Monthly Archives: August 2012
The ABCs of Writing
THERE ARE MANY considerations in fiction writing, and many books on how to address them. But in the beginning, I keep it simple. I just sit down and write my story as if I were writing a letter, with each letter becoming a chapter. I start with an idea, a situation, and let the characters […]
The Caste War of the Yucatan
THE “WAR OF THE CASTES” in Yucatan is one of those little-known regional wars that was particularly bloody and drawn out (1848-1901) as the Spanish settlers, called “Ladinos”, moving into Yucatan clashed with the Mazehuals, descended from the Maya. As the Ladinos, governed by the Spanish Crown from Cuba, moved to subjugate the Mazehuals, a […]
Origin of the “Anasazi Quest” Series
IN 1978, MY FAMILY and I took our first (and only) driving tour of the American West. After days of driving and sightseeing, we spent the night in Cortez, Colorado and set out the next morning to see a little-publicized attraction called “Mesa Verde”. It turned out to be awe-inspiring. We had expected to drive […]
Mesa Verde and Environs
CLIFF DWELLINGS BUILT by the ancient Pueblo culture over a thousand years ago in what is now the southwestern United States abound in that region. Perhaps the best know, and best preserved are Chaco Canyon in northern New Mexico, and Mesa Verde in southwest Colorado. At its zenith, Chaco Canyon is thought to have supported […]
Anasazi Quest 