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An Interview with Author Dita Dow

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Dita Dow, former police detective, private investigator, and consultant, is an award-winning, best-selling author of short fiction that showcases her passion for mysteries, thrillers, and the supernatural. She became a novelist in June 2025 with her debut release of Sins in Black (The Sinister Falls Series Book 1), a slow-burn thriller that ushers readers into the story of a brutal murder, a town that wants it forgotten, and a detective who won’t walk away. Look for Dita on DitaDow.com, on Instagram and Facebook, and her Amazon author page.

Dita, please tell us a little about your recent release, Sins in Black.
Sins in Black is a crime thriller set in a Pacific Northwest town that’s hiding more than anyone wants to admit. Harlie Whitlock, a former Dallas detective who returns home to Sinister Falls to care for her ailing mother, is hoping for some peace and distance from her past. But when a young woman turns up murdered, Harlie is pulled into an investigation the town’s elite are desperate to shut down. It’s a story about ill-gotten power and a detective who refuses to look the other way.

You had a career in law enforcement. Do you share traits with your protagonist, Detective Harlie Whitlock, or is she an amalgamation of people you’ve known?
My experience in law enforcement shapes how I write Harlie and her world. While she’s not a direct reflection of me, parts of her are: her sense of justice, determination, and the way she carries emotional scars without letting them define her.

Harlie is tougher, more reckless, and more willing to break rules than I ever was. She’s a blend of people I’ve known. Her flaws, resilience, and dark humor all come from real personalities and moments I’ve witnessed. I wanted her to feel real, not idealized.

My background also brings authenticity to the investigative side. I know what it’s like to walk into a scene, to feel pressure mounting when justice threatens power. That all bleeds into her story.

Why will readers connect with Harlie?
She’s authentic. She’s not a superhero or a perfect detective, but a woman who’s been through a lot and keeps showing up anyway. She’s tough, but her strength comes from surviving loss, pushing through trauma, and still choosing to do the right thing. She makes mistakes. She doubts herself. She struggles with anger, with grief, with trust. But that vulnerability makes her relatable. Harlie isn’t out to save the world — she just wants to speak the truth, protect the innocent, and hold people accountable, even when it puts her at odds with powerful forces.

No doubt your years of service have given you a vantage point regarding mysteries and crime. When pulling from your memories with law enforcement, how do you go about not crossing the line regarding revealing too much?
My years in law enforcement gave me a front-row seat to the reality behind crime and investigations. But I never use real names, locations, or specific case details. That is non-negotiable. It’s not about retelling real cases — it’s about translating the psychology, the tension, and the humanity into fiction that resonates.

What unique challenges did Sins in Black pose for you?
The biggest challenge was the shift from short fiction to a full-length novel. I had to learn how to stretch tension, build emotional depth, and let the story unfold at its own pace. Sins in Black is a slow-burn thriller, and it needed room to explore not just the murder, but the trauma, corruption, and inner conflicts woven through Harlie’s world.

Another challenge was letting go of control. Early on, I forced the plot — but it didn’t breathe until I let the characters lead. Trusting Harlie’s voice changed everything. That shift taught me patience, humility, and how to truly listen.

Tell us how long Sins in Black took to write and what your editing process looked like.
I first started writing it 15 years ago, but because of life, work, doubt, other projects — take your pick — it got shelved. The story back then was very different from what it eventually became. It had the seed of Sinister Falls, a version of Harlie, and a hint of the mystery, but it didn’t have the voice or depth it needed. It wasn’t ready. And neither was I.

The version that became the published novel took about a year to write, once I truly committed to finishing it. And thank goodness for my editor. She was instrumental in helping shape the final product. I had written it in third person, but she suggested it might be more powerful if told in first person — from Harlie’s point of view. Once I rewrote it that way, the story clicked. Harlie’s voice came alive. Her thoughts, pain, and defiance — all of it landed harder. It gave the story a pulse I didn’t realize it was missing.

You write mysteries and thrillers, but you’ve also written horror shorts, as well as magical realism. Do you have a preferred genre?
That’s a tough one because I love all of them for different reasons. Mysteries and thrillers are where I feel most at home. I enjoy the structure, the tension, the slow unraveling of truth — building a puzzle and letting the reader piece it together.

But horror holds a special place for me, too. I’ve written several horror shorts, and what I love about the genre is how it’s not just about monsters or gore — it’s about dread, trauma, isolation, the dark corners of the mind. Horror lets me explore emotions and ideas that don’t quite fit into a traditional mystery.

Magical realism is more rare for me, but when the right story calls for it, I love the freedom it offers. There’s beauty in blurring the lines between the real and the surreal. It allows emotion to bend the rules a bit — and sometimes, that’s exactly what a story needs.

For me, it’s less about fitting a category and more about finding the right frame for the characters and questions I want to explore.

What are you most happy with, and what do you struggle with most in your writing?
I’m most happy with writing characters who feel real. When readers connect with my characters, it means everything. I don’t just want to entertain; I want people to feel something that stays with them. I’m also proud I kept going. Writing is rarely a straight line. Doubt, silence, and setbacks nearly stopped Sins in Black, but persistence got it done — and that’s its own quiet kind of win.

What I struggle with most is letting go. Knowing when to stop tweaking and trust the work is ready. And navigating self-doubt. Impostor syndrome is real, especially when writing darker stories. But leaning into discomfort often leads to the most honest work. The business side of writing is hard, too — self-promotion doesn’t come naturally. Balancing creativity with visibility is still a work in progress.

Your website is multifaceted: A blog, a writer’s resource list, music you’ve written, samples of your artwork, and most recently, an inspirational email called Words to Inspire Your Days. What prompted you to start the latter?
It came from a place deep inside me — born not just from my love of writing, but from what I’ve witnessed in life, particularly during my years in law enforcement. Working in that field, I saw the darkest parts of the human experience. I saw people weighed down by trauma, stuck in cycles of abuse, addiction, and pain, but couldn’t seem to escape. I also saw something else: people who had survived equally horrific pasts, but somehow, they rose. They became advocates, mentors, creators — people who had every reason to fall apart but instead became whole in a way that inspired others.

That contrast haunted me. Why can some people rise from the ashes, while others remain trapped in the fire? What’s the difference? And while my fiction allows me to explore trauma, justice, and the complexities of human behavior through storytelling, it wasn’t fully feeding the side of me that wanted to offer hope — tangible, honest encouragement for people still in the thick of their battles. That’s how Words to Inspire Your Days was born.

I now send out two newsletters per month — one is my general author newsletter with updates, releases, and writing news. The other, which I send mid-month, is my motivational letter. It’s filled with insight, mindset tools, and encouragement for anyone struggling to keep going — whether they’re readers, writers, survivors, or simply people trying to find meaning in their day.

That’s how I came to my tagline: “Stories to Haunt Your Nights. Words to Inspire Your Days.” Because I believe we are all capable of holding light and shadow at once. My fiction explores darkness, but the newsletter is my way of reminding people the darkness doesn’t get the final say.

Knowing what you know now, what would you do differently if you started your writing and publishing career today?
I think the biggest thing I would do differently is give myself permission to begin publishing sooner. I let doubt, perfectionism, and fear of not “doing it right” hold me back. I had stories in me, but I kept them tucked away until I thought I was “ready.” The truth is, we’re never fully ready. You grow by doing.

I also would’ve learned the business side of writing earlier on. Publishing isn’t just about telling good stories — it’s about understanding how to position those stories, how to market them, and how to navigate things like editors, cover design, branding, and platforms. I’ve since learned to embrace that part of the process — it’s not a distraction from the writing, it’s a tool to get your words into the hands of the right readers.

I’d be kinder to myself. I would remind myself that growth doesn’t happen in straight lines, and success doesn’t look the same for every writer. I would’ve stopped comparing my path to someone else’s and just focused on telling the stories that mattered most to me.

What marketing techniques have been most helpful to you?
Building my email list before publishing was one of my best decisions. It gave me a direct connection to readers who truly cared about my voice and helped create a supportive community from the start. Word of mouth has been invaluable. When readers share my books — through reviews or conversations — it builds trust in a way traditional marketing can’t. I’ve also found social media, especially Facebook and Instagram, useful for authentic connection. I share behind-the-scenes moments and focus on real engagement, not sales. Ultimately, what works is staying genuine. Relationships — not just sales — are what sustain a writing career.

When’s the next installment for The Sinister Fall Series?
The next installment is titled Sins in White, and I anticipate its release in early 2026. This time, Detective Harlie Whitlock finds herself investigating a new wellness center in Sinister Falls that promises healing but may be hiding something beneath its pristine exterior.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
I want readers to know how much I value them. Every time you read, share, review, or reach out, it means more than you know. It reminds me why I write.

Though my fiction often explores dark places — crime, trauma, corruption — it’s always with purpose. I write about the shadows because I believe in the light. At the heart of every story is a fight for justice, healing, and truth. My characters are messy and flawed, but they’re survivors. My hope is that readers see a part of themselves in that struggle — and in that resilience.

