ON THE WINGS OF FREEDOM

 I recently wrote about my ancestor, William Blackwood, who was a publisher and editor. In the last few years, I have done more editing and publishing than writing. I love helping others achieve their dreams of being published authors. In the next few weeks, I will share with you some of the wonderful books I have been privileged to work on. (I help the writers I work with to self-publish their books so they have total control over them.)

One of these books is On the Wings of Freedom.

I was recommended to first-time author Malanna Carey Henderson as an editor. (These days, most of my editing is done for people on the recommendation of others.)

The book contained a McGuffin—a bird in flight carved out of bone. (McGuffin is a term coined by Alfred Hitchcock for an object that serves as a trigger for the plot. Think of the blackbird statue in The Maltese Falcon.) Strangely, I had one! My dad had sent it to my mom when he was in the service in WWII. It had a letter in its mouth, but Larry assured me he could remove it digitally.

This felt like a sign that I should work on this book. I also liked the theme and plot.

Because we write historical fiction, I was well-aware that readers of the genre will destroy an author in reviews if they get anything wrong. Unfortunately, I discovered quite a few things in this manuscript that were inconsistent for the period. Thank goodness, Malanna was willing to do the necessary research—and rewriting—to make it correct.

During the writing process, I mentioned the carved bird to my daughter. “I have one, too,” she responded.

Shortly afterward, we went to visit her, and she showed it to me. It had been with my mother-in-love’s jewelry. Neither she nor I nor Larry knew whose it was originally. I really loved this one. It was in full flight and precisely the image Malanna had described.

Larry liked it, too and used it for the cover.

When the book was published, my daughter said I could send the original bird to Melanna to be used for whatever purpose she chose. Mine will go to my daughter, and she will know the story behind it.

This is the synopsis of the story:

Born free in New York City, Carrie Bennet is unprepared to hear the family secrets her ailing mother, Sarah, reveals. An educated woman who has led a sheltered life, Carrie travels south to fulfill her mother’s dying wish―to free her grandmother from slavery. Circumstances set her on a perilous path that jeopardizes her freedom and leads to a charge of murder. Fearing she’d never get a fair trial, Carrie travels north on the Underground Railroad and joins Harriet Tubman. As her life hangs in the balance, Carrie fights an unjust judicial system as she struggles to deny a forbidden love.

Malanna Carey Henderson has written and produced ten plays which have been performed in Brooklyn, New York; Culpeper and Fredericksburg, Virginia. For the past two years, she has worked with members of the Friends of the Wilderness Battlefield, Shiloh Baptist New Site, the United Methodist Church, and St. George’s Episcopal Church to produce vignettes under the title: Untold Stories. These vignettes focused on little-known historical events featuring the contributions of African Americans as spies and military heroes to celebrate Black History Month. The one-act plays included To His Excellency George Washington, Camp Casey, It Was a Matter of Pride, Democracy is a Weapon, Secret Codes and The Pension Office.

In 2009, she won first place in the One-Act Play Festival sponsored by Stage Door Productions for The Eclipse. She won a first-place award sponsored by the Tulsa City County Library for A Question of Color.

A native Detroiter, she earned a Masters of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from City University of New York, Brooklyn Campus and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Arts from the University of Detroit.

On the Wings of Freedom is her first novel. She lives in Fredericksburg, Virginia with her wonderfully supportive husband.

Malanna as a Civil War reenactor

I hope you will give the book a try. I’m sure you will enjoy it as much as I have!

I will continue to share some of the wonderful, but little-known, books I have been privileged to have worked on.

How We Met Lola

Over a year ago, while researching the sequel to The Memory Keeper, Becoming the Jewel, Larry discovered a newspaper clipping about Lola, Father O’Sullivan’s parrot.

This was a new story to us. Further research led us to other information about the parrot. In the book Capistrano Nights by Charles Francis Saunders and Father St. John O’Sullivan, we found a reference to her. And we discovered that the copy of a Charles Percy Austin painting in the mission actually contained the bird. (We had seen this picture many times and had never noticed the parrot.)

Further research revealed yet another image of the bird, Joseph Kleitsh’s Sunday Morning.

A while ago, we were asked to do a presentation for the mission docents about the history of San Juan Capistrano in the 1800s. At the end, we asked who knew about the parrot. Only one person raised a hand. We asked if anyone knew the bird’s name. No one did.

