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An Interview with Author Kendra J. Loring

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Kendra J. Loring is passionate about working with rescue horses in her therapeutic riding business. Her debut graphic novel, The Saga of Henri Standing Bear: A Rescue Story (Enchanted Equine Adventures Book 1, April 2024), is dedicated to horse rescues and the people who work so hard every day to save them. You’ll find Kendra on her website for Enchanted Equine Adventures and on Amazon.

Who is Henri Standing Bear and what do you admire most about him?
Henri is a horse who works as a lesson horse at the business I own, Enchanted Equine Adventures. I love how sweet he is with people, despite his old trauma and injuries.

What do you hope readers will take away from the book?
I hope the readers of his book see the value in rescue animals and get motivated to help all rescue animals! I hope they see Henri’s trauma as a small part of his story.

When did you decide to share Henri’s story? What was the “kick in the pants” to get started on the manuscript?
I’ve always wanted to write a book. I’ve been a writer since college in the 1990s. And when one of my favorite people put out a kid’s book, I knew it was time for me to do it! Bobby Bones’ Stanley the Dog: First Day of School was the inspiration for me getting Henri’s book together finally.

What challenges did this work pose for you?
Deciding whether or not to self-publish was a big challenge for me. It was a huge decision. I am glad I did publish on Amazon, but I can see the benefits of having a marketing team to help promote the book, also.

Tell us how the book came together.
It didn’t take as long to write the story as I would have thought, because most of it is actually true. Finding an illustrator was as easy as asking my mentor at WESST to help me locate someone in Albuquerque who does art. WESST is a great recourse for local small business owners. The editing took a bit longer because neither of us had done a book before.

It must have been exciting to see how illustrator Emina Slavnic interpreted your story. Do you have a favorite image or page spread from The Saga of Henri Standing Bear?
I love the images of Henri as a foal out in the Gila Mountains. And since we lost Acheron last year, I really like the images of Henri and Ash playing! I even made the image into a coffee mug for my mom, who loved Acheron like a grandchild.

What was the most rewarding aspect of working on this project?
I love seeing how much Henri has affected other people’s lives. He truly is a super horse!

What topics does The Saga of Henri Standing Bear touch on that would make it a good fit for the classroom?
I love Henri’s story. I think it shows the reader how strong and resilient rescue animals are. It shows how much horses can give back to us. And it gives hope when everything looks hopeless.

Why write a children’s book as opposed to telling Henri’s story in memoir or novel form?
I always saw his story as a graphic novel, with Henri as the super hero. As a riding instructor, I get to chat with all kinds of different kiddos (teens and pre-teens) about books. They overwhelmingly wanted a graphic novel about horses. Once we have the first three volumes done, we will bind them into one big graphic novel.

What did you learn in writing/publishing the book that you can apply to future projects?
I learned how to separate writing, illustration, and formatting of a graphic novel. I knew nothing about the illustration or the formatting until I got involved in this book. I’ve learned a ton about it during this process and I am confident about how to move forward with book two.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
The name Henri Standing Bear is from the Longmire book series. Henry in the books is Sheriff Longmire’s best friend. Lou Diamond Phillips plays him perfectly in the TV series. Henry has this side-eye look that he gives Longmire when they are doing something they shouldn’t be, and our Henri does the same look! So, I went ahead and got permission from Longmire author Craig Johnson to use the name in my book. He said he would be honored!

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.



An Interview with Author Tim Amsden

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Tim Amsden is a retired attorney whose poetry can be found in national and international publications, as well as several anthologies. His first memoir, Love Letter to Ramah: Living Beside New Mexico’s Trail of the Ancients (University of New Mexico Press, September 2024), was inspired by two decades of living in the Ramah Valley. The memoir has been called a book of “gentle wisdom and quiet inspiration” that “reveals a deep sense of the land and lore of that patch of paradise presently known as New Mexico.” You’ll find Tim on Amazon and his SWW author page.

What do you hope readers will take away from Love Letter to Ramah?
The book’s narrative follows my wife Lucia and me as we take a midlife “off the cliff” leap from Kansas City into the natural beauty, deep history, and strong sense of place that pervade northern New Mexico. There we deepened our heightened visceral understanding that to survive and prosper as a species, we must live in concert with each other and the needs of the living earth. It also gave us a belief that those things are possible.

My hope is that in the process of walking along with us through our experiences and discoveries, the reader will feel a similar shift. I also hope they are entertained and surprised as they encounter such things as singing toads, talking pots, vampire bugs, and the daughter of the sun god in a land where ravens soar above the rhythmic yelp and drone of Native music, and old Spanish missions hunker over the bones of ancient peoples.

Tell us about the journey from inspiration to push to begin and completion of your first memoir.
Love Letter began its conceptual life some fifteen years ago with the working title Folk Music, a reference to the eclectic and diverse community of loving, earth-rooted people we encountered in the Ramah area, then it grew and morphed over a number of years, somewhat like Topsy.

A few experiences and people in the book were described earlier in other publications, including New Mexico Magazine and the volume I edited about the medicine man Bear Heart Williams titled The Bear Is My Father. Other pieces were written along the way, and some were added during the process of editing with the University of New Mexico (UNM) Press.

Although I’m listed as author, Love Letter was shaped by several other people as well. My wife Lucia was part and parcel of the entire process. She is also a writer, and her memories, suggestions, and editorial expertise are present throughout. Credit also goes to the folks at the press, especially my editor, who masterfully edited and championed the book, and to friends and early readers who provided invaluable input. Finally, the community itself deserves credit for creating many of the experiences related in Love Letter. Particularly notable is Ramah photographer Nancy Dobbs, who contributed the exquisite photograph that graces the book’s cover, shot from her front door.

What challenges did this work pose for you?
I think the greatest challenge was having the patience to let the process unfold in its own time until all the pieces were there, the narrative complete, and the central thrust clear. And although the book took a long time to create, that was a good thing, because some key portions were added at the very end. In addition, it was important to know when the book was complete and the time had come to stop tweaking and tuning. I once heard a painter say that one of the most challenging things for her was knowing when to stop, and that is true of many creative processes, including writing.

How is the book structured and why did you choose to put it together that way?
To some extent the structure is inherent; it follows the timeline through our move from Kansas City to the Ramah Valley, our twenty years in Ramah, and our eventual relocation in Albuquerque. Other pieces, such as experiences and explorations, natural and human history, sense of place, the night sky, sun dances and ghosts, were arranged to help readers flow easily along and remain engaged. In some ways it was like assembling a music compilation.

What was the expected, or unexpected, result of writing/publishing Love Letter to Ramah?
I had just started what I thought would be a long and tedious process of searching for a publisher (I do not have an agent) by sending out query letters to three publishers. One of them was UNM Press. The publication of the book exceeded any expectations I might have had, because of all publishers, UNM Press was my first choice. They responded by requesting to see the manuscript. The process that followed of creating the book with them was rigorous, very productive, and highly supportive.