Su Lierz is a horror writer in the Land of Enchantment. Her short work can be found in anthologies and several publications including Grey Sparrow Journal and The Horror Zine. She lives in Corrales, New Mexico with her husband Dennis.



An Interview with Author Butch Maki

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Best-selling author Walter “Butch” Maki is a decorated Vietnam War veteran who went on to become a senior advisor on a U.S. presidential campaign, a successful entrepreneur, and a family man. Covid isolation offered him the focus to give voice to his PTSD battles and write his debut novel, Bikini Beach (May 2023), where he reveals “how love, understanding, and friendship are the special forces that get his main character, Mack, through the Vietnam War and civilian life that followed it.” You’ll find Butch on his website BikiniBeach.info and his Amazon author page.

Butch, please tell us a little about your novel Bikini Beach.
Bikini Beach, a first-person account, is based on actual events. The story is about Donald Makinen, or “Mack,” a soldier in Vietnam in his early twenties and his fifteen-year battle with PTSD upon his return home.

Tell us about your main character Mack Mackinen. What is his most endearing quality and his greatest flaw?
Macks greatest quality is his devotion to duty while not believing in the war. His greatest flaw would be his PTSD.

Describe the main setting in your story and what the day-to-day activities were like for the servicemen and women.
In Vietnam it was mostly helicopter missions with ASS and Trash missions. Ass being hauling men and trash cargo; an aircrew in Vietnam which involves hours and hours of boredom, punctuated by moments of sheer terror.

Did you have any opinions about U.S. involvement in Vietnam at the time that colored the telling of this story?
Yes, I saw the Vietnam War as a total waste of resources and men. The country’s leaders were corrupt, and the population was uneducated and too rural to worry about anything but caring for their family.

What prompted you to write Bikini Beach?
I was quarantined during COVID and driving my wife crazy. She suggested I write the book about Vietnam, which I had toyed with for years. I worked six to ten hours a day, five days a week to complete the work.

As a combat veteran, did you struggle with any part of putting this story together, and if so, can you tell readers what you did to move past it?
I did in parts of the story, but I worked through it with all the blessing I had.

Were there any surprising moments while writing your novel? Something you had forgotten or hadn’t realized previously that ultimately ended up in your novel?
I called friends who I served with to review or remember all the situations.

What was the biggest challenge you experienced during the war?
Getting back to flying after a crash or the helicopter got shot up and barely made it back to base.

Were there any lessons you learned that you’ve carried throughout your life?
I offered another crew chief $100 to swap places with me on a mission. If he agreed, I’d take his safe command and control ship while he flew the combat assault. Deep down, I knew he wouldn’t take the deal, but I had to make the offer. That day, his helicopter crashed, and he died in the wreckage. It taught me a hard lesson: never assume someone else has it easier than you do.

What do you hope readers will take away from Bikini Beach?
The dedication by the soldiers and the real problems with PTSD for returning soldiers.

Who are some of your favorite authors, and how have they influenced your writing?
My favorite author, Joe Badal, gave me invaluable advice. He told me I had a great story but encouraged me to turn it into a novel. He said that would give me the space to add more depth and color to the narrative.

Su Lierz writes dark fiction, short story fiction, and personal essays. Her short story “Twelve Days in April,” written under the pen name Laney Payne, appeared in the 2018 SouthWest Writers Sage Anthology. Su was a finalist in the 2017 and 2018 Albuquerque Museum Authors Festival Writing Contest. She lives in Corrales, New Mexico, with her husband Dennis.



Author Update: Lynn Ellen Doxon

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Lynn Ellen Doxon had authored over a thousand newspaper and magazine articles, three nonfiction books, and a children’s book before she branched into historical fiction in 2022 with the publication of the first World War II novel in her Becoming the Greatest Generation series. Book two in that series, and her newest release, is The Moonlight Cavalry (Artemesia Publishing, April 2024). You’ll find Lynn on her website LynnDoxon.com and her Amazon author page. For more about her work, read her 2023 interview for SouthWest Writers.

The Moonlight Cavalry is the second book in your Becoming the Greatest Generation series. Can you give readers a little background on this new book?
In the first book, Ninety Day Wonder, schoolteacher Eugene Sinclair is drafted against his will as war rages in Europe but before the US is involved. Following boot camp he is trained for the Coastal Artillery and sent to the shores of Puget Sound. He feels his calling is in medicine and manages to get additional training as a pharmacist. His pharmacy training is completed on December 5, 1941.

After the Pearl Harbor attack, he is almost immediately reassigned to anti-aircraft artillery and sent to Camp Davis in North Carolina for Officers Training School. On his way there he meets Sarah Gale, a young woman who works in the camp laundry. Ninety days later he is commissioned as an officer and deeply involved with Sarah Gale.

Following further training in Texas (and New Mexico since Fort Bliss extended all the way to what is now White Sands) and Florida, where Sarah Gale is now stationed as a WAC and they become engaged, he was sent to the Pacific, where he is separated from his battery.

In The Moonlight Cavalry, Gene leads a replacement platoon to the island where his unit will soon arrive, then rejoins the unit as they follow the 24th Infantry around New Guinea and the Philippines. Along the way they experience pitched battles, battle fatigue, friendly fire and the biggest killer in the Pacific, tropical diseases. Gene contracts malaria and is plagued by hallucinations of his fifth great grandfather’s experience in the Revolutionary War.

What drew you to the historical fiction genre?
I discovered historical fiction in elementary school, and it quickly became my favorite genre. In high school I waded through several Michener novels and read War and Peace.  I was a voracious reader all my life and read The Thorn Birds (which isn’t historical fiction) in one sitting when it first came out. When I decided to start writing full time, historical fiction seemed the natural choice.

Were there any scenes you found difficult to write? How did you move past that?
As the relationship developed between Sarah Gale and Gene, I had to consider how to write intimate scenes between them. Since this is a 1940’s novel I went with the suggestive level of many 1940’s movies, but I still am not sure those scenes are as engaging as they could be.

What is the most difficult aspect of writing historical fiction?
There is a lot of research involved in writing historical fiction and the temptation is to try to include all you have learned. I quickly figured out that my long descriptions were not as engaging as Michener’s. They sounded more like the academic writing I did on the way to getting my MS and PhD. I tried to remove everything that did not contribute to the story.

Also, this story takes place recently enough that there are some people who remember it and more who can say “that’s not what my dad told me.” Sometimes I could not find research on details I wanted to include so I just made things up. It is fiction, but the historical details still need to be accurate, or somebody will call you on it.

When writing a series, what is it that keeps readers coming back for more?
Each book has to be a complete story but still have some unanswered questions to draw the reader to the next book. Of course, everyone knows how the war comes out, but how does Gene fare for the remainder of the conflict? It is also important to have characters people love. I hope I have made Gene and Sarah Gale into characters that people want to know.

How much involvement did you have regarding the book’s cover design?
I sent the editor several suggestions and he sent back something that was much better.

What is your elevator pitch for The Moonlight Cavalry?
The Moonlight Cavalry is the story of a searchlight battery of antiaircraft artillery, told by their executive officer, island hopping across the Pacific during World War II.

Authors are faced with handling much of their own exposure when it comes to media and marketing. How do you balance your writing career with the business of being a writer?
My daughter and I just started a digital marketing company. In that process I have learned a lot about effective websites and social media marketing. The problem is I simply don’t have time for everything, and things aren’t too well balanced at the moment.

What part do critique groups play in your writing process?
I find the critiques of other writers to be very important. I belong to a critique group that has made several suggestions that I believe will make the third book much better. I believe critique groups and beta readers are extremely important in the writing process.

When can readers expect to see book three in your Becoming the Greatest Generation series?
Life is pretty hectic right now. I am hoping to have a publication date in November 2025.

Su Lierz writes dark fiction, short story fiction, and personal essays. Her short story “Twelve Days in April,” written under the pen name Laney Payne, appeared in the 2018 SouthWest Writers Sage Anthology. Su was a finalist in the 2017 and 2018 Albuquerque Museum Authors Festival Writing Contest. She lives in Corrales, New Mexico, with her husband Dennis.



An Interview with Author Steve Bennett

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Steve Bennett is a retired educator who also worked as a journalist for three New Mexico newspapers. In 1964, a shocking multi-murder occurred in San Diego, California in the seemingly idyllic suburb of Chula Vista where Steve was raised. Thirty years later, he began a decades-long journey to tell the story. His debut true crime release, His Own Flesh and Blood: The story of Raymond Goedecke, the killer in the choir (July 2023), is a “haunting exploration of deceit, manipulation, and the terrifying depths of human nature…a story that will leave readers questioning the very nature of evil and the masks that it wears.” Look for Steve on his SWW author page and on Amazon.

