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An Interview with Author Marcia Rosen

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Marcia Rosen is an award-winning author of eleven fiction and nonfiction books. Writing as M. Glenda Rosen she published several series including the Senior Sleuths and the Dying To Be Beautiful mysteries. Her newest novel, Murder at the Zoo (Artemesia Publishing, March 2023), is the first book in the Agatha, Raymond, Sherlock, & Me cozy mystery series. You’ll find Marcia on her website at MarciaRosen.com. Visit her Amazon author page for many of her books.

Please tell us about Murder at the Zoo.
A body is tossed into the lion’s habitat at the zoo where Miranda Scott is the senior vet. She and Detective Bryan Anderson join forces to unravel that mystery and several more murders. A fan since childhood of Agatha Christie, Raymond Chandler, and Sherlock Holmes, they seem to live in her head, frequently telling her what to do…and not do. Murders, family, deceit, revenge and a gangster father and godfather often get in the way of a fine romance between Miranda and the detective.

What is the driving force to write cozy mysteries over other types of writing?
In what I consider my BOLD THIRD ACT, I decided to experiment with writing a different type of mystery. It was very fun for me to create along with some new projects I’ll tell you about later in the interview.

What makes Murder at the Zoo different from the novels in your other mystery series?
They are not cozies. Zoo is also the only one that takes place in New Mexico, but my novels are more similar than not. They all offer a sense of seeking justice and have a gangster character who plays an important role in the story.

What was your favorite part of putting this project together?
Creating the puzzle to keep readers guessing who the murderers are and why.

You have based Murder at the Zoo in Albuquerque, New Mexico. What research did you do to provide background information for your novel?
I researched the Albuquerque Zoo layout, and I researched a lot about the different positions people hold at zoos including what is expected of them. How animals were cared for in the story was important to me.

Did your characters surprise you as you wrote their story?
A little. I write organically so I’m never quite sure where they will end up in the story. I do always know there will be several murders, and the murderers will come to justice!

Do you have plans to bring back Miranda Scott, along with her cohorts Detective Bryan Anderson, Agatha Christie, Raymond Chandler, and Sherlock Holmes?
Possibly. Also, possibly another book for one of my other series, and I’m completing a memoir about my father and me. I had a very unusual upbringing.

What first inspired you to become a writer?
I wanted to be a writer since I was 14 and sat down at the kitchen table and wrote a play. I wrote for many years for the marketing/pr business I founded. I’ve been writing books for the past 20 years. I love to play with words. What we say and how we say anything can have a big impact.

What writing projects are you working on now?
I’ve started a Memoir/LifeStory blog which includes inviting guests to share a part of their story. It also offers hints and tips on writing a memoir (from my book My Memoir Workbook), as well as excerpts from my own memoir. The blog will be posted on the 1st and 15th of each month and began May 1st of this year. Members of SWW are invited and welcome to participate. Here is the link to the first one: TheSeniorSleuths.com/blog.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
Listen to your own voice, not others.

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 2023: Sue Houser

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Sue Houser is an award-winning author who weaves New Mexico’s history and traditions into her children’s books, as well as her nonfiction and historical fiction releases. Her latest book, Amelia and the Magic Ponies (Irie Books, 2022), was inspired by a wooden carousel found abandoned in Peñasco, New Mexico. You’ll find Sue on her website at SueHouser.com and on Facebook. Read more about her writing in SWW’s 2017 and 2020 interviews, and visit Amazon for all of her books.

Amelia and the Magic Ponies is written for children ages 4–8 years old. What do you hope readers will learn from the story you tell in the book?
I want to remind readers of the innocence of children and that by believing in dreams and possibilities, amazing things can happen.

When did you first hear about Los Caballitos (The Little Ponies), and what compelled you to begin working on the story?
Several years ago, a column in the Albuquerque Journal caught my attention. I read that a carousel in Taos, New Mexico is over one hundred years old. The antique merry-go-round, owned and restored by the Lions Club of Taos, is in operation during Las Fiestas de Santiago y Santa Ana every July on the historic plaza. I have always loved carousels, and I was curious. So when July came, I went to the fiesta and observed the wonder and delight on the faces of the children as they rode on the wooden ponies.

Who are your main characters in the book? What challenges do you set before them?
Amelia is eager to ride Los Caballitos and runs ahead of her grandfather to get in line at the fiesta in Peñasco, New Mexico. Abuelo falls and injures his leg. They return home – before Amelia has a chance to ride. The next fiesta, the ponies are not there. Amelia learns they are in an old barn and finds them in a deplorable condition. She wants her grandfather to fix them, but he is somewhat crippled. Amelia often visits the ponies. One day, a thunderstorm rolls in. Unable to return home, Amelia spends the night in the barn with the broken ponies.