We later found additional articles about Lola. Her death was reported in newspapers across the country. She died just a few months before Father O’Sullivan himself, and he buried her in the old cemetery behind the chapel. Father O’Sullivan was first buried in a cemetery in Lake Forest, but he was later moved to the old mission cemetery. He and Lola ended up in the same place, just where they both would have wanted to be.

We felt it was time for Lola’s story to be told. We decided to tell it from her point of view for children. I wrote the text, and Larry did the illustrations.

This story felt like a gift and also a responsibility. The information came to us as unbidden. The only question we had was: who was the young man pictured in the clipping? We knew it wasn’t Father O’Sullivan. By this time, he was too old.

A few months ago the Blas Aguilar adobe in San Juan was restored and reopened to the public. We attended the celebration the day the museum was reopened. I walked into the bedroom and looked around. Suddenly, I saw a photo with the same young man in it. His name is Juan Jesus Aguilar. We finally had all the pieces.

The book is now published and is sold at The Cottage Gallery on Los Rios in San Juan Capistrano. It will soon be available at the mission store.

Have you read it yet? Did you enjoy it? Even those who have written several books on the history of the town had never heard the story. But now everyone knows about Lola and how she saved the mission.

Lost in History

I haven’t blogged for a couple of weeks because most of my time has been spent trying to remember events of the past forty-five years. In 2019, Community Presbyterian Church of San Juan Capistrano will celebrate its 100^th birthday. I was asked to help put together a book to chronicle the events of the church during its lifetime. No small task!

When we let people know we were doing this project, supporting material appeared from closets and file cabinets and shelves. Those who knew where items were stored in the church unearthed them. And several people began to research and amass data from the internet and the historical societies of San Juan and Dana Point.

Original church building

Then began the process of sorting through all the material and deciding what to include and what to leave out. (Much of the historical material was about the cities of San Juan Capistrano and Dana Point but wasn’t directly related to the church.)

Then, several of us began to compose the articles. As they were completed, I received them. We also began to post pictures on the church group on Facebook and invited others to do the same. We asked the members of the group to identify the people shown in the photos.

We have contacted those who participated in the events for their input, memories, and corrections.

If everything had been left as originally received, the book would end up at over 1000 pages! So, ruthless editing has been required. This will still be a large volume (or two, maybe).

Since we were present from 1972, I have many first-hand memories of events from this point to the present. We have also gone through our own photo albums (probably at least three dozen) to find photos. We have also gone through at least another three dozen of the church’s. Each dig through the archives uncovers another event we need to write about.

Fortunately, the unofficial historian of San Juan (she has written several books about the city) is not only a descendent of one of the founding families, she was also a member of the church for many years. She is beta reading the oldest material—the historical stuff—to validate the facts. (Sometimes these are in conflict. Local legends clash with the recorded data.)

We keep receiving more photos. Although they are delightful to see, many are too old and faded to use. Others are too far away or blurred to identify anyone. Still others are interesting but don’t really tell the story we are trying to convey. We have had to limit ourselves to not more than two photos per article—a difficult task!

Each photo we decide to use has to be adjusted in PhotoShop. Since they will appear fairly small, I need to crop them to show only the critical parts. Then I have to make sure they are at least 300 dpi. Photos can’t be dragged and dropped into the text, so they have to be inserted in a specific spot.

All the articles have to be formatted for publication, and the styles have to be consistent from article to article so we can combine them in the final manuscript.

I have probably spent forty and sixty hours a week for the past couple of months on this project, and there is still quite a bit to do.

We have targeted the end of the summer for receipt of all the material and responses. Then I’ll combine everything into one cohesive book. Once all the final material is combined, I will start at the beginning and do a complete edit of the entire manuscript—including more deletions.

We hope to have the book ready for publication by the beginning of next year. Our intention is to have it available for Kindle and in print on Amazon. We also expect to have copies available at the church. This will be an expensive book to produce and purchase because many of the photos are in color, but it will be a valued keepsake for those who shared in the experiences.

So, if you don’t hear from me for the next couple of months, you know what I’ll be doing!

The church today in its new location (as of 1968)

Historical Accuracy

I am currently working with a first-time author who is writing a historical novel about a time and subject about which I know very little. This, in fact, is why I was excited to edit her story. I enjoy learning new things.

However, a very short way into the book, some red flags arose. She had her character traveling on a railroad traveling north to south just prior to the Civil War. I looked up the name of the line she had used and discovered it didn’t exist—ever.