Steve, please tell us a little about yourself.
I was born in San Diego, California and raised in the suburb of Chula Vista. These were my formative years—beginning with kindergarten and continuing to college. A good athlete, I accepted a football scholarship to New Mexico State University where I earned a degree in education. For the next 37 years, I served as a teacher, coach and school administrator. During that time, I was a New Mexico Teacher of the Year nominee as well as an Outstanding Alumnus in the NMSU College of Education. Additionally, I worked as a journalist for three New Mexico newspapers. Since 1968, New Mexico has been and continues to be my home.

What was the impetus for writing His Own Flesh and Blood?
During my high school years in the 1960s, I believed the growing city of Chula Vista had it all: great weather, excellent schools, civic pride, very little crime. But those beliefs were shattered in August 1964 when I read the newspaper headline, “Homicidal Maniac Strikes, Four Dead in Chula Vista.” The article read, “Four members of the Henry Goedecke family were bludgeoned to death last night in their Chula Vista home.” Shocked citizens first believed the killer must be a transient, or an escaped mental patient. But the murderer—using a hunting knife and pipe—was eighteen-year-old Raymond Goedecke, the oldest son.

For me, the horror of the crime was magnified because the Goedecke family attended the Lutheran Church which sat directly across the street from my church, the First Baptist Church of Chula Vista. The close proximity of my church and Raymond’s church—where I had many friends—made his crime personal. And in the years to come, images of Raymond Goedecke would intrude upon my thoughts like an uninvited guest. But the real reason Goedecke cemented himself in my memory had to do with my teaching career. From the moment I stepped into my first high school classroom, dealing with dysfunctional and violent students, Raymond Goedecke became a fixture in my mind. At such times, I had a single thought, “Why did he kill?” His Own Flesh and Blood is my answer to the question.

Can you step us through the process you used when obtaining research material for your book?
Researching my book was daunting, a job spanning ten years. When I started the process, finding time for research was difficult since I was teaching full-time. So, research was limited to weekends and summer breaks. I began at the Chula Vista and San Diego Public Libraries copying newspaper articles which recounted the murder, trial and sentencing. Later, this continued at the San Francisco Chronicle and the Placerville Mountain Democrat. I obtained police records from the Chula Vista, El Dorado County, Vacaville and San Rafael police departments. An invaluable source was the El Dorado County Courthouse and San Diego Superior Court. In San Diego, I copied the entire trial transcript (one thousand pages) which enabled me to speak to the legal issues and combine them with newspaper articles and interviews, blending them together to create a consistent narrative for readers to follow.

Were you able to conduct interviews with anyone who had been directly involved with solving this case? How about descendants of the victims?
The simple answer is “Yes,” but interviewing former friends close to the Goedecke family (those traumatized by Raymond’s crime) was a delicate business. I approached everyone with the utmost care and sensitivity. However, the police officers, bailiffs, judges and parole officers (once I established credibility) were another matter. In particular, former Chula Vista police officers were eager to speak to me. I believe the Chula Vista Police Department did a flawless job to develop an ironclad case against Goedecke. The California Supreme Court decision (that vacated Goedecke’s death sentence) appeared to agree, since they found no legal or procedural problems with Chula Vista’s police investigation. In short, these former police officers were proud of their work.

However, when I first began, my first interview was with an old church friend from 1964, Lee Bendickson. A lawyer, he handled the Goedecke estate and later testified at Raymond’s trial. Bendickson helped by contacting people on my interview list assuring them I could be trusted. Above all, I avoided surprising people I didn’t know by cold-calling them. I conducted scores of interviews with Chula Vista, San Rafael and El Dorado County officers who were directly involved in Goedecke’s case. The most significant of these was the two Chula Vista officers who obtained Raymond’s confession to the murders. But my most important contact was with San Diego Superior Court judge William Kennedy. In 1964, Kennedy had been the lead prosecutor at Goedecke’s trial. Kennedy was instrumental in obtaining the trial transcripts of the 1964 proceedings.

Henry Goedecke (the murdered father) was survived by his mother Elizabeth Goedecke and a sister and her family. At the advice of a close friend of theirs, he asked that I not pursue an interview with the family since the murders were extremely traumatic for all of them. I honored his request.

All told, either by direct contact or telephone, I conducted from forty to fifty interviews—all of them tape recorded.

Do you think the time you spent working in journalism helped you transition into the role of writing nonfiction?
Doubtless, the two years I spent working in journalism helped improve my writing a great deal. Working for the Alamogordo Daily News—which went to press seven days a week—writing with the pressure of a deadline, everything improved: writing speed, organization, and flow of article. Above all, the experience impressed upon me the importance of accuracy of language: using precise nouns and verbs and, above all, never misquoting a single living soul. However, though rewarding and mentally challenging, newspaper reporters are paid even less than teachers. This is why I left my job in Alamogordo, to take a teaching position at the Mescalero Apache Schools, thus returning to teaching.

Did you experience any obstacles while writing His Own Flesh and Blood?
When I began the book in 1994, the judicial cases against Raymond Goedecke had been adjudicated, or legally resolved. Since no appeals or other legal issues were pending, police departments and courts were able to legally release information. Otherwise, there would have been significant roadblocks hindering or halting outright any request for information. Regarding personal interviews, most individuals I approached were willing to share their stories with me. However, a few—for personal reasons—simply declined.

If you found yourself stalling during the writing process, how did you move past it?
Like any writer, there were frustrating moments that stopped me cold. At such times I’d reexamine the crime photographs for another look. These images were black and white pictures and color slides, pictures that were chilling, sickening…truly beyond belief. The violence Raymond inflicted upon his family was unspeakable. To describe it as just a murder would be an understatement, it was a massacre. Raymond, a son and brother, slaughtered his family and reduced them to four, lifeless piles of bloody pulp. Every police officer who witnessed the crime scene told me they’d never seen this level of violence. Their beaten, bloody bodies scarcely looked human. But the photos taken at the San Diego County morgue were, for me, the worst. These showed the condition of the bodies after being washed and cleaned. With the blood removed, the damage inflicted on their bodies was shockingly evident: Ellen’s broken jaw, a deep wound on her chest from the pipe end; the gaping wound on Mark’s forehead that shattered his skull; their eyes closed as if sleeping, their lives and humanity ripped away. What made this more painful for me was the knowledge that Ellen and Mark were both awake when the attack began. Seeing this, no matter how often, summoned deep emotion, bringing tears to my eyes. However, this was quickly supplanted by another feeling…anger. “How could he do that to his own brother and sister, his own flesh and blood?” Soon, the awful bitterness would pass. Somehow the intense anger I felt for Raymond was rejuvenating. I went back to work.

How long did it take you from start to finish to complete your book?
The short answer is that I began researching and writing in 1994, but the book was not published until 2023. However, that’s not the whole story. When I began in 1994 (the year I joined SouthWest Writers), technology was less sophisticated. As a result, I approached the process the old-fashioned way by sending query letters to agents. Agents usually responded with, “Dear Mr. Bennett, your book, His Own Flesh and Blood sounds like a great story, however….” My file drawer is full of those. Eventually, I simply gave up. But recently, a few friends who’d read my manuscript showed a lot of enthusiasm. I began to look into publishing independently (Amazon, BookBaby, etc.). To my surprise, I discovered that Amazon publishes more books worldwide than anyone. But they hadn’t started their publishing arm until 1995, the year they published and sold their first book.

What other genres do you enjoy reading other than true crime?
My reading interests are quite broad, largely due to diversity of subjects I taught during my teaching career. Any subject related to history: American Civil War, First and Second world wars, ancient history and New Mexico history. Reading about native American culture; Navajo, Apache, etc., are subjects I find fascinating. This also includes biographies of great national and international leaders.

Who are a few of your favorite authors?
My favorite author list is a long one, but these are a few who stand out: Herman Wouk, J.R.R. Tolkien, Gore Vidal, Laura Hillenbrand, Drew Gilpin Faust, Ann Rule, Ron Chernow and, of course, William Shakespeare.

What’s on your horizon regarding writing projects? Do you intend to stick with true crime?
There are many true crime stories pertaining to New Mexico that interest me, however, I’m undecided. Since I have Attention Deficit Disorder, that is a subject I’d like to put on paper at some point.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
Only that—after a break from writing for many years—I’m happy to be more active with SouthWest Writers, a fine organization.

Su Lierz writes dark fiction, short story fiction, and personal essays. Her short story “Twelve Days in April,” written under the pen name Laney Payne, appeared in the 2018 SouthWest Writers Sage Anthology. Su was a finalist in the 2017 and 2018 Albuquerque Museum Authors Festival Writing Contest. She lives in Corrales, New Mexico, with her husband Dennis.



Author Update 2024: Neill McKee

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Neill McKee is a retired teacher, international filmmaker and multi-media producer, and an award-winning creative nonfiction author. He published his fourth memoir, My University of the World: Adventures of an International Film & Media Maker, in 2023. Look for Neill on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, as well as on NeillMckeeAuthor.com. To learn about his first three memoirs, read his 2019, 2021, and 2022 SWW interviews.

