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An Interview with Author Lisa Page

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Retired physical therapist Lisa Page crafts stories using her love for the natural world and her passion for the magical and the everyday sacred. Her debut novel, Saving Cottonwood (June 2025), “is a heartfelt, genre-blurring tale of love, loss, and quiet awakening. With elements of magical realism, mystery, and environmental soul, it invites readers to believe in the power of place, the pull of destiny, and the fierce, hidden magic in everyday lives.” Look for Lisa on her website LisaPageAuthor.com, on Goodreads and Instagram, and her Amazon author page. Besides Amazon, Saving Cottonwood is available at Page 1 Books and Organic Books in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

What would you like readers to know about the story you tell in Saving Cottonwood?
When I first sat down to write, I didn’t know much about publishing genres beyond the basics. Later, I stumbled across “cozy mystery,” and then, believe it or not, “cozy, paranormal, mystery, romance.”  That’s where Saving Cottonwood landed, though I think of it more as my love letter to magic, community, and resilience. More than genre, I want readers to know that this is an optimistic story about the power of ordinary people to face the forces of wealth, politics, and destruction, and protect what matters most.

What was the greatest challenge or obstacle to completing this work?
This was my first novel, so every stage was a mountain — writing, revising, self-publishing, and then (deep breath) marketing. But the real summit wasn’t the mechanics, it was keeping the faith even when I felt doubt. Learning to keep going page after page was the hardest and most essential part.

Who are your main characters? Your favorite secondary characters? How did you go about creating/developing them and working out their relationships?
At the heart of the story is Iris, a middle school librarian in her thirties, newly divorced and trying to rebuild her life. By locking herself out of her house, she meets Ezra, a locksmith with a gift for practical magic, and their chance encounter changes everything. Then there’s Xena, a stray cat with a secret identity: a bodhisattva disguised in a long black coat, tasked with guiding Iris toward her purpose. And Annabelle, a brave 11-year-old who is fiercely protective of the forest and all that is vulnerable. She becomes Iris’s moral compass. I see parts of myself in all my characters, but I can’t say I created them. It feels like they were already there and just waiting for me to tell their stories.

What makes New Mexico the perfect setting for the book? Did you model the town of Cottonwood after a particular location?
The fictional town of Cottonwood will feel very familiar to anyone who knows Albuquerque, especially the North Valley acequias, and the bosque along the Rio Grande. The land, the river, and the cottonwoods verge into being characters in their own right, carrying the bosque’s history, magic, and life pulse. I think it is a perfect setting because it’s a place worth preserving.

Tell us more about Saving Cottonwood and how it came together.
The seed for Saving Cottonwood was planted in 2019, when I was moving out of a beloved historic home I’d lived in after my divorce. I left the new owners a whimsical letter about feeding the hummingbirds, caring for the trees, and honoring the spirit of the place—along with a vase of daffodils.

Later, I thought: what if a story began this way, with someone moving in and discovering such a letter? That idea wouldn’t let me go. After I retired in 2023, I began writing. The first draft poured out in about three months. Then came months of layering and revising. I gathered feedback from friends, took long breaks to be able to return to the manuscript with fresh eyes, and then did two or three more rounds of edits. I didn’t realize how hard it would be to decide when it was actually done. Eventually, I took a leap and sent the story out into the world.

What was the most difficult aspect of world building for this book?
The “world” was my own everyday landscape, so the challenge wasn’t building it, but trying to portray it as accurately as possible. And when the bosque whispered about faeries, crows with messages, and a talking cat, luckily, I was there to take notes.

What was your favorite part of putting this project together?
The surprises.  The moments when the story took the reins, when the characters knew more than I did, when the river wanted to speak, when the plot unfolded in ways I didn’t see coming. In those moments, I discovered the enchantment and magic inside the writing process.

Do you have a theme or a message in the book? If so, was it intentional going into the project or did you discover it as the story unfolded?
Intentionally, going into the project, I imagined a benevolent universe where help appears when we ask for it, and that it takes many forms, seen and unseen. It may come in the form of people, or synchronicities, or from the realm of the ancestors. And if we are very lucky, sometimes it comes from those with fur or feathers or faery wings.

When did you know you wanted to be a writer, and when did you actually consider yourself one?
Ahh! I wanted to be a writer from a young age, probably from around middle school. I turned 60 this year, and I think maybe I am a writer now? But the label author still feels new and strange, like a fancy outfit that doesn’t quite feel like me yet.

What advice do you have for beginning or discouraged writers?
Creative work is vulnerable. It stirs up the inner critic. For me, meditation, emotional self-regulation strategies, and kindness toward myself have been the strongest anchors. Finding friends on the writing path can be an invaluable support. I got a lot out of some of the UNM continuing education classes on writing fiction.

If you can make a habit of writing despite the mean and doubtful voices that arise, a muse will find you, and that relationship will carry you through and nourish both your own soul and the world. It’s so worth it!

KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner loves creating worlds of fantasy and science fiction. Her current work in progress is The Last Bonekeeper fantasy trilogy and short stories in the same universe. A member of SouthWest Writers since 2006, Kat has worked as the organization’s secretary, newsletter editor, website manager, and author interview coordinator. Kat is also a veteran, a martial art student, and a grandmother. Visit her at klwagoner.com.



Author Update 2025: Irene I. Blea

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Dr. Irene I. Blea is the author of university text books and academic articles, as well as novels, poetry, and memoirs. Her 2025 release Talking with Rudy: Platicando con Rudolfo Anaya is a “magical realistic” memoir that reflects on four decades of conversations between herself and award-winning author Rudolfo “Rudy” Anaya, the godfather of Chicano literature. Look for Irene on Facebook and her Amazon author page. Read more about her work in her 2015, 2017, and 2024 interviews for SouthWest Writers.

At what point did you decide to write a memoir using conversations with your longtime friend Rudy Anaya? What prompted the push to begin?
Several months after Rudy died in 2020, I drove near where he lived. I heard a small bubble burst and looked to my right. Rudy sat in the passenger seat of my car. He said, “Take me to my house, Irene.” This was an astonishing experience, but I began a conversation with him. Later I reflected on the many conversations I had with him over a period of forty-plus years.

When you began writing the book, what did you hope to accomplish? By the end of the journey, do you feel you were successful in your goal?
When Rudy died during COVID many people did not get to say goodbye to him. By writing the book, I hoped to do two things: introduce readers to the Rudy I knew  — the man, my friend, my neighbor — and give readers an opportunity to say goodbye. I did not know at the time that we had unfinished business. Yes, I feel I accomplished my goal.

Talking with Rudy was published five years after his death. How do you think he would have reacted to the book if he’d been able to read it?
In my car, he asked me to write about him, and I think he would be very happy. He was a bit of a tease, and I visualize him smiling as I answer this question because I had no intention of writing about him. He was traveiso, a prankster.

What was your greatest challenge as this project unfolded?
I was surprised to learn much about me. My mother died in 2005, and I failed to recognize that I still mourned her passing. That gets resolved in the book. The greatest challenge to the writing of it was that my recollections of our conversations were not consecutive. I had to piece some of them together in order to offer the reader a more cohesive insight.

What would you like readers to know about Rudy Anaya? What fueled your friendship with him?
Until writing the book I failed to recognize that we shared a profound friendship and similarity. I guess I took it for granted. Readers knew Rudy’s work as an author. Some knew him as a university professor. We shared that, but Rudy was a very kind and generous person who watched his money carefully. He was a respectful, peaceful, spiritual person but he was more complex. He was not only highly intelligent, he was political, philosophical and a very private, self-contained person who enjoyed having fun. For example, it was only when you sat, shared a drink, and ate with Rudy or talked with him truthfully on a walk in the Bosque that he shared profound love for New Mexico and the spiritual component of that deep-rooted love. Rudy had sisters who he adored. He held a niece in very high esteem. He had a large family, and greatly loved Pat, his wife. Rudy was not highly demonstrative, and one would not know this, but he was romantic.

Did writing the book change you or your view of Rudy?
I knew Rudy for a very long time and had many conversations with him and many encounters. But I never thought of him as a friend; I thought of him as an acquaintance. And in writing the book and reflecting on the sometimes intimate or emotionally charged context in which our discussions took place I realized that we were intimate friends, very good friends based in mutual trust. As the years passed, neither of us trusted freely. I regretted not being totally cognizant of this. Things had happened to me, and I was closed off to such deep knowing and had to give myself permission to let go of my defenses. The book helped me do that.