\When I questioned her about it, she said, “I just used literary license and made it up.”

Uh no.

Readers of historical fiction—especially those who read about the particular time in which she is writing, would have her head for such an invention. Readers are passionate about accuracy when it comes to their favorite periods and locations, and authors must research everything they write.

I have been known to close a book and throw it away (or remove it from my Kindle library) for blatant inaccuracies. I know devotees to particular eras do the same. Even when writing contemporary fiction, research is still important.

The more reality you include in your fiction, the more believable it becomes. So, where can you use literary license, and where should you strive for absolute accuracy? Larry wrote a blog for me a few years ago where he describes it better than I could. The following is from his blog.

WRITING A REAL LOCATION

In our second mystery, Murder in Paradise, our protagonist, Agapé Jones, retired NYPD detective, was supposed to drive from Honolulu to Hale’iwa. While doing research on Oahu, I drove the same route, noticed the outrigger canoes parked along the Ala Wai Canal, and shopped at the Foodland in Hale’iwa. Then Agapé did the same things in the book. We know our readers will never forgive us if we mess up their town. And if our hero drives the wrong way on a one-way street, we’ll never hear the end of it. [One reader, who had lived on Oahu, said he knew exactly where he was every minute—a testament to the value of the research.]

While I write a story in a real place, I surround myself with photos, clippings, and maps of the area I intend to write about. Anything to keep me grounded in reality.

Sometimes a picture will inspire a scene. In Murder in Paradise, I had the grandmother character tell the story of growing up as a child on the North Shore and visiting the Hale’iwa Hotel, a beautiful Victorian-style inn featuring a two-story lanai and luxurious dining room. Opened in 1898, the building was torn down in 1952. As inspiration, I purchased several early photos of the old hotel from North Shore Photo Hawaii and hung them on the wall over my computer. The pictures themselves never appeared in the book, but my descriptions became more accurate because I could visualize being there. Hopefully, I passed my vision on to the reader.

WRITING A FICTIONAL LOCATION

Lorna and four friends created the fictitious town of Aspen Grove, Colorado, as the location for their romance anthologies, Snowflake Secrets, Seasons of Love, Directions of Love, The Art of Love, An Aspen Grove Christmas, and …And a Silver Sixpence in Her Shoe. This allowed the authors to invent shops, restaurants, churches, B&Bs, etc. to fit their novellas. They placed Aspen Grove in the mountains west of Denver on the road leading to the ski resorts. Even though it is fictitious, it needed to have the real look and character of the area. Aspen Grove became a composite of several real towns.

Walk down the main street of Idaho Springs and you expect to see Daisy’s Diner and the Book Nook. Wander along the lakefront in Georgetown to find Drew’s log cabin, and on through town a stone building houses the Presbyterian Church. Several readers have remarked they would love to visit Aspen Grove. So would we. [But we have come close in these two small Colorado towns. Idaho Springs is shown below.]

WRITING HISTORICAL FICTION

Not only do the locations need to be correct, but also the specific time period. The events, language, customs, clothing, and props must all fit the era.

In historical fiction, it is even more important to do accurate research. Our historical novel, The Memory Keeper, concerns life at the San Juan Capistrano Mission between 1820 and 1890 as seen through the eyes of a Juaneño Indian.

For inspiration, an original etching by Rob Shaw, published in 1890 by H L Everett, showing the mission grounds, hangs over my computer and did so during the writing of the book.

Our bibliography ran eleven pages. We also enlisted the aid of the San Juan Capistrano Historical Society, mission docents, the local San Juan historian, and a Juaneño native storyteller as beta readers for historical information. We weren’t satisfied until they were satisfied with the accuracy of our details.

That said, I have to remind myself. Never let the facts get in the way of the story. Too many details can turn a good story into a boring history lesson. In the end, the research should support and enhance, but not overwhelm. We must choose which facts to include, leave out, and make up. If we’ve done our job, our readers will become so involved with the plot and compelling characters, the facts will blend in. They’ll never know how much research went into it. But we will.

My Great-great-grandfather

The Life of Paul Diderich Soltoft Lund

Early Utah Pioneer

Written by his grandchild (I have no idea which one.)

Edited by Lorna Lund Collins

Paul Dedrich Soltoft Lund was born 1 August 1817 in the city of North Tranders, Alborg, Denmark. He was the son of Nicholai Christian Lund and Mette Marie Ferelev.

