Safety Harbor Has a New Published Author

Chances are if you live in Safety Harbor, you know of Robert "Bobby" Saltzman.

The longtime Harbor resident is an outspoken member of the community. He ran for City Commission last year, once helped get the city to stop stapling flyers to the trees, and can frequently be seen walking his dog, Susie, around town.

Now people outside the city limits might get to know Bobby, too. He just had his first book, a crime novel called "Salty and the Serpent", published by Amazon.com.

"I've been working on this book, on and off, for five years," Saltzman told Patch.

"I went on Amazon the other day, typed in the name and there it was. It's a pretty cool feeling, I have to admit."

Saltzman has many interests in his life - politics, sports, his community and his family, which includes a son who is in the Marine Corps.

But writing has always been a passion of Bobby's. He's been coming up with stories since he was six years old, and he is now a frequent contributor to Laura Kepner's Safety Harbor Writers and Poets group.

Saltzman began brainstorming the idea for the novel, about a NYC patrol officer who works his way up to detective, in 2001; for years he would work on it in the morning before he went to work.

"I'm not an ex-cop, but I did a lot of research for the book so the situations would sound as realistic as possible," he said.

"Things don't happen in real life like they happen on TV. I wanted to make sure that came through in the book."

He says he drew upon people he has known throughout his life as inspiration for some of the characters in the book, and he cautions the gritty tale is definitely not for kids.

And although he calls writing the book "one of the toughest things I've ever done," he is already working on a sequel as well as a short story that's an offshoot of the novel.

"It's a lot of hard work. You don't realize how hard it is," he said. "I've been going back and forth with Amazon since April trying to get this thing finalized."

"But now I can say I'm Safety Harbor's newest published author," he added. "I'm just waiting for Scorsese to call for the movie rights!"

To order and review Saltzman's book on Amazon, visit this link. You can also get more information on his website, thinkbobby.com.