Blog Archives

2024 New Releases for SWW Authors #4

David L. Harrison, R. M. Tembreull, Sequoia Rudolph, Heidi Marshall, and Gary Lucero are just a few examples of the genre-diverse membership of SouthWest Writers (SWW). Their releases couldn’t fit in the 2024 interview schedule, but look for 2025 interviews or updates for some of these authors.

A list of interviewed SWW authors with 2024 releases is included at the end of this post.


Children’s writer David L. Harrison authored, coauthored, or edited four books in 2024. The Fluency Development Lesson, Closing the Reading Gap (Benchmark Education, June 2024) — a must-have for elementary literacy educators — is a ready-to-implement set of 28 fluency development units organized into five knowledge strands.

Introduce poetry to students in the classroom and beyond with 40 Poems for 40 Weeks: Integrating Meaningful Poetry and Word Ladders into Grades 3–5 Literacy (Routledge; 1st edition, December 2024), an anthology of hand-chosen poems written by well-known, beloved poets.

Wild Brunch: Poems About How Creatures Eat (Charlesbridge, September 2024), a nonfiction poetry picture book collection for kids, invites young wildlife lovers to explore how and why animals eat what they do.

A Tree Is a Community (Books for a Better Earth) from Holiday House, October 2024. A tree is more than just a plant, but a whole ecosystem hiding in plain sight, on street corners and in backyards everywhere. Discover how one tree provides shelter, food, and clean air to a host of animals and insects.

Visit David on his website DavidLHarrison.com, his blog, and on Facebook. Look for his children’s books on all major retailers including Amazon.


Fractured State in the Blighted Earth (Atmosphere Press, September 2024) by R. M. Tembreull. Chaos, the Destroyer, has launched his most aggressive and expansive campaign yet. His objective: initiate the Great Cascade and bring about the Discordant on Earth. The eternal struggle between order and chaos is an inescapable condition of the universe. Caught in the middle is the delicate balance necessary for life to exist and prosper in our world. On Earth, the opposing sides in this timeless conflict are Earth Mother’s Natural Order and Chaos’s Force Corrupted.

You’ll find Raymund on his website TheBlightedEarth.com and Instagram. Look for his books on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.


In Time Out (September 2024) by Sequoia Rudolph. Where does a 45-year old Special Ed teacher go when her marriage finally slips through the cracks? Into a self-imposed time out in Paradise, of course. Cynthia Ferguson quickly learns that Paradise is not what it’s chalked up to be. Navigating a challenging school system, an evil principal, rambunctious students, and their fiery parents, Ms. Ferguson finds herself being burned by the real heat of Hawai’i. Hilarious, poignant, and provocative, this is a tale about a woman who takes chances, starts over, and finds out that the world can be yours when you step boldly out of your comfort zone.

You’ll find Sequoia on Medium and Amazon.


The Town That Lost Its Colors (September 2024) by Heidi Marshall. Princess Imogen has never spent a night away from the safety of her castle but, with her father the King on other business, she has no choice but to journey to a remote village and do her best to help the people solve a serious problem. Where have the town’s colors gone? Could someone really have taken them, and how? A story written in the tradition of fine tales of courage and respect, with modern themes of inclusion, forgiveness, and kindness. Illustrated by Adrienne Kinsella.

Look for The Town That Lost Its Colors on Amazon.


In Letting Go: poems of life and death (October 2024 ) by Gary Lucero. This collection of poems explores the travails of life, the inevitability of death, and a fantasy realm where nothing is black and white. It’s poetry that deals with aging, disappointment, war, suicide, grief, loss, and death. Its first chapter focuses on life, the second on death, and the third, on a fantasy world filled with flawed characters who inhabit a realm where the gods aid the nobility and ignore the poor, while the realm of the dead threatens them all.

The paperback is a deluxe print version that includes illustrations for each of the poems in the book.

You’ll find Gary on GaryLuceroWriter.com, Facebook, Instagram, and his Amazon author page.


SWW Author Interviews: 2024 Releases

Tim Amsden
Love Letter to Ramah

Michael Backus
The Heart is Meat

Rachel Bate
Hatch Chile Willie

Irene Blea
Dragonfly

E. Joe Brown
A Cowboy’s Fortune (Kelly Can Saga Book 2)

Gency Brown
A Right Fine Life

Mary Lou Dobbs
Badass Old White Woman: How to Flip the Script on Aging

Lynn Ellen Doxon
The Moonlight Cavalry

Robert D. Kidera
Burn Scars

Kendra Loring
The Saga of Henri Standing Bear

William Murray
Worn Out Saddles and Boot Leather

Jeff Otis
Raptor Lands: The Story of the Harrowing Return of the Dinosaurs

Léonie Rosenstiel
Protecting Mama: Surviving the Legal Guardianship Swamp


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.




2024 New Releases for SWW Authors #3

Christie Palmer Lowrance, Dr. Alan E. Diehl, Donna Pedace, BR Kingsolver, and Roberta Summers are just a few examples of the genre-diverse membership of SouthWest Writers (SWW). Their releases couldn’t fit in the 2024 interview schedule, but look for 2025 interviews or updates for some of these authors.

A list of interviewed SWW authors with 2024 releases is included at the end of this post.


The Last Heath Hen: An Extinction Story (May 2024) by Christie Palmer Lowrance. Experts say the heath hen, a game bird related to the prairie chicken, is the only species of which the last individual in the wild was known and documented before extinction. The Last Heath Hen is a true account of the dwindling days of a species of wild bird on the island of Martha’s Vineyard and the efforts to save it.

Written for young readers to show them the complexity of conservation and the importance of valuing all wildlife.

Look for Christie on her website and on Facebook.


Requiem for Camelot: Whistleblower Reveals Why JFK, Jr. Died (July 2024) by Dr. Alan E. Diehl. While conspiracy theories continue to swirl around the death of “America’s Prince,” many people dismiss the tragedy as another manifestation of the “Kennedy Curse.” This expose explains how the cause of his crash was actually bureaucratic machinations that prevented him from getting critical training. Requiem for Camelot is the inside story of the icon’s tragic death and how official malfeasance continues to threaten everyone who flies.

You’ll find Alan on his website AlanEDiehl.com and his Amazon author page.


Women Warriors: The Hidden Spies of WWII (July 2024) by Donna Pedace. This is an unforgettable collection of wartime exploits by heroines like Virginia Hall, Pearl Witherington, and Noor Inayat Khan. Their patriotism, courage, ingenuity, and sacrifice were indispensable in working with Resistance movements to conduct espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance in Nazi-held territory. Readers will be awed by the accomplishments of this extraordinary group of patriots and humbled by their sacrifices. Most of these brave women parachuted into France, risking their lives to support the Allied war effort through leadership and coordination with local Resistance networks.

