OnWriting
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I used to think that writing was like being a magician. I worked at putting words together to surprise people, entertain them, and make them think of me when they read the words: how good I was doing what they could not do. My mature self now understands that being a magician is almost the opposite of being a writer: the art is not in dazzling people so they think of me, it’s in making people think of themselves without noticing me. It’s a lot harder than magic, I think. I work at finding or expressing common truth between me and the reader, and then using words so that people think that finding or expressing the truth has come from within them. I want to go unnoticed. That’s the craft, the art, and the essence of good writing. Welcome to my website, where there is no magic.
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Mogi Franklin Mysteries
Ghosts of the San Juan, book 1
In Ghosts of the San Juan, a student rafting trip involves them with the mysterious disappearance of four men in 1934, launching a trail of clues that Mogi must put together to foil a plan of evil enrichment victimizing the vast Navajo Nation. Attacked at school, then lured into a deadly trap, Mogi must summon all his courage and ingenuity to survive and overcome his foe’s vicious scheme.
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The Lost Children, book 2
At a picnic in the mountains in 1891, three children run into the forest to play and are never seen again. More than a hundred years later, Mogi Franklin and his sister, Jennifer, discover a series of clues that bring them to the brink of solving the mystery, only to be thwarted by a resort-building billionaire eager to sacrifice an entire town to build a playground for the rich.
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The Secret of La Rosa, book 3
It was just a short cross-country ski outing over the Christmas break for Mogi Franklin and his sister, Jennifer—until they find themselves suddenly caught in a vicious blizzard. Near collapse, they ski into a mysterious valley with an ancient hacienda, a busy Spanish family, and a village with no electricity, no plumbing, no cars, no phones, and definitely no Walmart.
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The Hidden River, book 4
A crazed professor is on a rampage to prove that horrible crimes were committed by the ancient ancestors of today’s Pueblo Indians. His murderous accusations stir the community into anger and violence. Vacationing nearby, Mogi Franklin and his family are suddenly caught up in the turmoil roiling the countryside. In this third book of the exciting Mogi Franklin Mysteries, the young hero must find a sacred object hidden by the ancient people of Acoma Pueblo somewhere in the vast, forbidding lava beds of western New Mexico. To those who lived on the stark, high mesa four hundred years ago, it held a magic that could defeat the Spanish conquistadors despite their steel and steeds. To Mogi, it was an ancient mystery he must solve to stem the rising tide of bloodshed. But the clock is ticking, and his deranged adversary traps Mogi, Jennifer, and their friends in the absolute darkness of an underground cavern, with little hope of escape.
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The Lady in White, book 7
Mogi is working as a cowboy over the summer vacation on one of the largest ranches in New Mexico when hundreds of cattle start mysteriously dying there. Trying to understand the cause, he finds himself embroiled in the life of a boy who was kidnapped by Comanche Indians in 1870. In this seventh book of the exciting Mogi Franklin Mysteries, Mogi comes face-to-face with the ghost of the boy's mother, and must face the reality of the past to save the ranch from the enemies of the present.
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Adult Novel - Smoke Dreams
Smoke Dreams
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Why would you remodel a haunted house? The house breathes, has a heartbeat, and gets physical when it gets mad. But Tucker Whitby is an experienced builder who is also haunted. He feels responsible for his wife’s death and his daughter’s murder. Because of this, he is emotionally stunted and denies himself love. Can rebuilding this unusual house jolt his life back on track?
Tucker gets far more than he hoped—the house decides that if Tucker is rebuilding it, then it will rebuild him. Through a series of dreams involving a ten year-old boy kidnapped by Comanche Indians in 1870, Tucker witnesses the savage life of a boy who becomes a warrior. But soon he’s not dreaming—he is becoming the boy. Before long, the pain and horror of the boy’s life takes Tucker’s real life towards violence, murder, and an encounter with the house’s deepest secrets. |