Kraken: Blog

All good things must come to an end and so it is with the first book in the Robledo Mountain saga. The final three chapters have been submitted and should be available shortly.

Posting my first story has been quite an experience. In my wildest dreams I never expected the reception it received. The number of downloads, voters, rating, emails, and comments have far exceeded my expectations. All that said, I take to heart the old adage that you're only as good as your next story. REFUGE, book 2 in the Robledo Mountain saga, is in the final stages and, while still a work in progress, is almost complete. I hope to have it to the editors in five weeks or less. Depending on the type and level of changes from the editors I should start posting it shortly thereafter. Hopefully, I've learned a few things with the first book and the next will be even better.

My very sincere thanks to CoullPert, PrincelyGuy, Crash_123, fintinman_1, Gordon Johnson, Anne N. Mouse, and any others I may have missed, who took the time and effort to email me with editorial suggestions and proofreading corrections. All of their corrections and some suggestions have been made and the revised chapters posted. These 'unofficial' editors and proofreaders are truly remarkable folks.

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Many of the emails I received asked what possessed me to write a western set in 1850s Southern New Mexico. I blame the "We Were There" series of books popular when I was a kid for my love of history. Those books along with Westerns by Zane Grey, Max Brand, Louis L'Amour, and Elmer Kelton formed the bulk of my early library.

As a boy growing up outside El Paso and later Las Cruces I was attracted to the stories about the last half of the 19th century I heard from the older generation. My grandparents as well as the parents and grandparents of my friends and neighbor's all fueled a boy's imagination with stories they had lived through or been told by their parents and grandparents. Whether it was sitting on the back porch of my grandparent's house at the foot of A Mountain in El Paso listening to them and their friends reminisce or later, as a teen in Las Cruces, relaxing after a long hot day of throwing hay bales listening to the ranchers, the stories were as entrancing as they were varied. The tales, whether tall or real, told by old men from varying ethnicities were just as fascinating as the varying points of view for each story were radically different depending on the ethnic background of the person telling it.

Regardless of who was telling the stories it was clear even to a young teen that the last half of the 19th century was a confusing and brutal time in New Mexico Territory especially the Mesilla Valley. New Mexico Territory was huge, covering what are today the States of New Mexico and Arizona as well as the lower parts of the States of Colorado and Nevada. This vast area had few cities or towns, few citizens, was patrolled by fewer soldiers, and there were very few lawmen outside of a few of the towns. The southern border of New Mexico Territory was blurred and indistinct in most areas claimed by both the United States and Mexico. To confuse matters even more Texas claimed a large part of southern New Mexico as theirs. The Apache had been fighting the Spanish and Mexican settlers for over 300 years not to mention their traditional enemies the Navajo and the Comanche. Apache war parties led by Victorio, Magnas Colorado, Santana, and Geronimo were all active throughout the Mesilla Valley as well as the rest of New Mexico Territory during this time as were the Navajo and Comanche.

I haven't lived in Las Cruces since just after I graduated from high school but it has always been home to me. When I decided to write a book, I knew two things with certainty. First, it would be set in the Mesilla Valley and second, it would be set in the last half of the 19th century. The first things I saw every morning from my bedroom window were the Robledo Mountains and the Doña Ana Mountains. While the towering majestic Organ Mountains receive all the notice, it was the Robledo Mountains I was drawn to, for that's where the petroglyphs, petrified prehistoric tracks, Geronimo's Cave, and Billy the Kid's Lookout Rock were. The Robledo Mountains and Doña Ana Mountains along with the desert in between was where I roamed during the summers as a teen and where my thoughts turn to when I think of home.

Chapters 30 & 31 submitted and should be up shortly.

Thanks to the eagle eyed and always observant readers of my little saga I've also submitted grammar and punctuation corrections to some of the previous chapters. My profound thanks to them all as always!

Chapters 28 and 29 have been submitted and should be posted for your reading pleasure shortly. Enjoy!

Chapters 26 & 27 submitted. This weeks chapters have a little bit for everyone. Existing relationships are explored, new friendships and relationships begin, and the ever present danger inherent in the 'Old West' explodes for a few heart churning moments. Enjoy!

New chapters 24 and 25 submitted for your reading enjoyment. Various spelling and punctuation corrections submitted for all previous chapters as well.

Don't forget to checkout my website at pcallenbooks.yolasite.com for fact versus fiction and images of the setting for this story.