Visit Donna on her Amazon author page.


Demon Dance and Other Disasters (A Spirit Mage’s Journey Book 1, August 2024) by BR Kingsolver. Katy Brown is a tracker. Since her parents were murdered, she’s survived by tracking down the dangerous and the lost—rogue vampires and werewolves, missing children, runaway dogs, even deadbeat spouses. If it pays the rent, she’ll find it. But then a master mage offers her a very different job—track down a wizard-summoning demon. The reward is all her heart desires. This mission is darker, deadlier, and more twisted than anything she’s faced before. Join her on a high-stakes mission where the reward could change her life—or cost her everything.

Look for BR’s books on BRKingsolver.com and Amazon. Connect with the author on Facebook and Twitter/X.


Pele’s Children (September 2024) by Roberta Summers. This sequel to Pele’s Realm is a crime adventure novel set on the Big Island of Hawaii. Maggie and John Kovac are once again in the crosshairs of the Hawaiian Mafia. Maggie is notified of John’s death at the hands of the Mafia, but Madam Pele, the Fire Goddess of the volcanoes, intervenes. Although he was shot and tumbled into Kileaua Caldera, he survives but has amnesia. The Mafia learns of John’s survival and kidnaps Maggie to use as bait to find him. Will John’s memory return? Will he and Maggie survive the Mafia’s attempts to silence them forever?

You’ll find Roberta on RobertaSummers.com and on Amazon.


SWW Author Interviews: 2024 Releases

Tim Amsden
Love Letter to Ramah

Michael Backus
The Heart is Meat

Rachel Bate
Hatch Chile Willie

Irene Blea
Dragonfly

E. Joe Brown
A Cowboy’s Fortune (Kelly Can Saga Book 2)

Gency Brown
A Right Fine Life

Mary Lou Dobbs
Badass Old White Woman: How to Flip the Script on Aging

Lynn Ellen Doxon
The Moonlight Cavalry

Robert D. Kidera
Burn Scars

Kendra Loring
The Saga of Henri Standing Bear

William Murray
Worn Out Saddles and Boot Leather

Jeff Otis
Raptor Lands: The Story of the Harrowing Return of the Dinosaurs

Léonie Rosenstiel
Protecting Mama: Surviving the Legal Guardianship Swamp


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.




2024 New Releases for SWW Authors #2

J.R. Seeger, RJ Mirabal, Melody Groves, Linda Davis-Kyle, and Rosie Kern are just a few members of SouthWest Writers (SWW) who published books in 2024. Their new releases couldn’t fit in this year’s interview schedule, but look for 2025 interviews or updates for some of these authors.

A list of interviewed SWW authors with 2024 releases is included at the end of this post.


A Body on the Shoreline: A WWII Mystery (Mission Point Press, 2024) by J.R. Seeger. It’s 1942, and a body is discovered on the shoreline of a secret training facility in Canada. Warned to expect suspicion, if not total obstruction, Miles Lundin of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police must find a murderer in a camp of trained killers. Fortunately, he is joined in the investigation by a visiting “outsider” from Royal Navy intelligence, Lieutenant Commander Ian Fleming. The questions are clear: who and why? The answers, however, are as murky as the depths of Lake Ontario.

The Swordfish Deception: Book 8 in the MIKE4 Series (Mission Point Press, 2024) by J.R. Seeger. After nearly fifteen years of war zone deployments as a military intelligence officer with the US Special Operations Force, Sue O’Connell is now working for the CIA in a position where it’s unlikely she’ll be shot, blown up, or captured. But US and European agents and sources are dying mysteriously, and Sue’s team is suddenly on its way to Germany. Once again, the separate paths of Sue and her mother, a retired CIA case officer, twist and converge. And they find themselves targeted as obstacles to be eliminated by Russian mercenaries known as SWORDFISH.

You’ll find all of John’s books on his Amazon author page.


Dragon Train War (Dragon Train Quest, Book3, May 2024) by RJ the Story Guy (aka RJ Mirabal). Jaiden’s act of freeing Skye, the blue dragon, and her family became a movement to free all dragons. And that escalated to a rebellion. Now, all-out war seems to be the only solution. Jaiden and friends Tristram, Wyetta, Gorn, and Aleena represent the surge of humanity who join the fight for Dragon Freedom. Skirmishes, ambushes, intense battles, undercover operations, and uncertainty surrounding the strength of the enemy’s human army adds to the tension. Mysteries, surprises, unexpected revelations, and shocking outcomes mark the Final Dragon War.

You’ll find RJ on his websites RJMirabal.com and RJtheStoryGuy.com, and on Facebook, Twitter, and his Amazon author page.


Nolan Gang Unleashed (Wolfpack Publishing) is a three-book classic western series by Melody Groves. The Making of the Texas Kid (book 1, June 2024): Tate Nolan harbors a bold ambition—to surpass the legendary fame of his outlaw idol, Jesse James. Tate makes a choice that will leave an indelible mark on the wild heart of the untamed frontier. Eagan’s Revenge (book 2, July 2024): Eagan Nolan’s goal is simple—remain hell-bent on seeking revenge after a humiliating assault. Eagan faces the complexities of self-doubt and the unexpected twists that life throws his way. Battle at Rio Pedernales (book 3, August 2024): Joe Nolan wants one thing—to catch the men responsible for wreaking havoc on his beloved town. Joe’s courage stands as a beacon against the encroaching shadows of uncertainty and fear.

You’ll find Melody on MelodyGroves.net and her Amazon author page.


Writing about Your Pets #1: Questions & Prompts for ’Tweens, Teens & Beyond (July 2024) by Linda Davis-Kyle. The book offers loads of imagination-stretching and heart-warming prompts that reward young and mature wordsmiths with a more caring view of their pets and a more loving image of themselves. Some unique fiction and nonfiction prompts will engage ‘tweens, teens, and beyond teens to have fun improving and completing “startup” adventures. Perhaps, even more importantly, writers of all ages will appreciate seeing through the eyes of their pets, a beautiful way to love and appreciate themselves more.

Look for Linda on her website WritingNow.com. You’ll find her books on her Amazon author page.


The Competently Quirky Parables of an Eccentric Master Gardener (July 2024) by Rosie Kern. Master Gardener Rosie Kern’s philodendron grows across three walls in her dining room. The Maple sapling in her front yard cries when temperatures top 100 degrees. Starbucks baristas across the city save coffee grounds for her, and plant catalogs choke her mailbox. She also owns a tractor and knows how to use it. Her unusual but effective methods of approaching gardening challenges fuel her garden-club lectures. Friends smile and call her eccentric, fellow gardeners acknowledge her competence, and her kids just think she’s kinda quirky.