Neill, you’ve led a storied life. Please tell readers a little about your memoir My University of the World.
My University of the World (2023) is a stand-alone sequel to two of my other memoirs, Kid on the Go! Memoir of my Childhood and Youth (2021) and Finding Myself in Borneo: Sojourns in Sabah (2019). All three books can be enjoyed in any order you read them. This latest memoir is composed of 28 short chapters and an epilogue that takes readers on an entertaining journey through the developing world from 1970 to 2012. The book is filled with compelling dialog, humorous and poignant incidents, thoughts on world development, vivid descriptions of people and places I visited and worked in, and over 200 images.

The story starts when I became a “one-man film crew,” documenting the lives of Canadian CUSO volunteers working in Asia and Africa, and covers my marriage to Elizabeth, an American I met in Japan. Her life with me and her growth as an artist, as well as our children’s lives, are also covered in this new book.

Thirteen chapters document my time as a filmmaker for Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), when I roamed the developing world and made about 30 films on many research projects in education, rural development, agriculture, post-harvest technology, fisheries and aquaculture, health care, water and sanitation—the list goes on. I wrote these stories to allow the reader to get a sense of the challenges I encountered. I kept the chapters light on technical details and full of humorous and poignant incidents. In each chapter, I also included how IDRC projects made an impact, or not.

The book also covers my time as a multimedia producer, leading teams of people in UNICEF in Bangladesh and Eastern and Southern Africa, and how my family adapted to a very different and interesting life. I ended up working for Johns Hopkins University, and then took over a project in Moscow, Russia. In my final job, I was asked to save a large project in Washington, D.C. from 2009 to 2012. By then I had learned a lot about managing people and, I must admit, sometimes I missed my years as a “lone-wolf” filmmaker at the beginning of my career.

Was it a natural transition for you to go from filmmaker to author?
During my career, I wrote three books and many articles on the role of communication in behavior and social change. But when I retired in 2013, I decided to turn to creative nonfiction writing. I submitted my first manuscript to about a dozen publishers and finally received two offers from small firms, but when I saw the contract details, I could see they were mainly interested in acquiring new titles with little or no resources for promotion. Also, despite the fact I had engaged a professional editor, they wanted to start over with that process. So, I decided to hire a professional book designer and self-publish. Either way, it was evident I was going to have to do the promotion myself. Perhaps if I was younger, I would have tried harder to seek an agent and publisher, but at my age, I didn’t think it made sense to wait. I don’t regret my decision because I have since learned that almost all authors, even if they do find a publisher, have to do or pay for most of the promotion themselves. With about 1,000 new books released every day in North America, in all genres, there is a lot of competition for readers’ attention. Fortunately for me, making money has not been a necessary objective in my new “retirement career.”

What was the most rewarding aspect of writing My University of the World?
I entered this memoir in several contests and so far have won two awards: Distinguished Favorite, Independent Press Award (2024) for Career; and Finalist, Book Excellence Awards (2024) for Autobiography. It’s rewarding to get such feedback, as well as good reviews on Amazon and Goodreads—some from people who have had no experience in international development work or film and media production. They simply enjoyed riding along with me, and some wrote that they felt they were there. Another benefit of writing this memoir was helping me sharpen my long-term memory, revising connections with old friends and former colleagues in Canada, the US, and around the world.

Do you have one place of travel that has left an indelible mark on you?
I would have to say it is Sabah, Malaysia, on Borneo Island, and the small town of Kota Belud near the coast of the South China Sea. That’s where I “found myself,” learning Malay language and teaching beautiful students, visiting their kampongs (villages), roaming around on my motorcycle, climbing Mount Kinabalu (the highest in Southeast Asia), having a few love affairs, and making my first film. It is all in my memoir Finding Myself in Borneo. That book has won three awards.

Was there anything surprising you discovered about yourself while writing your memoir?
I found that I always had a knack for creative writing but never developed it until I retired. I never kept a diary but I had a lot of stories in my head for years. I wrote up some of these at the time they happened and kept a file. I found many more in old letters to and from my fiancé/wife and family, plus official trip reports that I always tried to make entertaining, including all the funny happenings along the way. Some of my colleagues might not have appreciated such embellishments, but I didn’t care. I had the feeling I would use these someday.

What was your favorite part of putting this project together?
Besides the creative writing, it was returning to IDRC in Ottawa, Canada, to look through a library of thousands of colored slides I had taken all over the developing world, many of which I used in the book. I also searched film archives and websites and managed to locate most of my film and media projects. This also helped to bring back my experiences over the years, and I decided to create a digital library, housing all I could find on https://www.neillmckeevideos.com.

The videos play on YouTube and I get great satisfaction from messages I receive every week from young adults who were influenced in their childhoods, especially from my most successful multi-media project, the Meena Communication Initiative for girls’ empowerment in South Asia.

Do you have a favorite quote from My University of the World you could share with us?
That’s a difficult thing for a writer to answer, but I think the opening paragraph of Chapter One gets the reader into the spirit of the memoir:

As I rolled across the plains of northern India in December 1970, on a rickety old train, rumbling between station stops and passing many smaller ones, I soon got into the stride of things by listening to Santana Abraxas through the earphones plugged into my compact reel-to-reel tape recorder. From that time on, the song Black Magic Woman became forever embedded in my mind as a part of India. The time was magic for me because I was on the road, filming and photographing Canadian volunteers in Asia. It was exactly what I wanted to do with my life—an answer to my prayers, or I should say to my meditation sessions. I was more in touch with Zen Buddhism than Christianity in those days, like other North American youth—many of whom were hippies, or what we then called “flower children,” who traveled to the East in search of answers to life’s mysteries and their future paths.

Does meditation play a role in your writing ritual today?
Well, I never got deeply into Zen Buddhism, but in my late twenties, I learned how to do Transcendental Meditation (TM) for practical, rather than spiritual reasons. My younger brother Philip had taken it up and even traveled to Spain to study at Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s TM institute. In 1968, the Beatles had visited this Maharishi in India for spiritual replenishment, and by doing so, they helped spread TM worldwide. Philip taught me the basic method and gave me my secret mantra—a sound I repeated in my head for 20 minutes, two times a day, while breathing deeply, sometimes falling asleep, which was okay according to Philip. Eventually, I learned how to do this just about anywhere, even in noisy airports. Learning TM helped me survive the busy years of my career. I still use the technique for refreshing my brain cells while writing.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
I chose to print and distribute through IngramSpark.com (IS), rather than going with Amazon alone. Through IS my books are available in North America and around the world on Amazon and many other platforms. Even independent bookstores and libraries can order copies. I publish in paperback and eBook formats, and two of my memoirs, Finding Myself in Borneo and Kid on the Go! were also produced as audiobooks by Lantern Audio, which distributes them very widely on many platforms as well. I promote through a growing email list, blog and review tours, and some social media channel posts, although I don’t put a lot of effort into the latter because it is evident to me that it doesn’t help much for sales, plus I am a bit allergic to simple messages, “likes,” and “congratulations,” etc., that have little substance or follow up. I find LinkedIn the most useful. I also put a lot of blog posts, interviews, links to reviews, places to buy, and awards on my author’s website: https://www.neillmckeeauthor.com/.

Su Lierz writes dark fiction, short story fiction, and personal essays. Her short story “Twelve Days in April,” written under the pen name Laney Payne, appeared in the 2018 SouthWest Writers Sage Anthology. Su was a finalist in the 2017 and 2018 Albuquerque Museum Authors Festival Writing Contest. She lives in Corrales, New Mexico, with her husband Dennis.



An Interview with Author Dale Garratt

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Author Dale Garratt is a New Mexico native and a longtime educator who has taught in schools across the United States as well as in South Korea. His travel experience and geopolitical interests informed the writing of his debut novel, The Peace Road: A High-stakes Geopolitical Thriller (August 2023), which is described as “an absolute nail-biter, fast-paced with cutting-edge twists and turns.” Look for Dale on his website at DaleGarratt.com, on Facebook and Twitter/X, and on his Amazon author page.

Dale, what would you like readers to know about the story you tell in The Peace Road?
The threat of a hypersonic missile attack by North Korea is even stronger now than it was two years ago, when I started writing the book.

The book starts with North Korea launching a hypersonic ICBM at the U.S., narrowly missing Los Angeles. This triggers a series of events leading to naval battles between the U.S. and China, which is the shadow behind North Korea. An underlying theme is the concept of a peace road: a literal road that could facilitate peaceful relations in East Asia. The novel also explores the path to peace in romantic relationships.

Who are your main characters and why will readers connect with them?
Ric O’Malley is the protagonist, a top quantum physicist at Sandia Laboratories and a Medal of Honor recipient. He is a really good person, and I think the protagonist in a thriller should be. He has a great sense of humor, a remarkable adaptability to varied situations big and small, and truly cares about the lives of others.