He married Anna Marie Sorenson, the daughter of Lars Lauritz Sorenson and Mette Marie Hansen, on 12 August 1844.

They had three sons: Louis Peter, Nicholai Christian, and Marinus, all born in Aarlborg, Denmark. After they arrived in Spring City, Utah, their fourth son, Joseph, was born on 7 February 1855.

Among Paul’s ancestors were professional people, ministers, and merchants. The Lund family has a coat of arms.

With the establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the missionary system was organized. In 1850, the first elders were sent to open a mission in the Scandinavian countries. Elder Erastus Snow, leader of this mission, arrived in Copenhagen on June 14, of that year, accompanied by George P. Sykes, John E. Torsgren, and Peter O. Hanson (the latter, a native of Denmark and a convert in America, returned ahead of the others). He met the rest of the party when they arrived, took them to a hotel, and acted as interpreter. Elder Snow went on to Norway and Sweden.

A few days after their arrival, the missionaries began preaching about this new religion. Through them, Paul and Anna Marie became interested. They attended meetings for several months, listening to the testimonies. They asked for baptism. On September 1, 1852, they were baptized into the church.

Anna Marie was considered a peasant girl because she came from the countryside. Paul’s family felt she was beneath them socially. When they joined this new and unpopular religion, Paul was disowned. He appears to have been the only one from his family to have joined.

At the time, he was Earl Nicolaisen. He worked as a merchant of fine linen and was interested in blooded cattle.

By 1852, the church numbered 600 in Denmark. Elder Erastus Snow and the others organized three conferences in Copenhagen, Frederica, and Aalborg. Of all the missions organized in Europe, the ones in Scandinavia were the most fruitful. In 1851, Elder Snow published a hymn book. It became so popular and in such demand, he printed it semi-monthly. This book was still being published at the time the original manuscript of this document was written.

Many of the converts desired to emigrate to Zion in the New World—America. Arrangements were made, and by December of 1852, a large party of 300 was ready to say good-bye to their homes and loved ones.

After selling and disposing of their property, packing their belongings, and such food as they could take, Paul and Anna Marie, with their three small boys, boarded the small steamship Obetret. On December 20, 1852, following a delay due to bad storms, they sailed to Copenhagen, where another storm delayed their departure.

Finally, on Christmas Eve, they boarded an English sailing vessel Lion. The next day, they sailed for Hamburg, Germany. On reaching the North Sea, their progress was hindered by rough weather. On December 26, the ship was tossed on choppy, icy waters in a terrible storm. It raged for twenty-four hours. When threatened with a shipwreck, they tossed many boxes and trunks overboard. Paul led some of his blooded cattle to allow them to leave the ship, and three chests of his merchandise went overboard as well.

The sailors nearly gave up hope of survival. The passengers were sent into the hold, and the hatches were closed. The hold was a large room with beds or bunks in rows or tiers of three against the walls. Beds were also arranged on the floor. Here in one room, crowded together with little comfort and no conveniences, the immigrants, mostly Scandinavian with a few Irish and English, rode out the voyage. As waves rolled high, the ship tipped, and water ran down into the hatchway. The people were soaked in their beds.

One woman wrapped her baby in a long piece of cloth and tied the child to her own body. As the ship tossed, the baby fell out of bed and rolled across the room. They located the baby by following the material. The child survived.

People screamed, cried, and prayed throughout the twenty-four hours of the storm.

When they emerged, they saw part of the railing missing. The sailors had used ropes to replace the railing. With their tops broken, barrels and boxes discharged apples onto the deck, where they rolled around. The children were permitted to eat as many as they wanted. The sailors said this had been the most severe storm they had ever experienced. They credited the Mormons on board with saving the ship.

Brother John E. Forsgren, the captain of the company of saints, was a good leader. Every day, prayers weres offered. He gave the people council and advice to keep the commands of the Lord. The converts did much singing to keep up their spirits. They also held dances on the deck.

At last, they landed in Hull, England and traveled by rail to Liverpool.

On New Year’s Eve, they boarded the English freighter Forest Monarch, which would take them to New Orleans, Louisiana in America.

On January 16, 1853, they sailed in nice weather. After sixteen days, they encountered trade winds and made better progress. The food on the voyage consisted of split peas, cooked in large boilers, and hardtack. The drinking water, stored in barrels, tasted bad.

