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2021 New Releases for SWW Authors #1

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Joseph Badal, Kirt Hickman, Shirley Raye Redmond, and the writing team of Sandi Hoover and Jim Tritten represent the diverse membership of SouthWest Writers (SWW) with books published in a variety of genres in 2021. Their new releases couldn’t fit in this year’s interview schedule, but look for interviews/updates for most of these authors in 2022.

A list of interviewed SWW authors with 2021 releases is included at the end of this post.

Joseph Badal’s newest release, The Carnevale Conspiracy (Suspense Publishing, July 2021), is the seventh installment in his Danforth Saga. Bob and Liz Danforth are on the vacation of a lifetime—Venice, Italy during Carnevale. But, when they are caught up in the diabolical actions of a secret organization, patterned after the 11th Century’s Hashashiyan, or Order of Assassins, their trip becomes a nightmare of herculean proportion. The Carnevale Conspiracy is an epic tale that brings together international intelligence agencies; a cadre of assassins inspired by a 900-year-old sect and their leader, the Old Man of the Mountain; a global assassination campaign that targets Western leaders; an intrepid MOSSAD agent; and a cast of heroic characters and evil traitors.

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

Assassins’ Prey (February 2021) is book two in Kirt Hickman’s Age of Prophecy series. The great seer Ageus Mortaan foretold the coming of the Age of Darkness, the rise to power of the forces of evil, and the extermination of the civilized races: humans, elves, and dwarves. As the Age of Prophecy saga continues, Nick Mirrin and his friends escape the clutches of the king of Trondor. Together they flee into the uncharted expanse of the Wild Lands, seeking a talisman that will enable them to stand against the Dark Master of Mortaan’s Prophecy. Every step of the way, they’re pursued by: the Chosen of the Master; mercenaries hired by the king; their old nemeses, the Black Hand bandits; and demons specifically designed to be relentless hunters and extraordinary assassins. Nick’s hopes give way to doubt and his gambits become ever more desperate as he and his friends become assassins’ prey.

Visit Kirt’s Amazon author page for all of his books.

In 2021, award-winning author Shirley Raye Redmond published three children’s books in the Read-It! Readers series through Picture Window Books. In Pup’s Prairie Home, Pup doesn’t want to live in a prairie dog hole anymore. It’s deep and dark. Will a hungry, screeching hawk change his mind? In The Princesses’ Lucky Day, Princess May and Princess June are on a hunt for something special. Will they get lucky and find what they are looking for? And in The Princess and Her Pony, it is race day, and little Princess Shy and her tiny pony, Star, are ready to go. The other princesses laugh, but Shy and Star have a plan. Can they win the big race?

You’ll find Shirley Raye on her Amazon author page.

Sandi Hoover and Jim Tritten published their sixth collaboration, Panama’s Gold: A Tale of Greed (Red Penguin Books), in August 2021. Chinese gangs are running investments and infrastructure development in Panama. Lanny Mitchell, a youthfully-retired American environmental lawyer as the antagonist, revisits Panama, to test her idea of becoming a resident ex-pat. She unexpectedly encounters ecological issues and the activities of the gangs. A dormant volcano leaks poisonous gases that kill local fowl and threatens humans. Spanish gold and artifacts are linked to events while the Panama Canal was being excavated with hints at government coverups explaining Yellow Fever that caused massive deaths during construction. Chinese attempts to capitalize on the opportunity to corner the world rare-earth market are thwarted by Lanny and local Panamanians. They want Panama to retain its ownership of the valuable rare-earth and Spanish gold.

Visit Sandi’s Amazon author page and Jim’s Amazon author page.

SWW Author Interviews: 2021 Releases

• Jeffrey Candelaria
TORO: The Naked Bull
• Marty Eberhardt
Death in a Desert Garden
• Melody Groves
When Outlaws Wore Badges
• Holly Harrison
Rites & Wrongs
• Robert Kidera
A LONG TIME TO DIE
• BR Kingsolver
Soul Harvest
• Marcia Meier
Face, A Memoir
• Victoria Murata
The Acolyte
• Barb Simmons
The War Within: A Wounded Warrior Romance
• Gina Troisi
The Angle of Flickering Light

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



2020 New Releases for SWW Authors #1

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François-Marie Patorni, Donna Pedace, Shirley Raye Redmond, and Jasmine Tritten represent a few of the nonfiction authors among the diverse membership of SouthWest Writers (SWW). The new releases in this post couldn’t fit into the 2020 interview schedule, but look for interviews/updates for these authors in 2021.

A list of previously interviewed SWW authors with 2020 releases is included at the end of this post.