Do you have a favorite quote from the book?
One of my favorite qualities of New Mexico is its resplendent sky, especially in the Ramah area, where air and light pollution are at a minimum. Here’s a bit from the chapter titled “Starry Starry Night”:

Sometimes after returning home at night and pulling into our garage, we would step out under the sky and one of us would whisper, “Look at that!”  People where we lived tended to talk in hushed voices when they were out beneath the stars, nightly reminders of the vastness of which they are a part. Perhaps awe of the night sky is even embedded in our DNA, a connection to universal mystery that we have experienced throughout our long evolutionary path.

We are literally children of the stars; every atom in our bodies was created in the furnaces of stars that died long ago. As the astronomer Carl Sagan once put it, “We are a way for the universe to know itself. Some part of our being knows this is where we come from. We long to return. And we can, because the cosmos is also within us.” We are, however, in danger of losing that knowing, as our visibility of the night sky dims. To me, that is a very sad thing, perhaps even a subtle limitation of our ability to be a global tribe together. Gazing at the stars is an experience that gives us all common ground and connects us to the vastness of creation.

Any “Oh, wow!” moments while doing research for Love Letter?
There were so many. A few examples are the unlikely story of Esteban, the Moroccan slave owned by a Spanish conquistador, who was the first person to make contact between Spain and the Zuni people; the macabre method tarantula hawks use to feed their young; the existence of the groups of people called Penitentes and Genizaros; and the strange desert-adopted life of the singing spade-foot toads.

A definite wow was the fact that a Native American oral constitution — the Great Law of Peace of the Iroquois Confederacy — was an important model for the documents that defined the values and structure of our new country, including the U.S. Constitution.

The most personally interesting was a dawning awareness that unlike most of the rest of the country, many of the artifacts and indications of earlier people in New Mexico are readily visible, present, and sometimes still in use. Spain, for instance, introduced acequias (a type of irrigation canal) to New Mexico around 400 years ago, and they still carry water for crops. Among other places, they crisscross parts of Albuquerque, and we sometimes take walks along them where they run through parks and behind homes.

Also, there are areas still held by their owners under old Spanish land grants, and signs on highways let motorists know when they are entering and leaving them. Finally, Catholic Missions built when New Mexico was part of the Spanish empire are numerous, especially on Native reservations.

Native people have also left their artifacts in and on the land. It’s not unusual to spot sherds, grinding stones, arrow points, petroglyphs, and ruins that were created many hundreds or even thousands of years ago. Before we moved to New Mexico, Lucia and I visited Albuquerque and stayed in a Bed and Breakfast near the Rio Grande River. The first morning, the owners led us down a staircase to the basement, where there was a dirt wall marked with dates of native settlements going back hundreds of years.

How did your work as a poet influence your memoir?
Being a poet has given me a love of lyrical and unusual ways of saying things, a fascination with the ineffable, and the practice of editing closely and repeatedly. Hopefully there are whiffs of those things in this book. In a broader sense, poets are somewhat like monks. They know their work will mostly be read by other poets, so they tend to be less ego-driven and more engaged in their creativity for its own sake. As a result, writing poetry has given me the habit of finding satisfaction in the process itself. It helps me see this book as a gift to the world, a small gesture toward loving the earth and each other.

Did you ever feel as if you were revealing too much of yourself (or anyone else) in writing your story?
No. I tried hard to avoid including things about other people that might disturb or hurt them. In the case of myself and my wife Lucia, we both wanted to share anything, good or bad, that made this a better book.

What is the first piece of writing you can remember completing?
When I was in the seventh grade in Robinson Junior High School in Wichita, I wrote a humor column in our little school paper called “Off the Deep End with Tim.” After reading my first submission, my home room teacher, who was also the paper’s editor, contacted my parents and said that it was so well written that I must have plagiarized it. That backhanded compliment put me over the moon and, I think, lit my writerly fuse.

Do you prefer the creating or editing aspect of writing? How do you feel about research?
I love them all. I am by nature a scavenger, always looking for unusual bones and stones, bright lizards and flowers and birds. So a phrase that pops, a clarifying shift, or a fact that casts new or different light are all grist to my scavenging mill.

What do you consider the most essential elements of a well-written memoir?
To me, a memoir is especially memorable if it contains a theme that provides a takeaway for the reader. As I was working with UNM Press, someone there asked, “What is the book’s raison d’être?” I could answer the question, but it motivated me to amend the text, so it expressed the central message more directly.

Is there something you’d like to develop from material you haven’t been able to use?
In downtown Kansas City, Kansas, there is a small shady cemetery dating from the late 1800s that shelters the remains of many Wyandotte Indians, most in unmarked graves. Among the few headstones that do exist are ones for the three Conley sisters, Lyda, Helena, and Ida, who dedicated their lives to protecting the graveyard from attempts to replace it with new development. They lived at that time on the land, often sitting with shotguns in their laps in front of the shack they built there. Eventually, Lyda Conley became a lawyer, and she defended the cemetery before the Supreme Court of the United States, thereby becoming the first woman of Native Ancestry to be admitted to the U.S, Supreme Court Bar. Although her case failed, the sisters gained support for their cause and the cemetery was not sold. I came across this cemetery once while taking a walk from my office in the EPA building a couple of blocks away, and returned many times because the energy of the place is palpable. I would get shivers every time I read the message on Helena Conley’s stone: “Cursed be the Villains that molest their graves.” I think this story calls out for an author, and I’ve thought about it for years.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
I wish you all good things, and thank you for spending this time with me.

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: Paula Paul

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Paula Paul is the award-winning author of over thirty novels including historical fiction, contemporary women’s fiction, and the Alexandra Gladstone mystery series. Her latest fiction release, The Last of the Baileys (March 2023), was inspired by her mother’s colorful family and the boarding house they ran. Look for Paula on her website PaulaPaul.net and on Facebook. You’ll find many of her books on her main Amazon author page, but The Last of the Baileys is available on Amazon here. Read more about Paula and her work in the 2016 interview for SouthWest Writers.

Please tell us about The Last of the Baileys, who are your main characters and where does the story take place?
The Last of the Baileys is set in a small town in West Texas called Anton, where my mother grew up, and in Lubbock, Texas, the largest city in the area. Trudy Bailey Walters is the main character, along with Adam Bailey who claims to be the descendant of a Bailey family slave.

Is Trudy Bailey Walters based on an actual person, or an amalgamation of people?
Trudy is an amalgamation of two of my great aunts who were the daughters of John and Julia Bailey, my great grandparents, who built and ran the boarding house in Anton where most of the story takes place.

What was the inspiration for The Last of the Baileys?
The inspiration for the story came from my memories of the old boarding house and of my mother’s colorful family, the Baileys. I brought Marta Romandino, an undocumented woman, into the story because of my interest in the plight of immigrants coming to the U.S.