How did the book come together?
I actually started it about 15 years ago. First, I wrote the non-fiction version of Tio Vivo (the name given to the restored carousel) but felt it needed more magic. The carousel’s turning and the ponies’ swaying felt like poetry to me. I tried, but I’m not a poet. So, next, I wrote the story from the point of view of one of the wooden horses. I liked that version, but my publisher/editor Gerald Hausman (of Irie Books) thought children might not connect with a wooden horse. He was right. A child needed to be the main character.

If you had input into the cover and interior artwork (illustrated by Mariah Fox), what was that experience like?
The cover reflects something magical is going to happen. I like it. But in the illustration where Amelia spent the night with the ponies, Mariah showed the wooden ponies to be in good condition. We discussed the narrative about the ponies’ damaged and broken state. Mariah created distress in the scene by adding rain coming down and putting bandages on the ponies. That was rather clever! I especially love her illustration of live musicians serenading the carousel riders, which is historically accurate.

What topics or themes does your book touch on that would make it a perfect fit for the classroom?

  • Something old does have value and may have an exciting story to tell.
  • When an activity is shared, it can be more enjoyable.
  • Don’t give up on your hopes and dreams.

What was your favorite part of writing Amelia and the Magic Ponies?
I enjoyed the research and even visited the National Carousel Museum in Leavenworth, Kansa. A highlight was watching delighted children ride the simple, colorful wooden ponies as they rode around and around.

Are you working on any projects now?
I am querying two picture books: Benjamin, The Eager Beaver―about a beaver who doesn’t want to grow up and Juanita’s Heavenly Bizcochitos―about a young girl who saves the day for her grandmother by baking the Las Posadas cookies. Another book, Walter Steps Up to the Plate (Artemesia Publishing), is a middle-grade historical fiction with a release date set for October, 2023. I can’t wait!

What else would you like readers to know?
Amelia and the Magic Ponies won 1st place in the 2023 New Mexico Press Women Zia Children’s Book Award. I will be giving a talk and signing books at Treasure House Books on Sunday, April 16, 2023 from 1:00 to 3:00 pm.

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 2022: RJ the Story Guy

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Retired high school teacher RJ Mirabal (aka RJ the Story Guy) is the author of an adult fantasy series (the Rio Grande Parallax trilogy), a young adult fantasy (Dragon Train), and the children’s book series Trixie the Brown Dog. His newest release is Trixie: Round Brown Ball of Dog (November 2021), the second book inspired by his adventurous rescue dog. You’ll find RJ and Trixie on their websites at RJMirabal.com and TrixieTheBrownDog.com, on their Facebook pages at RJMirabalAuthor and TrixieTheBrownDog, and on Instagram and Twitter. To find out more about RJ and his writing, visit his SWW author page and follow the links to previous interviews.

What can readers expect from the second book in your Trixie series?
Trixie’s adventures continue as she looks for new things to do and has more Dog Fun with her people. She likes sniffing, walking, running, and playing but those take a back seat when the Brown Dog faces an unexpected challenge. Trixie still can’t talk the way her people do, but she communicates what she wants and how she feels through grunts, whines, whistles, barks, growls, and wagging her tail and body while singing her Dog Opera. Fortunately, RJ The Story Guy interprets all this for a reader’s enjoyment. Big things to overcome, toys to chew and tug, places to go, lots of exploring, and a new fantasy adventure await readers in Trixie: Round Brown Ball of Dog.

How did you get into the mind of the main character, Trixie the Brown Dog, and draw readers into her story?
I’ve always had a close attachment to animals because I am an only child who grew up in the countryside. My dogs and cats were constant companions. As a kid, there were always animals in our family, usually several, including cows and chickens for a few years. Apparently, by instinct, I watched and related to my animal friends very closely and came to understand what they were thinking. Even though the only language animals have is their body language along with barking, meowing, mooing, clucking, grunting, howling, etc., I could usually tell what their moods and desires were.

Since my wife and I have only Trixie as our family pet, we’re all in tune with each other. Once I could read her wants and emotions through her body language and dog vocalizations, I developed an understanding of her character and personality. At that point, especially during walks, I began to think of stories where she was the central character in a series of dog adventures. As a writer, I quickly realized I was developing a book about a rescue dog finding and relating to her new people in a unique way as a result of her personality and experiences. I naturally assumed other animal lovers of all ages would see their own dogs and themselves in the simple stories I told about her.