On March 17, the ship was tugged by steamer into New Orleans. On March 19, 1853, the immigrants boarded another steamer for the trip up the Mississippi River. On March 30, they landed in St. Louis, Missouri.

On April 21, the John E. Forsgren company divided. Peter Munk took part of the company, 120 persons including Paul and his family. The contingent traveled on up the Mississippi to Keokuk, Iowa. Here, the saints bought oxen, wagons, and provisions. On May 19, they began their journey westward by wagons pulled by oxen.

During the journey from Liverpool, the group experienced eleven marriages, nine births, and twenty-six deaths—mostly of the elderly and young children.

Each day on the trail, a prayer meeting was held, along with sermon and sacrament meetings.

They arrived in Salt Lake City on September 30 and camped in the central part of the city.

They were able to obtain green corn. Some ate the corn without cooking it and suffered illness as a result.

After a few days’ rest, president Brigham Young ordered those who had come from cold countries to continue their journey south to Sanpete County to assist those who had already arrived and make a success of the settlement.

After stops at Lehi, Pleasant Grove, Nephi, and Moroni, the Lund family arrived well and happy at “Little Denmark” (Spring City) where they intended to make their new home among dear friends from Denmark.

Since Paul had to make a living, he bought a small lot on Main Street and built a one-room log cabin. He later added two more rooms made of adobe. He and his sons had made trips to the canyon and brought logs and lumber for saw mills to build the house and outbuildings. He took up land in the lower part of town where he raised corn, potatoes, and grain. He also raised cattle and sheep to make clothes and quilts.

Not long after their arrival in Spring City, the Indians became troublesome. President Young advised them to move to Ephraim Fort, which they did. While living at the fort, their son, Joseph was born on February 1855. They remained there until the Indian troubles were settled. Then they moved back to their home in Spring City.

During the latter part of the Black Hawk War, two of the Lund sons, Lewis and Nicolai, helped herd cattle to put them out to feed. They were also made guards in Militia.

Paul was small in stature at five and a half feet tall, with light brown hair and blue eyes. He was a good man, faithful to the gospel, attending to his duties, and keeping the commandments of the Lord. He spoke English very well.

Some time later, he was called on a mission to his native land of Denmark. While there, he tried to get his inheritance, but he failed. His family believed he had married beneath his rank of Earl, so he was disinherited.

He inquired about the Lund Home, which was supposed to go to the eldest son in the Lund family. If he chose to stay in Denmark, he could have lived there free. However, he refused the offer, and returned to his home and family in America.

While in Denmark, he obtained a printed book of the descendants of his fourth great-grandfather, Jacob Peterson Deishman, as well as additional genealogy. The temple work for these sixty ancestors was completed in 1934 by Mrs. Draper. She had been hired by Lydia B. Lund of Pleasant Grove to undertake this work.

Paul Lund lived to the age of ninety-five. He remained true to his L.D.S. faith. He died on 6 January 1902 in his home in Spring City, Utah. He was survived by his wife and four sons as well as many descendants. Each son was blessed with a large family. He was buried in the Spring City Cemetery.

Anna Marie died thirteen months later on 1 February 1903 and was buried next to her husband.

Why I Observe Memorial Day

This weekend, we will observe Memorial Day. The holiday began three years after the Civil War in 1868 as Decoration Day, a time set aside to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. The date of May 30 probably was selected because flowers would be in bloom across the country in the late spring.

The first large observance was held at Arlington National Cemetery. The ceremonies began on the veranda of the Arlington mansion, once the home of Gen. Robert E. Lee. Washington officials, including Gen. and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant, attended. After speeches, children from the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Orphan Home and members of the Grand Army of the Republic strewed flowers on both Union and Confederate graves as they recited prayers and sang hymns.

By the turn of the twentieth century, ceremonies were held on May 30 throughout the country. After World War I, the day was expanded to honor those who died in all American wars. In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday. The date was also changed to the last Monday in May.

So, what does this mean for us?

Some communities hold parades. Local Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts place flags on the graves of veterans in cemeteries. Many cities and communities sponsor concerts and fireworks displays. And some families visit the graves of their relatives and friends.

For me, personally, this is a time to remember our fathers, both of whom served in WWII. Fortunately, neither of them was killed, but they gave years of their lives to the service of their country.