How is this book different from your previous novels?
This book is different from my earlier books because it is not genre fiction. I have written mysteries and romance novels as well as children’s books. I have long wanted to write general fiction, however, and The Last of the Baileys is one of my attempts at doing that.

Of all the books you’ve written, were there any that posed more challenges than others?
As for the most challenging books I have written, the general fiction or literary fiction books have been more challenging than genre fiction because the plot is not so predictable. Also, I have tried, over the years, to add more depth to characters and to develop a better writing style. Both of those endeavors are challenging.

With so many books under your belt, do you ever find yourself struggling to flesh out a story idea? If yes, can you give us an example of how you moved past it?
I often have trouble fleshing out a story idea. I have begun to think that is just part of every project. When I get what seems to be hopelessly stuck, it is always because I don’t know the characters well enough. The solution is to have what I call a conversation with the character. I do that by asking the character a lot of questions. It usually starts out with something like, “Why won’t you let me move this story along?” The answer is almost always something like, “Let me tell you about myself so you will understand me better.” Then I just let the character talk about anything including childhood, fears, love life, bad habits, family—anything that comes to mind. I fill up several typewritten pages this way, and while some of it has nothing to do with the story, I don’t censor myself. When all that is done, I usually have what I need to move the story forward. Sometimes that means changing the plot.

As a seasoned author, do you still belong to writing groups or have partnerships to help culture an idea? What are your thoughts on critique groups?
The only writing group I currently belong to is the First Friday group that was started years ago by Lois Duncan and Tony Hillerman. It is for published writers, but many in the group are no longer writing regularly. I have belonged to critique groups in the past, and I got a lot of help and inspiration from them. I haven’t belonged to one in several years because it had gotten to the point that I felt I was teaching writing when I went and wasn’t getting the help I needed. I would love to find a group of widely published working writers.

Knowing what you know now, what would you do differently if you started your writing career today?
I would hate to have to start a writing career today because it is so much harder to get published than it was when I started. However, I think I would just do the same thing I did way back then. That is, I would read books that are like what I want to write. I would read how-to books and magazines. I would attend conferences and talk to other writers, editors, and agents. I would just not give up.

What is it that many beginning writers misunderstand about telling a story?
Beginning writers of fiction often don’t understand how intricately character growth and plot are related.

What marketing techniques have been most beneficial to you?
Marketing techniques are tricky in my view. I have tried buying advertising, being on talk shows, talking to various groups to promote my books, and having book signings. They all help to some extent, but I think a writer really needs a publishing house with money for promotion and we don’t all have that. It’s mostly just the top sellers who can take advantage of that these days. I have had the most success with marketing by hiring someone who specializes in marketing and knows where to place the ads. Regrettably, that can be quite expensive.

What’s next on your radar for writing projects?
My new writing project is a family saga. It is proving to be challenging.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
As for anything else I would like writers to know, it is to think about the question on a paperweight my daughter gave me years ago. That is: What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?

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 Robert Churchill & Steven Lisberger

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SouthWest Writers’ member Robert Churchill and writer/director Steven Lisberger (well-known for Tron, 1982) relied on a forty-year friendship and a shared love of story in their collaborative effort to create a novel based on one of Steven’s screenplays. Their debut release, Topeka (October 5, 2023), has been called “a sexy, fast-paced and exciting adventure drawing upon sci-fi, anime, and steam punk genre sensibilities in a hard-boiled noir mystery presentation.” You’ll find Steven at StevenLisberger.com and IMDb. Contact Bob through his dedicated Topeka email address bc@topekanovel.com, and look for Topeka at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other major booksellers.

What would you like readers to know about the story you tell in Topeka?
RC: Ultimately, Topeka is a story about values — how some have been cast aside to society’s detriment, and how some have eternal redemptive value. As every story recounts a journey, Topeka is about how our choices on our individual journeys bestow or deny redemption.

SL: The novel is in part inspired by Japanese anime. It’s a story about how in a world of advanced AI we need our bodies more than ever.

What part did each of you play in putting the book together?
RC: Steven wrote a slightly different version of Topeka — a screenplay — a few years ago. I was blown away by the originality and power of the story, and by the maturity and timeliness of its themes, and just never forgot about it. For one reason and another, it wasn’t made into a movie, and when Steven was casting about for his next project (the man simply can’t NOT be writing something), I lobbied him hard to re-write it as a novel — that it was a story that needed to be told. He was reluctant, having never before written a novel, but the end result of somewhat comical negotiations between us, was that we agreed to proceed as co-authors, with him very much in the lead. After having a front-row seat to his prodigious and powerful creative output for most of my adult life, it was like being asked by John Lennon to re-write a song he’d never finished. An opportunity only the insane would pass up.

SL: Bob has a great deal of patience and is an excellent finisher, he enjoys completion. I prefer getting a project roughed out. It’s conception and rough excitation that gives me the greatest thrill. By the time I complete the mountain of ideas required, and figure out what the hell they mean, I find I have used up a considerable amount of my patience. I guess my imagination has already filled it in, finished it, and my body resents that my mind got so far ahead. My practical mind sulks over the cleanup and organization work still required. I must confess I do enjoy going over Bob’s finished material and looking for edits, additions or things I feel would benefit from more polishing. That part of finish work is fun for me; I enjoy how the smallest change can feel so important. I love drilling down on theme and structure at the end when one knows exactly what the characters are thinking.

Did what-if questions help shape this work?
RC: Steven’s answer to this question couldn’t be more complete or accurate, so I’ll leave it to stand on its own, but one of the great things about our friendship is that I’ve been one of his go-to sounding boards for decades (we’re each the brother the other never had), and even though his ideas are amazing, he’s always been willing to hear my take on them — as I often see what he sees just a little differently. He’s always been generous in his consideration of my perspective, and having these discussions with him for so many years has enriched my life tremendously. Moving into the realm of me actually making creative contributions to Topeka’s world and story upped that experience dramatically; it was very gratifying.

SL: I would say that what-if questions were the basis: What if the mind of my super professional, experienced, and wise attorney-wife was in the body of a young babe? My wife, Peggy, freely admits that 50 years ago when she was my hot babe, she didn’t know a tenth of what she does now. Of course I didn’t either, so that worked out. What if there was an accomplished enlightened and heroic doctor/surgeon who learned about the body, the secrets of life and death, by being a trained killer? What if an AI could merge with and assume the identity of a dead human? What if our leads could hack human minds? What if you fell in love with the ultimate woman in spite of knowing she was too good to be true? What if technology allows us to never grow up?