Visit Rosie on her websites at SolarRanch.com and RoseMarieKern.com.


SWW Author Interviews: 2024 Releases

Tim Amsden
Love Letter to Ramah

Michael Backus
The Heart is Meat

Rachel Bate
Hatch Chile Willie

Irene Blea
Dragonfly

E. Joe Brown
A Cowboy’s Fortune (Kelly Can Saga Book 2)

Gency Brown
A Right Fine Life

Mary Lou Dobbs
Badass Old White Woman: How to Flip the Script on Aging

Lynn Ellen Doxon
The Moonlight Cavalry

Robert D. Kidera
Burn Scars

Kendra Loring
The Saga of Henri Standing Bear

William Murray
Worn Out Saddles and Boot Leather

Jeff Otis
Raptor Lands: The Story of the Harrowing Return of the Dinosaurs

Léonie Rosenstiel
Protecting Mama: Surviving the Legal Guardianship Swamp


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.




2024 New Releases for SWW Authors #1

Kris Bock (aka Chris Eboch), Lisa Haneberg, Parris Afton Bonds, Carol H. March, and Larry Kilham represent the diverse membership of SouthWest Writers (SWW) with books published in a variety of genres in 2024. Their new releases couldn’t fit in this year’s interview schedule, but look for 2025 interviews or updates for some of these authors.

A list of interviewed SWW authors with 2024 releases is included at the end of this post.


Someone Rotten Riding the Rails: Female Sleuth Cozy Mysteries (The Accidental Detective Book 6, Tule Publishing, January 2024) by Kris Bock. Former war correspondent Kate Tessler has solved multiple murders since returning to her Arizona hometown. Now the FBI needs Kate’s help. Two Russian crime families have rented a private historic train to the Grand Canyon for their children’s wedding. To infiltrate the train, Kate poses as a reporter to cover the society wedding, and her crew of misfits pose as train staff. Their goal to observe is derailed when the groom disappears and a dead body turns up. Everyone’s a suspect and trapped on the train. Kate and friends must uncover the truth before their mission goes off the tracks.

Pride and Prejudice at The Cat Café: a Furrever Friends Sweet Romance (Pig River Press, March 2024) by Kris Bock. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a fortune should donate to a cat rescue. The Furrever Friends Cat Café helps people find furry forever friends – and just might lead to romantic love too. This Pride and Prejudice modern adaptation features fresh twists to delight both fans and new readers. The Furrever Friends Sweet Romance series features the workers and customers at a small-town cat café, and the adorable cats and kittens looking for their forever homes. Each book is a complete story with a happy ending for one couple.

You’ll find Kris Bock on KrisBock.com (and Chris Eboch on ChrisEboch.com), Instagram, and Goodreads.


Far From Ordinary: Predicaments, Misadventures, and Illuminations (January 2024) by Lisa Haneberg. This is a hilarious new collection of essays, poems, and short stories about adventures and misadventures. Lisa Haneberg engages readers with fascinating facts and eccentric tales about awkward experiences that went seriously sideways. The essays and poems highlight Haneberg’s quirky personal adventures, while her short stories subject fictional characters to outlandish escapades and entanglements. Dish unto others as life has dished upon you, as the saying goes. The collection includes twenty-six pieces ordered from the most straightforward to the weirdest.

Look for Lisa on her website LisaHaneberg.com, on Facebook, Instagram, and her Amazon author page.


Love and War on the Rio Grande (Paradise Publishing, April 2024) by Parris Afton Bonds. Where the Rio Grande River meanders through the Pass had long been a gathering spot for Anglo and Spaniard and Indian. Determined colonists, fierce Indians, devout padres, pistoleros, cavalrymen, railroad barons, and high-class harlots had all played their roles here. Beginning with the declaration of the Texas War for Independence on March 2, 1836, the stage was set for three females, all born on that same historic day. From thereon, their incredible lives were to be irrevocably interwoven. Their friendship leads them into escapades and romance covering a half-century of El Paso’s illustrious history—forbidden and life-changing adventures.

You’ll find Parris on ParrisAftonBonds.com, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter/X.


Open the Door to Your Creative Life (May 2024) by Carol H. March. Dare to Discover Your Inner Artist! Something is stirring! Do you hear the call? Get on board with your Creative Self and become the joyful, creative person you are meant to be. If you want to write, paint, compose, sing, start a business, or improve your life in any way, your Creative Self can lead you along the path to success. Say no to the voice of fear. Say no to the inner critic. Say yes to the wisdom within and discover your true potential. Be the person you know you can be. Open the door!

Visit Carol on her website CarolHollandMarch.com and her Amazon author page.


Hope: Poetry for our Future (July 2024) by Larry Kilham. Hope is a collection of Larry Kilham’s best poems through 2024. In this world struggling with identity, culture wars, and forecasts of apocalypse, Kilham’s poetry offers hope through themes of dealing with environmental change, nature, life’s passages, AI, and more. His poems have been included in many anthologies and have received many awards.

You’ll find Larry on his website LarryKilham.net and blog, and on his Amazon author page.


SWW Author Interviews: 2024 Releases

Tim Amsden
Love Letter to Ramah

Michael Backus
The Heart is Meat

Rachel Bate
Hatch Chile Willie

Irene Blea
Dragonfly

E. Joe Brown
A Cowboy’s Fortune (Kelly Can Saga Book 2)

Gency Brown
A Right Fine Life

Mary Lou Dobbs
Badass Old White Woman: How to Flip the Script on Aging

Lynn Ellen Doxon
The Moonlight Cavalry

Robert D. Kidera
Burn Scars

Kendra Loring
The Saga of Henri Standing Bear

William Murray
Worn Out Saddles and Boot Leather

Jeff Otis
Raptor Lands: The Story of the Harrowing Return of the Dinosaurs

Léonie Rosenstiel
Protecting Mama: Surviving the Legal Guardianship Swamp


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 Poet Mark Fleisher

Mark Fleisher is an Air Force veteran and former journalist with experience as a combat news reporter as well as a newspaper reporter and editor. Now a published poet, after the release of his first book of poetry in 2014, his work appears in numerous anthologies. Mark’s fifth book of full-length poems is Knowing When: Poems (Mercury HeartLink, March 2023) in which he “writes of sadness and tragedy, lightens the mood with poems about love, nature, even baseball, as well as a mirthful look at technology. Fleisher’s blend of narrative and lyric styles cut to the heart of the matter, showing the ability to speak volumes in a minimum number of lines.” Look for Mark on Facebook and his Amazon author page.