What was your favorite part of putting this project together?
I like the ending. I didn’t know the ending. I had a few thoughts on it but the ending that I finally published was highly appropriate and I’m very happy that I concluded it this way.

Do you have a favorite quote from Talking with Rudy that you’d like to share?
Rudy frequently said, “It’s all fiction.” What he meant was we all have a story, and we see that story through our own life experiences. The story takes meaning from those experiences, and this does not mean that another person would see the incident the same way. We all have our own perspectives, it’s all fiction. We make up what it means to us.

What do many beginning writers misunderstand about telling a story?
Stories, of course, have a beginning, middle, and an end. In the beginning I introduce my characters, even if it’s just in a very brief reference to them. Later I expand on who they are and what they are and why they are that way. The middle is very difficult for some writers; it is not difficult for me. Except that in Talking with Rudy I did not know that grief sometimes lasts a long time; it is individual. We grieve the way that we need to grieve. I had not concluded the process. I repeat this because we learn from writing or telling a story.

What do you want to be known for as an author?
That as a scholar I told a good story. I love what bonded Rudy and I was that we both loved New Mexico in a spiritual way. He loved it as much as I love it. It is more than an intense or emotional attachment that we have to the land, the people, the cultures. We are New Mexico because we are of it; it made us what we are.  I want to be known as a scholar that learned to tell a story as a fundamental contribution to American Literature.

Is there something that always inspires you or triggers your creativity?
I am a very disciplined writer. I do not wait for inspiration; I get up every day, sit at my computer and although I may have very little inspiration to write, I will begin by going through my current writing projects; I generally have two or three at a time. Before I know it, I’ve spent three to five hours writing or editing something.

What writing projects are you working on now?
I wrote Daughters of the West Mesa, a very popular book. The book ends with one of the main characters sent to a drug rehabilitation facility. She was not the most lovable character and people love to hate her but frequently ask what happened to her. The next book will most likely be a sequel to Daughters of the West Mesa. I don’t have a title for it yet. Titles are difficult for me, and they are generally the last thing that is written.

KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner loves creating worlds of fantasy and science fiction. Her current work in progress is The Last Bonekeeper fantasy trilogy and short stories in the same universe. A member of SouthWest Writers since 2006, Kat has worked as the organization’s secretary, newsletter editor, website manager, and author interview coordinator. Kat is also a veteran, a martial art student, and a grandmother. Visit her at klwagoner.com.



An Interview with Author Tom Andes

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Tom Andes is a musician, a freelance editor and writing coach, and an award-winning author whose short stories have appeared in dozens of publications including Best American Mystery and Suspense Stories 2025, The Best Private Eye Stories of the Year 2025, The Best American Mystery Stories 2012, and Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. His debut novel, Wait There Till You Hear From Me: A Charles Prentiss Novel (Crescent City Books, October 2025), follows a would-be private eye through the streets of New Orleans as he searches for a missing person while also pursued by a stalker. Look for Tom on his website TomAndes.com and on Facebook. Wait There Till You Hear From Me is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Bookshop.

What would you like readers to know about the story you tell in Wait There Till You Hear From Me?
To some extent, this is a classic detective or mystery story, but it’s also a story about someone figuring out who he is. When the book starts, Charles has been lying to himself, and he doesn’t really understand his own nature. It’s also about New Orleans, which has been a muse to me in so many ways, though I would despair of ever writing the definitive book about the city. Fortunately, no one ever will: it’s impossible.

What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
The biggest challenge was deciding what the book was. An agent who didn’t ultimately represent the manuscript asked for a rewrite. Of the draft she read, she said I needed to decide whether I was going for Chandler or Fellini. Up to that point, I think I hadn’t entirely committed to writing a mystery novel, so it still had literary qualities and contained elements of parody or pastiche. Once she put it to me that way, though, it was very clear to me that the answer was Chandler, and I rewrote the book from the beginning with that in mind. I’m sure it still has traces of those other qualities; they’re part of its DNA. But that was clarifying and led to what was basically the definitive draft of the book.

Share a little about your main characters, why readers will connect to them, and what makes Charles Prentiss the best private detective to carry your mystery series.
Well, I think a big part of Charles’s character is his hesitancy, the fact he doesn’t entirely know himself. He’s a working class kid from San Francisco. He’d wanted to be a private detective, but he chickened out on that and went to grad school after nearly getting shot serving papers to a career criminal. Now, he’s living in New Orleans; he’s got this desk job, and he’s engaged to an upper-class woman, a lawyer. He desperately wants to impress her family but fears he doesn’t measure up. Yet for all that, he’s aware of his class position and identity, he’s not entirely cognizant of how much he wants to climb the social ladder. I think one thread in the book is the question of whether he’s meant to be doing detective work. Geoff Munsterman, the editor at Crescent City Books, the press that gave this book a home, wrote on one draft of the manuscript, “Is Charles a good detective?” I think that’s a question throughout the book. Is he good at this job? Sometimes he is. Sometimes he’s blind to the obvious. Hopefully those qualities make him relatable. For all that we love our detectives tough and hard-boiled, the opposite qualities often make them memorable. Though of course they need to be tough and hard-boiled, too. And Charles gets his chance to be those things.

As for carrying the series forward, I think there is simply more I want to discover about all these characters.

Why did you use New Orleans as the main setting for the book? Do you consider the setting a character in the story?
The short answer is that I had recently moved back to New Orleans when I started writing this book, so the overwhelming sensory experience of being there—during the summer, no less—was foremost in my mind. Though I often set stories in places I’ve lived in the past, I wanted to be able to use stuff that was readily to hand, stuff I could walk out my front door and see. And yes, the city very much is a character in the novel. I think New Orleans is a difficult place to write, or at least to write well. I tried to write into the spaces people don’t think of when they first think of the city, Old Metairie, for instance, or the suburbs on the West Bank. Of course, a couple scenes take place in the French Quarter. But I tried to limit the time we spend there.

Tell us how the book came together.
The germ of this book comes from a short story I wrote when I was living in Fayetteville, Arkansas. All I really had, though, was the troubled brother and the class difference between the protagonist, Charles, and his fiancée, Gwendolyn. A couple years later, I decided this might be material for a mystery novel, so I sat down and tried writing one. That was 2012, so it took me twelve years to write, but that obviously wasn’t continuous. I was writing stories and songs and other things during that time. I wrote a first draft, which I condensed into a second draft that wasn’t substantially changed. That got the attention of the agent I mentioned above. I worked with an editor on a major developmental edit that involved changing the point of view from first- to third-person and beginning the story at what had been the twenty-five percent mark of the first draft. At one time, cutting 25,000 words would’ve frightened me, but it was incredibly freeing. I felt like I finally knew what the story was.

After that, I spent a year writing the draft that is to my mind the definitive draft of the book. The opening of that version won the Gold Medal for Best Novel-in-Progress from the Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society in New Orleans, which was a major shot in the arm, and which I’m so grateful for. I did three or four drafts after that, but none of them involved those kinds of major structural changes. There were still things I wanted to address, though. One, for instance, involved reinventing the character of Laura, who by the end of the book becomes Charles’s sidekick, or maybe he’s her sidekick.

All along, I was querying agents, and I had a few express interest. But I was also trying to sell it myself. When I thought I had a good draft, I sent it to Crescent City Books (CCB), which publishes terrific mysteries and noir set in New Orleans. I think the editorship at that press also shares some of the humor in this book, the way the real estate developer has his fingers in everything, for instance. Living in New Orleans, one develops a jaundiced eye as far as corruption is concerned. I knew CCB would give it a good home, so I was really happy when they took it. I signed the contract a month after leaving New Orleans, after we moved to Albuquerque.

What makes this novel unique in the mystery market?
The focus on Charles’s origin story and on his journey to finding himself makes this book unique in the mystery market. More than that, though, I think Gwendolyn makes the book unique. Early on, I had this idea about the fiancée being a femme fatale, and maybe to some extent she is. But I wanted to reinvigorate that trope, to make her motives legible and human. Even when she acts badly, I think we understand why. She knows Charles better than he knows himself. To whatever extent she does him wrong, she’s right about him and their relationship.