François-Marie Patorni’s The French in New Mexico: Four Centuries of Exploration, Adventure, and Influence (April 2020) is the first history of the French in New Mexico. In the book, the author chronicles the lives of French-speaking people from France, Canada, Switzerland, Belgium, Africa, and the Caribbean Islands; of people with French ancestry who retained some of their French culture; and of people with strong connections to France. The book traces their presence in New Mexico from the 1500s to present times. It tells the stories of influential, unusual, or colorful characters, and those who are not as well-remembered — explorers, adventurers, fur trappers and traders, soldiers, merchants, priests, farmers and ranchers, business people, scientists, artists, actors, politicians, lawyers, criminals, women of note, intellectuals, and other influencers in society.

Visit François-Marie’s website FrenchInNewMexico.com.

Scandalous Women Of The Old West: Women Who Dared To Be Different (September 2020), by Donna Pedace, profiles ten amazing women who lived in the Old West. They dared to step outside the traditional roles of wife and mother, and left society’s conventions behind them. These women engaged in a wide range of interests and professions, and their stories will inspire and entertain. They overcame incredible odds to make a place for themselves in their chosen world, despite the sometimes strong objections of both men and women. Each blazed new trails for women who would come after them.

Visit Donna’s Amazon author page.

Award-winning author Shirley Raye Redmond’s newest nonfiction release is Brave Heroes and Bold Defenders: 50 True Stories of Daring Men of God (Harvest House Publishers, 2020). In the book, readers will meet men who have used their God-given talents to live out their faith to the fullest. The fifty featured defenders of the faith have made a profound impact on the world around them, and in many cases changed the course of history. These inspiring profiles will captivate kids’ imaginations and encourage them to discover their own gifts and how they can use them to glorify God.

You’ll find Shirley Raye at ShirleyRayeRedmond.com and on her Amazon author page.

In August 2020, Jasmine Tritten published her travel memoir On the Nile with a Dancing Dane, and it soon became a #1 New Release in Travel Egypt on Amazon.com. In this adventurous memoir, filled with mystery and surprises, she explores the land of the pharaohs and overcomes challenges and obstacles while following her love for dance and the Egyptian culture. Original artwork and photos are by the author. “Underneath the black and gold glittery outfit, danced a blonde, blue-eyed Danish Viking woman with a Middle-Eastern soul.”

Visit Jasmine on Facebook and her Amazon author page.

Seeing the World in 20/20: A SouthWest Writers Anthology of Award-Winning Stories

The year 2020 fits Confucius’ curse of “May you live in interesting times.” As the premier writers association in the southwestern part of the country, SouthWest Writers is all about writers helping writers succeed. The SWW annual writing contest is open to anyone and provides challenges for poets and authors. Seeing the World in 20/20 contains award-winning entries from each contest category: Biography/Memoir, Humor, Social Consciousness, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Mystery, Animals, Philosophy, Historical Fiction, and more.

Visit the SWW Publications page for all the organization’s releases.

SWW Author Interviews: 2020 Releases

Connie Flores
• Our Fascinating Life: The Totally Accidental Trip 1979
Sue Houser
• Wilmettie
BR Kingsolver
• Knights Magica
Dr. Barbara Koltuska-Haskin
• How My Brain Works: A Guide to Understanding It Better and Keeping It Healthy
Manfred Leuthard
• Broken Arrow: A Nuke Goes Missing
Shirley Raye Redmond
• Courageous World Changers: 50 True Stories of Daring Women of God
J.R. Seeger
• A Graveyard for Spies
Lynne Sturtevant
• Hometown: Writing a Local History or Travel Guide and The Collaboration Kit
Patricia Walkow
• New Mexico Remembers 9/11

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



More 2019 New Releases for SWW Authors

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Authors RJ Mirabal, Don Morgan, Robin Perini, and Vicki Turpen represent the diverse membership of SouthWest Writers (SWW) with 2019 releases in the genres of children’s books, mystery, romantic suspense, and science fiction. Look for interviews or updates for these authors in 2020.

A list of previously interviewed SWW authors with 2019 releases is included at the end of this post.

Trixie Finds Her People, written by RJ the Story Guy (aka RJ Mirabal), tells the story of Trixie the Brown Dog. This mama dog is rescued from a situation where she and her puppies were part of a hoard of 23 dogs. After her puppies are adopted, she joins a girl and her grandparents as her new family. At first, everything is new: living indoors in her new home, learning to potty outdoors, getting the occasional bath (not fun!), and being locked in the laundry room at night (really not fun!). Soon Trixie and her people’s lives turn into a series of wonderful, humorous, and sometimes scary adventures. In addition to her real life, Trixie embarks on three fantasy adventures while she sleeps. In the end it’s all about the bond of love between a rescue dog and her true forever family. Available on Amazon.