Tell us about your main protagonists and why readers will connect with them.
RC: Topeka is a near-future sci-fi action/adventure story, but largely follows the genre conventions of hard-boiled noir detective novels and films, so the cast of characters, although moving fluidly in a setting of cutting-edge high tech, AI, climate change, and the pressures these exert on society, remain somewhat familiar. Nora Osborne is the heiress to a high-tech fortune and CEO of the mega-corporation her eccentric genius father founded. Bode, a former military cyber-surgeon, is her employee but finds himself, in the course of being her protector, conflicted between oppositional oaths — to do no harm and to be ready to take a life to save one. These two navigate a lethal landscape among good guys who aren’t as good as they seem, bad guys who are worse than they seem, and assorted henchmen and double-crossers with their own sinister agendas, all while falling in love. In toto, they all keep the noir pot boiling non-stop. It’s a lot of fun laid over some very thoughtful thematic material.

SL: The protagonists are their own characters. Nora has an extreme experimental fantasy adventure. She is a mature successful woman who through a twist of fate and cutting-edge cyber tech, manages to have a young body again. With that young body she joins forces with her young doctor who falls in love with her. Together they accomplish the impossible, including having a love affair and breaking every law in the books, but when it’s all over she gets to return to her original body and rejoin her family and her adventure remains her dark secret. Kind of the perfect midlife crisis. Bode gets to be the ultimate healer for those who need his unique skills, but to save his patient he must also rely on what he knows about how to best destroy some extremely dangerous minds and bodies. Sometimes the cure is a whole lot worse than the disease. Bode is a Shiva, creator and destroyer.

How difficult was switching gears from your past type of writing projects to that of writing a novel?
RC: I’ve always written, but have never called myself a writer. I have a fairly substantial following online, though not under my own name, and have published a few pieces for a local newspaper, like an interview with David Crosby. So that Steven and I could better speak the language of screenwriting between us, I wrote a full-length screenplay — and that may yet find itself re-written as a novel.

SL: I primarily wrote screenplays, lots of screenplays; this is my first novel. Looking back at my scripts they feel like poetry compared to a novel. Screenplays, it is often said, rely on three things, structure, structure, and structure. It was a lot of fun in writing a novel to embellish in ways one could never do in a script. For starters, what the inner life of a character was, backstory, and filling in the world. And my favorite, writing tons more dialogue.

According to Topeka’s acknowledgment page, you two are lifelong friends. When did you meet, and how have you managed to remain friends for so long?
RC: Steven and I were introduced to one another by a third party who told him he should meet me — that we’d get along. That person was right, and we’ve been pretty much best friends since the day we met, through all of life’s ups and downs. I think it’s helped a lot that I’m not in any aspect of the film business, because that world is very much its own thing and almost impossible to stay grounded in, let alone maintain friendships. All my working years I was a building contractor, and when we’d get together at his place, we always went to the hardware store instead of anywhere “glamorous” even though our second-tier hangouts tend to be art galleries and museums.

SL: We met through Animalympics, a project I did for NBC’s coverage of the 1980 Olympics. Bob and I are children of the sixties, and share a belief that some aspects of the 60s philosophy have never lost their power and are sorely needed now more than ever. We both still believe in the power of the mysterious and believe that not all confusion is to be avoided. Sometimes the only way to get to where you need to go is through seemingly impenetrable confusion. We have always relied on each other for help in taking on the unknown. Bob is my sounding board and the fact that he is an excellent wordsmith was just a bonus. Over the years we have talked enough to fill shelves of books.

What was your favorite part of putting this project together?
RC: The best part of this project for me has been to make real and valued creative contributions to the work of someone I know to be a genius — and I don’t use that word lightly. In Tron Steven pretty much invented the look the whole world has adopted as “the look of the future.” Not silver-lame body suits with bubble helmets and not the beat up and dented Star Wars look. That neon-highlighted look may never die, and Tron sequels will keep being made long after we’ve all passed. Now it’s also the world’s most popular amusement ride. And there’s SO much more to Steven’s stream of creative output and insight than just Tron. In Japan he’d be revered as a living treasure. And hey, he’s my best friend! As a co-author he was tough — believe it — but I always knew and accepted that we were writing his story, not mine, and that all he wanted was to help me be a better writer. And he damn sure made me one.

SL: The plot is complex as are the characters. And there are a lot of characters. Because of the complexity there were worries about how all this would resolve. To feel all the gears mesh perfectly for the first time at the climax was the big payoff, and made all the work worth it. I have to say the years of preliminary work made all the difference.

Why did you choose Topeka for the title of the book?
SL: After Tron world, I liked the idea of focusing a cutting-edge sci-fi story in America’s heartland. And I always enjoyed that the name Topeka sounded a bit like a combo of Japanese anime titles.

How do your other passions (such as woodworking) intersect with your writing?
RC: Being a builder, I learned long ago that every ounce of every structure has to be transferred one way or another to the earth for the structure to be sound — and the same applies to a work of fiction. It’s all about premise as foundation, and themes as framing. The satisfaction in standing back and seeing how doing it right makes a thing of beauty is the same for either.

SL: Again, I enjoy hunting for the perfect piece of wood, chain sawing it out of the log, mulling and turning it to its shape, but would be happy to have another woodworker sand, finish, and polish the piece. And to my amazement I have heard some woodworkers enjoy that second phase the most because they get to see the beauty of the wood emerge. I have learned to be content with seeing that beauty in my mind’s eye. I should mention I never did find a partner in wood turning.

What do your mature selves bring to the writing table that your younger selves never could have?
RC: Steven’s and my situation is not at all common, but we were fortunate to have decades of solid friendship to get us through the creative process — but that seems to translate to “check your ego at the door” and just do the work. Doing the work with a pro’s pro wasn’t easy, but I never forgot that any number of aspiring writers would have killed to be in my place — tutored by the guy who wrote Tron. It was easily a not-easy graduate course in writing and drama.

SL: I have been writing for over fifty years. I am finally getting to the point where I feel I know what I enjoy the most, and am confident that I have the skills to execute. In the past when I picked the right story and characters and pulled it off there was a certain amount of happenstance and luck involved. I also now enjoy the confidence of knowing I have the tools and weapons to get myself out of any traps I may set for myself. It’s a cliché to say it but now holes are really more opportunities.

What do many beginning writers misunderstand about telling a story?
RC: Thinking a story will write itself from an interesting premise and engaging characters is a fool’s errand. Only a genius doesn’t need to know how a story ends when he or she sits down to write it. Beginning, middle, end — or don’t bother.

SL: I find young writers today are very good at knowing a genre’s conventions. But perhaps are too cautious about breaking those conventions and going off formula. One way to gain that confidence is to think thematically. Early on a hint of theme can be a North Star — and by the end it can make sense of the impossible.

Who are your favorite authors, and what do you admire most about their writing?
RC: Owing to the genre template we were working in (noir fiction), Steven had me read a ton of Hammet and Chandler to get a feel for the word flow and (hopefully) develop in me some discipline in saying more with fewer words — I stray too easily into the florid and verbose. He did me (and himself) a great favor.