When readers turn the last page in the book, what do you hope your poems accomplish?
I hope the poems in Knowing When encourage readers to think about what I’ve written and what, if anything, the words mean to them. Maybe shed a tear or elicit a chuckle.

Do you have a favorite poem in the book, one that has a deeper meaning than the others?
I don’t know if they are my favorites, but the three poems talking about gun-related events underscore for me the very real and serious problem we have in this country. If I had to pick a single poem it would be “A Bittersweet Christmas.” It involves a couple I knew in Michigan. The husband — now deceased — had dementia, and his wife thought a Christmas tree would provide him with a little joy.

How did Knowing When come together?
I would venture to say the title poem and the last poem in the book were written specifically for Knowing When. The others I had written over the course of several months. I like to mix humorous — at least to me — poems in with the more serious stuff. Because I had most of the poems already written and sitting in the computer, it didn’t take all that long to assemble. The editing cycle was essentially going through the book numerous times and then Pamela Warren Williams (my publisher at Mercury HeartLink in Silver City) found things I missed. She did the interior design and we kind of collaborated on the cover. I had an idea of a clock with no hands. She suggested one hand and I agreed. The cover is essentially in gray tones and black. One reviewer called it depressing, another said it was extremely effective. You never know.

When did you know you had taken the manuscript as far as it could go, that it was finished and ready for publishing?
Great question. I had the manuscript finished — at least I thought so — and sent it off to Pamela. A few days later, I was driving down 4th Street on my way to the gym. A song written by John Prine and sung by Nanci Griffith came over my audio system. The song was “You Broke the Speed of Sound of Loneliness.” It dawned on me that there must be another side of loneliness and I started composing the poem in my head. I went to the gym, drove home and remembered what I had conjured up in my mind. I called Pamela and she said there was time to add another poem.

How is Knowing When different from, or similar to, your four other full-length books of poetry?
While I wouldn’t call myself a “war poet,” my year in Vietnam as an Air Force combat news reporter certainly informs. My previous four books contained a fair number of Vietnam-related poems and a few about other wars. Oddly, Knowing When does not. That was not a conscious decision on my part. In fact, I wasn’t even aware of it until the manuscript was done.

What was the best part of putting this project together?
Finishing it. Seriously, working with Pamela. She’s published my last three books and her late husband Stewart Warren did the first three. Knowing in my mind and my heart that I did my best and believing I had a pretty good book. I guess that was borne out as Knowing When was a finalist for the New Mexico-Arizona Poetry Book Award and a bronze medalist from the Military Writers Association of America. An author whose name I don’t recall said for a man, holding that finished book in his hands is the male equivalent of giving birth.

When did poetry become important to you?
I’m a relative newcomer to poetry. Didn’t like poetry very much or understood much of it through high school and college. When I started visiting New Mexico in 2010-2011, I started writing poetry. I have no clear idea why that happened, maybe because of the poetry community in and around Albuquerque. My reason for coming to New Mexico was an affair of the heart. I reconnected with a wonderful woman who I had briefly known — we had two dates — before I went to Vietnam. We hadn’t seen each other in 43 years. I remember writing romantic poems as our relationship grew. Most of them pretty bad as I really had no idea what I was doing.

How important is accessibility of meaning? Should a reader have to work to understand a poem?
Accessibility of meaning…I’ve been told my poetry is accessible and approachable. I am best categorized as a narrative poet, telling a story. That’s an outgrowth of my newspaper/magazine background. When I started writing poetry, I had a hard time with lyrical poetry. I’m more comfortable with it now. Still there are some things I’ve written and then said “where did that come from?” Someone — I can’t recall who — said some poems come from way out there and you are merely a conduit in sending it to readers.

How does a poem begin for you, with an idea, an emotion, an image?
Yes, yes and yes. I’ve even written a few poems generated by dreams, like having lunch with a young Einstein.

What writing projects are you working on now?
By the time this interview posts, I’ll have my next book in my hands. It’s called Persons of Interest and it’s different from the other books. This book contains 13 stories and 13 poems, a Baker’s Dozen of each.


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 William (Will) Murray

Author William (Will) Murray accumulated a lifetime of adventures as a rancher raising cattle, horses, and dogs and as an outfitter guiding hundreds of people through private land and national forest. He has so many stories that it takes three memoirs to share them all. The first of these books, Worn Out Saddles and Boot Leather: Memoir of a Wilderness Guide, was released by McFarland Publishing/Toplight Books in July 2024. Look for Will on his website WilliamWillMurray.com, Facebook, Twitter/X, and his Amazon author page. In addition to Amazon, Worn Out Saddles and Boot Leather is available at McFarland Publishing and all major booksellers including Barnes & Noble, Thriftbooks, and Google Books.


What did you hope to accomplish when you began writing your memoir stories? By the end of the journey, were you successful in your goal?
I wanted to bring some of my life of adventure to everyone in a book. I chose the ten-year span of time when I guided and outfitted people into the wilderness along the California coast. My goal was to take the reader from their life to mine and back.

My book has been out on the market now for about six weeks and the feedback from almost everyone is the same. They tell me the words take them right into the adventure along with me and back!

What was the greatest challenge of writing Worn Out Saddles and Boot Leather?
The greatest challenge was to tell these tall but true tales in just exactly the way that I would tell them if I were standing in front of you.

When did you know you wanted to write your memoir and what prompted the push to begin the project? At what point did you realize you needed more than one book to tell your story?
I had an idea that I wanted to write and had made a few notes over the years, but it took a bad accident with a horse to make me lay there and realize just how lucky I’d been and how big a life that I’d lived! Worn Out Saddles and Boot Leather covers only ten years of my life, but a life so well overlived is now taking three books with a fourth in the making. I’ve had a big life, and I want to share it!

How is Worn Out Saddles and Boot Leather structured? How did you go about naming your chapters?
There is no particular order. Laying in that hospital bed, the stories just started flowing and I never bothered to stop or change the order. However, I did start with my best friends, those intrepid four-legged champions that did all the work—my horses. The chapter names were easy, they just came to me before I started each chapter. The names came from somewhere in the back of my mind (scary).

Tell us how the book came together.
I started writing my book on about January 1st of 2023 and finished it along about February of 2024. My wife and I, including her family that live in the east, along with a game warden from California, edited this book four complete times. My friends were brutal! When I was finally ready, I began to look for a publisher, and because I was determined not to self-publish, it took eight months and about twenty book proposals before McFarland Publishing offered me a contract. They have turned out to be the very best!