Was there anything surprising or interesting you discovered while doing research for this book?
My research was simply recording our experiences with Trixie. For Round Brown Ball of Dog, Trixie suffers an injury to what is a dog’s equivalent of the ACL (ligament) associated with the knee. What was surprising were the details of the surgery to repair the injury and how we had to follow a very restrictive regimen of recovery/therapy for several weeks. Going through that experience with Trixie was all the education I needed for story material. That and, of course, Trixie’s characteristic reactions to the gradual return to normal walking and playing. We were surprised that, although she was used to running hard and walking a lot, she adjusted to the restrictions fairly well. However, she was not at all happy about the pain and disability in the first several days after the surgery! Gradually she had a full recovery.

You wrote the Rio Grande Parallax series for adult fantasy readers and Dragon Train for young adult fantasy readers. Tell us why you went in a new direction with the Trixie books.
I wanted to explore a part of my deep experience with animals and make it accessible to others, especially children. The audience I had in mind was a child that had either little or no experience with a pet. I wanted them to learn how to relate to animals in a positive way. The Parallax series are very gritty stories with mature content while Dragon Train is an adventure story based on close relationships between people and other non-human beings.

The Trixie stories are meant to be fun with a few simple messages about love, loyalty, adapting to new situations, facing basic fears, and developing personal responsibility. The obvious target audience (including reading level) is children, especially those six to twelve years old. Yet, I’ve striven to make the stories high-interest for all ages since I envisioned adults sharing the stories with children and grandchildren.

What writing projects are you working on now?
I’m writing books two and three of the Dragon Train Quest Series. The second book, Dragon Train Rebellion, will trace the growth of the dragons’ rebellion against human enslavement and abuse of all three types of dragons. In my story, there are blue dragons who are intelligent and large, silver dragons who possess moderate intelligence and are the size of horses, while the small dog-like silver dragons have limited but very focused intelligence. Humanity is unaware of any dragon intelligence and self-worth, but my main character, a teenage boy, becomes aware of their true nature and joins the dragons to fight for their freedom. The third book, Dragon Train War, will explore the horrors of war and how enemies have to find a way to gain peace and guarantee freedom for the oppressed.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
I want readers to know that I welcome comments, thoughts, and reactions to my writing. I would like to engage directly with “followers” who have enjoyed my stories. And I want to learn why my writing appeals to them. Of course, suggestions and ideas are always something I like to share so I can strive to meet readers’ expectations while following my creative pursuits. I guess I’m talking about a fan club. Anyone want to organize one?

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 has a new speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.



An Interview with Author Barb Simmons

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Author Barb Simmons writes contemporary and paranormal romance. She also writes erotica under the pen name Belle Sloane. Her most recent contemporary release is The War Within (February 2021), the first in her Wounded Warrior Romance series. You’ll find Barb on BelleSloane.com and her two Facebook pages: BarbSimmons and BelleSloaneBooks.

What would you like people to know about The War Within?
That it was the most fun I ever had writing a book, and I think it really shows in the story.

What do you hope readers will take away from the book?
That people with disabilities can and do enjoy all the same things in life as people without disabilities. Sometimes they just need to get a little creative about things.

Who are your main characters?
Mike Ramos is a former Marine Raider who lost his leg in battle. He also struggles with the fallout from his experiences in Afghanistan. He knows he’s struggling and avoids getting the help he needs to move on. He finally sees the light about that. Vivian March is an Ortho nurse and fitness fan like Mike is. She overcomes issues with military vets and family history.

What makes the setting important to the telling of the story?
For me the setting is often like another character in the story. Setting lends tons of texture and strengthens the reality of the story.

What sparked the idea for the book?
The idea for The War Within came to me when I was on the leg press at the gym. And bam, I was on it. I usually mull a while before getting going with a story. But this one was one of those wonderful times where the bulk of the story came faster than I could type when I sat down to work.

What challenges did this work pose for you?
I did what I usually do—researched stuff I’m not familiar with and armed myself with a host of technical advisors.

Any “Oh, wow!” moments when doing research for The War Within?
Just that the story flowed so nicely as I went along. That doesn’t happen too often.

Tell us about your writing process. Are you a pantser or a plotter?
When I first started writing (1992), I was a pantser from the word go, but over the years I’ve developed into a hybrid of sorts. I do use a white board to give me a visual of where I’ve been and where I’m going. I tend to write the first three chapters of a story and then settle into a deal where I plot the next one to three chapters, then write then plot the next one to three.

Do you have a message or a theme that recurs in your work?
I seem to have a penchant for redemption stories.

What typically comes first for you: a character? An era? A story idea?
Usually what comes to me first is the main character in a particular setting, where something happens to them that takes them forever out of their normal world.

What writing projects are you working on now?
The War Within is the first in my three-book series of Wounded Warrior romances. I’m currently working on the second book, which is Trevor’s story. He was the mentor in the first book. This will be my first romance featuring an older hero and heroine. Trevor is a Vietnam veteran.

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.



