of a character actor who counted among his friends, Anthony Quinn and Gregory Peck. Bigger than life, Quinn, came to the wedding, Uncle Greg provided the champagne.

A screenwriter friend tried to sell my story to Universal and I chatted it up with a newcomer to Hollywood, Steven Spielberg. His Hollywood career blossomed mine failed to find soil. I did get a ride in his used Mercedes; trunk held down with a rope.

One thing didn't lead to another in my Hollywood tale but my beautiful son was born in Santa Monica and my wife became a lesbian. Such were the times in the 70's. A few decades later, a few marriages along the way, several different cars and many address changes, I found myself in the East Bay hills of Oakland, overlooking the San Francisco Bay.

My novel, Normal Life, got it's start while jogging the trails in the East Bay regional parks. I discovered the best way to start a story is to pose the simplest question ever uttered, "What if?" What if I killed someone and wanted to get rid of the body, would dumping it over the side of trail into the sagebrush strewn canyon be a good idea? What if I fell in love with my wife's best friend? Would it be best to hide the truth or blurt it out to all our friends?

The title, Normal Life, made perfect sense. It was six years in the making and now it's got a cool cover, sits on people's shelves, and is digital on their Kindle.

Next online for your enjoyment is a collection of my poems titled Six R's, subtitled "A journey through the poetic world of Daniel Sconce". Soon available.

It just keeps getting better and the irony of my father's death never escapes me. Amoebic dysentery in the Holy Land? It was in the water that missed being changed into wine.

I kept writing and as of this date, Jan. 30, 2025, I have four titles available as novels, and three as poetry. My newest has been 'Live' as of today. 'Believe You Me' is a flashback into the early 1960's and focuses on a four year old girl found abandoned in a Glendale, California home by a seventeen year old boy. His choices are to call the police or take the girl home with him where he lives with his mother and grandmother. The girl is happy to be rescued and proves to be multitalented. The story is about family and acceptance and possibilities. It's Hollywood at it's best. A factor unforeseen is war. Danny is soon to be registered for the draft and the Viet Nam war is pulling his generation apart. Canada is calling and Danny and Tracie have friends in distant places.