Do you have a favorite story or chapter in the book?
I love the Dedication; I owe so much to my wife! I still think she tells the sun when to rise and set! My chapter pick is tough but the one that still brings me to tears is “A Miracle in the Night.” From a near tragedy to victory. A little common sense on my part could have kept me from having to write this chapter.

What was the best part of putting this project together?
My effort to write Worn Out Saddles and Boot Leather brought to light what a completely out of hand and barely legal life I’ve led and how important it was to share it with everyone.

Amazon categorizes Worn Out Saddles and Boot Leather as Equestrian Sports, Horse Riding, and Memoirs. If you didn’t have the limitations of Amazon categories, how would you characterize the book?
My book should be categorized in the Greatest of Human and Horse Endeavors category.

Did you ever feel like you were revealing too much of yourself (or anyone else) in writing your stories? If so, how did you push past the feeling and continue?
I couldn’t write my stories without my inner self and thoughts, and I loved this part the most as I knew it would draw the reader into the story itself.

How did you come up with the book title?
The book title came out of my mouth several weeks before I started to write. It just seemed perfect.

Was there anything surprising you discovered while doing research for Worn Out Saddles and Boot Leather?
I was surprised how good my memory is. As soon as I started a story, I was instantly back in time right there in the story.

Where does the memoirist’s responsibility lie: with the truth of the facts or with his feelings about what occurred?
Base a nonfiction story on the facts with a sprinkling of emotions scattered throughout. The truth will stand out if told with emotion.

What writing projects are you working on now?
My second book, A Scent in the Air, is about my lifetime of great dogs. It is now out for publishing, and I’m almost finished with my third book, An Untamed Life, the unbelievable story of my wild and out-of-hand life from an upside-down childhood to rodeo, logging, and my own ranch. I believe this book is the best so far! The fourth book will chronicle the loss of our freedoms in this country for which we are all to blame.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
I’m not a writer but I’ve learned to put my stories into the written word just as I would tell them in person. To others I would just say sit down, pick up a pen, and let those words flow. Put some of yourself into your story and draw us in. Last but far from least, keep reading!


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 Cornelia Allen

Cornelia Allen was raised in rural New Mexico and became a woman of many talents and adventures from time spent in various occupations including farm fieldworker, national park ranger, biology teacher, medical practitioner, and eventually the Dean of Education at two colleges. She is now an author who loves writing about characters inspired by the interesting people she has met in her journeys. Cornelia’s debut release, Then Came July (The Rick Mora Novels Book 1, August 2023), is an action-adventure romance set in The Land of Enchantment. Look for Cornelia on Facebook and her Amazon author page.


What is your elevator pitch for Then Came July?
When her clinic is firebombed, the severely injured young doctor clashes culturally, philosophically, even physically with the hard-nosed investigator. But as they begin to see themselves through each other’s eyes, they learn what real love means.

What makes this novel unique in the romantic action/adventure/suspense market?
These are real people, very successful, conflicted and wounded, with a dark side in his case, but strong enough to change, to take the opportunity when offered. Shakespeare said that there is a tide in the affairs of man that when taken at the flood leads to victory. My characters grab that flood tide.

Tell us how the book came together.
I always had heroes. From Horatio Hornblower of fiction to our own Elfego Baca. But I have been feeling a lack of real, relatable heroic characters in current fiction. Not superheroes, but those who struggle to reach some shining star. Hence, my Enrique (Rick) and July. They strive and fail and try again. I wanted a book cover that showed their conflicting views, but with some give to it. I was incapable of pulling that off, so I hired an illustrator from Outskirts Press, and liked their idea. I used an editor who ran through the book twice, but I did most of it for lack of funds. Initially, I thought that traditional publishing would not work for me because I had been very ill, and did not expect to live long enough to see the book hit the shelves. But I have zero interest in marketing, so self-publishing doesn’t work either. Damn! I’m stuck! Ah, well!

Who are your main protagonists? Did they surprise you as you wrote their story?
Rick and July came to me. I didn’t have to seek them. Like with other friends, I learned more about them over time. And there is still more to learn. I sort of point them in a direction, and they run with it. The one thing that remains steady with them now is that they have each other and their joint family. They will do anything to maintain the relationship. Not that they don’t fight with each other, get exasperated, misunderstand each other. They do, but it never changes their love for each other.

What is the main setting for the book, and how does it impact the story?
I am a New Mexican. My stories are set in the deserts and mountains, the cities and countryside that I know. Urban or wilderness, they are a part of the story. The very first scene is of July impatiently waiting at a stoplight on Lohman in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and daydreaming about getting her toes into some cool water at Dripping Springs in the Organ Mountains just east of town.

Is there a scene in Then Came July that you’d love to see play out in a movie?
There are many! One in particular is just after Rick and July, hesitatingly reaching a new and unexpected relationship, have had a major fight and are struggling with a new level of understanding. They are sitting in the dirt of a little road in a meadow, watching the night coming on, and there is a coyote family nearby watching also, watching them in silence. It is poignant because Rick is sometimes called the coyote cop, in recognition of his prowess as a hunter of the bad guys. And it fits because he is also a silent observer, a woodsman in his natural environment, and it relates to a life-changing incident when he was a child. This scene touches my soul. The two coyotes in spiritual harmony, so to speak.

What was your favorite part of putting this project together?
How I would wake up with some new knowledge of what July and Rick were doing that day. I laughed a lot.

According to Amazon, this is a second edition of Then Came July. What changes did you make to the original book? Also, Then Came July looks like it’s the first of a series. Do you plan second editions of these books as well?
I did not, initially, write for the market, just for my own and my family’s entertainment. So, I tried out different endings. There really have never been first editions, only potential editions sent to friends via Kindle. I think of those as drafts, and had no idea that Amazon would not let me remove them.

In my very diverse family, there are cowboys and farmers, lawyers and various medical folks, military and preachers, scientists and engineers. In one way or another, they have all contributed to the characters and their stories. All I have to do is listen, and imagine.

What inspired you to become a writer?
Spring of 2024, I decided to become a writer, not just a storyteller for friends and family. I realized that I had a chance when an award-winning screenwriter, who has a new movie coming out this Fall, offered to write (in his spare time) a TV pilot based on Then Came July. I am collaborating, and it is lots of fun.

It appears you began your writing/publishing career later in life. What has your mature self brought to the writing table that your younger self never could have?
Patience with myself. I have the attention span of a gnat, so focus is a lifelong challenge.

What’s the best encouragement or advice you’ve received in your writing journey?
Michael McGarrity and Craig Johnson both said, in one way or another, to keep on trying. Standard advice to the admiring masses, I suppose. Nevertheless, I took it to heart.