An Interview with Author Holly Harrison

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Retired university research scientist Holly Harrison devotes her time to writing mystery novels set in New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment. Her debut novel, Rites & Wrongs (Golden Word Books, January 2021), has been called “a thrilling mystery” that keeps “readers riveted with a great story, fascinating characters, and exceptional writing.” You’ll find Holly on her website at HollyHarrisonWriter.com and on her Amazon author page.

What is your elevator pitch for Rites & Wrongs?
Pascal Ruiz, a Santa Fe detective, becomes disenchanted with his job after solving a high-profile case that involved a stolen Stradivarius violin. That is, until the captain asks him, off the record, to look into the disappearance of his niece’s boyfriend, Bobby Pilot. Ruiz finds Pilot alive but unconscious in an abandoned pueblo, clothed in a Jesus costume and tied to a cross. It’s Holy Week and Ruiz suspects the Penitentes. He also believes the costume is the one recently stolen from the Santa Fe Opera Storage Building. In desperation to link the two cases, Ruiz crosses the line and puts his career in jeopardy.

Who are your main characters, and what do they have to overcome in this story?
The main characters are Pascal Ruiz, a Santa Fe police detective, and his friend Gillian Jasper. Ruiz needs to solve two crimes that are linked, by discovering who broke into the Opera Storage building and took the Jesus costume and who dressed Pilot in the costume and tied him to the cross. Jasper needs to decide whether to stay in New Mexico with Ruiz or return to her life in Washington, DC.

Why did you choose New Mexico as the setting for the book?
I wanted to write a mystery rooted in New Mexico’s history, land, and people. I placed most of the action south of Santa Fe between the town of Golden on Route 14 and San Felipe’s Black Mesa Casino off of I-25. I set the story during Holy Week, between Palm Sunday and Easter, so I could write about the Penitente reenactments and the Good Friday procession to Chimayo.

What sparked the story idea?
The story idea came to me one day as I worked in my garden. I uncovered an old brick from the Tonque Tile and Brick Company. Part of it was broken off but the name Tonque was etched on the front. The brick factory had been built in the early 1900s and remained active for thirty years. In the 1980s I had picked up the brick near Tonque Pueblo, a fourteenth century pre-Columbian abandoned pueblo. I decided that Ruiz’s next case would take him to that area south of Santa Fe.

Tell us how the book came together.
I spent three years writing the book. Then another year editing, getting feedback, and rewriting. When I started looking for a publisher, the pandemic hit. The world of publishing came to a halt, book conferences were cancelled, bookstores closed, book releases were pushed back. Pitching the book to editors and agents unsolicited became a daunting process. I decided to go with a hybrid publisher. The publisher does the edits, layout and design, publishing and distribution. The author shares some of the costs but reaps more profit from sales.

Was there anything surprising you discovered while doing research for Rites & Wrongs?
Growing up on the East coast, before coming to New Mexico, I had never heard of the Penitentes or their practices. I was intrigued with the group’s devotion to God as well as their community. There is an abundance of lore surrounding the Brotherhood’s beliefs and practices. My research on the lay Catholic group revealed how and why they came about and dispelled many of the myths and negative stereotypes.

What was your favorite part of putting this project together?
Writing. I love the writing process, creating characters and turning them loose in different situations, letting them get themselves in and out of trouble.

Why do you write in the particular genre you’ve chosen?
I find mystery the perfect genre to unfold crimes and misdemeanors in New Mexico’s multicultural landscape.

Who are some of your favorite authors?
Ann Patchett, Louise Penny, Tana French, Lily King, Susan Orlean, Patti Smith. I guess I have been reading a lot of women.

What are the hardest kinds of scenes for you to write?
Sex scenes. I find them tedious to write and easy to leave out. When writing mysteries, sex often takes a backseat to murder and mayhem.

What writing projects are you working on now?
I am trying to balance the promotion of Rites & Wrongs with work on New Territory, the third book in the series. Ghost Notes (about a stolen Stradivarius violin) is the first book in the series but it hasn’t been published. I have finished a draft of New Territory and am in the process of editing and rewriting. Next task will be to find a publisher.

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.



An Interview with Author Manfred Leuthard

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Author Manfred Leuthard is a world traveler, born and raised in Switzerland, who now lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His experience with nuclear engineering and computer programming, as well as piloting a long list of aircraft, gave him a wealth of knowledge to pull from for his debut novel Broken Arrow: A Nuke Goes Missing (2020). You’ll find Manfred on his website at ManfredLeuthard.com and on Facebook.

What is your elevator pitch for Broken Arrow?
This is the story of a case of blackmail, mostly seen through the eyes of the narrator and the principal protagonist Harry — a helicopter pilot — who ends up embroiled in the heist of a nuclear weapons component from Los Alamos National Laboratories.

