Living in Yucatan seems to make it easy for me to put myself into unusual situations and spin stories about them. It is an area rich with possibilities. A few years ago, I wrote a mystery called Madrugada, which has been with an agent for a long time. She says it’s difficult for new writers to break in to the traditional publishing world.
Madrugada is set in Merida and a fictional village called Yaxum. Superficially, it’s about the theft of artifacts from an archaeological site, and associated greed and murder. The sub-theme is the impact of the modern world on small Maya pueblos in the Yucatan.
In the story, there is an archaeological site at Yaxum that is being worked by an American team. It’s a tale of corruption, pride, overcoming personal obstacles, and friendship. As in anything I write, the book takes a strong look at the dark side of human nature. The main characters are an American woman investigator from New York, the Merida Police chief, and the head man of the village of Yaxum. Right now, I’m editing this book once again.
We have a writer’s group in Merida, and they were helpful to me in writing my other book, 2012: Deadly Awakening. Now I am going over chapters of Madrugada with them. They have excellent insights. I enjoy this informal group that meets weekly in people’s living rooms.
Deadly Awakening features the same investigator and police chief as in Madrugada. They are wonderfully flawed people who are in Merida close to the “end of days,” which many predict will occur on 12/21/2012, the end of the Maya long-count calendar (a period of over 5,000 years). In Deadly Awakening, there is a truly awful murder scene, which makes international news. There are thousands of spiritual tourists in Merida for the end-of-days, and a number of groups have bizarre, charismatic leaders who don’t see eye to eye.
Right now, 2012: Deadly Awakening is available on Barnes & Noble and Amazon as an eBook. I am in the process of putting it into print, a long, arduous process. I just went over printed proofs of the book and read it through. Even I was amused. There are photos in both the eBook and the upcoming print edition.
As I nudge Deadly Awakening through the print process, I am preparing Madrugada for eBook publication. A third book with the same characters, Rotten Fruit, is in the works. A lot of the action in Rotten Fruit takes place, where else, in Oxcutzcab (the citrus center of Yucatan). The dregs of the Las Vegas mafia is involved.
Can’t wait to read the new book.