What writing projects are you working on now?
A YA coming of age story that incorporates some of my own adventures growing up in the mountains of New Mexico in the 40s and 50s. For a few years, I taught college freshmen, and it was a revelation to me how little they knew, and a revelation to them that we ancients were not quite as backwards as they thought. I loved that job and made some good friends. One youngster’s great-grandfather had been a lieutenant in Pancho Villa’s Army. My dad rode as a hunter with Pershing’s troops, chasing Villa’s Army into Mexico. We bonded over the differences. Oh, wait! I think I may hear a manuscript approaching!

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
Age really is not so much a barrier as it is an opportunity. I am only 80. There is still much to do.


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 2024: Michael Backus

Author and creative writing instructor Michael Backus is an essayist, novelist, short story writer and screenwriter as well as a memoirist. His latest release, The Heart Is Meat: An 80s Memoir (Oil on Water Press, August 2024), is a “raw…tender…self-portrait of the artist as a strung-out young meat market worker in the throes of a volatile love affair” and “vividly evokes the carnival seaminess and romance of pre-gentrified downtown New York.” You’ll find Mike on his website MichaelJBackus.com and on Facebook and Twitter. For more about his work, read SWW’s 2017 and 2022 interviews.


Why did you write The Heart Is Meat and who did you write it for?
In my synopsis/pitch for the book, I wrote:

In 1982, NYC’s meatpacking district was a wild confluence of meat market workers, gay men hitting The Mineshaft, NJ mafiosos, veterans of three wars, heroes of the French resistance and Holocaust survivors.

It was a startling new world for a 22-year-old who grew up in a small town in Indiana. I never dreamed of moving to NYC; if my sister hadn’t moved there in 1978, it wouldn’t even have been on my radar. I got a job tossing meat at Adolf Kusy Pork and Provisions through my sister’s boyfriend; it was 1982 and NYC was still an exciting and scary place and the Gansevoort Meatpacking district on the north edge of Greenwich Village was like nothing I’d ever experienced. It was pure chaos from 3:00 to 10:00 am, the streets clogged with hundreds of men in white coats, trucks blowing their horns, semi-trailers wanting to get unloaded and gay men frequenting the Mineshaft and the Anvil, two heavy leather clubs. More than anything, I wanted the book to be a document of that time and that place, a world of drugs, violence, levity, desperation, and hard work. I wanted to recreate the ongoing profanely aggressive dark comedy that was the meat market in general and our meat house in particular. Jimmy, my old boss at Kusy’s, had t-shirts made up that read “Adolf Kusy Pork and Provisions, we have the meat and the motion, the wild and craziest meat house in NYC.” A few years ago, I tracked down Jimmy and he said;

“I wish now I had a tape recorder and had just recorded every day down there. Just the…stories alone, the shit people came up with every day, the insanity of that place.”

If you go to NYC’s meatpacking district today, it seems almost impossible to believe my market of the early 80s ever existed. There’s the new Whitney museum, a seemingly endless number of high-end stores and restaurants, the lovely High Line park built on the old High Line railroad tracks (weedy and abandoned in the 80s). Today, a Van’s shoe superstore sits where Kusy once did. So first and foremost, I wrote the book because working there was a central experience in my life and I wanted to honor that. But I also felt some responsibility to make the book a document of a place and a time that’s so long gone, it’s hard to imagine it ever existed.

When did you know you wanted to write this portion of your life’s story? What prompted the push to begin the project?
I wrote a fiction short story back in the 90s called “Meat” that is loosely based around my experiences in the market in the 80s. It was published in the Portland Review, a literary magazine out of Portland State University and for a long time, I considered that my best short story. At that time, I wasn’t very interested in memoir. I resented its place in our literary culture, the idea that memoir was somehow “more true” than fiction, which is a ridiculous simplification. If I thought about it at all, it was as a possible novel and as a possible novel, I wasn’t interested in imposing an invented plot on what had been my life.

Then life intruded. I got older, people close to me started dying of old age and at some point, it was like someone threw a switch and I found myself writing short memoir pieces which eventually led to beginning the book that would become The Heart is Meat. One thing I learned about memoir is it’s easier to structure your narrative if you simply commit to a chronological approach, the structure takes care of itself and you can concentrate on content. With fiction, structure is never a given and the sheer number of ways you can approach a fiction narrative are daunting. That wasn’t an issue in writing this book and I found that very freeing.

I should also mention that a large part of the book is about maintaining a live-in relationship, living in the East Village of the early 1980s, going to art shows and dance clubs and guerilla art installations on the Hudson River piers. I try to capture what it was like to live in a New York City very different from today; how it could be scary, but it was also lively and exciting.

How is the book structured and why did you choose to put it together that way? How did you decide when to end the memoir?
I structured the book chronologically more or less but I made a couple of decisions about structure. For one, I wanted to start on action, just jump right into the moment so I didn’t detail how I ended up in NYC in the beginning, I started right in the middle of a day at work in the market, a day when my character was expected to apologize to a meat inspector I’d had a run in with a few days before. Adolf Kusy Pork and Provisions carried only boxed meat, so meat inspectors never bothered us, but they could cause problems if they wanted to which was why I was being forced to say “I’m sorry” for something I considered the fault of the inspector. This forms the first 30 pages or so of the book.

After this opening, I mostly moved forward chronologically but about halfway into the book, I have a second structural section where over a five-day period (the overall section is called “The Great Stakeout” and is broken down into sections marked Day One, Day Two…to Day Five) I detail two dramatic events happening at the same time. At work, there had been a holdup and murder in a nearby meat house and Adolf Kusy had the most ready cash on hand (we did more retail business than anyone else in the market) and everyone was sure we would be next. Plainclothes cops spent five days wearing white butcher’s coats and pretending to work among us while waiting for the robbers to strike. At the same time, the mother, father and sister of the woman I lived with were visiting from overseas and staying with us in our cramped East Village apartment. Each of the five days, I navigated work and cops and possible danger from 4:00 am to 2:00 pm, then after, when normally I’d be napping, I hosted her parents, running around the city, doing touristy things. It was a lot going on at the same time, but it ended up being a central structural part of the book.

About the ending, I struggled with it for some time and I still don’t think it’s perfect. If the book is partly about working in the Gansevoort meat market and living in a very different NYC, it’s also about the slow dissolution of a relationship. I used that final breakup as the end of the book, but after I was done, I interviewed my old boss Jimmy and added an Epilogue with information on what happened to some of the characters in the book over the previous 25 years. Jimmy remembered some things differently than I did and I included those memories without changing my own, this memoir being how I remembered my life back then. The epilogue also allowed me to include one of Jimmy’s memories about the market then, which helped me make one last point about the uniqueness of that particular time and place, which worked as the actual ending to the book.