One family member, my grandfather’s older brother, Charles Methven, died on October 20, 1917 in Ieper, Belgium during WWI. The family then lived in Canada, and Charles served for Great Britain. He was buried in West Flanders, Belgium near where he fell. He was twenty-three years old.

When I hear Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae’s poem and see the poppies on Memorial Day, I think of Uncle Charles. The poem was written in the same place where Charles died.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place: and in the sky

The larks still bravely singing fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead: Short days ago,

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved: and now we lie

In Flanders fields!

Take up our quarrel with the foe

To you, from failing hands, we throw

The torch: be yours to hold it high

If ye break faith with us who die,

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

This year, I will once again remember those, including Charles, who went to war when their country called and who never came home.

This holiday will continue to focus our attention on those who made the ultimate sacrifice so we can enjoy the freedoms we sometimes take for granted. They deserve our eternal gratitude and respect.

Robert Richter - Author and Historian

My guest today is Robert Richer. His book on the Camino Real, The Search for the Camino Real, is of special interest because of its relevance to our new historical novel, The Memory Keeper. We share some similar interests. Robert is a fascinating guy, and I hope you will enjoy meeting him.

1.    Why did you become a writer? Was it a lifelong dream or did the desire to write happen later in your life?

I picked up a James Bond paperback in 1966 and decided I was going to write stories like that. I was in the first MA writing workshop at Colorado State University in 1973. I left the program in 1975 to farm and to write on my own.

2.    What was the inspiration for your latest work?

I like to write mystery/suspense novels, particularly cross-, or inter-cultural mysteries, setting questionable American attitudes and perspectives against those of lesser-known and more modest foreign cultures. The Huichol and Cora clans are two of Mexico's most ancient and unadulterated indigenous cultures in North America. Their world perspective is much different than ours, yet just as real. I am fascinated by the idea that different realities and histories can occupy the same time and space. Mexico has a unique way of conjuring that awareness.

3.    Do you base your characters on real people, or are they totally from your imagination?

Cotton Waters, the protagonist of my "Something" series of mysteries set in Mexico, is a young American expatriate hiding out on the Mexican west coast. An ex-student, ex-political activist with uncertain draft status and pending legal problems, he lives an incognito lifestyle along a tropical frontier of fishing villages and empty beaches, thriving on cantina life, beachcombing, jungle slumming, and playing second base for a local village baseball team. Known to his cantina buddies as “Algo”—Something in Spanish—and armed with a little Spanish and a passion for the Mexican coastal culture, he is a disillusioned dropout, waiting for the rest of the world to regain some sanity. I was something of a Cotton Waters in my college days, traipsing around Mexico and repudiating the American way of life during the Vietnam War. Waters is an exaggeration, of course. I was never tough or clever or cool and controlled like Cotton Waters.

Waters' Mexican sidekick, Cuate, a name that means "twin" in Spanish, is a combination of several old friends from those young cantina days. The nickname derives from a real person who was born with an extra big toe on both feet. His friends called him Twin. I kept that real name and characteristic for my character, but also made him into larger, more culturally representative attributes that serve the stories' needs.

4.    What kinds of research do you do, and where do you go to do it?

I'm a historian by nature and profession, so I've spent a lot of time in some of the great libraries of Argentina, Mexico, and the U.S.

5.    What was the most interesting research you’ve done?

I researched the development of the Camino Real in Mexico, the old colonial road that connected Spain's New World viceroys economically, politically, and socially. Then other historians in Mexico helped me explore the sierra jungles where the cobbled road ran, and we discovered parts of it still in existence three centuries and more after its creation. This was a book project both in libraries and in the field. The book about that experience and the history of an end of the Camino Real, The Search for the Camino Real, can be found on Amazon.com.

6.    Are you currently working on any new projects?

I am currently finishing the third books in the Algo/Something series, called Something for Nothing and due out in January 2015.

7.    Do you have any writing advice for beginning writers? What about promotion?

I don’t like to give such advice. I say, don’t do it. For me, writing is some kind of a disease. I do it because I’m driven to do it. There are far easier ways of living with yourself.

8.    What is your favorite book and why? Do you have a favorite author?

My favorite book has always been The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemmingway. Most authors I enjoy are mostly dead now. Graham Greene should have won the Nobel Prize.

9.    What are you currently reading?

I am currently reading Don Segundo Sombra, a classic Argentine novel, in the original. In English, I just finished The Mapmaker’s Wife, by Whitaker, historical nonfiction.