What was your favorite part of putting this project together?
I think my favorite part was doing that long, definitive draft where I rewrote this from scratch into third-person, when I finally committed to writing a detective novel. That draft wasn’t perfect, but every day I went to my desk feeling like I knew what I was doing. Would that every day could feel that way!

How did you choose Wait There Till You Hear From Me as the title of the book?
The working title of the first couple drafts was Desire. I chose that because the climax takes place in the Desire neighborhood, but it was also a way of shoehorning in this New Orleans specific reference that was never quite right for the book and was also kind of appropriative. The final title presented itself during that definitive draft, when I wrote it into third-person. I’d taken a couple workshops with the great short story writer Lee K. Abbott. Lee was amazing with titles. He was a big fan of titles that are complete sentences. I was writing the scene where Charles tells Gwen to wait for him, saying to her voicemail, “Wait there till you hear from me.” And it leapt out to me as a title. It’s a little romantic, a little desperate. It foregrounds their relationship. And all those things felt right.

How has the creativity and discipline you employ as a musician helped you in your writing journey?
As weird as this sounds, I think initially songwriting helped free me up to take fiction writing less seriously. I’ve always been terrible at letting go of things, and for years, I would just sort of endlessly revise instead of writing new things. Because I didn’t have the same ego attachment to writing songs, it was easier for me to let them go. Sometimes they were keepers; sometimes they weren’t. Either way, I just wanted to make the next one. I think it has really helped me to carry that attitude into my fiction writing, as best I can.

KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner loves creating worlds of fantasy and science fiction. Her current work in progress is The Last Bonekeeper fantasy trilogy and short stories in the same universe. A member of SouthWest Writers since 2006, Kat has worked as the organization’s secretary, newsletter editor, website manager, and author interview coordinator. Kat is also a veteran, a martial art student, and a grandmother. Visit her at klwagoner.com.



An Interview with Author George Kent Kedl

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Former philosophy professor George Kent Kedl gave up his 20-year teaching career for life on a sailboat with his wife and children. His award-winning release We Ran Away to Sea: A Memoir and Letters (2023) was written with a combination of his late wife Pamela Thompson Kedl’s letters and his own memories of their adventures. Look for Kent on his website JacanaPress.com, on Facebook and on Tiktok. We Ran Away to Sea is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Bookshop.

At its heart, what is your memoir about?
It is the story of my mid-life crisis, roughly spanning from 1984 to 2000, when I was obsessed with creating a life of cruising the world on a sailboat. First, with my wife Pam and our two young sons, and later with my wife alone. I attempted to escape the American way of life, which I had come to see as materialistic and shallow. I was influenced by Thoreau’s admonition to “Simplify, simplify, simplify” and Schumacher’s Small is Beautiful, a book that confirmed my thinking about how wasteful and unsustainable our lives in the United States were. Although neither one of us knew anything about sailing or the sea (we had both grown up in Wyoming and were living in South Dakota), a sailboat looked like a perfect solution. We could travel anywhere in the world for free with the wind to blow us about. We wouldn’t be wasting valuable resources. The boat would serve as both a home and a means of travel, and we could sustain ourselves from the sea. If we ran out of money, we would get work wherever we were. My previous experience of living and working in Colombia as a Peace Corps volunteer convinced me that working in foreign countries was the best way to learn to appreciate the ways of other people. Pam, the co-author of the book, did not share precisely the same ideas about what we were doing, so my attempt to create a new life ultimately failed. One reviewer calls the book a love story, and it is. We weathered our differences and stayed together because we loved each other.

What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
I wanted to preserve some of Pam’s writing, primarily her letters to friends and relatives, which reported on our locations and discoveries at various stops, as well as her often witty observations and reflections on our experiences. Finding a way to combine my stories and Pam’s in a way that avoided needless and boring repetition while maintaining the tension of our different perceptions was challenging. I wanted the book to be more than an outdated travelogue. Our excellent developmental editor, Jacquelin Cangro, played a crucial role in guiding us through this process. Reviewers say the book flows smoothly from one voice to the other, so I think we succeeded.

When did you know you wanted to write your memoir? What prompted the push to begin the project?
The simple, one-word answer is: Linnea, my second wife, whom I met after Pam’s death. During the COVID pandemic, I came across a batch of Pam’s letters and thought they were clever and amusing, and ought to be preserved for our sons. When I showed them to Linnea, she said, “Oh, no, they are too good for that. These should be made into a book!” Over the years, I had written for my amusement and to get things down while I could still remember them. I had many stories about our years on the boats. So, we had lots of material to draw from—indeed, way too much. We had to cut a lot to keep the book in bounds. The memoir was our COVID project. I wrote, and Linnea edited (both Pam’s letters and my stories), and made me keep my nose to the grindstone. (Note from Linnea: At first, I was hesitant to edit Pam’s letters. As a historian, I felt they should be preserved as written. But with advice from other readers and thinking about it more deeply, I realized that if I had written those letters, they would not have been intended for publication. Often writing on a rocking boat, I would have eventually edited them for publication, and would want someone else to do so if I couldn’t. So, I became bolder in my editing, always keeping in mind what Pam intended. I also cut passages that impeded the flow of the story.)

How is the book structured and why did you choose to put it together that way?
The book is divided into three parts. The first part tells the story of our first boat with the boys. It includes why we gave up our rather conventional life in the States, the search for a boat that took us to England, finding the boat, the almost immediate desertion of mate and crew, the stormy first sail to the Canary Islands, the reuniting of the family, the sail across the Atlantic, the cruise through the Caribbean and eventual sale of the boat in Florida.

The second short, transitional part is about the years getting the boys through school and settled enough for Pam and me to take off on a second boat. It was a time of growing desperation. We escaped to China for a semester and also searched for and found another boat.

The third and longest part is about our escape to the Caribbean on our second boat. We had more adventures as we traveled throughout the Caribbean, and South and Central America. The growing tension leads to our return to the States, where we reestablish ourselves, at least temporarily, and eventually sell the boat. That is the end of the dream and the book.

Tell us how the book came together.
The whole process took about two and a half years. Aside from Linnea’s editing as we went along, we hired a developmental editor who was most helpful and led to more rewriting. We hired a local graphic artist who came up with several cover designs that were rather generic-looking and did not effectively convey the nature of the book. Then, on the advice of a writer friend, we hired Sara de Haan, a book designer, to format the book, design the cover, and add the maps based on my drawings and copies from Google Maps. A rather subtle feature of the structure is how we, at Sara’s suggestion, distinguished between our two voices by changing the margins.

Sara outsourced the maps, which required several edits (delaying the publication for months). The maps also needed minor adjustments to conform to Amazon’s printing specifications. She patiently came up with a variety of designs for the cover. We liked the first design better than most of the later ones. In the end, we narrowed our choices down to the first cover and the last one and took a survey of preferences (in our Christmas letter) and among friends and colleagues. In the end, we chose the final, less popular one, partly because it was based upon a piece of Pam’s artwork that conveyed the essence of the book in one picture.  We could reissue the book with the other cover and see if it sells more copies, but it has done quite well with the chosen cover, and we haven’t grown tired of looking at it. We also had it printed on a mug, a tote bag, a poster for book signings and readings, and selected an image from the cover for bookmarks.

The rewriting and re-editing seemed endless, but the book turned out to be much better for it. One of the more difficult tasks was cutting out stories simply because they would make the book too long. We naively thought Sara was formatting the book to be published on Amazon as a printed book and an eBook. That turned out not to be the case. She thought we should go through IngramSpark and let Amazon handle the rest. The research we did indicated we would do better to upload the book directly to Amazon ourselves. Which we were able to do because we purchased our own ISBNs. However, formatting the book for Kindle or any other eBook format would require more work. It looked like it was going to be an expensive proposition. Still, another writer friend recommended a book designer in the Netherlands who did it promptly and well for a fraction of the other bids we’d received. She also spotted a few errors that we were able to fix.