Tell us more about how the book came together.
Writing took a couple of years; I mentioned a fiction short story “Meat” earlier, that story had an aggressive, profane and hopefully comic voice and I was able to find that voice very early on in writing the memoir. That was a huge help. But after multiple rejections, I’d more or less given up on publishing the book. It had some of the best writing I’ve done in my writing career, but it seemed out of step with our literary and social culture; the meat market world in 1982 was often over the top in how people expressed themselves, how they acted (toxic masculinity sums up the market nicely), and while I’m totally on board with our larger culture’s attempts to embrace a more open, inclusive approach to everything, I wasn’t sure my book really fit into the American literary world of today. Oil on Water Press is out of England and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that an English publisher accepted my book. I’m not convinced an American publisher ever would have. In terms of the book cover, the publisher came up with it after I sent them a photo from the 80s of Adolf Kusy’s sign outside the meat house. I liked it from the start and after I was able to get a couple of blurbs from known authors, the cover was complete.

Any “Oh, wow!” moments while doing research for this book?
Nothing so dramatic, but when interviewing my old boss, I discovered that a couple of guys I worked with had died just a few years after I left the job. And he had details that were different from mine. For example, in “The Great Stakeout” section of the book, I remembered the two killers being described as Serbians. He remembered them as Jamaicans, and while I acknowledged that in the Epilogue, I didn’t change anything in the body of the memoir. It seemed useful to acknowledge the reality that memoir is as created a world as fiction; that the moment an event is over, it becomes a memory and all memory is subjective.

One last sad thing; I always imagined finding Jimmy, my old boss, and giving him a signed copy of the book, that he more than anyone would appreciate the details. It was one of the reasons I wanted to get the book published in the first place. But just a couple of months ago, while trying to figure out how to get the book to him, I found out he died in 2023 at the age of 73, which was a surprise since he seemed healthy and robust his whole life.

Did you ever feel you were revealing too much about yourself while writing The Heart Is Meat? If so, how did you push past this feeling and continue?
Absolutely, I freaked out fairly regularly about it. I published a novel, The Vanishing Point, a couple of years ago and while the main character has a lot of me in him, I could always hide behind the idea that this is fiction and that character is NOT me. But in the memoir, the character literally has my name. It IS me. There’s a genuine vulnerability to that and I can’t claim to have fully come to grips with it, though in the end, it is what it is. In terms of pushing past this fear, when writing, I always tell myself that I need to be as open and honest as possible and if at some future point, someone wants to publish it, then I’ll worry about it then. And I’ve been writing a long time now, I’ve taught creative writing for over 20 years and I’m still teaching it. I’ve long ago come to peace with the notion that I might at times be showing too much of myself, which isn’t the same as saying I never have moments of doubt and worry.

There’s another consideration. The girlfriend who I was living with (Maya in the book) is alive and well. I met her in college, we both ended up in NYC, we lived together for five years on 12th Street and Avenue A. I still know her, mostly in a “like your post on Facebook” way but she didn’t ask to be a character in a former boyfriend’s memoir and I feel some trepidation about that. I have not talked to her about it and part of me has to be selfish and say, “This is my story,” but that doesn’t mean I’m not aware that I’m revealing intimate details about someone who hasn’t been part of my life for 30 plus years.

How did you pick the title of the book?
I worked on the title with my sister and her partner; they came up with the Heart is Meat part, I wanted to add something about what it was so I added An 80s Memoir to the end. I sometimes go back and forth even at this late date on the title, but here’s the thing. When I published my novel The Vanishing Point, I had changed the name a couple of times and The Vanishing Point was the original title and I was eager to return to it. But now in retrospect, I find The Vanishing Point kind of mundane and mostly forgettable. It sounds generic. Whatever else, The Heart is Meat is not generic.

What was it about New York City that first drew you to it? Has your view of the city changed?
My sister moved to the city from Indiana in 1978, she still lives there. I visited her in 79 and while I was not the kind of kid who ever imagined himself living in NYC, something about the vibrancy of the place interested me. It was dirty, it was dangerous, but the streets were also full of people at pretty much any time of the day or night. There were artists and writers everywhere, so in 1982, thinking of myself as a fiction writer, I moved to the city because it seemed the best city for a fiction writer to live in. And it was, pretty much in every way other than doing the work itself. I wrote almost nothing in my time there but much of what I experienced informed everything I eventually did write. I left the city in the late 80s to go to grad school in Chicago but returned in 1998 and spent the next 16 years there and it was a totally different city. Still lively and crowded, but not in any way scary anymore (despite what certain politicians say, NYC is one of the safest cities in the country), I built a fine life around working for a college on the upper east side (both in the administration and teaching creative writing as an adjunct professor), I rode my bike everywhere, I played basketball four times a week at the 92nd street Y. In so many ways, it was an idyllic lifestyle and totally different from my experience in the early 80s. But one of those differences was how expensive it had become and when I lost my apartment in 2014, I literally could not afford to live there anymore. If I could have afforded it, I’d probably still be there.


KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. Kat has a speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.




Author Update 2024: E.P. Rose

Since immigrating to the United States in 1986, Elizabeth (E.P.) Rose has shared her heart and hard-earned wisdom in memoirs, poems, artwork, and children’s verse. In her fourth memoir, The Long, the Short and the Tall: Tales of a New American (August 2023), she reveals her life in fifty-two stories collected “over the forty years she has spent in America. Some shocking, some sad, some to set you laughing, and others purely fantastical, each story triggered by a true event or impression, will give you a topic to think or laugh about.” Look for Liz’s books on her Amazon author page. For more about her work, read her 2015, 2019, and 2023 SWW interviews.


How would you describe The Long, the Short and the Tall?
We all have them. Stories accumulated over our lives. As an English transplant to America over 45 years ago, these are some of the stories based on true events…well mostly, as a few are definitely tall.

Is there one piece in the collection that characterizes the whole?
Perhaps “Butterfly Messenger,” the true event that shaped my decision to take the plunge and emigrate. And thereafter taught me to trust whatever message I should hear.

How is the book structured and why did you choose to organize it that way?
The true events are on the left-hand page. The stories arising from each follow beginning on the right page.

Some of the stories in this collection are decades old. At what point did you consider putting these short works into a book? Tell us more about The Long, the Short and the Tall and how it came together.
I have written with one true and objective friend every Sunday for two hours since taking up the pen at the end of 2009. Hence the number of stories began to mount up. Hmmm so what to do with them? I questioned. A shame to toss fifteen years writing in the garbage. So, I began searching for a theme to collate them into a book. At first, I struggled. Animals?… People in my life? Emotional growth? No. No. No. Then one day I sat up. Why the theme is YOU, I told myself. All the things that have struck you as a new American. There I had it…a theme.

