SEQUIM — Eric Delabarre had had just about enough of television’s “Law & Order.”

After seven years on the show’s writing team, he wanted to do something entirely different: a novel for tweens — as in youngsters ages 8 to 13.

“I’m looking for a return to story. We’re addicted to explosions; there’s so much [of media] that’s delivering crime and sexual themes,” Delabarre, 45, said this week.

And though Delabarre still lives in Santa Monica, Calif., he chose Port Townsend as the setting for his first children’s book, Saltwater Taffy.

It’s the story of five friends on a treasure hunt in their hometown, where they encounter colorful characters all the way.

Delabarre knows the area well, since his parents, Del and Sharon Delabarre, live in Sequim and his brother, Garret, lives in Port Angeles.

“Port Townsend is quaint, perfect for a 1970s story,” he said, and has the sense of community he was seeking.

This Friday at 3:30 p.m., Delabarre will give a reading of Saltwater and discuss the writer’s life at Olympic Theatre Arts, 414 N. Sequim Ave., Sequim.

Admission is free to the presentation, though if attendees want to purchase a copy of the novel, they can visit Pacific Mist Books, about five blocks south of OTA, at 121 W. Washington St.

Delabarre will be there to sign books after his talk.

Saltwater unfolds in 1972, a time before texting, iPods and the Internet.

Delabarre wanted his characters to be outdoors, outwitting and out-maneuvering the local villains, who include a one-legged junkyard man and a creepy old guy who lives on the hilltop.

In this adventure tale, the five kids have gotten their hands on a treasure map that once belonged to the New Orleans pirate Jean Lafitte.

And, Delabarre added, it’s also a story about friendship and pursuing what you love, complete with morals at the end of the chapters.

The author has slipped messages into Saltwater’s pages, “treasure tips” such as “Sometimes a dead end is really a new beginning” at the end of chapter 13 and “Your imagination can lift you up or down; it’s up to you” closing chapter 15.

Then there’s “Friendships are memories. Make them often” following chapter 21.

Delabarre has been traveling around the country since releasing Saltwater via Seven Publishing, the company he and his wife, Julie, established.

Ironically, he’s making appearances in Sequim, Silverdale and Port Orchard but not in Port Townsend, since he said he was unable to find a bookstore there that could host him.

Delabarre added, however, that he plans to spend time in Port Townsend in 2012, while the movie version of Saltwater Taffy is being filmed there.

After Friday’s stop in Sequim, the author will head south for talks in San Diego, Fresno and other California cities. His message to young people will be the same:

Go out into your home town, and create your own adventure.

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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.