SL: Shakespeare because he had no prejudices. He never picks sides but finds a way to ridicule and elevate all comers. He treats kings like fools and fools like kings. The beautiful as hideous and the wretched as beautiful.

What are the hardest kinds of scenes for you to write?
RC: With Topeka, I got to be the set decorator — so not really hard. Shakespeare’s settings are brutally austere — “a castle” or “an apartment” — and that’s it. I’m a very visual guy. I see the blank page as a movie screen. I describe what I’d like to see on the screen, so I moved Steven’s characters across my sets. Steven gave me a lot of leeway, and I sprung things on him that weren’t in the original version. The first time or two there were some tense moments between us. “You could have asked,” he’d say, but as we went on, it started to flow, and frankly, by me feeling free to throw stuff against the wall, I think he was inspired to go even further in his imagination than he had (which was already breathtaking) and we wound up really stoked by the process. We love what we got.

SL: Everyday stuff.

What writing projects are you working on now? Do you have plans for future collaborations?
RC: Well, Steven is still my best friend, and the man simply has no idea how to slow down his imagination. So, who knows?

SL: Still basking in the afterglow of completing Topeka. My story file is a few hundred pages of concepts and characters, I have a love hate relationship with it.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
RC: In my view, there are few popular entertainments that are both just plain fun and edifying. Topeka delivers both in spades.

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: Victoria Murata

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Victoria Murata is a retired teacher turned author with two series in progress, one historical fiction and the other fantasy. The Ranger (September 2023) is book two of her Magicians of the Beyond fantasy series where readers will find new and returning characters, unexpected magical creatures, and a forest and a monster that don’t play by the rules. Look for Vicky on Facebook and her Amazon author page. Read about The Acolyte, the first of her fantasy novels, in her 2021 interview for SouthWest Writers.

Victoria, The Ranger is the second book in your series Magicians of the Beyond. Tell us a little about The Ranger and how long it took you to write it?
It took me two years to write The Ranger. This second book in the series introduces a new character who lives in the Beyond. Rafe isn’t a Covert, but he has special skills that are needed on a mission to a troubled world. He’s a ranger who has amazing knowledge of the forest and the creatures who live there. What he doesn’t know is the danger that awaits him in a foreign forest. Far from home and everything familiar, Rafe comes face to face with his fears and limitations. And the monster inhabiting this forest is intent on his destruction.

What elements of fantasy drew you to the genre?
The fantasy genre has always appealed to me. As a child, the stories of Peter Pan and The Wizard of Oz were favorites, along with Alice in Wonderland. It was easy to suspend disbelief and allow myself to be carried away by imagination. Fantasy is such a huge genre with many sub-categories. Epic stories that take place in plausible worlds with people who have incredible powers appeal to me. The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss is one of my favorite fantasy series.

Did you experience any challenges while writing this series?
As a writer of fantasy, I have to remember that the story in my head must be translated to readers who cannot only follow it but become immersed in it. The challenges in writing fantasy are different from writing other genres in that not only are the stories fiction, but they’re fantastical with characters and creatures and worlds that have never been encountered anywhere before. I think the writer of fantasy must have well-developed and relatable characters who will move the plot along through fantastical worlds filled with incredible creatures. The story must culminate in a satisfactory and believable conclusion.

Please tell us about your inspiration for The Ranger.
My stories are character driven. I’m a people-watcher, inspired by individuals and interested in what motivates them. The main character in The Ranger, Rafe, is a troubled young man who has exceptional gifts. He’s a loner and an introvert, and past trauma has caused him to withdraw into himself. At the beginning of the story, he’s asked to accompany the Coverts on a mission where his skills as a ranger are needed. This invitation both intrigues him and causes him extreme anxiety.

Is there a book three?
Yes. I have another book of the series percolating. It will focus on one of the Coverts—magicians who have special powers and who travel to distant worlds to save them.

How much research goes into writing a fantasy novel and what is that like?
The research required in writing fantasy often depends on the world-building. My first fantasy novel, The Acolyte, had a Medieval setting so there was some research required. The Ranger is set in an other-worldly “modern” city and the forest nearby. Previous to writing my fantasy novels, I’d written two YA historical fiction novels. Those took a lot of research into life on a wagon train in 1852, and then about the overlanders settling in Oregon City.

What was the most difficult aspect of creating Rafe’s world?
The difficulty in creating Rafe’s world was getting into his head to figure out his motivations. He’s complicated and withdrawn in the beginning. I needed to consider how an introvert like Rafe can step outside his comfort level and take the leap to work with others. Danica, the main character from the first novel in the series, helps him with this. When he meets her, Rafe finds a kindred spirit.

Was there a defining moment that prompted your writing journey?
I joined a writing group in 2008. We were retired teachers who met once a month and shared our writings with each other. When I was teaching Humanities to 6th graders, I was aware of the power of story. My students and I would read YA historical fiction novels pertaining to the time period we were studying. I loved these stories as much as my students, and that’s why I decided to write a novel based on the history of the Oregon Trail. A friend’s daughter who teaches middle school in northern New Mexico has used this novel, Journey of Hope, for years to teach her students about the trials and tribulations of crossing the country in a wagon train in 1852. I wrote this novel as a catalyst for further research into the people, conditions, and events of that distinctive time.

What are you currently reading?
Currently I’m reading a novel called The Physician by Noah Gordon. It’s about a young man in the Middle Ages who learns to be a healer. He realizes he can learn so much more from practitioners in the Orient, so he embarks on a perilous journey to Persia, posing as a Jew who wants to apprentice himself to the world’s most renowned physician, Avicenna. Interestingly, Rob, the main character, has a special power, but the novel isn’t classified as fantasy. I do love it when genres overlap.

What writing projects do you have on the horizon?
I have two books to write: the third of my historical fiction novels, and the third of the fantasy series. I’m not in a rush and I know the stories will be written when they’re ready. But they’re always percolating.

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: Robert D. Kidera

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Robert D. Kidera is a podcaster, a baseball nerd, and the author of the award-winning Gabe McKenna Mystery Series. Book six of the series, BURN SCARS (Black Range Publishing, May 2024), finds Gabe “caught in the crossfire between two cartels warring for control of fentanyl trafficking in New Mexico.” Look for Bob on his website RobertKideraBooks.com and on Facebook. Read more about him and the Gabe McKenna books in his 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2021 interviews.

When readers turn the last page of BURN SCARS, what do you hope they take away from it?
I hope my readers feel it has been time well spent and that they have enjoyed reuniting with Gabe McKenna and his friends (and enemies). The story has a serious purpose, as it asks how much one should be willing to risk righting the wrongs of this world. I want that question to resonate with my readers and perhaps spur them to examine that challenge for themselves.