What topics or themes does your book touch on that make it a perfect fit for a book club selection?
That’s something I’ve not thought about. But perhaps the lessons are observation and trust. A club might ask its members to recall some insightful experience in their lives that has changed/guided their actions.

What was your favorite part of putting this project together?
Recording the many wonderful and meaningful adventures I’ve had as a new American that I could never have experienced if I had stayed with my conservative and safe English life.

LW Lindquist once wrote that “poems ask wonderful questions, sometimes without including a single question mark.” Does The Long, the Short and the Tall ask any unspoken questions?
Oh yes…truth is certainly stranger than fiction, I discovered. Which story is which…? Is it short? Is it long? Is it tall?

If choosing the title for The Long, the Short and the Tall was a long or complicated process, tell us about that journey.
Searching for a theme that linked the stories, the title came to me as the tune of the well-known song of that name, came in a flash overnight.

As you judge success, which of your books do you consider the most successful?
Each book satisfies me in different ways so it’s difficult to choose. The Perfect Servant because it honors the everyday struggles caregivers live with. When Cows Wore Shoes because it records more than a decade of happy and life-changing summers with my children in rural Spain. Poet Under a Soldier’s Hat, the book that my father hoped to write of one hundred years of our family history in India.

How did your years as a sculptor influence your writing?
Sculpture and Writing are each a form of language…verbal and non-verbal so when I switched each felt equally creative.

Looking back to the beginning of your writing/publishing career, what do you know now that you wish you’d known then?
I wish my education had included the Great Books.

Do you have any writing rituals or something you absolutely need in order to write?
Silence. No music, no telephone suits me best.

What writing projects are you working on now?
Right now, a book of Spanish photographs taken with my Brownie Box recording a rural and gentle way of life under Franco…photo, one page, a one/two-line poem/saying the other. At the same time, I’m working on a separate project collating my prose poems to book form.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
Only how grateful I am to SouthWest Writers from whom I have learned a little of the craft of writing…Arc. POV. Protagonist, etc. Things I had never been aware of.


KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. Kat has a speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.




Author Update: Rachel Bate

Author Rachel Bate is a retired elementary and special education teacher who writes stories that encourage children to follow their dreams and to care about others and our planet. Her fifth children’s book release, Hatch Chile Willie (Mascot Kids, June 2024), is “an engaging, magical book celebrating New Mexico’s prized state vegetable.” You’ll find Rachel on her Amazon author page and on Facebook. Read more about her work in SWW’s 2023 interview.


What would you like readers to know about the story you tell in Hatch Chile Willie?
Hatch Chile Willie is a magical tale with the setting taking place in Hatch, New Mexico. The tale celebrates the state’s prized vegetable, Hatch Chile. The story whimsically narrates the relationship and beautiful bond that builds between a Hatch Chile farmer and a Spanish flamenco-dancing musical half-red and half-green pepper named Hatch Chile Willie.

Who are the main characters in the book and why will readers (young and old) connect with them?
Farmer Pablo and Hatch Chile Willie are the two main characters in the story. Farmer Pablo is a hard-working Hatch Chile farmer who recently lost his Esposa, missing her very deeply. In the beginning of the story, Farmer Pablo rests in his rocking chair after a hard day of work, suddenly a musical half-red and half-green chile pepper magically appears in his greenhouse. My book explores the unique friendship and bond that develops between Farmer Pablo and Hatch Chile Willie, which I truly feel will resonate with both young and old readers alike.

Why is New Mexico the perfect place for the story to play out? Do you incorporate recognizable New Mexico landmarks or icons?
The tiny town of Hatch, New Mexico, located in the heart of the Rio Grande farming community, is considered the Chile Capital of the world. I included the annual Hatch Chile Festival, occurring every Labor Day weekend, as one of the settings where the story transpires. At the end of the book, I devoted two collage pages of photographs that I captured while attending the 2023 Hatch Chile Festival. I also researched and included fun details about Hatch chiles grown in Hatch, New Mexico, for children to read about, enjoy, and discuss following the tale.

What topics or themes does your book touch on that would make it a perfect fit for the classroom?
I think an interesting theme that may be used in a classroom setting are the cultural influences of the tale pertaining to New Mexico. Teaching about the prized vegetable of Hatch Chile and how many farmers, workers, etc. create many useful and delicious products from the Hatch Chile that you can find all over the world (may be an early introduction to Economics!). I also included a little flamenco dancing that Hatch Chile Willie performs for Farmer Pablo with his basic step of “Toe, heel, heel, toe, stamp!” Hatch Chile Willie also enjoys singing Spanish music with homophones used in his amusing riddles to the delight of Farmer Pablo.

How did the book come together?
The idea for my story transpired from a road trip to Las Cruces, New Mexico, for a book signing event, traveling with my husband and our German shepherd, Bliss. As we were nearing Las Cruces, I was gazing out the window and immediately became inspired by the luscious green valley of the tiny town of Hatch, New Mexico. It was from that moment that my story evolved, taking most of the summer to write. After completing my story, I collaborated with the illustrator, my sister Rebecca Jacob. I always let her create illustrations based on what story I write. This is the first book that Rebecca used watercolors for the illustrations which created a playful and visually engaging storyline, especially with Hatch Chile Willie.

What makes this book unique in the children’s market?
I think what makes this book unique in the children’s market is the inclusion of Spanish words throughout the story with a Spanish English Glossary at the end. The book also celebrates the unique culture of New Mexico, with Hatch Chile Willie being both red and green, a flamenco-dancing chile pepper, an enchanting magical character as enchanting as the landscape of New Mexico.

Do you have a favorite character, image, or page spread from Hatch Chile Willie?
Throughout the book, illustrator Rebecca Jacob truly captured the playful character of Hatch Chile Willie that I imagined in my writing. I enjoyed creating Hatch Chile Willie as an inspiration to cheer up Farmer Pablo after losing his beloved wife. I feel that having a special friendship in difficult times gives us that extra needed push and empathy that we need to move on and confront certain hardships in life.

What do you love about this book?
I love the characters, the magical experience, and the heartwarming tale of friendship that I strove to create for all readers to hopefully enjoy and reread numerous times.

Of the five picture books you’ve released, which one did you enjoy writing the most and which was the most challenging?
Of the five picture books that I have written, I feel Desert Bliss, my first children’s book, was the most enjoyable yet challenging to write. It was a very new and thrilling experience for me to finally sit down, create, write, revise, publish, and finally fulfill my lifelong dream of writing books for children.


KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. Kat has a speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.




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