Visit RJ’s websites at TrixieTheBrownDog.com and RJMirabal.com. Read his 2015 interview and 2017 interview update.

The Voxlightner Scandal is book six in the BJ Vinson Mystery series written by Don Travis (SWW member Don Morgan). No good deed goes unpunished, as investigator BJ Vinson is about to discover. Writer John Pierce Belhaven was murdered before he could reveal the name of another killer—one connected to the biggest scandal to rock Albuquerque in years. Two of the city’s most prominent citizens—Barron Voxlightner and Dr. Walther Stabler—vanished in 2004, along with fifty million dollars looted from Voxlightner Precious Metals Recovery Corp. BJ agrees to help novice detective Roy Guerra reopen the old case which the wealthy and influential Voxlightner family doesn’t want dredged up. But Belhaven was part of their family, and that connection could’ve led to his murder. Or did the sixty-year-old author die because of a sordid sexual affair? Available on Amazon.

You’ll find Don on his website at DonTravis.com. Read his 2018 and 2019 interviews.

Robin Perini’s Forgotten Legacy is the second release in the Singing River series published by Montlake Romance (2019). Forgotten secrets. Forgotten lies. A family legacy…A determined killer. On the outskirts of Singing River, Wyoming, a couple dies in a fire that ravages their remote mountain home. Everyone believes it’s a tragic accident—except FBI profiler Riley Lambert. She isn’t convinced, and neither is her fiancé, ex-Navy SEAL turned sheriff Thayne Blackwood. When they discover that the couple’s daughter is missing, Riley’s dark memories of her own sister’s kidnapping ratchet up the urgency to find the girl—before it’s too late. Dodging danger, they follow a tangled web of clues pointing to a forgotten secret that Thayne’s Alzheimer’s-stricken grandmother holds dear. But when their deadly investigation veers too close to home and brings a twisted killer to Riley’s and Thayne’s doorsteps, can they save those they love and stop the murderer before time runs out? Available on Amazon.

Last Stand in Texas, by Robin Perini, was released by Harlequin Intrigue in early 2019. Two people whose dangerous pasts are never far behind… Will their secrets catch up to them? Stranded in small-town Texas, desperate to keep her daughter from her serial-killer ex, Faith Thomas must rely on covert operative Léon Royce. But he, too, is on the run, hiding his real identity and denying his real attraction to Faith. Protecting her and Zoe becomes his mission…one he’ll risk his life—and heart—for. Available on Amazon.

Visit Robin’s website at RobinPerini.com and read her 2016 interview.

The Delicate Balance is a post-apocalyptic thriller written by Vicki Turpen and Shannon Horst. The Earth is dying—its life forms bound for extinction—unless the most fundamental of changes is made: Carbon-based fuels must be abandoned. Chaos results—migrating hordes of starving people, abandoned hospitals and prisons (patients and inmates still inside), and deserted cities where only cockroaches still live. But then Jesse Forester, the U.N. scientist responsible for the changes that survival demands, finds hints that the data at the core of the new global policy may be flawed. And murders start happening. Rushing headlong into a frantic search for the truth, Jesse and his team discover pockets of people who are living rich and satisfying lives in Eden-like landscapes without any use of carbon fuels. As the plotters Jesse is seeking become more desperate, can these flourishing communities help avert humanity’s slow death from the poisonous fruits of climate change growing at its doorstep? Available on Amazon.

SWW Author Interviews (2019 Releases)

Sherri L. Burr • Complicated Lives: Free Blacks in Virginia, 1619-1865
Kit Crumpton • Please Send Ketchup: WWII Letters from a B-29 Pilot
C. Joseph Greaves (Chuck Greaves) • Church of the Graveyard Saints
Scott Archer Jones • And Throw Away the Skins
Jacqueline Murray Loring • Vietnam Veterans Unbroken: Conversations on Trauma and Resiliency
Neill McKee • Finding Myself in Borneo: Sojourns in Sabah
Sharon Vander Meer • Thunder Prime Hunter’s Light
Don Morgan • Abaddon’s Locusts

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



2019 New Releases for SWW Authors

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Joseph Badal, Parris Afton Bonds, Susan Cooper, Randy Cooper, and Elaine Carson Montague are just a few authors who represent the diverse membership of SouthWest Writers (SWW). The new releases in this post cover different genres—suspense, historical romance, an anthology of short works, and memoir. Look for interviews or author updates for these authors in 2020.

A list of previously interviewed SWW authors with 2019 releases is included at the end of this post.