The fifth book of the Gabe McKenna mysteries, A LONG TIME TO DIE, concluded the series in 2021 with a wrap up of the story arcs. What made you come back to the series and give readers another look at your main character’s life?
Writers can only write the stories they have. Last year, I took a respite from the Gabe McKenna series to write a standalone novella, CHANDLER IS DEAD, and have been working on a historical fiction novel, HELL SHIP, for the past three years. But this new Gabe story popped into my head, and I developed it because I enjoy telling stories about Gabe McKenna and had many requests from my readers for a new novel in the series.

Tell us about the journey from inspiration to completed book for this sixth in the series.
BURN SCARS took me sixteen months from concept to realization. Raymond Chandler once said that stories must marinate before they can be written well, so when the story idea occurred to me, I gave it a good think before going to the keyboard. In each of the Gabe McKenna books, I feature a different one of Gabe’s friends as his main “sidekick.” This time, I chose his personal lawyer, Erskine Pelfrey III, an unassuming man who could walk into an empty room and get lost in the crowd. I had a lot of fun developing their relationship and bringing Erskine into the story as one of the heroes.

You’ve described Gabe McKenna as a guy to be counted on, one who has a basic honor and decency to him, even if he does tend to go off recklessly from time to time. And as a former boxer, he can be knocked down, but not out. Who are some of your other returning characters?
Gabe is at a different stage of his life in this story. He’s pushing sixty, a bit unsettled and ready for a rest. But his previous deeds have left him with enemies unwilling to forgive and forget. He also needs his friends much more in this adventure, and it takes the cooperative effort of Gabe, Erskine, Onion, Sam, C.J., and even a couple of federal agents to carry the day.

New Mexico is the main setting of the series. What areas of the state do you take readers to this time?
Aside from Laguna Pueblo, where Gabe is living when the story begins, the action centers around a small settlement town of Marquez in Sandoval County and at a remote mesa that straddles Guadalupe and Quay Counties and, of course, Albuquerque and Santa Fe. There’s a brief detour north to Colorado. Gabe travels in this story by horse, SUV, private aircraft, and even a jazzed-up motor home.

What are some of the more interesting facts you discovered while doing research for the book?
I delved into more of the mining history of New Mexico, but most of the research I had to do dealt with the current scourge of foreign drug cartels operating in our state. It’s a far more complicated and deep-rooted problem than people generally realize and not much of it gets into the news.

Amazon categorizes BURN SCARS as Vigilante Justice, Noir Crime, and Organized Crime. If you didn’t have the limitations of Amazon categories, how would you characterize the book?
I don’t like the Amazon categories because they suggest your story and characters can be pigeonholed or understood simplistically. BURN SCARS is my longest book to date, and as the sixth entry in an ongoing series, the characters, their actions, and motivations have become more nuanced and complex. I advise disregarding categories and letting the story and its characters unfold for you in surprising ways.

What’s on your to-read pile? Who is your favorite fictional character?
Atop my read pile right now are books by New Mexico authors: The Wide, Wide Sea, which just came out, by Hampton Sides; Joe Badal’s Everything to Lose, the only one of his books I have yet to read; and Anne Hillerman’s Lost Birds. My favorite fictional character? Philip Marlowe, like Gabe McKenna, a hero neither tarnished nor afraid.

Which creative medium would you love to pursue but haven’t yet?
Audio. Now that I am producing two podcasts, I am exploring sound as a persuasive medium. Audible has turned several of my novels into audiobooks, but I am excited at the chance to produce audio versions of all my novels on my own. I’ll start that project later this year and into 2025.

What writing projects are you working on now?
Once BURN SCARS is out the door, I’m returning to HELL SHIP, the historical fiction novel I started a few years ago. In MIDNIGHT BLUES, I killed off an elderly World War II vet named Phil Friganza. I miss the guy. So, I’m making him the hero of this story and bringing him back to life, so to speak. I’m also going to be working on the audiobooks I mentioned and transitioning my podcasts from audio to audio with video and posting them on YouTube. I’ve been asked if there will be any more Gabe McKenna novels. Well, you never say never again.

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: 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 Mary Lou Dobbs

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Mary Lou Dobbs is an author, speaker, and lifestyle coach who seeks to inspire others to excel and thrive as they age. Her third nonfiction release, Badass Old White Woman: How to Flip the Script on Aging (January 2024), has been called “a rally cry for all of us who refuse to let age limit our dreams and aspirations.” Look for Mary on her website at MaryLouDobbs.net, on Facebook and Instagram, and on her Amazon author page.

What do you hope readers will take away from Badass Old White Woman?
I hope readers will be inspired to challenge societal norms about aging and embrace their own unique paths to personal fulfillment. My book encourages readers to break free from limiting beliefs — these are any beliefs that carry emotional weight and cause misalignment. I write about how women can embrace adventure and live authentically, regardless of age or background.

What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
One unique challenge in writing Badass Old White Woman was balancing personal anecdotes with universal themes that resonate with a diverse audience. Additionally, addressing sensitive topics related to aging and societal expectations required a delicate approach to ensure authenticity and relatability. I also had to make a mental shift from hurt feelings to humor after being called “an old White Woman.” This inspired me to sit down and write. Women are tired of the underwhelming expectations and negative stereotypes that threaten our value and inner wisdom.

What was the most rewarding aspect of writing the book?
The most rewarding aspect of writing the book has been hearing from readers who found inspiration and empowerment in the stories and advice shared in the book. Knowing that the book has made a positive impact on others’ lives makes the writing process incredibly fulfilling. I didn’t wake up and decide to become a superhero to women, but it appears I have.

What makes your newest release unique in the self-help market?
Badass Old White Woman stands out in the self-help and inspirational market for its candid and unconventional alternative life-changing therapies to topics related to aging, personal growth, and inner resilience. The book blends humor, personal anecdotes, and practical advice to create a relatable and empowering guide for women of all ages.

What are you most happy with, and what do you struggle with most, in your writing? And, especially regarding this book?
I’m most happy with the authenticity and relatability of women’s stories shared in the book. However, I sometimes struggle with finding the right balance between storytelling and delivering nontraditional healing modalities like Thought Field Therapy (TFT) and The Emotion Code to a wide-reading audience. Sharing emotions are the key to robustness in connecting with yourself and others. I give actionable advice in my writing, especially when addressing complex topics like aging and personal transformation.

You’ve written two other books in this genre: Repotting Yourself: Financial – Emotional – Spiritual Flow and The Cinderella Salesman: An Inspiring Success Story for Every Woman Who Seeks a Fascinating Career, endorsed by Og Mandino. How would you compare Badass Old White Woman to the previous books?
While Repotting Yourself and The Cinderella Salesman focus on specific aspects of personal growth and career development, Badass Old White Woman takes a more holistic approach to empowerment and resilience. It addresses broader themes related to aging, self-discovery, and embracing life’s challenges with courage and humor.

