SUNDAY STORY:Set in Newport Beach

The ocean spray at the Wedge. The pastries from Dad’s Donut Shop & Bakery. The warm sun and sand. These memories from summer vacations spent in Newport Beach flooded Liam Callanan’s mind as he sat in a coffee shop in frigid Milwaukee to work on his latest novel.

It seemed the natural location to set his second book, “All Saints,” as he looked to escape the cold weather around him as well as the Alaskan scenery of his debut novel.

In Callanan’s words, Newport Beach is “the best place in the world.” The beachfront elementary school he remembered from his youth was transformed into a Roman Catholic high school in his fictional realm, and the Fun Zone where he once frolicked found a place in the story, published in late February by Random House’s Delacorte Press.

“When I came to Newport Beach on vacation, it amazed me that there were people who not only lived there, but went to school and worked there,” he said. “I always thought how lucky those kids [at Newport Elementary] were that they could go to school right on the beach.”

Graduating from an all-male Catholic high school, Callanan decided to enhance his own experience by adding women and surf to the fictional school where the thrice-divorced, 50-year-old female narrator teaches theology.

The book follows the pursuits of Emily Hamilton as her students begin to pay more attention to their teacher’s personal life than the lives of the long-dead saints they are studying. It is a story of belief, Callanan said.

“Emily doesn’t let herself believe in what she sees and feels, so this is a story about not only religious belief, but believing in people and in things, and learning to trust yourself and others,” he said.

Though readers are often baffled by Callanan’s ability to write in the female voice, he said it’s part and parcel of writing fiction, adding that the character was essentially an amalgam of the many “entertaining and wonderful women” he has known in his lifetime.

“You need to write what you know in your head, you need to write what you know in your heart, and that’s how you get people drawn into your story,” he said. “I’m not actually a 50-year-old woman, but I just listened to the narrator talk, which she did — a lot.”

Writing from more than 2,000 miles away, Callanan relied heavily on the Internet and local contacts to garner the necessary details about the Newport Beach locale, visiting twice while on Thanksgiving vacation from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he is an assistant professor of English.

“It was so cold where I was writing, and I think that made my descriptions of Newport Beach even more vivid,” Callanan said, joking that he is waiting for global warming to turn Milwaukee into a “hot Riviera.” “I could really imagine what the sunshine and the palm trees were like while I was freezing.”

As recognized in the book’s acknowledgments, Ed O’ Sullivan of Newport Beach served as one of Callanan’s geographers/historians. O’Sullivan formerly worked in a Los Angeles-based law firm with the author’s father for many years.

“He was asking me about various places on the island and on the peninsula, and I have some familiarity being that I’ve been a resident here for almost 40 years,” O’Sullivan said. “It’s going to be very interesting to read the book and get his take on the area.”

Apparently, the Newport Beach setting has intrigued several other locals. The two copies of “All Saints” at the Newport Beach Central Library have been very popular since they were released and were waitlisted for several weeks, said librarian Mary Ellen Bowman.

“What is neat about his book is while you are reading it, you think, “I know where this place is,’ ” Bowman said. “It speaks to you personally, and I think the local element just adds to the joy of reading.”

In addition to spotlighting area hotspots like the Wedge and Balboa Island’s Marine Avenue, the novel gives a brief mention to St. John Vianney Chapel, the island’s sole church.

Though it is only blocks from the heroine’s home, she does not attend Mass there as it is “overrun with University of Southern California alumni and fans” who pray for victory during football season, according to the book’s narrator.

The description is based on O’Sullivan’s recollection of a time when the entire congregation stood and sang the university’s fight song after winning a heated game against Notre Dame.

“To be mentioned in a book is another in a long series of affirmations of the church’s important role in the community,” said administrator Msgr. Lawrence Baird. “I guess the number of those who are fans of USC at St. John Vianney reflects the general population of the area.”

In the past months, the book has drawn favorable reviews from several media outlets, including People magazine and Entertainment Weekly, and Callanan was invited to serve as a panelist for last month’s Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, where he spoke on the power of fiction.

“It’s picked up some great buzz,” Callanan said. “It was reviewed in the Britney’s haircut issue of People, so I know a lot of people picked that one up.”

Though no deals are yet underway, the potential for a film version of the story has not evaded the 38-year-old author and father of four daughters.

“There are no good roles for older women actors, and here’s one,” he said. “I’m a complete believer that women don’t stop getting interesting or sexy after age 22.”

To learn more about Liam Callanan and his two novels — “The Cloud Atlas” and “All Saints” — go to www.liamcallanan.com .