A New Mexico native, I've worked as a newspaper reporter and also lived in Arizona, California, and Texas.
I'm drawn to indigenous cultures, the diversity of the Western wilderness, and the people and places of the region, especially small towns that have retained their identity and sense of history.
New Mexico is full of spellbinding places that weave their way into your psyche. Spend any time there, you'll see what I mean. You'll also encounter things that seem auspicious. One day I spotted a turquoise and silver bracelet on the side of the road as I bicycled along the old Route 66 on my way to the little mountain town of Tijeras, east of Albuquerque. The bracelet was a little bent and scraped up, but finding it felt like a sign to be alert for accidental discoveries and serendipitous blessings in Nuevo Mexico and elsewhere.
|
A 2019 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards Finalist
Cait Zapata and her fiancé, Jack Gallegos, don’t scare easily. A reporter for the Albuquerque Star newspaper, Cait is tough and resourceful. A police detective, Jack has faced down a rogue’s gallery of criminals. Neither one has ever turned tail and run. Until now. His partner is murdered, and Jack is almost blown up by a bomb in his apartment. The likely culprit is a vicious gang leader the two detectives were investigating. Amid chaos, Cait and Jack cancel their wedding plans and flee to her family’s home on the Zuni Pueblo before heading to Tucson. But menace follows them to Arizona like a desert thunderstorm. Every fluorescent sunset may be their last. Gang jefe Sonny Para always seems to be one step ahead. An egomaniac who calls himself El Tigre, Para distributes drugs for a Mexican cartel, collects dangerous wild animals, and eliminates anyone who rubs him the wrong way. To complicate things in Tucson, Cait runs into a deadly nemesis, and encounters a wayward jaguar roaming the Rincon Mountains overlooking the city. Poachers are hunting the big cat, and bad guys are stalking Cait, Jack, and their families. This time around, the couple is in way over their heads. If you can’t get enough of mystery and suspense from Tony and Anne Hillerman, C.J. Box, or Sandi Ault, you won’t be able to put down this pulse-quickening tale set in New Mexico and Arizona. |
|
|
A 2018 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards Finalist
Deception Man is a can’t-put-it-down Southwest suspense tale of fraud and murder poisoning New Mexico’s tourist trade in iconic Native American silver and turquoise jewelry. The prevalence of phony handmade Indian artwork and fake turquoise jewelry draws general assignment reporter Cait Zapata into an investigation that traps her in the gunsight of a vengeful killer. Cait is spurred to write about the faking of handmade art, after her jeweler father and her cousin on the Zuni Pueblo discover someone is pirating their distinctive work and hallmarks and selling the imitations in Santa Fe. To make matters worse, Cait is fired by her employer, the Albuquerque Star. In her coverage of the issues surrounding a proposed Gallup-area uranium mine, she defies the political elite by exposing the New Mexico governor’s attendance at private casino bashes paid for by the mining company run by his brother. Out of a job, Cait continues to probe the illicit selling of manufactured goods as handmade Indian crafts. She runs up against a shadowy counterfeiter, unaware of the danger to herself and those close to her. |
|
|
Deputy Soledad Mora ventures off on her own to track a killer in remote southeast Arizona.
Bad idea. Soledad is smart, resourceful, and unprepared for the evil lying in wait for her. A young rookie with the Cochise County Sheriff’s Department, Soledad is frustrated when her superiors ignore leads about the shooting of a realtor, left to die in the desert. Her solo investigation makes her a moving target in an unforgiving land. Wildcat Road is a short story of approximately twenty-nine pages. |
|
I welcome readers' reviews and input. You can reach me at info@turquoisepress.com .
Contact the author through info@turquoisepress.com .