Ric’s wife Marie, a high school science teacher, understands that her husband is involved in events of national and international consequence but equally values her role in educating students. They have a great marriage but face a serious challenge in the course of the book. I think that many readers will relate to the realities of relationships and a career-life balance that the O’Malleys go through.

U.S. President Sarah Jacobsen is a tough leader, and at the same time is able to look at concepts out of the box. She may shed light on what it takes to make a great president.

Do you share traits with your protagonist Ric O’Malley?
Like most people, I like to think I’m a good person! I’m a geopolitical news addict. I’ve taught at several high schools in Albuquerque, and I am licensed to teach science. Ric has a PhD in physics and I have a PhD from University of New Mexico (UNM) in language, literacy and sociocultural studies. Like Ric, I have a very good marriage. But over the years we have experienced and resolved a challenge that occurs in many intimate relationships.

Describe one or more of the main settings.
Albuquerque plays a central role. Ric lives here and his team is based at Sandia Labs. In the course of events, Ric is attacked twice in Albuquerque by would-be assassins. Of course, East Asia is a main setting, particularly North Korea, South Korea and Japan. Also, the Western Pacific Ocean, where naval battles between the U.S. and China take place.

How did you approach your research for The Peace Road?
Fortunately, I have personal experience with East Asia. We lived in South Korea for eight years, teaching English to middle school and then university students. I was able to officially stand on North Korea soil with students at the Panmunjom Village on the 38th Parallel. I continue to read two South Korean newspapers and keep up with what’s happening in politics and the economy. I delve into online information, but I make it a point to read sites that present different views. Triangulation, as we teachers say.

One priority for me was making sure that the military technology used by all five countries in the book was accurate. There are great .mil and .gov sites for U.S. technology and very good intelligence about China’s military technology. For North Korea you can find “propaganda” websites and read a lot between the lines about its military, economy and politics. Of course, anything you are really interested in as an author can turn into a rabbit hole. That’s something you always have to look out for.

In 2022 I attended the Quantum New Mexico Symposium at UNM where UNM, Sandia Labs, and the Air Force Research Laboratory were featured. Participants were able to actually visit Sandia and see the latest research in quantum computing. We asked questions of the researchers themselves — it was the kind of thing you can more easily do in New Mexico than in other states.

What obstacles did you face when writing about the technology used in your novel?
The main problem in writing about quantum computer research is that it is advancing so fast! It’s fascinating but a challenge to keep up with. Yesterday’s Business Outlook (March 24, 2024) in the Albuquerque Journal featured an article that could have been written about Ric O’Malley. It was an interview with Jake Douglass of Sandia about quantum research there. He says in part, “[Quantum technology] is a field where we’re [NM] truly world leaders.”

What part do beta readers or critique groups play in your writing process?
I sent the first draft and new drafts to more than a dozen friends who are good readers and/or writers. They gave me some valuable and honest suggestions as well as many practical editing suggestions. Getting several beta readers is, for me, more helpful than just relying on a couple.

Tell us about your writing process or your writing routine. Are you a plotter or a pantser?
Both. I start with the overall shape of the book. While I’m doing that, I freewrite almost every day, putting down material that can make up chapters. Then I move from shaping the book to writing an outline. Then chapters fall into place in the outline. I write better in the mornings, and I make it a practice to schedule appointments and errands in the afternoons.

Who are your favorite authors, and what do you admire most about their writing?
I love Louis L’Amour’s westerns and Georgette Heyer’s Regency romances. In the thriller genre, I really like Tom Clancy — the actual Tom Clancy! David Baldacci’s Memory Man series has a lot to teach writers. My favorite author is Daniel Silva. His thrillers are almost always exciting, and the way he dives into a European locale is not only entertaining but also informative. One example is The Confessor with its fascinating deep dive into the Vatican and the Catholic Church. But like most geopolitical thrillers he has a European setting. It’s time now to include settings in Asia.

What writing projects are you working on now?
I’m writing book two of the Peace Road Trilogy. It takes place in North Africa and the Middle East. Religious, economic, political, and other major threads in this most ancient part of the Earth are woven together. It’s very exciting to me, and I hope it will be so for readers.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
In the midst of current geopolitical turmoil and conflict, there is hope. My book ultimately shows a realistic, doable path toward a permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula. And a real peace road there could be a key component.

Su Lierz writes dark fiction, short story fiction, and personal essays. Her short story “Twelve Days in April,” written under the pen name Laney Payne, appeared in the 2018 SouthWest Writers Sage Anthology. Su was a finalist in the 2017 and 2018 Albuquerque Museum Authors Festival Writing Contest. She lives in Corrales, New Mexico, with her husband Dennis.



An Interview with Authors Sue Boggio & Mare Pearl

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Sue Boggio and Mare Pearl are novelists whose collaborations weave family, friendship, and hope into award-winning literary fiction. Their newest novel, Hungry Shoes (University of New Mexico Press, September 2023), is described as “an emotional journey through the scar tissue of complicated lives” and “a celebration of compassion, hard-earned wisdom, and the joy we can create.” You’ll find Sue and Mare on their website at BoggioAndPearl.com and on their Amazon author page.

Sue and Mare, you met in 1963 as youngsters and formed an immediate friendship that’s followed you throughout your lives. At what point did you both decide you wanted to write novels together?
In the 1980s we lived across the country from each other. We wrote letters that included one of us starting a story and mailing it to the other to continue the story — back and forth until the story became too long and fat to fit into an envelope. At that point, one of us would come up with an ending. In 1988, Mare moved to Albuquerque where I lived and we decided to educate ourselves about the craft (and business) of novel writing. Along with reading books on the subject and subscribing to industry periodicals, we joined SWW and attended meetings and all the great SWW conferences in the 1990s. In 2001, we were finalists in the novel competition with Sunlight and Shadow, published in 2004 by NAL/Penguin, and we were on our way!

Your latest novel is Hungry Shoes. What was the inspiration for this story?
Hungry Shoes was inspired by our long careers working at UNM Children and Adolescent Psychiatric Center, and our dedication to milieu therapy. Milieu therapy means the environment the kids are immersed in is a 24/7 intensive therapeutic process. Hungry Shoes shows how powerful milieu therapy was when we worked in such a program in the 1980s and 1990s. We’ll never forget the young people (and colleagues!) we had the privilege to work with and wanted to honor them in a fictionalized version of that inspiring world.

Was there anything surprising that you discovered while writing this book?
One of the challenges in writing Hungry Shoes was finding the best way to include pertinent scenes from Maddie and Grace’s pasts to show how and why they ended up needing inpatient psychiatric care. This required us to stretch ourselves in determining the structure of the novel, and how to handle time. Instead of the usual straight chronological stream of events, we inserted those past scenes into the present-day arc of their hospitalizations. The past scenes show particular times of chaos, abuse and neglect each girl experienced through their seventeen years of life. Showing these past arcs was much more powerful than telling them, say in therapy sessions. This gives the reader much greater insight and empathy when the girls’ experiences are addressed in their present day scenes. The scenes from the past are purposefully placed to connect with and inform what’s happening in the present-day arc of their three-month hospitalizations. It took a lot of trial and error before we arrived at the structure that finally worked the best, and the surprising discovery was that we were able to pull off what we envisioned!

Tell us how and why you chose the title Hungry Shoes.
In the early 1980s, a boy from Zuni Pueblo in my (Sue’s) care used the term to describe worn-out shoes that separate at the toe creating a mouth. (A lot of kids needed shoe glue to hold their shoes together until new ones could be obtained.) After learning the term was used commonly in Zuni Pueblo, I tucked it away as a title for a future book about milieu therapy. There is a scene in our book showing how the expression was used and its metaphorical representation of kids who have been abused, neglected, etc.

Why will readers connect with your main characters Maddie and Grace?
We created Maddie and Grace to have different issues, and be distinct from each other, but we wanted both of our lead characters to have the capacity to respond to therapy even after tough lives, and be intelligent and strong, and be able to form a genuine bond with each other that facilitates both of their healing journeys.

Maddie is more impulsive and expresses her pain and emotions directly. She’s more prone to “act-out” while Grace holds her pain more inside of herself. When the reader discovers what each girl has experienced via the scenes from the past, along with discoveries made in therapy, they are able to understand and connect with them. We also made sure to make them more well-rounded than their past wounds. We show them caring about their peer group members and staff, we show their humor and tenderness and bravery as they strive to get better.

What message do you hope to convey to readers of Hungry Shoes?
Our message is that there is an inpatient treatment model called milieu therapy that can (and did!) help kids turn their lives around if we as a society are willing to fund the necessary ingredients, which are:

Time enough to trust the adult staff to disclose their issues and connect with them as a source of support. Time for their families to learn new ways of parenting via family therapy and parent education (length of stay needs to be weeks/months instead of the current usual 3 days that insurance will cover.)

Staffed with highly-trained and well-paid professionals in a multi-disciplinary team approach offering a varied menu of therapies and individualized programs (art, music, recreational, etc.).