Bestselling author Joseph Badal delivers Justice (Suspense Publishing, 2019), the third in his Curtis Chronicles series, with the same relentless tension that is a trademark of his award-winning suspense novels. As with all of Badal’s novels, Justice is a bold and complex thriller. It weaves an intricate plot involving multiple international locations, a human trafficking organization, the CIA, Special Operations, corrupt politicians, Bulgarian organized crime figures, Swiss bankers, and a compelling cast of engaging, inspiring, and diabolical characters. The Curtis Chronicles is an epic series that delves into the age-old conflict between good and pure evil, where each book leaves you begging for more. Available on Amazon.

Homicide detective partners Barbara Lassiter and Susan Martinez return in Natural Causes (Suspense Publishing, 2019), Joseph Badal’s third novel in the Lassiter/Martinez Case Files series. Called in to investigate a mysterious death in a retirement center, Lassiter and Martinez find themselves entangled in a case that might very well involve multiple murders committed by a psychopathic killer. The deeper they get into their investigation, the more complex and dangerous the case becomes, threatening the lives of the detectives and their loved ones. Joseph Badal offers up another suspenseful tale with twists and turns that will keep the reader on a roller coaster ride of drama, action, and emotion from the first to the last page. Available on Amazon.

Visit Joe’s website JosephBadalBooks.com and Amazon author page, and read his 2016 and 2018 interviews.

Before there was New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California, or Utah, there was Texas. Molded by Old Mexico and a new rough and ready breed of hearty settlers from around the world, The Lone Star Republic was the thing of dreams—land, riches, liberty, home. With the first volume of her highly addictive Texicans saga, The Brigands (Lagan Press, 2019), New York Times bestselling author Parris Afton Bonds brings us the riveting tale of four wayward souls colliding on the eve of revolution. From the shadow of the Alamo to the bloody fields of San Jacinto, their lives and loves, hopes and allegiances, will be tested in ways none of them could ever imagine. Fast-paced and tightly-plotted, The Brigands is a triumph of historical romantic fiction that will leave readers breathless. Available on Amazon.

When the Heart Is Right (Lagan Press, 2019) by Parris Afton Bonds: When Washington D.C. socialite Alessandra O’Quinn is diagnosed with tuberculosis, she must leave everything she knows to seek a cure in the dry desert air of New Mexico. In her new home, Alessandra meets the local Taos Indians and shaman Manuel Mondragon. As she learns how to heal her body, she finds herself fighting to save her true self, as well as her heart. She soon joins the fight against the Bureau of Indian Affairs for the rights to Blue Lake, where the tribe believes their ancient culture was created out of the sacred waters. Set in 1920s New Mexico, this is a story of politics, male domination, racism, and love against all odds. Available on Amazon.

You’ll find a list of Parris’ publications on her SWW Author Page. Visit her website at ParrisAftonBonds.com and read her 2015 interview.

SWW members Susan Cooper and Randy Cooper are two (of seven) contributors to Lost Echoes Found: An Anthology of Speculations and Memories. Are you looking for stories that will make you laugh or cry or cringe—or wonder? Lost Echoes Found, written and published by the group Lost Echoes, Albuquerque Writers, includes poetry, memoir, and stories for all ages, ranging from science fiction and fantasy to thriller, from horror to ghost stories. You’ll find an alien who looks like a giant grasshopper, a pirate story, an imaginary friend who’s real (and scary), a canine ghost, and a true feel-good story about Parisians. Available on Amazon.

Connect with Lost Echoes, Albuquerque Writers on Facebook and their website LostEchoesAlbuquerqueWriters.com. Read Susan’s 2015 interview.

Elaine Carson Montague and husband Gary Ted Montague’s debut Victory From The Shadows (ABQ Press, 2019) celebrates the human spirit with this true story of love by authors who understand the complexities of being a child who needs educational modifications. Courageous love of a mother. Encouraging love of a teacher. Unselfish love of volunteers. Enduring love of a wife. Pull on Gary’s cowboy boots to see his world with low vision as he abruptly leaves his farm home at age eight and enrolls in a residential school for the blind. With one train ride, his life changes forever. The darkness frightens Gary when he hears Mom’s footsteps fade away. Available on Amazon.

Visit Elaine’s website at ElaineMontague.com.

SWW Author Interviews (2019 Releases)

Sherri L. Burr • Complicated Lives: Free Blacks in Virginia, 1619-1865
Kit Crumpton • Please Send Ketchup: WWII Letters from a B-29 Pilot
C. Joseph Greaves (Chuck Greaves) • Church of the Graveyard Saints
Scott Archer Jones • And Throw Away the Skins
Jacqueline Murray Loring • Vietnam Veterans Unbroken: Conversations on Trauma and Resiliency
Neill McKee • Finding Myself in Borneo: Sojourns in Sabah
Sharon Vander Meer • Thunder Prime Hunter’s Light
Don Morgan • Abaddon’s Locusts

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



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