When you tackle a nonfiction project, do you think of it as storytelling? This book certainly seems to be telling a story of challenge and triumph.
Absolutely, storytelling is a central aspect of my approach to nonfiction writing. In Badass Old White Woman, I use storytelling to convey universal truths and inspire readers to embrace their own journeys of challenge and triumph. By sharing personal anecdotes and experiences, I aim to create a narrative that resonates with readers on a deeper level. I believe only after gaining an emotional vibrational balance will readers thrive in later years,

What was the expected, or unexpected, result of writing Badass Old White Woman?
I have emerged as a guiding voice, encouraging women to embark on an unapologetic, life-changing journey filled with renewed purpose and exhilarating adventures.

What is the best compliment you’ve received as an author?
One reader said, “Your book ignited a profound transformation within me, propelling me beyond the confines of my fears and the stagnant patterns that once confined me to society’s rigid and uninspiring perception of myself.”

Badass Old White Woman was just released in January 2024. Do you already have another writing project in mind — or are you working on one now?
Engaging in the marketing process demands a significant investment of my time. From securing speaking engagements to crafting articles that enhance visibility, and actively networking, these efforts collectively form the secret sauce for effectively selling books.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
In my book, I include the following quote: “When we rise above our emotional triggers, we possess the capability to neutralize them with precision, akin to a heat-seeking missile. Through this process, we access an invisible highway to our inner selves, where a cellular memory of full engagement and vibrant aliveness resides.” ~ Mary Lou Dobbs, Thought Field Therapy Lifestyle Coach.

D.E. Williams is the author of the award-winning Chesan Legacy Series: Child of Chaos and Chaos Unleashed. She lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. To find out more about Dollie and her writing, visit her website at DollieWilliams.com.



Author Update: Léonie Rosenstiel

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Léonie Rosenstiel is an award-winning author whose nonfiction can be found in various anthologies and other publications such as Los Angeles Times, Albuquerque Journal, Chicago Tribune, and Boston Globe. Her longer work includes biographies, reference books, and her personal journey of Protecting Mama: Surviving the Legal Guardianship Swamp (Calumet Editions, November 2021). Léonie’s newest release is Legal Protection: Affordable Options for Individuals, Families, and Small Businesses (January 2024), with a foreward written by Jack Canfield. You’ll find Léonie’s books on her Amazon author page. For more about her work, read her 2022 SWW interview.

What makes Legal Protection different from the other legal self-help books on the market?
Legal Protection shows people how to find the help they need, and have the peace of mind of knowing, in advance, that they have help available if (when?) they ever need it. It’s not an attempt to sell anyone a particular service or legal form. What I do is to show readers exactly what the best-known services offer (or don’t offer) and who can benefit the most from using them.

Who did you write the book for, and what did you bring to it that other writers couldn’t have?
I wrote it for those who seem to suffer most acutely in our legal system: middle class people. They’re not poor enough to get help from free law clinics but they’re not rich enough to have a stable of lawyers on retainer, either. I’ve watched a number of these sufferers spend all their disposable income—or even be forced to declare bankruptcy—to pay unexpected legal bills. Attorney billings can be just as draining of a bank account as devastating medical bills.

What do I bring to this subject that others don’t? Several generations of my family struggled through court cases and I grew up hearing their tales of woe. I was even involved, in peripheral ways, in some of those cases. When I started doing research on my family history, I discovered even more difficult and exhausting legal cases I’d never heard about before.

I’ve had more than a dozen attorneys of my own, over the decades. A couple of times, I felt obliged to put an attorney on retainer, so I know, first-hand, what that does to a bank account. I’m not an attorney. However, I’ve come to consider myself an expert consumer of legal services.

You must have discovered hundreds (if not thousands) of interesting facts while doing research for this book. How did you sift through it all and decide the most useful information to include in the book?
I started with the five top-rated legal services of 2023, as evaluated by Forbes Magazine. Then I added a few others that people mentioned to me, and that I knew had been around for decades. Then I decided to leave out one (not among the top services) that is only available to federal employees.

In reviewing the services, I took a critical attitude. Did the firm have a consistent philosophy? If not, what changed, over the years? Some had been merged into big conglomerates. Others had critics not allowed to post on their corporate websites. Those critics had started their own sites to complain—and these included both clients and attorneys!

What would you think of a legal service that claims to let people file their own legal forms, but in the fine print it says it has no idea whether the forms are valid, and you must have the help of an attorney before you file them? I made some discoveries that I consider scandalous, but you’ll have to read the book to know what they are. I hope I’ve managed to let the facts speak for themselves.

What was the most difficult challenge of putting this work together?
There were times when I wanted to warn people not to use a particular service, even though it was one of the top five, according to Forbes. Again, I did the research, asked some probing questions, to try to make readers think about what the information actually would mean to them as consumers of legal services, and then allowed the facts to speak for themselves.

Tell us about the journey from inspiration to completed book.
A little over a year ago, I was at a writers retreat with Jack Canfield, author of The Success Principles and co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul® series. He’d looked at and endorsed a previous book of mine, Protecting Mama. The manuscript I showed him at that retreat was negative about adult guardianship. He understood why, but he wanted me to be offering people some hope also.

I went home, agonizing over how I could possibly do this when the situation seemed so bleak. Finally, I decided to do some deep research, starting from the beginning of the problem, which always seemed to be misunderstandings about the law or a lack of access to the right attorney at the right time. How could ordinary people have available legal help and not go bankrupt? That’s what made me search for solutions. This isn’t a long book, and once I got started, I found myself in “the zone” because my zeal to get the word out seemed to give me extra energy.

What did you learn in writing/publishing the book that you can apply to future projects?
If you feel absolutely stumped, what you need is probably hiding in plain sight. As with many mysteries, you’ve already seen the clue that solves the case. However, you didn’t realize, when you encountered it, how important it was and how it was connected to the rest of the puzzle. Look again at the problem as if you’re encountering it anew. You’ll be amazed at the new connections you can find, and the new conclusions you can draw!

Of all the nonfiction books you’ve written, which one was the most challenging and which was the easiest or most enjoyable to write?
The most challenging book? It’s a photo finish between Nadia Boulanger and Protecting Mama. I was so comparatively young when I wrote Nadia Boulanger! I felt I had a great deal of responsibility on my shoulders. I was writing about a cultural icon and needed to find a place of neutrality to tell a balanced story. To get the job done, I conducted over 300 interviews and traveled for several years.

Protecting Mama was equally challenging. The events I described were emotionally fraught for both my mother and me. I was so close to the subject, emotionally, that I worked very hard to take several steps back so I could see the patterns and not get stuck in the smaller events.

Have you ever wanted to write fiction?
I’ve written short fiction, and even won a few awards for it. One of my attorneys inspired me to start a sci fi novel some years ago. It’s tentatively titled Tensor Calculus. I’ve only written a few chapters and I’m still not sure whether I’m going to finish it.