Physical environment that is designed for children while maintaining safety (i.e., playgrounds, flowers, grass, trees—natural beauty—supervised playtime and structured activities) instead of a stereotypical locked hospital ward.

Hungry Shoes shows all of this better than can be briefly described.

As coauthors, how do you manage expectations with each other? What is that process like?
We’ve been creating together since we were ten years old. It is instinctual by now to play to each other’s strengths. We’re each other’s greatest fans so our collaboration is based on mutual respect and trust. Before we start a project, we discuss EVERYTHING and keep notebooks as we define our themes, design settings, create characters and their arcs. We each choose POV characters and divide up scenes to write each week. (In the case of Hungry Shoes, I wrote Grace’s POV scenes and Mare wrote Maddie’s.) We get together weekly and read our scenes aloud to each other for feedback and to decide what scenes should come next. We always know our novel’s ending but how we get there allows for discovery along the way. A first draft takes about nine months. Then we do an entire read through out loud together before tackling rewrites and editing, first individually, then merged into one manuscript that Sue edits with continual input from Mare until we’re ready to share it with our first readers and eventually our agent for more revisions.

Not every difference of opinion is contentious, but as authors we bring our own ideas to each story. How do you navigate those differences?
We are constantly discussing different ideas, testing them out on each other. If one of us likes something the other doesn’t, we talk it through some more, but we give each other a lot of freedom and autonomy to run with an idea to see how it works—especially if it concerns our own POV character. Often a third option better than either of us thought of previously will be born from our discussions—the magic of collaboration. One of our bylaws is the good of the project comes before either of our egos. Honestly, it’s easier and a more natural process than you might imagine. I (Sue) write novels on my own in between our joint projects and it’s twice the work and half the fun.

Do you allow an underlying structure to guide your writing process or is this something you discover as you work?
It can vary depending on the needs of a particular project but we use structure and pacing techniques that we’ve learned from studying screenplay writing. (Hungry Shoes began as a screenplay.) We use index cards detailing each scene and mount them on a big story board, moving scenes around to find the best progression. This visual is key to our process, especially merging two writers’ scenes into one seamless narrative.

What writing projects are you working on now?
At age ten, it was the Lennon/McCartney collaboration that incited our creative journey as partners. Countless books have been written about The Beatles, so we wanted to write a novel capturing their lifelong impact on the lives of two young fans, Sadie and Max, called And Your Bird can Sing. After family tragedy leads to not only physical distance but total estrangement, Sadie and Max try to navigate adulthood without the one person they counted on always being there. Through the best and worst of times, Beatles music is the soundtrack of their lives. When life offers them a rare second chance, they come face to face after 26 years apart. At age 40, is their connection still alive? Or has it receded into their pasts, a pleasant childhood memory forever lodged in an era that has vanished as surely as the miraculous band itself? Our agent is currently beginning submissions of And Your Bird Can Sing—fingers crossed!

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
Thank you so much for this opportunity to talk about our work! You can email us via our website: www.boggioandpearl.com. We enjoy attending book club discussions in person or via zoom.

Su Lierz writes dark fiction, short story fiction, and personal essays. Her short story “Twelve Days in April,” written under the pen name Laney Payne, appeared in the 2018 SouthWest Writers Sage Anthology. Su was a finalist in the 2017 and 2018 Albuquerque Museum Authors Festival Writing Contest. She lives in Corrales, New Mexico, with her husband Dennis.



Author Update 2024: Melody Groves

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Melody Groves is the author of nine historical western novels across two series, five nonfiction books about the West, and numerous magazine articles. Her two newest releases, Lady of the Law (Maud Overstreet Novel #2) and Showdown at Pinos Altos (The Colton Brothers Saga #7), were both published in 2023 by Wolfpack Publishing. You’ll find Melody on MelodyGroves.net and her Amazon author page. Read more about Melody’s writing in her 2016, 2018, 2021, and 2022 interviews for SouthWest Writers.

Melody, 2023 was quite a year for you. You published two books in 2023 and won the Spur Award for the biography Before Billy the Kid: The Boy Behind the Legendary Outlaw. And in April, you took the leap from Vice President of the Western Writers of America (WWA) to President of the organization. Before we get into your latest publications, can you please tell us about your journey with WWA and what that means to you?
Also in 2023, Trail to Tin Town was in the hands of a new publisher (Wolfpack) who released the eBook and paperback versions of the book. And I won the Will Rogers Gold Medallion for an article in Wild West Magazine about Billy the Kid’s mom. It was quite the year!

The journey to where I am now was a crazy and circuitous one. I joined SWW about a million years ago and attended every meeting, took many classes, met publishers and accomplished writers. At one SWW meeting, I met Tony Hillerman and his friend, Luther Wilson, who was the head of UNM Press. Wilson published my first book All About Rodeo—because I got the chance to talk to him, while Hillerman was swarmed!

Then, two SWW members gave me a mighty nudge to join Western Writers. By that time, I’d had several articles published, plus the rodeo book, so it turned out I was eligible! I joined and am so glad I did. Just like in SWW, I went to all the annual conventions, read WWA’s magazine Roundup, asked a ton of questions and eventually was published again because of being face-to-face with publishers and editors at the conventions.

WWA members are of a like mind — all love Westerns and want to be multi-published. We want to keep the genre alive. When asked to run as Vice President, I was terrified and honored. There are over 700 international members, and I knew someday I would be president. It was a six-year commitment — two as vice president, two as president, two as past president — but I agreed to take it on.

After nine months as VP, I was thrown into the presidency after the president quit. The WWA board and members couldn’t have been more supportive. Everyone jumped into action, and I think the organization is stronger because of the initial chaos. It took a while for me to think straight, but with a new executive director (he and I work together well), I’ve been able to address some issues. I’m ready to move forward with this new year.

For those who are new to you and your work, can you give readers some background regarding your writing career and what that path has looked like?
I wish I could say I planned out my career and moved forward with purpose. Instead, I simply knew I wanted to write, and my favorite genre was Westerns (probably from growing up in southern New Mexico). I was the newspaper editor in junior high, on the staff in high school, and a journalism minor at NMSU (Go Aggies!). Writing was a natural fit. I took time away from writing to raise children and to teach in Albuquerque Public Schools. In addition to teaching Gifted (I have an MA from UNM), I taught 6th grade language arts/literature. I had students write during the first 15 minutes of class. So…to model appropriate behavior, I did, too. Sometimes, that 15 minutes grew to 20. My first novel was written in class. I left teaching over 20 years ago to write novels and nonfiction books, and now have 15 — soon to be 18 in June — with my name on them. I’ve written tons of magazine articles as well.

Lady of the Law is the second book of the Maud Overstreet Series. What was the inspiration for this series, and do you see it taking on the same lifespan as the Colton Brothers Saga?
I have no idea what the inspiration for this series was. It was another case of a character sitting on my shoulder, talking to me constantly, wanting her story told. She wouldn’t shut up, so I wrote the first book, She Was Sheriff. I did the sequel, Lady, because publishers like more than a one-hit-wonder, and because the story wasn’t done in the first book. I don’t see it running much past book three — which I haven’t started on yet. It’s in the queue, though.

Does Maud, in Lady of the Law, embody any of your real-life traits?
Funny you should ask. Yes, there’s a lot of me in her. I didn’t plan for it, but when the subconscious takes control, the writing flows naturally. I hope Maud comes across as honest and likeable (ahem).

Showdown at Pinos Altos is the seventh novel in the Colton Brothers Saga. Please tell us a little about this latest book.
I didn’t mean for it to be part of the series, but here it is. This is a book I’d written several years ago, put in a top drawer, pulled it out last year, submitted it for publication, and wham, there it is in print. It features the youngest of the four brothers and is set in the Black Range in New Mexico. I enjoyed writing it because I used to go up into that area when I was a child, camping with my parents.

I had read that during your years with the New Mexico Gunfighters Association that you “loved being the ‘bad’ guy.” Which comes easier for you when writing: good guys or bad guys?
Bad guys I find easier to write. I think it’s the writer’s inner demon coming out. The problem with bad guys is each needs a good trait—one thing to make them loveable, or at least identifiable to readers. It’s easy to go overboard making the villains really bad, so I find I have to scale back on making them especially gritty.

It’s important to give characters little quirks. Is this something that should be applied to both minor and major characters within a novel, or can it be overdone?
Quirks. I’d say yes to any character—except how minor is a minor character? If he/she is a “walk on,” then I don’t worry about quirks. But if they’ve got more than a couple of lines and somehow affect the storyline or main character, then yes, make them more “rounded” by adding quirks.

Your novels take place in several states. How do your settings impact the stories and the characters?
A setting in a Western is considered one of the characters. That is something that identifies the genre. Consider deserts—a cowboy rides through cactus and sand dunes—he’s got to survive which is a story by itself. Settings are crucial in Westerns, not so much in say, a bodice-ripper.

