Exhibit Interlude

When it rains it pours! After receiving the publication contract for Footlights in the Foothills, along comes another exciting opportunity--writing in a new genre.


I spent most of the past few months curating an exhibit at the City of Las Vegas [New Mexico] Museum. First thing I had to do was look up the word curate. I am so grateful to the muses for this chance to stretch my writing muscles, but at first it was scary. Select items from the Museum collection; seek additional items as appropriate; research the history (1915-1967); then write the exhibit story, encompassing the events, people, artifacts, photos, and documents in under 300 words.


The research led to more and more story, so the hardest thing was to cut, cut, cut. This process really challenged me and made me a better writer. It is quite a thrill to see my words in large print on a beautifully designed panel and to watch people read them.


Bottom Line: Try different genres.


Check out updates on this exhibit at http://lasvegasmuseum.blogspot.com/ or http://www.lasvegasmuseum.org/ and . . . "Git Fer Vegas, Cowboy!"

Serendipity

I've been writing and submitting work to journals, magazines, and literary agents for more years than I want to say. I've had several small successes like the non-fiction piece, "Chris," that was accepted for I Thought My Father Was God. I'm proud of that for two reasons--first, the anthology was edited by one of my favorite authors, Paul Auster, and second, someone read my essay, was moved by it, and wrote to me.

When I finished my novel, Prairie Madness, I was determined to get it published, so I began the onslaught. I submitted to agents--in the various and sundry ways they want work submitted. I sent the first two chapters; I sent the first 40 pages; I sent synopses, and proposals, and "tithes" [not really the last one although I was tempted].

Next, I began my attack on publishers. I sent several large, expensive packets containing resumes, book summaries, credentials, publications, marketing plans, cover letters on watermarked paper. When the publisher I was certain would want this novel did not respond, I did not consider this a rejection [really, I did. I was so disappointed.] I wrote a letter politely inquiring about the status of my submission. It had not been received, I was told. So I resubmitted, focusing on the reasons I was certain that this particular publisher was so right for my novel. A few days later, I received a telephone call. Yes, this company wanted to publish my book, but not Prairie Madness. They wanted to publish the short, non-fiction piece that I had self-published as a chapbook.

I was flabbergasted--really.

I signed a contract. Now I am metamorphozing from writer to author, on the verge of stretching out those fine, delicate, and oh so colorful wings. And happy though I am, I realize that I had/have absolutely no way--not The Writers' Market, not publishers' websites, not the advice of agents--for discerning what any given publishing house is truly looking for.

Editing

Fort Union, New Mexico Territory, 1884
setting of Prairie Madness


I write by re-writing. Editing is as much an art as creating and composing. When I edit, I delve into the dream-world of words and explore the many possible ways to "say" the image I
see until I find le mot juste (Gustave Flaubert) . . . the absolute right word.


I am completely re-writing Prairie Madness by changing the tense of the verbs from present to past. In doing this, I discovered things unsaid in the present tense and many things I am able to expand upon when writing in the past tense--the tense of storytelling. I originally chose the present tense to imitate stage directions, but the narrative took an unexpected turn in the road.

Writing

Writing Prairie Madness, Conspiracy at Fort Union was an adventure. I've been writing for many years. My publications have generally focused on literary non-fiction, scholarship, and the fiction of human interactions. Writing an historical novel driven by solving a murder mystery is new territory, and I love it. If you want to spice up your writing experience--try a different genre.

"Everyone knows that a place exists which is not economically or politically indebted to all

the vileness and compromise. That is not obligated to reproduce the system.

That place is writing."

.........Helene Cixous

Prairie Madness, Conspiracy at Fort Union

April 1884, Fort Union, New Mexico Territory--a windy, drought-filled spring. The peacetime Army is restless, and life at the garrison is changing. Buildings are deteriorating, the laundress brigade has been mustered out, and soldiers are being brutally murdered. When the body of Sergeant Sean Flannery is found--strangled and stripped of uniform and weapons--Mary Margaret O’Keenan, the Company B Laundress and Flannery’s beloved, vows to bring his killer to justice.

With the help of Olivia Foote, the Post Trader’s wife, and County Sheriff Juan Otero, Mary relentlessly pursues Flannery’s murderer. In her attempts to gather evidence and information, she takes over the role Flannery was to play in a Fort Union theatrical production. Then, having succeeded in passing as man on stage, she audaciously dresses in Flannery's costume and visits nearby brothels, saloons, and gambling rooms where she confronts whores, gamblers, and notorious outlaws. At the Fort, Mary questions enlisted men and officers alike--Flannery's best friend, First Sergeant Holloway, Walter Shiner, the garrison bully, and even the commanding officer.

Both Mary and Olivia encounter harassment, intimidation, and physical attacks. But the biggest hurdle Mary must overcome is her own insecurity as a barely literate immigrant and a laundress—the lowest rung on the military ladder. Before the mystery is solved, Olivia is compromised, and three more people meet violent ends.

When the trail of evidence leads not only to Flannery's killer but also to fraud and conspiracy reaching as high as the former Secretary of War, Mary and Olivia must flee Fort Union in the dead of night to seek civilian intervention.

Prairie Madness, Conspiracy at Fort Union is based on several unrelated but actual, historical events.

Copyright Romero 2008

For information: edwinar@wildblue.net

Coming

Watch for a preview of my new novel: Prairie Madness.

"I write to understand this moment." [Honor Moore]

Writing helps me understand and sort out my knowledge, feelings, needs, my place in the world, and the needs of others. Writing helps me accept and/or appreciate my inadequacies, meannesses, good deeds, selfishness, and generosity. I thank Honor Moore for saying it best--"I write to understand this moment."