What challenges did this work pose for you?
Writing in first person voice was a challenge, as well as dealing with sex tastefully in a romantic setting. Grammar and vocabulary were challenges, too, because English is my second (actually fifth) language. I also tried to stay away from too many “flying stories.”

How did the book come together?
I used to fly for Los Alamos Labs, so I got to know the operation a bit and that helped spark the story idea. I tried to write 500 words (or two pages) a day. Altogether, it look about two years to put together — 1 1/2 years for 60 percent of the book and three months for 40 percent (during the pandemic). I had the manuscript edited by a professional editor, found a great book cover on Fiverr, and released it through Amazon KDP publishing in July 2020.

What were the hardest kinds of scenes to write, and what were the easiest?
Humor and sarcasm came easy, as did writing the science. Writing from the antagonist’s (crook’s) viewpoint was difficult due to my lack of relevant experience. Conflict dialog was hard to write, and violence was tricky.

What settings are included in the book, and why did you choose them?
I included Northern New Mexico because I live there. I’ve traveled extensively in Mexico, so that setting made it into the book as well. Aviation and nuclear engineering, which I’ve both done for a living, factor into the story too.

Tell us a little about your main character.
Harry Scott Anderson is a 52-year-old cynic who hates being lonely. His best friend and sole companion is a German Shepherd named Zorro. Harry is tired of constantly chasing new customers and has essentially given up on romance — until he meets Erin. His observant and meticulous nature entangles him in a plot to sell stolen nuclear weapons components.

What makes this novel unique in the thriller market?
Broken Arrow has a complex plot with many twists, including blackmailing the government and letting the crooks succeed.

What was the most rewarding aspect of writing Broken Arrow?
Getting it out of the door and reading reviews chock full of adulation.

What is the best encouragement or advice you’ve received in your writing journey?
Find ONE person who believes in you. And find an editor who believes in you — even after having seen your prose.

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.



Author Update: Sue Houser

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Author Sue Houser strives to preserve New Mexico’s history and traditions through her fiction and nonfiction. Her newest release, Wilmettie (Texas Tech University Press, 2020), is children’s historical fiction inspired by her grandmother’s homesteading experience. Visit Sue at SueHouser.com and on her Amazon author page. To learn about her earlier books, read SWW’s 2017 interview.

What would you like readers to know about the story you tell in Wilmettie?
Wilmettie is the story of a young girl and her family who travel from South Central Texas to homestead in New Mexico Territory in the early 1900s. This historical fiction was inspired by the real life homesteading experiences of my grandmother, Willie Mettie Wright Williams. Her stories have been embellished, but historical events accurately fit the time period and the locations.

What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
In the first versions, I tried to keep the family stories intact. It wasn’t very exciting. I needed a little more drama and adventure, so I elaborated on various incidents. Some family members didn’t approve, so I shelved the manuscript for a few years. From time to time, the story nagged at me. So I expanded the family stories, but I changed the characters’ names. When my cousin recently asked what his name was changed to, I said, “You’ll have to buy the book and find out.”

Tell us how the book came together.
This has been a long process. About 20 years ago, I was searching for a children’s story and remembered conversations about my grandmother, at 10 years of age, leaving her grandmother in Texas and what a traumatic experience it had been for her.

I first wrote about her as a picture book, then a chapter book in several versions. Then, for ten years, it sat in the drawer. Three years ago, a friend suggested I turn it into historical fiction. Something clicked. I was free to write the story. The research was fun. I spent a year and a half re-writing and submitted it to Texas Tech in October 2018. I received a positive response right away.

How does the setting impact the story and the characters?
I guess the journey would be the setting. Sometimes dangerous, sometimes boring, sometimes exciting. Often challenging. Wilmettie struggles with feelings of resentment for being uprooted from her comfortable life and for the dangerous conditions they face. But the challenges force her to find inner strength and become a self-confident person.

Why will readers connect with Wilmettie, the main character in your book?
Wilmettie lives a comfortable life until she is thrown into a situation she didn’t choose. Her stepfather doesn’t mistreat her, but their relationship is strained. She holds onto feelings of homesickness and resentment. In time, she realizes her own inner strengths. She becomes accepting of the situation and embraces her new life.

What makes Wilmettie unique in the children’s market?
There have been a number of children’s books about covered wagon journeys over the famous Oregon Trail and the gold rush of California. But I have not found any children’s books about homesteaders coming to New Mexico Territory during the early 1900s, a fascinating time in our state’s history.

What was your favorite part of putting this project together?
My grandmother moved away when I was five, and I only saw her for brief visits. But in writing about her experiences, I somehow feel closer to her.

Any upcoming writing projects?
I heard a story ― maybe true, maybe not ― that Al Capone hid out in New Mexico for brief periods of time in the 1920s. I am doing some research. We shall see. Maybe it could be another children’s historical fiction.