When researching for a book, do you travel to the location you’re writing about, or are you able to intuit much of what you need to make each story come alive?
Almost always I travel to the location, or I’ve already been there. You learn so much by exploring the area. For example, in Lawrence, Kansas, researching Kansas Bleeds, I would have gotten it all wrong if I hadn’t traveled there, talked to tourist information people, etc. The topography has changed since the Civil War. It’s important to get flora and fauna correct and you can’t do that well sitting at home with Wikipedia. If writers can’t travel there, I’d send for brochures or call the appropriate agencies. They’re happy to put writers on the correct track (been there, done that).

Now that you have several novels under your “cowgirl belt” or should I say “hat,” what marketing techniques have served you best?
Marketing is tough, especially in a niche market. I find standing there selling works best. I go to several Western events each year and my books sell well there. I attend the Tucson Book Festival and sell at the Sandia High School Arts & Crafts Fairs. I do surprisingly well there, too. I’m not sure if buying ad space in magazines is fruitful. The best technique is television. Radio, I believe, is second. If you can get an interview on tv, that’s money in the bank. I’ve done tons of radio interviews and I’m not sure if it generated more sales or not. It was fun, though, and that’s what life is all about.

I’m curious as to how much of a role you play in your book cover designs? How did you feel when you saw your first book cover come to life?
Ah, covers! I try to influence the design, but I don’t always get a choice. I’ve been fortunate for several of my books to even design the cover, but some publishers (I’ve had 7) want to do it themselves. As for my first book cover, frankly, I was disappointed. It was my rodeo book and I thought too dark. They wouldn’t use the photo I wanted because you could see the bull rider’s face and I didn’t have a signed release from the rider. But the book has sold well despite my chagrin. (Cover tip — ask for orange somewhere. Studies show covers with orange sell best. Who knew?)

Can you give us a hint as to what writing projects are forthcoming?
In June, look for my three books in a new series tentatively titled Nolan Brothers Ride Again, about three brothers in 1871 Texas who have their trials and tribulations. Each book features one of the brothers. This was a three-book deal with the publisher, the first two are done and submitted. The third book is due end of April, and they’re telling me the books will be published in June. Keep fingers crossed. I’m excited about this project as I’ve never written a story set in Texas.

How can readers discover your work?
My work is all over the internet. Actually, I am. I have a new website that makes it easy to purchase my books. Unfortunately, a couple titles are hard to find through Amazon as the publisher went out of business. I’m in the process of finding a new publisher for those. Some of my books are in libraries, which is exciting, and local bookstores.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
I’d like to give some advice — if you want to be a successful author (your definition), you’ve got to talk to writers and publishers face to face. Go to conventions, meetings, conferences, on-line events. I know putting yourself out there is scary and tough, but that’s where you’ll find success — meeting people. It’s money and time well spent.

Thank you for reading this. I’m always happy to help. Questions? Send me an email to melodygroves@comcast.net.

Su Lierz writes dark fiction, short story fiction, and personal essays. Her short story “Twelve Days in April,” written under the pen name Laney Payne, appeared in the 2018 SouthWest Writers Sage Anthology. Su was a finalist in the 2017 and 2018 Albuquerque Museum Authors Festival Writing Contest. She lives in Corrales, New Mexico, with her husband Dennis.



An Interview with Author T. E. MacArthur

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Artist and historian T. E. MacArthur is the award-winning author of two steampunk series — The Volcano Lady and The Gaslight Adventures of Tom Turner — as well as A Place of Fog and Murder, a dieselpunk/noir-punk Lou Tanner P.I. Mystery. The Skin Thief (Indies United Publishing House, March 2023) is Thena’s newest release and her first paranormal romance thriller. You’ll find Thena on her website at TEMacArthur.com, on Facebook, and her Amazon author page.

What would you like readers to know about the story you tell in The Skin Thief?
Agent Tessa Lancing believed she knew all about death — until she met Death itself. Tessa has one last chance to prove herself to her employer, a disavowed secretive agency, or face literal termination, and she’s desperate to do what she must to succeed. When assigned to a doomed mission already littered with dead bodies, she drags Jack de Sombras, an accused traitor who’s also her old partner and unrequited love, out of his self-made tomb and back into the field. By teaming up with Jack, she expects to make quick work of the situation. She’s wrong…With an ancient evil and Death itself after them, can they survive their last mission together?

What was the inspiration for the book?
The Skin Thief started as my Pandemic project. I mean, what the heck: stay at home, nothing to drag me out of the house, nothing to distract me or to take up time. Of course, I can write 100 books, am I right?  I was wrong. That time of isolation drained me of all my energies, most assuredly, my creative energy. I was not alone. Still, more than a little determination got the plotting, false-starts, and research going. I also discovered the pure joy of Zoom workshops and meetings. I could go on about that, but I’m trying not to get too far off topic.

The book began as my homage to the British Avengers TV show (and was also inspired by the X-Files, with a heaping spoonful of both Tony Hillerman and Dean Koontz). In fact, my two protagonists call each other Steed and Peel once in a while. I tried to get that humor and weirdness, yet it wasn’t quite working. At that point, I backed up and asked, “What do you do (better) with two great new characters?  Where do you want them to go?  What kind of antagonist is the right match?” Why yes! That led to a complete re-write.

Did you know from the beginning that you wanted The Skin Thief to be a paranormal romance thriller?
Not even close. I ran the first iteration of The Skin Thief past a potential, and very time-generous agent who called it a Romantic Suspense. I knew there were some romantic elements but putting that in the genre label surprised me. Once I did a whole re-write, I embraced the romantic while not making it the center of the plot. “Will they” or “won’t they” is meant to enhance the thrill, not to overwhelm or distract from it.

Were there any challenges you faced when wrapping all those elements together?
My biggest concern was to make sure that I’d written a solid paranormal thriller, then to see to it that any romantic parts fit and moved the story smartly, and last (although not at all least) I needed to make sure that the facts flowed.

I could point to the biggest challenge being the fact that I hadn’t been in the Four Corners area (where The Skin Thief is set) in such a long time. I didn’t want to do the area or the people there an injustice by getting the details wrong or suggesting that the whole place was a paranormal cesspool. People of many ancestries have lived there over thousands of years. There are still so many mysteries about the ancient populations to modern observers. I didn’t want to do a disservice to any of the above.

My “ancient evil” is one of those evils that always seems to pop up everywhere. You spray, and you spray, and they just keep coming back.

Who are your main characters, and why will readers connect with them?
Who doesn’t love a cowboy? I suppose it depends on the man, doesn’t it? If he’s a cowboy with dangerous secrets and a questionable past, I suppose Jack de Sombras might not be your cup of tea. Then again, he is terribly smart, brave, and charming, even if you don’t know what his motivations are.

Tessa Wells Lancing has PTSD. She’s a bright bulb with a kick-ass attitude. If it can be done, Tessa either will do it or give it nothing less than her best. Can she help it if she wisely got therapy and the doctor put her on the path of parapsychology? Was it her fault if Death took a liking to her?

Two imperfect intelligence agents, working together again, to save lives. What’s not to like?

Do you share traits with any of your characters? Or are any of your characters based on people you know?
Every author writes him or herself into their characters. I think in this case, my characters have my sense of humor and Tessa has my interest in the paranormal but otherwise they are whole and completely their own people.

You’ve written in many genres: Mystery, Paranormal, Science Fiction, Thriller, Steampunk, to name a few. Do you prefer one genre over another?
While we’re focused on the The Skin Thief for this interview, I’m also working on my second series, the Lou Tanner Mysteries — set in 1935 futuristic San Francisco. I’m flopping back and forth between two very different styles, yet all in a similar genre. Thrillers.

Thrillers make me happy. While I like a good whodunit, I like the chase even more than the solution. And I love a good ghost story. I’d say right now, I’m split between writing paranormal and writing futuristic pulp detectives.

What I mean by futuristic pulp is called Dieselpunk. Like Steampunk (Victorian Science Fiction, ala Jules Verne), Dieselpunk takes history from between the world wars and asks, “What if?” In my case, I ask, “What if in 1935, technology includes robots and automated taxis to go along with a female, Raymond Chandler-like detective?” I adore the slang, the innuendo, the Art Deco/Noir setting, Jazz Age life. Chandler has a certain phrasing that is classic and profoundly descriptive.

Why did you choose your particular settings for The Skin Thief?
When I was eight years old, my family moved to Colorado Springs. I wasn’t what one might call “popular.” Okay, I was the odd kid, the weirdo, the California girl. I got bullied very badly. I found solace in being alone and using my imagination. I would sit in my backyard, with its view of Pikes Peak and Cheyenne Mountain, and look at the strange light in between them called the Shrine to the Sun. Every night, there it was, waiting in the darkness that was granite and conifer. Far away, enough that we never visited, but close enough that a neighbor or two mentioned it. It was a few years before I learned it was the Will Rogers Shrine to the Sun, a tribute to his writing.