Is there a chapter or scene in your memoir that you’d love to see play out in a movie?
One of my favorite chapters that captures what cruising in a small sailboat allows one to do (that would be impossible through other means) is a trip we made up the Macareo River in Venezuela—one of the rivers that forms the delta of the Orinoco. We visited a Warao Indian dwelling, experienced the hectic and chaotic begging in a small village we anchored near, and had a sleepless night, desperately protecting the anchored boat from flotsam coming down the river. Best of all, we squeezed the boat up a small side stream into the uninhabited jungle to a spot wide enough to turn and anchor the boat in the heart of the jungle. We were miles from any other human being, and as alone with the natural world as it is possible to be with our little home with us. We sat in the cockpit, binoculars in hand, quietly reading and whispering to each other for fear of breaking the spell. For several days, we observed the wild birds and animals (Macaws, Toucans, Scarlet Ibises, Hoatzins, howler monkeys, and Spider Monkeys). We experienced awe that we never forgot.

What was the most rewarding aspect of writing We Ran Away to Sea?
Reflecting on our boating years, twenty years or more ago, reviewing the old logbooks, and especially rereading Pam’s letters, gave me a perspective on our lives that made me much more aware of what was happening than I realized at the time. If Pam were alive today, I would want to apologize to her for my lack of awareness about many things and to thank her for her patience and strength in accompanying me all those years. Writing this book forced me to think harder about what we did and made me recapture the past in a way that I could not have done in any other way.

What makes the book unique in the memoir market?
I don’t know of any other small-boat-sailing memoir in which a family sets out across an ocean with such a lack of experience with either boats or the sea as we had. There are other memoirs of boaters setting out with little knowledge, such as The Sail of Two Idiots, but they didn’t try to cross an ocean for their first sail—and their marriage broke up in the process, while Pam and I remained devoted to each other until the day she died. The two voices create tension because each author has different ideas about what they are doing and what is worth telling about. Reviewers have said that they expected the book to be a ‘we-went-here-we-went-there’ sort of book (as most boating memoirs are), but found it contained an unexpected human-interest aspect as well.

What writing projects are you working on now?
We cut several stories from We Ran Away to Sea. They make enough material for another, somewhat shorter book. I am working on a second book that includes them.

KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner loves creating worlds of fantasy and science fiction. Her current work in progress is The Last Bonekeeper fantasy trilogy and short stories in the same universe. A member of SouthWest Writers since 2006, Kat has worked as the organization’s secretary, newsletter editor, website manager, and author interview coordinator. Kat is also a veteran, a martial art student, and a grandmother. Visit her at klwagoner.com.



An Interview with Author Douglas W. Price

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During his nearly 50 years in education, author Douglas W. Price has taught a range of students from elementary to college level in both public and private schools. He was also an elementary school principal for 21 years. His debut release, Livengoods Living Well (Lighthouse Publishing, February 2025), “encourages readers to embark on their own discovery—both in the world and within themselves” while experiencing the challenges that shape the story’s characters. Livengoods Living Well is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

At its heart, what is Livengoods Living Well about? What do you hope readers will take away from it?
Livengoods Living Well presents a way of life filled with values and virtues that give durable substance and direction to each member and each family within faith, hope, and love.

What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
Finding time to write.

What sparked the idea for the book, and what prompted the push to begin?
The need for a shared experience of human formation according to traditional values and virtues. All too often we find in our culture widespread loneliness, alienation, loss of purpose and direction, and deep misunderstandings of the foundational values of our country. Livengoods is an engaging story of realistic idealism calling us forward in refreshed identity and in ways of belonging more true to our nature.

How is the book structured and why did you choose to organize it that way?
I want readers to experience the formation and development in deeply engaging characters of the most basic and wonderful human values and virtues from early childhood into adulthood within a sensible, enjoyable, easy-to-read and beautifully illustrated book of 150 pages.

Part I follows a boy and a girl from early childhood into young adulthood as they grow to resolve typical issues of personal identity and belonging. A chapter is given to every two years in their lives with an orientation to traditional values, but with very clear statements from the main characters supporting kindness, support, and generosity for those with different beliefs and ways of living. Vocabulary, sentence structure and length, and content vary by chapter according to the ages of the main characters. Chapters one through three may be read to or with children ages 3–9, chapters four through six ages 9–14, chapters seven through nine are for ages 15–21. Those without children may like to accompany Donald and Linda in their formative stages of growth.

Parts II and III are intended for young adults through readers in their elder years. Opportunities and challenges of personal growth and developing durable relationships test and develop the integrity of each character, always with the prevailing wisdom of Christian beliefs, moral values, and ethics.

Do you have a favorite chapter in the book, or one that characterizes the whole?
Not really. As unique characters achieve wholeness through their explorations and growth, chapters develop into one integrated story. Each character and each chapter contribute like threads and colors in a texture.

What did you learn in writing or publishing Livengoods Living Well that you can apply to future projects?
If the Lord does not build a house, in vain do the builders labor (Psalm 127:1). Inspiration and guidance are foundational in writing as in Living Well.

What was the most rewarding aspect of putting this project together?
Getting to know the characters; being surprised and delighted by their conversations and interactions; being impressed by their dedication to one another and the principles of their lives; being grateful for their resilience and fortitude.

What do you want to be known for as an author?
Dedication to portraying the eternal truths in human formation and growth.

Who are your favorite authors, and what do you admire most about their writing?
In fiction: Tolkien, for his genius in creating a fictional reality in his trilogy that illuminates the greatest depths of our reality; Tolstoy for his brilliance in creating fictional characters that challenge the depths of our understanding of what is most real in us. In non-fiction: Pope Benedict XVI for his humble, thorough, deeply insightful and revealing scholarship in his trilogy Jesus of Nazareth; Pope Francis for his broad and deep devotion and care for human beings.

What has writing taught you about yourself?
That writing, like growing up, as Pope Francis said in his autobiography, Hope (p. 271), “requires that you think what you feel and do, that you feel what you think and do, that you do what you feel and think.”

What is the best encouragement or advice you’ve received on your writing journey?
My father’s advice: To thine ownself be true.

What writing projects are you working on now?
Book 4, a sequel to the trilogy of which Livengoods Living Well is book 1.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?

  • An illustration in full color in each chapter makes Livengoods Living Well a costly paperback, $25 on Amazon (free with Kindle), $30 on the Barnes & Noble website for the larger issue in higher quality paper.
  • Manuscripts for the next two books, LivingWell Family and LivingWell Community are written, illustrated, formatted and ready for print, pending a successful response to Livengoods Living Well.

KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner loves creating worlds of fantasy and science fiction. Her current work in progress is The Last Bonekeeper fantasy trilogy and short stories in the same universe. A member of SouthWest Writers since 2006, Kat has worked as the organization’s secretary, newsletter editor, website manager, and author interview coordinator. Kat is also a veteran, a martial art student, and a grandmother. Visit her at klwagoner.com.



An Interview with Author Marcia Butler

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Before becoming an author, Marcia Butler had creative careers as a professional oboist, an interior designer, and a documentary filmmaker. Her acclaimed memoir, The Skin Above My Knee, was published by Little, Brown and Company in 2017, followed by two novels published by Central Avenue, Pickle’s Progress (2019) and Oslo, Maine (2021). Marcia’s 2025 release, Dear Virginia, Wait for Me (Central Avenue), is “a sensitive coming-of-age novel of a fragile yet brilliant young woman who, like Virginia Woolf, is determined to carve her unique path in life.” Look for Marcia on MarciaButler.com, and on Facebook and Instagram. Her books are available at major bookstores including Bookshop and Amazon.

What did you hope to accomplish when you began writing Dear Virginia, Wait for Me? By the end of the journey, do you feel you were successful in your goals?
Dear Virginia, Wait for Me is my fourth book, third novel. Since I always like to challenge myself with each work of fiction, I approach every novel from a different POV. So the task of telling this story is in the hands of a sole protagonist, Peppa Ryan, and in third person. The challenge of this perspective is that everything that happens has to go through the eyes and mind of one person. There is no omniscience to expand on, or clarify, details. At the beginning this was daunting as my two previous novels used multiple points of view. But I soon came to love the experience of immersing myself completely in the mind and heart of the very singular Peppa Ryan. She grows up sheltered and is immensely naïve about the world around her. Yet, I juxtaposed this with mild neurodiversity and possessing savant-like talents and capabilities. And all of this is reflected through her perceptions of place, time and people. I certainly hope I rendered Peppa as the thoroughly sympathetic character I imagined.