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.



An Interview with Author Vicky Ramakka

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After a brief stint in the Peace Corps, author Vicky Ramakka had a long career in higher education. Once an academic writer, she now wields a more creative pen to weave stories inspired by the Four Corners region. Her first novel, The Cactus Plot: Murder in the High Desert (Artemesia Publishing, 2019), follows botanist Millie Whitehall as she “races to investigate [a] murderer — before she becomes the next victim.” Look for Vicky on her Facebook page.

What is your elevator pitch for The Cactus Plot?
The Cactus Plot is an environmental mystery with a botanist heroine who uses knowledge of plant ecology to solve two murders. New to the West, Millie Whitehall expects to spend a peaceful summer surveying endangered plants on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land in northwest New Mexico. She experiences the friction of working for the BLM through the characters she meets. The story is an entertaining mystery with the underlying theme of conflicting uses of public lands.

What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
I’m too easily distracted while doing research. I start to research a point, such as whether Shiprock is the second or third largest town on the Navajo Reservation, then I find some other interesting fact, and that leads to another and another. Then I want to cram all this great information into the story I’m writing. Much as I enjoy research, I have to guard against going down rabbit trails that do not relate to my story.

Tell us a little about your main character and why readers will connect with her.
Like me, the heroine, Millie Whitehall, grew up on the East coast. Also like many newcomers to New Mexico, she has a lot to learn — how to answer the State’s official question, red or green; how to drive treacherous roads and deal with rattlesnakes; and that there’s a story behind every character. Mainly, like many folks that have adopted New Mexico as their forever home, she replaces initial perceptions that New Mexico is a barren desert with a fascination for its unique high desert vegetation and falls in love with its sunsets.

Why did you choose New Mexico as the setting for the book?
Following the axiom “write what you know,” I placed this story where I live. I love exploring the backcounty of northwest New Mexico. I am a volunteer Site Steward for a significant rock art site in Largo Canyon that I have visited more than a dozen times. While the intent of the Site Steward program is to monitor and deter vandalism of archeological sites, I just thoroughly enjoy standing before a cliff face covered with petroglyphs and surrendering to wonder — who made these, what were they communicating, why this spot, what was their world like at the time?

What first sparked the story idea?
I’ve enjoyed reading Nevada Barr’s novels which are set in national parks. These are lively mysteries, but they seemed to miss a lot of what I consider the best part of visiting a national park — learning about the history, plants, and animals of that particular location. (Recently Scott Graham has produced an engaging mystery series set in mainly southwestern national parks.)

I also noticed that few novels are set on BLM land. Called “the nation’s largest landlord,” these lands make up the major portion of publicly owned land in New Mexico. In The Cactus Plot, I combined my interest in natural history with the complexities of working for the BLM which is tasked with managing for multiple use, and sometimes these uses conflict with one another.

Why is this novel unique in the mystery genre?
There are few novels set in northwest New Mexico with an environmental slant. Of those mysteries that are set in the Four Corners area, most have protagonists who are law enforcement officers investigating crime. The heroine of this book is a botanist who happens to get drawn into a situation where two seemingly unrelated deaths involve plants. This book is chock-full of native plants and has characters you are likely to encounter in any Farmington diner (ranchers, oil and gas field hands, tourists, Navajos, and government workers). Readers of The Cactus Plot often comment that they enjoyed learning more about the ecology of our area and the workings of the BLM.

What was your favorite part of putting this project together?
All the help from friends and networking with other writers. A friend in Bluff, Utah designed the cover and another friend drew the cactus figures that decorate each chapter. My critique group, San Juan Writers, was a great help. I am a learner at heart, so I thank all the presenters who shared their expertise at workshops and conferences, such as SouthWest Writers and past Hillerman conferences. And talk about learning — wow, the whole publishing process was an eye-opener. Thank heavens Geoff Habiger of Artemesia Publishing had the patience and faith in my book to work through edit after edit and coach me through what seemed like a hundred-and-one details to transform a sheaf of manuscript papers into a real book to hold in my hand.

Any new writing projects?
I have started the sequel to The Cactus Plot. The botanist heroine will be back, this time working side by side with an archeologist. I want to delve into the phases of human occupation in northwest New Mexico, from ancestral Puebloans, the early Navajo, Hispanic homesteaders, and now, oil and gas production. Each of these has made an impact, yet our enduring high desert remains.

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.



An Interview with Author Rhenna St. Clair

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Rhenna St. Clair is an author, artist, and poet who practices Chinese medicine and acupuncture in northern New Mexico. She began writing her debut novel, Getting New Mexico, in 2016 and published it through Pace Press three years later. Anne Hillerman calls the book “part love story and part comedic hero’s journey…filled with quirky and diverse characters and unlikely situations right out of real life.” You’ll find Rhenna on her website at RhennaStClair.com and on Facebook.