What can fiction writers learn from nonfiction writers?
This would only apply to fiction writers in known genres, or “regular” literary fiction, and not to those who want to write experimental works: Make things real for your readers. They should be able to smell, feel, taste and/or hear what you’re showing them. If you met these characters at a party, would they be good companions? Do you love them or hate them? People are almost never monolithic. Assuming that this is true, do your bad characters have some good qualities and your good characters have some bad qualities?

What has writing taught you about yourself?
If I answered this question, the response would be so long that I’d be writing another book.

What writing projects are you working on now?
I have five nonfiction books in various stages of completion right now. They have no titles yet. One relates to AI. Another is a book about how families might be able to avoid a run-in with the court system intent on taking over their beloved elders. Two manuscripts describe various events (in prior generations) that helped to lead my mother, eventually, toward a devastating commercial guardianship.

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.



An Interview with Authors Chris Allen & Patricia Walkow

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Chris Allen and Patricia Walkow are both award-winning authors and editors of fiction and nonfiction who discovered each other’s work as members of Corrales Writing Group. Their individual articles, essays, and short stories have been published in a variety of venues that include newspaper columns and anthologies. Chris and Pat’s first novel collaboration is Alchemy’s Reach (2023), a murder mystery with a touch of romance. You’ll find Chris on Facebook and her SWW author page. Look for Pat on PatriciaWalkow.com, Facebook, and her Amazon author page. For more about Pat’s work, read her 2016, 2020, and 2023 interviews for SouthWest Writers.

What is your elevator pitch for Alchemy’s Reach?
Detective Jennifer Murphy’s life is torn asunder when lightning splits the sky and a rifle shot splits the air. Only her dog, Fi, understands what happened.

What formed first in your minds that grew into the story idea: a character, a setting, a what-if question? How did you proceed from there?
The idea for Alchemy’s Reach came from a true event, a mass murder, that happened in southeastern New Mexico in 1885. We set our story in the present day in that setting and created characters that had ties to that prior event. A strong female character and giving the reader a sense of place were important to us. Our main character, Jennifer Murphy, is a deputy sheriff in Lincoln County where she lives on a ranch of rolling hills she and her younger brother, Ethan, inherited from their parents. We wanted the reader to understand how independent Jennifer is, how competent she is. We also wanted to highlight the sights, scents, and sounds of Lincoln County.

You two have collaborated before on writing projects. How did you divide the responsibilities of writing/producing this book? What was the greatest challenge in the collaboration process?
We previously collaborated to write short stories with both current and previous members of the Corrales Writing Group. Each of those stories has been published. Alchemy’s Reach is the first time it was just the two of us.

As with any collaborative effort, it is important for all parties involved to be committed to the project. It means working to reach common ground regarding what the story is about. Although we did not have major differences regarding our story in Alchemy’s Reach, we learned to give a little, get a little, and in the end, create a third voice that belongs neither solely to Pat nor to Chris.

As we discussed our story, one of us would volunteer to write a part, and the following week we’d review it, revise it, and then assign the next chapter. Sometimes one person wrote several chapters in a row; sometimes we simply wrote one at a time. There is also administrivia involved when authoring a book. For example, Pat developed a timeline for the story; Chris kept the character sketches up-to-date. Regarding research of the physical location or anything else related to our story, we would decide who would do what. It was pretty painless, but that goes back to our agreeing on what the book was about in the first place.

How did the book come together?
It took us about two years to write the book, mostly during the pandemic. We presented each chapter to our critique group — the Corrales Writing Group — for review and revision. Often, this was accomplished by Zoom. We edited the book ourselves multiple times by reading it as well as having the computer read it to us. We sent the book to five or six beta readers for their comments and suggestions.

We have both published through KDP but were each involved in other writing projects, so we decided to seek a publisher. We received two publishing offers and decided to go with a vanity publisher, which was a mistake. The chosen publisher provided the cover art and did some additional editing. We thought that though it cost some money, it would free us to attend to our new projects. We signed a contract with Austin Macauley for an e-book, paperback, and audiobook, and the audiobook is still pending. Not all the reviews we read about this company were positive, yet not all were negative. We took a chance. With our own experience publishing books, we learned we are far better at it than the publisher we chose, and we will not choose that route again.

Tell us about the main characters in Alchemy’s Reach.
Jennifer Murphy: Co-owner of Montaña Vista Ranch and Deputy Sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico. She is our main character. Loves both her job and the ranch. Ethan Murphy: Younger brother of Jennifer Murphy; co-owns the ranch, does not like ranch life; takes odd, dangerous jobs away from home. Pablo Baca: Ranch manager, hired long ago by Jennifer and Ethan’s father. Pablo has known Jennifer and Ethan since they were born. Rose Baldwin: Office administrator for the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office. She has been like a second mother to Jennifer and Ethan all their lives. Fi: A black Labrador Retriever. Ever faithful. Belongs to her and Ethan…but mostly, Ethan. Jeff Reynolds: Owner of the local hangout (bar and restaurant) called The Rusty Keg. Sheriff Cooper: Jennifer’s boss and sheriff of Lincoln County. Detective David Chino: Mescalero Apache and New Mexico State Police Detective. Joe Stern: Klamath Native American and friend of Ethan.

Why did you choose New Mexico as the setting for the book?
The inspiring event occurred in New Mexico, and since it is such an exotic and beautiful state, we chose to set the story here. The mass murder that occurred at Bonito City provided us with some background genealogy for our main character, Jennifer Murphy, and her brother. In Alchemy’s Reach, the fictional town of Alchemy was flooded when Lake Fortuna was built. In real life, Bonito City was drowned when Bonito Lake was created. The lake still exists today, and it has recently been dredged, removing years of silt.

What was your favorite part of putting this project together?
We worked well together, and the discussions of character and plot inspired each of us to be more creative. Building on each other’s ideas led to improved scene development, better character development, and twists in the plot which, as individuals, we may not have thought about. No matter what problem we encountered, talking it out and coming up with alternatives always worked.

What kinds of scenes did you find most difficult to write?
Chris: Really none posed any issues.

Pat: No type of scene presented a problem. As always, we had to ensure we were consistent with what came earlier in the book. An example of that would be:  how come my character has blonde hair in Chapter 1 and all of a sudden, we are saying she has black hair in Chapter 26?

What is the best encouragement or advice you’ve received in your writing journey?
The input from Corrales Writing Group has been invaluable. Even if we don’t feel a specific critique is appropriate for our styles, we find the members’ comments often spur us to review our work and make it better.

What writing projects are you working on now?
Pat: I’ve sent my novel-in-progress, The Far Moist End of the Earth, to beta readers.

Chris: I am currently working on two books, both science fiction, with my husband Paul Knight. One book, The Music of Creation, is out for review by a publisher. The other, The Mirror of Eternity, is going through the critique process with Corrales Writing Group.

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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