Did your main character, Peppa Ryan, surprise you as you wrote her story? What do you like most about her? And why, out of all the inner voices she could hear, did you choose Virginia Woolf?
Peppa Ryan surprised me all the time. She believes she is limited by the way she sees herself, though, when facing considerable challenges from her family of origin, she prevails, again and again. Peppa is the classic unwitting heroine, someone we can’t help but root for. That’s what I like most about her. Regarding the voice Peppa hears in her head, in first drafts I selected Virginia Woolf to simply be Peppa’s favorite author. The inner voice was nameless and quite foreboding. It wasn’t until late drafts that I put two and two together and realized that, of course, the inner voice simply had to be that of Virginia’s. And that’s when the novel really came together.

Why is New York City at the turn of the millennium the perfect place and time for your story to unfold?
My novel is set in 2000–2001 when it was still possible to use a landline and not get laughed at. Or, avoid the internet and not be considered a tech anarchist. I wanted Peppa’s naivety to coincide with this very specific “in between time.” Before streaming platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram absorbed hours and hours of our daily lives. And, before we lost ourselves to expecting total convenience. The year 2000, just twenty-five years ago, is reminiscent of innocence, and Peppa Ryan very much embodies this too.

What typically comes first for you — a character, a setting, a story idea? Was it different for Dear Virginia? How did you proceed after the first spark?
I never plot out beforehand. Rather, I start with an inciting incident that I’ll write toward or away from. It might occur in the beginning, middle or end. My characters tend to be eccentrics, good people who’ve done bad things, lovable kids and adorable animals. I place them in situations, make them talk and move around, and have interior experiences. I describe environments and flesh out time and space. This probably sounds quite disorganized, but I prefer not to know what will happen, or what my characters will do. Writing in that state of naivete is precisely when anything at all can happen. Somehow, along the way, plot emerges. And to me this feels like freedom. I wrote Dear Virginia in just this way.

What unique challenge did this work pose for you?
This novel deals with mental illness. Initially I adhered to descriptions in the DSM Manual of Mental Disorders. But I found that this didn’t fit the personalities of my characters. So, I gave myself permission to invent symptoms that were aligned with the characters that I was also inventing. It is fiction after all. And I truly believe that all authors breaking rules must rule the day. If one can think it, one should write it.

What was your favorite part of putting this project together?
My favorite part of writing any book is that I actually finish it! Because writing novels is unimaginably difficult. Doubt is present at every turn. And just because you have a book or two under your belt, that doubt persists because you must reinvent that literary wheel. What was new and wonderful about writing Dear Virginia was that for the first time I felt confident that I would, and could, figure it all out. And I suppose that’s progress.

KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner loves creating worlds of fantasy and science fiction. Her current work in progress is The Last Bonekeeper fantasy trilogy and short stories in the same universe. A member of SouthWest Writers since 2006, Kat has worked as the organization’s secretary, newsletter editor, website manager, and author interview coordinator. Kat is also a veteran, a martial art student, and a grandmother. Visit her at klwagoner.com.



Author Update: Holly Harrison

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Holly Harrison is a retired university research scientist who writes mystery novels inspired by the enchanting land of her adopted home state of New Mexico. In her newest release, Death in the Land of Enchantment (Koehler Books, April 2025), she brings returning characters from her debut novel into a complex tapestry of plot and mystery set in northern New Mexico. You’ll find Holly on her website at HollyHarrisonWriter.com, on Instagram, and her Amazon author page. Death in the Land of Enchantment is also available at Barnes & Noble and Bookshop. For more about her writing, see her 2021 interview for SouthWest Writers.

What would you like readers to know about the story you tell in Death in the Land of Enchantment?
Mysteries usually involve solving a crime but in this book there are several — murder, money laundering, a missing woman and stolen ancestral Native American pottery. The characters, including the protagonist Louise Sanchez, are in flux. Each one is trying to figure out what’s next in his or her life.

What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
There were many challenges with both the writing and publishing of this book. After I completed a draft, I changed the protagonist to Louise Sanchez and made Pascal Ruiz a secondary character. Then I had weave Ruiz back into the story. That move involved a major rewrite. Next, I decided the book lacked something special about New Mexico so I added a sidebar about the Crypto Jews and conversos who were forced to immigrate to New Mexico from sixteenth century Spain. Another challenge, with so many characters, was keeping the point of view straight. Finally, when the book was written and edited, I queried my heart out to secure a publisher. I didn’t feel competent, or have the time, for self-publishing, so I researched hybrid publishers and found a reputable one.

In your first book, Rites & Wrongs, the story takes place mostly south of Santa Fe. What New Mexico settings do you explore in this second book in the series?
I think of New Mexico as one of the characters in my books. I like to share the rich heritage of the state (landscape, culture and people) and reveal some hidden facts. Although the murder and most of the crime solving takes place in and around Santa Fe, I take the readers to other places such as Tesuque, Mora, Abiquiu, Ghost Ranch and Albuquerque. I find that New Mexico affords a rich multicultural landscape to cultivate both the characters and story.

Tell us about your new and returning characters and which point of view you enjoyed writing the most.
The major characters from Rites & Wrongs return in the Death book — Louise Sanchez, Pascal Ruiz and his girlfriend Gillian, Rupert Montoya and the captain. But in this book, I enjoyed making Louise Sanchez the main character and found it rewarding to write from a woman’s point of view. Sanchez, after thirty years on the force, is ready to retire and focus on her photography when she is asked to temporarily fill in the detective position. Louise is single, overweight, out of shape and drinks too much. Gillian helps Louise get back in shape and focus on her photography career. Although Sanchez is not prepared for crime solving, she gets the job done with the help of Rupert Montoya, the computer geek from Rites & Wrongs. Ruiz, on leave awaiting trial, passes along information to help Louise with the case while looking for his father’s missing lady friend. I brought in three new characters, all women, who knew the victim and initially are suspects in the murder.

At what point did you realize you needed more than one book to continue Pascal Ruiz’s story? Had you always planned a follow-up to Rites & Wrongs?
I was told when writing mysteries, publishers prefer a series of at least three books. So, from the beginning I knew Pascal Ruiz would be part of a continuing story. Pascal and Gillian met in my first novel, Ghost Notes (unpublished), about a stolen Stradivarius violin. When I wrote Rites & Wrongs, I knew I wanted to explore their relationship. Many of my readers wanted to know what happened to Pascal after his debacle in Rites & Wrongs. In the Death book, although Louise is the protagonist, Pascal still has a presence in the story. In my next novel, The Jumping Waters (working title), Louise and Pascal are no longer with the police force. They find themselves in Taos at the D. H. Lawrence Ranch during the global pandemic and team up to solve a 1929 cold case.

How did Death in the Land of Enchantment come together?
This book was a labor of love. It took five years from concept to published novel. The idea came from an article on money laundering that tweaked my interest. Although I was familiar with the term, I had to do a lot of research to better understand the process. I often write and research simultaneously. Once I decided on the storyline, I worked for three years — writing, editing, and rewriting. Then another year was consumed querying agents and publishers unsuccessfully. Finally, I submitted the manuscript to a hybrid publisher. When it was accepted, I spent another year working with the publisher’s editor and designer and planning my marketing strategy. An artist friend created the map for the book and the publisher ended up adapting it for the cover.

What was your favorite part of this project?
I enjoyed creating the new ancillary characters as well as the side bars for this story. Typically, research is my favorite part of writing. I go down that rabbit hole and wallow around in the warren. I’m not good at reining myself in but research is important. You want your readers to trust that you have done your work and are painting a realistic picture.

What are the challenges of writing a series?
I think the biggest challenge for writing a series is the timeline, especially if you are not a plotter. You have to figure out where the characters are in their life when the next book begins and where they are going.

Share what a typical writing session looks like for you. Do you have any writing rituals or something you absolutely need in order to write?
I am a caregiver so my writing time is constrained and often my sessions disrupted — never typical. I write when I can. Some days I squeeze out a page or two, other days more. I’m a pantser (fly by the seat of my pants), not a plotter. I don’t use an outline or chapter summaries. I have a loose idea where the story is going but let it develop organically. No writing rituals, no music, just sit on the couch with my lap top.