What is your elevator pitch for Getting New Mexico?
Getting New Mexico is a universal story about bad life choices, poor judgment, mean deeds one later regrets, and the desperate hope that we are still lovable despite those times when we are a tarnished version of our higher self. I love what is ridiculous, odd, and unpredictable about life and the characters we encounter while living it.

What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
Blending my experience of life in New Mexico and what I knew of Pueblo people, with what I knew about East Indian culture and customs, was challenging but, at the same time, fun. I appreciate the mix of cultures in New Mexico and have never had more fun than when writing Getting New Mexico.

Who are your main characters, and why will readers connect with them?
The main character is a transplanted New Yorker, Aaron Schuyler. The love of his life, Anita Chatterjee, is a close second as a main character. I think readers will see something of themselves in those two (and the other characters) and will appreciate Schuyler’s interactions with all of them, as well as his moments of comic mistake or pathos.

Why did you choose New Mexico as the setting for the book?
I have lived mostly in New Mexico for twenty-eight years. I can’t imagine living anywhere else! The house Aaron Schuyler moves into in Getting New Mexico is the home I lived in north of Santa Fe, in Nambe. The old house has a unique feeling, and I tried to bring that out. I shop all the time at Sam’s Club, so that seemed the obvious place for Schuyler to land a job.

Tell us how the book came together.
Getting New Mexico began with a prompt in 2016 in an ongoing writers’ workshop here in Farmington. I thought about the prompt — Where’s the fun in a funeral? — and came up with a guy in New York City who is down on his luck through his own fault. To get a free meal and some booze, he crashes funerals. It was great fun, and the fun continued as Aaron Schuyler learned some lessons in life. I finished writing and editing around the end of 2017 (I should mention that I am a licensed acupuncturist and have limited writing time). I did several edits myself, not counting what I was asked to do by Pace Press. I signed my contract with them in summer 2018, and our published date was November 5, 2019.

When did you know you had taken the manuscript as far as it could go?
I knew we were done when Aaron Schuyler had learned the hardest lesson of his life: if you aren’t there for your kids, they won’t be there for you. It was time to bring his saga to a logical but sad conclusion, and the chapters following that episode were some of the most fun to write. It was time to “put it in the can” as they used to do with old movie reels.

What was your favorite part of putting this project together?
I had two favorite parts. The first one was writing the scene where Schuyler visits his deceased uncle’s bookstore. I enjoyed developing the bookstore atmosphere. Secondly, I very much enjoyed developing personalities for the secondary characters so that what they did in the story made sense and contributed to the main action.

Who are some of your favorite authors?
My list of favorite authors is endless, beginning with Charles Dickens—there is nothing funnier than The Pickwick Papers. Other authors include Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Teilhard de Chardin, Edward Abbey, Anne Hillerman, John Kennedy Toole, Louise Penney, Michael McGarrity, Daniel Tammet, and Dostoevsky. These are just the beginning!

Do you have a message or a theme that recurs in your writing?
I would like to think there is a theme of strong women dealing with the challenges of daily life. Many of my stories take place in my old Nambe home which is the setting for Getting New Mexico.

What are the hardest kinds of scenes for you to write?
Death scenes. The finality is hard enough to grasp in life, let alone on paper.

What writing projects are you working on now?
I have just finished a crime manuscript titled West Coast that is set in Portland, Oregon and San Francisco, and I am starting a manuscript about a librarian in Farmington, New Mexico.

Is there anything else you would like readers to know?
I love to cook. I do oil painting. I can’t get enough of the beauty of New Mexico.

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.



An Author Interview with RJ the Story Guy

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RJ the Story Guy (aka RJ Mirabal) is a former high school teacher who began a writing career in earnest in his retirement years. After publishing a fantasy series set in an alternate New Mexico, his adventurous rescue dog inspired a new direction for RJ’s writing. Trixie Finds Her People (Trixie the Brown Dog, Book 1), released in 2019, is his debut children’s book. You’ll find RJ and Trixie on their websites at RJMirabal.com and TrixieTheBrownDog.com, on their Facebook pages at RJMirabalAuthor and TrixieTheBrownDog, and on Instagram and Twitter. Read about RJ and his fantasy series in his 2015 and 2017 interviews for SouthWest Writers.

What is your elevator pitch for Trixie Finds Her People?
The ordinary life of a rescue dog may not seem adventurous—unless you’re that dog. When an uncertain older couple and their granddaughter Abigail adopt Trixie, their lives turn into a series of wonderful, humorous, and sometimes scary experiences. Chapters touch on everything from surviving frightening Big Booms of lightning to setting out on challenging fantasy episodes in Trixie’s dreams. Every day stirs the dog’s curiosity and sharpens her intelligence. Trixie Finds Her People launches readers (middle elementary ages 8 and up) on a journey of discovery, facing fears, and finding love. Interaction with Mommy, Poppa, and Abigail adds richness and new sources of fun for the lively, mixed-breed Brown Dog.

