Newport Beach-raised author Christian Michaels has written an adventure thriller rooted in his years body surfing the Wedge and sailing the harbor.
The Window: Some Waves Only Open Once follows four surfers who set out by catamaran across the South Pacific in search of a near-impossible wave, as first reported by Stu News Newport. What starts as a dream expedition turns into a fight for survival as ancestral secrets, divided loyalties and betrayal test the friends' bonds.
The Stu News profile describes the story as accessible to readers who have never stepped onto a surfboard.
Michaels moved to Newport Beach as a child, one of seven siblings in a family he has described as privileged but accountability-focused, according to his author biography. Swimming, sailing and time at the Wedge built an ocean connection that carried him through nearly a decade living in Hawaii and into a writing career. That background informs the novel's ocean setting and the pull of a journey beyond familiar shores, according to the Stu News profile.
His catalog also includes the memoir Entitled in Newport Beach: Money, Drugs, Surfing, Bad Decisions, and Too Many Second Chances and the Toto Comes Alive series. The Toto books follow a perceptive Maltipoo through humorous adventures that weave in awareness of real scams and fraud targeting adults and seniors, according to Stu News Newport.
Book sales help support the StageAI Plus Foundation, which Michaels founded. The name stands for Senior Tutorials And General Education. The nonprofit provides free fraud-prevention programs, technology lessons and community workshops for seniors and adults with disabilities, according to the foundation's website. Michaels leads the organization as its workshop presenter and curriculum creator.
The foundation says it collaborates with senior living organizations, recreation departments, libraries and faith communities, and describes itself as still in its early stages, launching its first community workshops.