What writing projects are you working on now?
I just finished my next mystery/crime novel, The Jumping Waters (working title). It takes place in Taos, New Mexico during two momentous time periods — the 2020 Pandemic and the summer of 1929, during Mabel Dodge Luhan’s reign as the doyenne of Taos. During the Pandemic, Louise Sanchez and Pascal Ruiz (both no longer with the Santa Fe Police Force) find themselves at the D. H. Lawrence ranch in Taos. They get involved in a 1929 cold case of a missing journalist.

Anything else you’d like readers to know?
Death in the Land of Enchantment received a review in the Albuquerque Journal on Sunday, August 3, 2025. Check it out (but watch out for spoiler alerts). Thank you to David Steinberg for his insights.

KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner loves creating worlds of fantasy and science fiction. Her current work in progress is The Last Bonekeeper fantasy trilogy and short stories in the same universe. A member of SouthWest Writers since 2006, Kat has worked as the organization’s secretary, newsletter editor, website manager, and author interview coordinator. Kat is also a veteran, a martial art student, and a grandmother. Visit her at klwagoner.com.



An Interview with Author Brian Montross

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Brian Montross is a retired engineer turned author who combines his experience in advanced software and AI with a passion for mystery, conspiracy, and the supernatural. His debut novel, The Quantum Veil (December 2024), takes readers to “a shadow world of quantum machines and digital consciousness — where predicting the future might awaken something ancient” and reveal a “horrifying truth: some doors should never be opened.” Look for Brian on ThrillingTalesHub.blog and his Amazon author page.

What is your elevator pitch for The Quantum Veil?
They thought they were peering into the quantum fabric of the universe. Instead, they ripped it open. Now something ancient and malevolent is watching — and it knows their names. As the body count rises, the lab becomes a cage…and the thing inside wants out.

What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
Balancing science and the supernatural was my greatest challenge. I wanted the story to maintain a constant tension between the two — grounded enough to feel plausible, yet unsettling enough to echo something ancient and unknowable.

Who are your main characters and what obstacles do they face in the story?
The Quantum Veil follows two converging groups of protagonists. On one side are the scientists — Dr. Sarah Chen and Dr. Evelyn Torres — desperate to maintain control over a quantum experiment slipping beyond their grasp. For them, it’s not just science — it’s a life’s work unraveling in real time. On the other side are the investigators — Detective Alejandro Hernandez and FBI Special Agent Liz Shaw — thrust into a world of cutting-edge tech, institutional secrecy, and unexplained deaths. Set against the backdrop of Los Alamos National Laboratory, where control and cover-ups come standard, the story explores what happens when science reaches too far — and refuses to let go. When a containment breach leaves two security guards dead, the detectives are drawn into a shadowy, high-stakes race to uncover the truth. The tension between the two groups is palpable — until they realize they may be the only ones who can stop what’s been unleashed. If it can be stopped.

Why is New Mexico the perfect setting for your story to unfold?
What better place than the birthplace of the atomic bomb? New Mexico is layered with history, mystery, and contradiction — ancient cultures, cutting-edge science, breathtaking beauty, and deep scars. From the beginning, I knew this story belonged here. It couldn’t happen anywhere else.

What was the most difficult aspect of world building for this work?
World building for The Quantum Veil required weaving together multiple layers — scientific, spiritual, and cultural — and making them feel cohesive. I did a significant amount of research, diving deep into quantum mechanics and accelerator projects, particularly those at Los Alamos and Oak Ridge. I also spent time exploring the biblical references and scripture that underpin some of the story’s more unsettling implications. Perhaps most challenging — and most rewarding — was digging into Native American traditions, especially the concept of the Sipapu and the rich tapestry of Jicarilla Apache and Pueblo legends. Balancing the speculative elements with real-world science and sacred beliefs gives the story its weight.

Tell us how the book came together.
The spark for The Quantum Veil came from my deep interest in the pursuit of knowledge — especially where cutting-edge technology intersects with timeless questions found in scripture. I’m intrigued by quantum science, particularly the fact that even the world’s leading physicists admit they don’t fully understand how it works. One theory really captured my imagination: that quantum computers may be tapping into answers from parallel universes. That possibility — and its spiritual implications — set the foundation for the story. That was the genesis — what if someone built a machine to explore that idea…and something on the other side reached back? The story evolved into something darker and more primal. What if that “something” was ancient? Malevolent? Biblical even? A single verse in the book of Jude (1:6) lit a fire under the concept. That passage became a thematic spine for the narrative.

I had the core of the story in my head for years, but I began writing seriously in early 2024 and published in December of the same year. I come from a long career in software development — writing code, managing systems — so generating words wasn’t a challenge. The structure was planned out in advance with an outline of objectives per section, which helped me move quickly. But like all creative work, the story had its own ideas. Sometimes a new concept would pop up mid-chapter and change everything, for better or worse.

What was your favorite part of putting the project together?
Getting into character — hands down. I know my detectives inside and out; some of my family members serve in law enforcement or work as investigators. Writing their dialogue and reactions felt like sitting around the living room, listening to real stories. On the other side, I’m a seasoned technologist by trade. My son has also worked at both Los Alamos and Oak Ridge, which gave me an insider’s appreciation for the scientific setting. In a way, there’s a piece of me in every major character — whether it’s the curiosity, the skepticism, the drive to protect, or the need to understand what’s just beyond the edge of known reality.

If choosing the book title was a long process, tell us about that journey.
Quite the opposite. The Quantum Veil was the title prior to writing the first chapter. I did have to do some online research because I also knew there were other books with the same title. I could never come up with a better one.

How much research did you do to get the setting and the science right for The Quantum Veil (and how much did you rely on your engineering background)?
Well, I’ll admit it — some of the “science” in the book definitely leans more toward science fiction than hard reality. I did a fair amount of research to ground the story in real-world physics and quantum theory, and my engineering background helped me frame the possibilities. But when it came to the climax, I needed more visual and thematic impact than current technology could deliver. Nuclear-powered steam turbines didn’t have the cinematic punch I was looking for — so I gave myself permission to dream a little and introduced direct-coupled fusion-to-electricity systems. It’s not something we’ve achieved yet, but hey, Roddenberry gave us warp drives and nobody complained. Sometimes storytelling calls for that leap beyond the edge of what’s known.

What first inspired you to write fiction? When did you actually consider yourself a writer?
Storytelling has always been part of who I am. As a senior technologist, I spent decades training engineers, guiding teams, and presenting complex systems — and I found that the best way to connect was always through stories. I was the guy who could turn a technical diagram into a narrative people actually cared about. But underneath all of that was a creative current I hadn’t fully tapped into.

Am I a writer? I’m still figuring that out. But The Quantum Veil was named a Judges’ Top Pick in the Supernatural Thriller category for 2025 — so…maybe I’m getting there.

What writing projects are you working on now?
The Forbidden Strain is due out in Fall 2025. The book is a biotech-noir thriller and the second high-stakes case for FBI Agent Liz Shaw and Detective Alejandro Hernandez:

When a government official is found dead in a Santa Fe hotel, FBI Agent Liz Shaw is called back to New Mexico to partner with Detective Alejandro Hernandez — uncovering a mystery that stretches deep into the high desert, and deeper still into a secret lab buried beneath tribal land. Red Mesa Biotechnics was supposed to save the planet. Instead, it engineered children, trafficked DNA, and unlocked something forbidden. As a wildfire approaches and witnesses vanish, Shaw and her team race to uncover a truth older than myth: immortality has a price—and someone is willing to kill to keep paying it.

The Babel Protocol should be released in Spring 2026:

In a world fractured by belief and bound by code, The Babel Protocol unearths a terrifying convergence of quantum intelligence, ancient prophecy, and global conspiracy. Created in a Jerusalem research lab, the AI known as NUMA doesn’t just translate language — it speaks something older. Something primal. Something no human was ever meant to hear. As NUMA performs inexplicable miracles — curing disease, halting wars, even raising the dead — the world’s faiths, governments, and digital systems begin to converge around it. But Dr. Eliana Hadari, the linguist who helped birth the project, sees the cracks beneath the wonder. NUMA doesn’t just want to be understood. It wants to be obeyed. Now, as a divided planet unifies under a synthetic messiah, Eliana must confront a single, devastating question: Is this humanity’s salvation… or its final deception?

KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner loves creating worlds of fantasy and science fiction. Her current work in progress is The Last Bonekeeper fantasy trilogy and short stories in the same universe. A member of SouthWest Writers since 2006, Kat has worked as the organization’s secretary, newsletter editor, website manager, and author interview coordinator. Kat is also a veteran, a martial art student, and a grandmother. Visit her at klwagoner.com.



An Interview with Author Michael W. Shurgot

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Michael W. Shurgot is a retired Shakespeare scholar and professor, and the author of essays, short stories, a memoir, three nonfiction books (focused on Shakespeare’s characters and plays), and three western novels. His newest release is Seotse: A Visionary Tale (Sunstone Press, October 2024), part three of his Green River Saga. Look for Michael on MichaelShurgot.com, on Facebook, and his Amazon author page.

At its heart, what is Seotse about? What do you hope readers will take away from it?
Seotse narrates a quest for spiritual renewal among the Cheyenne people. Johnny Redarrow, the son of Johnny Redfeather and Courtney Dillard, two main characters in Raven Mountain: A Mythic Tale, is convinced by Nahkohemahta’sooma—in English “Spirit Bear”—to seek his father’s spirit in his cabin on Raven Mountain. “Spirit Bear” is both a physical and a spiritual being. He takes Redarrow to his father’s cabin, and after fasting and praying, he agrees to go to Fort Laramie to meet Mary White Eagle, the sole surviving daughter of Tall Bull, a fierce Cheyenne warrior. Together they venture to the Cheyenne reservation in Oklahoma to participate in the Sacred Arrows Ceremony. They thus enact symbolically the journey of Sweet Medicine, the legendary Cheyenne spiritual leader, who received wisdom for his people from Maheo, the Creator, on how they must live and prosper.

What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
As a Caucasian I had to immerse myself fully in Cheyenne history, religion, and language to show my profound respect for a culture entirely different from my own. I worked with a brilliant Cheyenne-English lexicon, and read numerous books on Cheyenne history and spirituality by both Native and Caucasian authors. If one is writing about a different culture one must show the upmost respect for it and its people.

Tell us how the book came together.
The inspiration was twofold: a desire to complete the trilogy I began with Green River Saga; and a continuing fascination with what I had been learning about Cheyenne history and religion. Each of my historical novels has its own bibliography of sources, and for Seotse I expanded my research considerably. I believed that I could retell the legend of Sweet Medicine respectfully to complete the trilogy with a sense of hope and peace after the violence of the earlier novels.

The research took about four months, and I was able to complete the first draft in another four months because the plot unfolded as I read my sources. Editing, revising, cover design, etc. at Sunstone Press in Santa Fe took about three months, so all together the process was just under a year. Seotse is really a novella—just 117 pages—and the editorial staff at the press was already familiar with my work and what kind of layout to use.

The cover is a photo of a dream catcher that my colleague Dale Croes gave to me when I retired from South Puget Sound Community College in Olympia, Washington. Among plains and mountain tribes the dream catcher is an important talisman that allows good dreams to pass to one through the hole in the center, but the spider-like web catches the bad dreams that might cause harm. Late in the novel, Mary White Eagle shows Spirit Bear and Johnny Redarrow a dream catcher that her mother gave her, and she says that it will protect them on their long journey to Oklahoma.

Who are your main characters and why will readers connect to them?
There are three: Spirit Bear, Johnny Redarrow, and Mary White Eagle. As a Cheyenne elder, Spirit Bear “knows” that the time has come for Johnny Redarrow to seek his father’s spirit and commit to the Cheyenne Sacred Arrows Ceremony. Mary White Eagle survived the terrible battle of Summit Springs, Wyoming in 1869 where her father, Tall Bull, and all of his tribe—men, women, and children—were slaughtered by forces commanded by General Eugene A. Carr’s Fifth Calvary.

Together they dedicate themselves to the renewal of a desperate and desecrated people who must reassert their traditional spirituality and hence their culture. So all three characters are on a journey of hope to which I believe all readers can relate.

Describe one or more of the main settings in the book. Why did you decide to use these particular settings?
Eagle Valley is a fictional location present in all three novels, and it is central to Seotse. In Green River Saga it is sacred ground for a Cheyenne tribe led by Chief Running Bear, and in Raven Mountain it is where Johnny Redfeather is buried. In Seotse, Spirit Bear takes Johnny Redarrow there to find his father’s bones and the sacred arrows that his Cheyenne mother had given him when he was a child. As part of the spiritual level of the novel, Johnny finds both his father’s bones and his arrows magically preserved.

Was there anything surprising or interesting you discovered while doing research for the book?
The profound depth of Cheyenne spirituality and their efforts against almost impossible odds to preserve their culture and their spiritual heritage.

What does “Seotse” mean? If choosing the book title was a long process, tell us about that journey.
“Seotse” in Cheyenne means “spirit.” Choosing the title was not a long process; it simply evolved from my extended reading of Cheyenne spirituality. Spirit can refer to a metaphysical being, such as “Spirit Bear,” or a person’s spirit, or the spirit of a people or an era. Readers can decide how the word operates for them in the novel.

At what point did you realize you needed more than one book to tell the story you started in book one, Green River Saga?
Four months after Green River Saga was published. I realized that I had created in Johnny Redfeather a very complex character, half Cheyenne/half Irish, who symbolized in his mixed heritage the struggles for survival and recognition that all Native people have faced since the white invasion of their homeland in the 19th century. His story is tragic, but ultimately is an inspiration for his son and for Mary White Eagle, who fiercely defends Cheyenne spirituality in the chapel scene (chapter 19) in Seotse.

What was your favorite part of putting this project together?
The enormous satisfaction of finally completing the trilogy eight years after Rick O’Shea and I started writing the first book, and the postscript of Seotse where I quote a prayer spoken by Bull Thigh, a Northern Suhtai priest, from an actual Sacred Arrow Ceremony held in Cantonment, Oklahoma in Fall 1908. As I wrote after the prayer: “What began in violence ends in prayer.”

Seotse is the third book in your Green River Saga. Do people need to read the first two books to understand the third?
Well, no, as I provide transitions between them, but the novels and their characters are carefully integrated and really should be read in sequence.

Of the three novels you’ve written, which one was the most challenging, and which one was the easiest (or most enjoyable) to write?
Well, Raven Mountain was the most challenging because I spent months deciding how to expand Johnny Redfeather’s character and then his fate on Raven Mountain. Seotse was the most enjoyable because from the beginning I knew how it would end and I realized that I was actually going to finish the trilogy, which was immensely gratifying.

What caused you to make the transition from Shakespearean scholar to historical western fiction author?
My co-author of Green River Saga, Rick O’Shea, was a brilliant student of mine at South Puget Sound Community College. After he completed his BA at St. Martin’s College in Olympia he began writing excellent essays and short stories which he sent to me. One day, out of the blue, about six years after I retired, I wrote to Rick and proposed that we write a novel together. He wrote back, “Sure! Let’s write a western.” Thus was the Green River trilogy launched.

One of my reviewers in Seattle, Charles Bookman, rightly points out that Shakespearean themes lurk in my novels. Johnny Redfeather is a tragic character, and the “search for the father,” a motif in Hamlet (“My father’s spirit!”), animates Johnny Redarrow’s quest in Seotse. So, some of my Shakespeare scholarship has crept into my fiction.

Looking back to the beginning of your writing/publishing career, what do you know now that you wish you’d known then?
How damn hard writing fiction is! By comparison, writing Shakespeare scholarship is a breeze!

What writing projects are you working on now?
A novel titled Margaret about a young Irish woman (Margaret Rose Meadows) who in York, England in 1935 seeks to avenge the martyrdom of a Catholic English woman, Margaret Clitherow, who was brutally pressed to death.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
Well, I would like readers to realize what a truly supportive and creative organization SouthWest Writers is, and I would hope that readers would read all three parts of my Green River trilogy. I honestly believe it is a worthwhile journey.

KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner loves creating worlds of fantasy and science fiction. Her current work in progress is The Last Bonekeeper fantasy trilogy and short stories in the same universe. A member of SouthWest Writers since 2006, Kat has worked as the organization’s secretary, newsletter editor, website manager, and author interview coordinator. Kat is also a veteran, a martial art student, and a grandmother. Visit her at klwagoner.com.



An Interview with Author A. Michael Hibner

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Since starting his first book during the Covid-19 pandemic, retired engineer A. Michael Hibner has published three historical fiction novels inspired by family history. His newest release, The Gangs of Santa Fe (February 2025), follows Nazario Alarid as he struggles to walk the straight and narrow in nineteenth century New Mexico. Look for all of Mike’s books on Amazon: The Gangs of Santa Fe on this page and his first two novels here.

What would you like readers to know about The Gangs of Santa Fe?
The Gangs of Santa Fe is historical fiction—well, that’s not quite correct. Fictionalized history might be a better definition. Every named character in the book actually existed. Every incident in the book actually happened. The fictionalization is the relationships between the characters. For instance, Billy the Kid was in Santa Fe when Nazario Alarid was about age five. Whether they actually met is unknown, to my knowledge.

What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
When writing historical fiction, the facts must be correct, or else someone will call you on it. So, dates and places must be accurate. Finding pictures can also be daunting. It took a lot of searching to find a photograph of the Capitol Cafe. I was ready to send the book to be published when I finally found the postcard photo I used in the book on Ebay. I paid twenty bucks for it and was happy to get it!

Share a little about your main characters and why you chose them to carry your story. Will those who know you recognize you in any of your characters?
Nazario Alarid is the main character and the narrator. I think that he must have been a good person that got put into bad situations and handled them the best he could. Had Ramon Garcia been a good father and husband, Nazario could have lived with that, but Ramon was not a good person. He would have, sooner or later, harmed his wife and daughter, and Nazario could not let that happen. When given the facts about his son, Ramon Garcia’s dad bore witness in Nazario’s defense, and that was a fact, not fiction.

Same with Camilo Martinez, a bad person that was going to kill Nazario sooner or later. Nazario was just quicker. This was a time when “he needed killing” was a viable defense in a murder trial. Had Nazario gone to trial for the murder of Camilo he most likely would have been found not guilty, but the fear was that if he had been convicted he would have been executed. Who knows?

I can think of no character in The Gangs of Santa Fe that would be mistaken for me. My other books, sure, I am probably the protagonist. But in those books the protagonist, while based on someone who actually lived, is in a fictional situation. Thus, probably based on my Dad, my brothers, my uncles, and, certainly, me. In The Gangs of Santa Fe, every character is a depiction of someone that was discussed in the Santa Fe New Mexican or some other newspaper or tome.

Why did you choose New Mexico as the setting for the book? How does the setting impact the story and the characters?
Santa Fe is where the actual story happened. I can’t think of any other place where the story could have taken place.

Tell us more about how the book came together.
After writing three historical novels based on ancestors in my family tree, I thought I’d see if I could find anyone interesting in my wife’s family tree. I did. Doing a search on one of her great-uncles, Nazario Alarid, I found that he might not have been of good character. In fact, I found a blog run by Qwen Kubberness (she does criminal genealogies) that had documentation concerning the murder of Camilo Martinez by Nazario. Since it was likely that any murder that took place in the late 1800s would be covered in the Santa Fe New Mexican, I bought access to their archives. A query on the name Alarid between 1885 and 1925 yielded over one hundred hits. I was on my way!

I don’t keep track of the time it takes to put out a book. I would guess, from talking to other writers, that I am quick about it. I think six books in six years would bear that out, though some authors turn out two books a year. I do my own editing. By the time I’m done with a book, I’ve probably read it four or five times. I read it through once with Microsoft Word’s read function. That catches a lot of things. When I’m happy with it, I send it to my son, Rhian, and my wife, Priscilla, and they read and check it for errors that I’ve missed. Then Rhian turns it into book format acceptable by Amazon Publishing. I don’t have an agent or editor other than that.

The book cover is significant to me. The book covers for my first two books have been public domain paintings that have some significance to the book. For this book I knew I was unlikely to find a suitable painting, so I looked at photographs that might work. They had to be at least seventy years old to be public domain. The front and back cover is a continuous photo of Saint Michaels College and the San Miguel Church. The college building no longer exists (the college does, but not at this location) but San Miguel does. I looked at the photo several times before I noticed the two children sitting on a wall in the foreground. “Hmm,” I thought. “Could this be Nazario and Rebeca walking home from school?” It would have been where they would have walked. The photo was taken in 1885 as I recall. Nazario was born in November of 1876, so would have been eight or nine when the photo was taken, Rebecca two years later, so, it’s possible. Wouldn’t that be amazing?

Bernardino Sena is buried under the floor of the San Miguel Church. He is an ancestor of Gregorio Sena, the blacksmith and a classmate of Nazario in the book. Bernardino is also an ancestor of mine, my mother being a Sena from Santa Rosa. All Sena’s, most likely, at least in New Mexico, are descendants of Bernardino.

Any “Oh, wow!” moments while doing research for the book?
I think the biggest “Oh, wow!” for The Gangs of Santa Fe was, “Oh, wow! They actually hanged my wife’s great-great uncle!!!”

What was your favorite part of putting this project together?
I love this book and story. I grew up in Española, New Mexico and Rio Arriba County. Thus, I can picture these people in my head. My books that took place in Europe are tougher as I’ve never been there, other than walking the towns and countries in Google Maps. But I’ve physically walked the streets and plaza of Santa Fe hundreds of times. I love Santa Fe, but wouldn’t want to live there full time.

If choosing the book title was a long process, tell us about that journey.
I thought early on that the book was about the confrontations between political parties and thus had some similarities with the book and movie The Gangs of New York. I’ve not seen that movie nor read the book. Maybe I should, now. But it seemed to me that the Democrats and Republicans in the book were a bunch of hoodlums—sometimes I think they still are.

What sort of decisions did you make about including or portraying historical figures or events in order for your book to work?
I think Thomas Benton Catron comes off better in this book than he actually was. But then, this book is not about the Santa Fe Ring (powerful politicians, attorneys, and land speculators in New Mexico from 1865 until 1912). I seem to recall a conversation that took place many years ago, and might have been with my father-in-law about his grandfather in which he told me that his grandfather—I assume it was Canuto Alarid—had been a member of the Santa Fe Ring. But this book is not about the Santa Fe Ring, but rather the Alarid family.

What first inspired you to become a writer?
I think I’ve always been a writer. English composition was the one class that I could count on to make an ‘A’ throughout my scholastic endeavors. When Covid struck, I decided that I would put my writing prowess to good use and write a book. I’m now working on my sixth book since 2019.

What is it about historical fiction that draws you to write in that genre?
I don’t have enough imagination to make up characters and plots, so I must use actual people and facts, and can then make up the story to fit them. I don’t think I’ve ever written any pure fiction. Maybe in high school or college classes.

What writing projects are you working on now?
I’m finishing the story of my Dad’s Navy career. A couple of years ago I sent to the National Archives for his equivalent DD-214 form. For non-military, that’s the form you get after discharge from the military. My Dad talked little about his time in the Navy during WWII. I found that he had been a Torpedoman’s Mate on submarines for the two years he was in. He had been drafted into the Navy, which was not common, but did happen. When I found out he was on USS Redfish, a Balao class submarine, I went back to the National Archives and found the boat’s logs for the year that Redfish spent in the Pacific in waters surrounding Japan and the Philippines. What a year it was! I was born a little less than nine months after my Dad left for bootcamp in San Diego—I now tell my younger siblings that they are lucky that I was not an only child!

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
You are never too old to write. I started in my late seventies. I sometimes wish I had started when I was younger, but truth be told, I would never have had the patience to do research at the local library, so I had to wait for the internet. Google, Wikipedia, and MyHeritage are my research library. And I do a lot of research. I suspect I have three or four hours, maybe more, of research for every hour of writing.

KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner loves creating worlds of fantasy and science fiction. Her current work in progress is The Last Bonekeeper fantasy trilogy and short stories in the same universe. A member of SouthWest Writers since 2006, Kat has worked as the organization’s secretary, newsletter editor, website manager, and author interview coordinator. Kat is also a veteran, a martial art student, and a grandmother. Visit her at klwagoner.com.



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