10. Do you have a writing schedule? When do you find time to write?

Generally, I work during the winter months when I am pretty shut in on the Nebraska prairie. Only in the last couple of years has writing become more a full time occupation. I work best in the morning.

11. What was your journey to publication?

I gave up a normal life at age 26 to be a writer. I became a dryland wheat farmer so I would have my winters to write. I published my first book in 1980, a book of poetry and black and white drawings about the place I live, southwestern Nebraska. Since then, I've published regional history and novels. My first "Something" book was Something in Vallarta, in 1991. Something Like a Dream is my second "Something" mystery and my eighth book.

12. Do you have any writing idiosyncrasies? Any routines or rituals?

I work best in the morning. I also need my private space. I have my farmstead, which serves most of the year, and I have a place in Mexico I go each winter to work for a month.

13. Are your friends and family supportive of your writing? If so, how?

Few writers, even published ones, make a living at writing books. My wife is/was a high school English teacher, who also sponsored this novelist's career. I couldn't have led the life I have without her support. Farming and writing certainly didn't provide enough to live on.

14. What’s your most challenging aspect of writing?

Coming up with a compelling, realistic plot is always a challenge to me. I tend to get involved in character and place, in a travelogue sort of way, and I'd rather deliver those things, and readers enjoy character and setting more, in an exciting story.

Books:

Something Like A Dream, Oak Tree Press, 2014

Cotton Waters is a gringo expat, scrounging up a lazy village living and a little beer money from of the Puerto Vallarta tourist trade as a private hustler of a Mexican Riviera lost-and-found—helping some people get lost and finding others—if the price is right or the client’s cause worth the time and interest. When Corina Springfield asks him to find her husband, heir to the Springfield Foundation, ex-cultural guru of the Aquarian Age, and protégé of Timothy Leary, missing and presumed dead for over three years, Vallarta’s “Something” isn’t sure he can find her husband, but he knows he wants to try—for more reasons than he’s willing to admit. His manhunt for a mad shaman takes Waters into a blind obsession and into the sierra culture of the Huichol, one of Mexico’s most mysterious indigenous peoples. On this strange pilgrimage, Waters will find a whole new perspective on reality and dream, on deceit, self-deception, and human spirituality in a miraculous healing ceremony that will change his life forever or simply end it.

Search for the Camino Real: A History of San Blas and the Road to Get There, Outskirts Press, 2011

Both historical investigation and travelogue, this documented study of the end of the Camino Real and San Blas, Mexico, is woven into the author’s personal account of the search for remnants of Mexico’s colonial road in the lowlands and sierras of modern Nayarit, aided and accompanied in his excursions by various regional historians, local guides, and curious companions. And like the old road running through the contemporary landscape, the historical narrative merges into the story of the region’s modern character and development. To explore the Nayarit's wild and gorgeous geography, trying to site the ancient Camino Real, is to stumble over another road running toward the state's future economic development as part of the Mexican Riviera. Nearly five hundred years after the Spanish conquest of Mexico, the history of San Blas and the road to get there is still being written. This is a contemporary narrative portrait.

About Robert Richter:

I have a relationship with west coast Mexico that goes back forty years and lived in the Nayarit coastal village culture off and on for over two years, before that region was much known beyond the limits of Puerto Vallarta. I return frequently. However, I’ve lived on the remnants of a family homestead in southwestern Nebraska for thirty-five years. I farmed once, very small-time, dryland wheat to earn my place to live. Since giving up my own farming, I've done itinerant farm labor, substitute teaching, and I conducted escorted excursions in Latin America for small groups for ten years. During that time I was also publishing: a book of poetry in 1980; a regional high plains history in 1987. I’ve written for regional and national literary magazines and quarterlies, including Prairie Schooner, Bloomsbury Review, Sport Literate, Raven Chronicles, and others. In 1991 my first Algo novel, Something in Vallarta, was published. Homefield, a novel about farm life and returning Vietnam vets trying to start life over in their small town cultural landscape, was published in 2000. That same year, I also published a biography for young readers of Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas of Mexico, and I was awarded the Distinguished Merit Award from the Nebraska Arts Council for my work in nonfiction. In 2007-2008, I was a Fulbright Research Fellow, writing and doing historical research in Buenos Aires for the year. Since then, writing has been my full time occupation, except when I’m nannying my five year old granddaughter.

website: www.robertrichterauthor.com 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robert.richter.9026