Photo by Jessica Kirkwood
RENA GRAHAM
Writer
Memoir
Infallible: A San Francisco Story
Book-length literary memoir, seeking agent representation by end of 2026.
A street-smart nineteen-year-old girl moved to the city of her dreams in 1974. "San Francisco is a city of wanderers, people looking for home. Dizzying topography you had to be strong enough to hold on to. Elegant but feral, a place of extremes. For the first year, the light at the end of the day startled me. It was something divine, as if shot through a magnifying glass the size of The City itself."
Four years later the horrific 1978 Jonestown Massacre in the fields of Guyana and nine days later, the executions of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk gave rise to the headline, “A City in Agony.” The senseless violence left her reeling, deeply affecting her personal life.
While dating The City’s most eligible, she'd been careful to hide her past. Just when her life seemed full of promise, she survived four physical attack in two years - the last one nearly fatal.
Relying on nothing but her intuition, she met Nathan. He had one arm and a bad toupee. He saved her life, promising her a future that would not be boring.
Reader's buzz:
"Reading this memoir was as engrossing as some of the best fiction I've encountered." - Mary B.
"The narrator is bright and articulate and although the escapades are crazy, we trust that she will make it through. The strongest points are characterization and dialogue." - Lara J.
The Plunge: An Unexpected Adventure in Love
Book-length literary memoir. Project currently on hold.
A man and a woman meet in a swimming pool and find each other attractive and interesting. They’re healthy, active and in their sixties. Friendship leads to deeper questions but she never asks where his children came from. Perhaps his urchins were sea urchins, harvested from the ocean floor. She’s never been in love before and wonders what all the fuss is about. When she finds out he’s married, she asks herself how she could not have known. He didn’t wear a wedding ring but looked cared for as only a married man could. Should she play it safe and swim away? He’s never stepped out and she’s never trespassed. She closes her eyes, dunks her head back in the water but when she opens them, he’s still there, with that face she could look at forever.
Recognizing this as the experience she's longed for, can she separate that from the circumstances? And how will her colorful backstory and current spiritual beliefs affect her decisions?
A story of great risk, healing and humor, the first chapter of The Plunge was longlisted for the CBC 2017 Nonfiction Prize.
Reader's buzz:
"I appreciate Rena's clear, clean and descriptive writing style. She has a natural, intimate voice that pulls the reader in." - Angela K.
"The details into her character are formidable." - Dhana M