Meanwhile, there I sat, imagining what a Sun Shrine might be like, filling in with jungle-covered Aztec ruins or lost ancient Egyptian travelers. Things an eight- or nine-year-old thinks. We had cliff dwellings too, although those weren’t quite like Mesa Verde. I wanted nothing more than to find ancient peoples as if finding myself within them. To me, they were unknowable — as was I.

My sneaky way home, that avoided where the bullies waited for me, went through a grove of trees where I would imagine great escapes, powerful witches, and talking trees. I suppose in a way, I can appreciate that the bullies forced me on an imaginative path — although I’m loathe to give them any credit.

Can you share with readers what writing project you’re working on now?
A new, re-edited second edition of A Place of Fog and Murder: A Lou Tanner Mystery will be released on October 25th by Indies United Publishing House LLC. Like The Skin Thief, it will be available on all the basic and familiar places. For now, I’m working on sequels to both The Skin Thief and A Place of Fog and Murder. Whichever tickles my fancy each day gets my attention. Both are due in 2024.

Where can readers find your books?
I am on Amazon, Kindle, Barnes & Noble, Draft2Digital, and Smashwords. Go to Books2Read for links to all retailers.

Anything else you’d like readers to know?
After visiting Albuquerque in 2022 for the Left Coast Crime convention, not to mention a side trip to Santa Fe, I fell in love with the Southwest again. I also met the SouthWest Writers group and am so glad I joined.

Su Lierz writes dark fiction, short story fiction, and personal essays. Her short story “Twelve Days in April,” written under the pen name Laney Payne, appeared in the 2018 SouthWest Writers Sage Anthology. Su was a finalist in the 2017 and 2018 Albuquerque Museum Authors Festival Writing Contest. She lives in Corrales, New Mexico, with her husband Dennis.



An Interview with Author R. Janet Walraven

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Award-winning author R. Janet Walraven, M.Ed., has written a children’s book, a World War II romance based on her parents’ lives, and two nonfiction books inspired by 35 years of K-12 teaching experience. Through her decades-long career, Janet developed a passion for connecting all of the players in the education field and believes it is possible to experience joy in teaching and in learning. Her mentoring book, Connect for Classroom Success, won the Silver Award with Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards. Janet’s newest nonfiction release is LIAM: The Boy Who Saw the World Upside Down (February 2023). You’ll find her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter/X. Look for her books on her Amazon Author Page.

Your newest book is an inspirational nonfiction story about a boy who was almost lost within the educational system. What would you like readers to know about LIAM: The Boy Who Saw the World Upside Down?
LIAM is a story of hope for those who have been academically misdiagnosed as well as marginalized. The true story is about a student I had many years ago. It’s been rolling around in my head for a long time.

Did this work present any challenges for you as a writer?
Two huge challenges. The first was finding my student from 40 years ago to get his permission for me to write the story. That took some detective work. We finally connected. His response was, “If the story can give hope to others, let’s do it.” I am grateful for his approval. The second challenge was putting myself back in the trauma of the situation; Liam felt the same way.

What did you consider your biggest challenge as an educator? What do you consider your greatest success?
My greatest challenge was finding a reading program that really works. I searched for 16 years and finally found what can change the lives of the 85% of students who don’t read correctly. If I win the lottery, I’ll get the Read Right program into every school in the USA. If Read Right had been available for Liam at the time, he could have become an excellent reader in a short time.

What I learned from Liam was that my job as a teacher was to connect with each individual student to help them realize their potential. I believe that everyone has a genius; the teacher’s job is to help them find it, set goals, and reach for the stars.

If you could offer one piece of advice for parents struggling with this type of situation, what would it be?
Don’t ever give up on your children. Don’t allow anyone to diagnose and label your child. If educators aren’t searching for a solution, be the advocate for your child. You will be amazed if you stay on that journey. Hope is out there. Keep believing, searching, asking for help, keeping hope in your heart. Liam was fortunate to have loving, supportive parents. They accepted him just as he was and did all they could to find solutions for him.

You’ve written in many genres: Children’s, Essay, Historical Fiction, Inspirational, Memoir, Narrative Non-Fiction/Education, Poetry, Romance. Has your nonfiction writing enabled you to make the transition into writing other genres easier?
I find it difficult to label my nonfiction as well as fiction. Both of my nonfiction books are true stories, but since I have to change character names, it becomes fiction of a sort. In writing Rainbow of Promise, the book about my parents’ romance, I used their real names. Though it’s historical fiction, the stories were true. I wrote the dialogue as close as possible to their personalities and the stories they told me.

I usually write from my own experiences—people I know as well as situations others have shared with me. Once in a while, a story pops into my head without my knowing where it came from; it seems to dictate to me. That’s a strange feeling but fun!

When you tackle a nonfiction project, do you think of it as storytelling?
Absolutely! My first book, Connect for Classroom Success: A Mentoring Guide for Teachers K-12, is mostly dialogue between students, parents, colleagues, and me. Who wants to read a boring textbook? I wrote it because so many teachers don’t have a mentor and give up their career in three to five years. The stories I tell are there to help teachers, parents, students, all the team players, find joy in teaching and learning. Storytelling is the best way. I wanted the book about Liam to be personal, including the struggles I had right along with him. Dialoguing is my favorite way to tell a story.

Of all the books you’ve written, is there one that was the most enjoyable to write?
I love being in the writing zone. Hours go by without my knowing where I am or what time it is. I found the most joy in writing the World War II romance about my parents’ love story. My goal was to be as true to the stories they told me while growing up and to reveal their true personalities. I enjoyed being in their heads, re-creating dialogue and situations as close to reality as possible. I’m working on a prequel to the story.

What does a typical writing session look like for you?
I write when I feel compelled to get a story out of my head and into a manuscript. Once I get started, it’s hard to stop. I have a nice setup—a quiet room with a computer on a desk facing a window, music without lyrics that fits the story, and a timer that tells me when I need a break. I usually ignore when it dings. I never have what others call writer’s block. I have so much in my head that I want to get out onto paper, there’s no time for a block. I write for the joy of writing, not to get rich or famous. I do appreciate reviews!

What first inspired you to become a writer?
I wrote my first serious poem as a senior in high school. My psychology teacher took us on a field trip to a nearby mental institution—a trauma that shook me to my core. On the way home, I wrote a short poem—the only way I knew to respond. After that, I found writing poetry came from deep within, whatever the circumstance. When I was twenty-five, my father was killed, supposedly accidentally, but I couldn’t reconcile myself to it. After several starts, hoping for a catharsis, I finally found my voice. I entered the story in the SouthWest Writers’ Contest (2001) and was awarded second place in Mainstream Short Story for Realistic Fiction. At that time, SouthWest Writers held conferences where we were able to meet with the judges. That was the validation I needed to pursue writing. Thank you, SouthWest Writers!

What advice can you offer other authors?
Write from your heart. Take advantage of writing seminars. Learn the rules of writing well enough to know when to break rules. Find a writing partner or group you feel comfortable with, but don’t take critiquing personally. Learn what you can from others but stick to your own voice. Writing takes a great deal of patience. I work with a writing partner plus two others who critique my manuscripts. Editing takes even more patience. A true writer is never done; rewrite and edit until you can finally say, I’ve got it as good as it gets. Then after publishing, you think of more to add or how you could have changed something. That’s what nice about self-publishing; you can always make changes or corrections in another edition. I don’t backtrack unless a typo or content mistake needs to be corrected. Otherwise, I move on to my next project, and that’s exciting.

Since you write across many genres, is there a genre you enjoy reading the most and why?
I like believable stories that fit my mood at the time—biographies, memoirs, true-to-life stories, well-written novels, and mysteries only if they make me laugh out loud. I don’t like violence and am not much into fantasies unless it’s metaphorical. I journal self-help books; that makes me slow down my fast reading in order to capture what I want to learn. After teaching the Holocaust for twenty-five years, I keep telling myself that I can no longer allow myself to sink into that horror. But another comes along, and I feel compelled to read yet another.

Do you have any other works in progress that you can tell us about?
Two projects are exciting. The first is a prequel to my WWII romance. It’s a story about my maternal Volga-German grandparents who emigrated from Russia in 1912. That’s taking a lot of research. I love researching because I learn a lot of history while picking the brains of my cousins, searching old photos and papers, and am grateful for the internet. My second project is writing a set of poetry books with varying themes and styles. I have most of the poetry written. Editing and organizing takes time.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
For each of my nonfiction books sold, I gift a book to a teacher or parent.

Su Lierz writes dark fiction, short story fiction, and personal essays. Her short story “Twelve Days in April,” written under the pen name Laney Payne, appeared in the 2018 SouthWest Writers Sage Anthology. Su was a finalist in the 2017 and 2018 Albuquerque Museum Authors Festival Writing Contest. She lives in Corrales, New Mexico, with her husband Dennis.



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