This is a departure from your previous projects of speculative fiction (not only in genre but audience). What challenges did this new direction pose for you?
I had to force myself to write more simply, use shorter sentences and paragraphs, and create imagery that was more immediate and straight-forward. I couldn’t indulge in the kind of inference and sophisticated vocabulary like I had in my Rio Grande Parallax series. Actually, that turned out to be a very worthwhile endeavor because I feel my writing is now more appealing. Writing this book challenged me to create clear images, dialogue, and action with more impact. Of course, there’s the obvious need to view everything I write through the eyes, ears, and imaginations of young readers. Somehow, I believe that should benefit all my writing from this point on.

Tell us how the book came together.
It started with my experience with my newly adopted rescue dog, Trixie. She is so bright, inquisitive, and funny that the idea of sharing most of my experiences with readers came to me within a few months of adopting her. I started observing her in terms of creating character and finding story lines in her explorations, personality, and antics. Very soon I thought it would be necessary to view the story from her point of view while still including human dialogue which she, logically, can’t fully understand but could sense the feelings behind human communication. It is not first person, but everything is presented from her point of view.

The writing process, once started, fell neatly into chapters each about 8-15 pages long, easily written in a sitting. Those episodes merged into a loose plot that took me through Trixie’s progress from being raised outdoors with 14 other dogs (and her 8 puppies) to becoming the sole animal living indoors with three people. Her life blooms in this new situation as each chapter adds more range to her lively, strong personality. Since I don’t usually write in long, day-after-day sessions, the episodic nature of the story made the writing easier when life interrupted. In less than a year, I had the first draft. From there I shared chapters with my critique group to begin the editing/revising phase before I prepared the book for publication.

What makes this book unique in the children’s market?
I believe a significant number of books like this either take on strong elements of fantasy or they are strict nonfiction or they become vehicles to explore current social justice issues. I decided I wanted a book that had a gentle, family friendly approach that inferred finding simple joy in life is as important as social significance. And, as for fantasy, I thought a little would be fun, so I wrote a few chapters that enter Trixie’s mind as she has various dreams. Dogs sleep a lot and the actions and noise they demonstrate during sleep suggest they have lively dreams, so I created fantasy stories that were suggested by incidents in her daily life.

Why did you use a pen name for Trixie Finds Her People?
I spent a lot of time promoting my adult fantasy trilogy as a story definitely for mature readers with a fairly sophisticated vocabulary. Since this new book is aimed at younger and family audiences, I had to separate it from the perception of my previous writing, so I went with the friendly pseudonym of RJ the Story Guy. I’m not going to great lengths to cover who I am, because I’m promoting the book to my earlier readers, but I’m also gathering new readers through promotions that emphasize this new persona.

What was your favorite part of putting this project together?
Putting myself in Trixie’s body and mind and then reflecting her joy for life was my favorite thing. Of course, some of the episodes have scary moments, so I had to think how a dog would react to something like a thunderstorm and fireworks (which play a role in two of the most important chapters in the book). It’s always exciting to leave my ordinary life behind and enter another one when I write—one of the joys of writing which you can’t put a price on.

You have played the hammered dulcimer for years. Has the creativity and discipline you employ as a musician (or music itself) helped you in your writing journey?
Being a musician is another channel of self-expression, but it is through the creation or re-creation of sounds presented with emotion. Writing is the process of creating and re-creating events, emotions, and people through words. Similar, yet through different means of expression. Both writing and music require serious commitments of time, imagination, and revision. In the end, both are usually shared with others. You end up putting your deepest self out in front of other people. Music, unless recorded, is very transitory. But writing is for the ages, even if what we have written ends up collecting dust on shelves somewhere in forgotten rooms.

What writing projects are you working on now?
I have completed the first draft of a dragon story for middle-grade children, ages 10-14. In my Rio Grande Parallax adult fantasy, I created all my own creatures as well as used actual animals who happen to communicate like humans. Recently, I decided there was little point in resisting some durable creatures that already have a huge following among fantasy readers, such as dragons. Automatically, when people see a dragon on the cover and in the title of a book, they are intrigued. So, why overlook that attraction to acquire readers? I came up with a unique twist that I have explored with a dragon as one of my main characters and a fifteen-year-old farm boy as my other lead character.

Trixie continues to develop her personality and reactions to the world, so there are more dog stories to tell, both real and imaged. So far, response by readers has been positive, so why not tell more stories about Trixie and her people?

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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