I don’t know how many of you get giddy when you can visit or see the settings from books you’ve read. But as a reader, I have always enjoyed being taken to settings or worlds I haven’t been and may never be able to see. Books have always been my window into other worlds.

A few weeks ago, my hubby and I made a trip from SE Oregon to Killeen, TX to see his sister and her husband and deliver boxes of belongings to our oldest granddaughter now living in Arkansas. On the way over we drove through the four corners and the towns of Flagstaff, Tuba City, Windowrock, and Gallup. The settings of author Tony Hillerman’s novels.

My husband just shook his head as I said the names of places that I’d read about in those novels. I could envision Leaphorn, Chee, and Bernie Manuelito driving around on the dirt roads I saw from the freeway.  Seeing First Mesa on Hopi land and the hogans on the Navajo land… It stalled my breath to see places and things I’d envisioned as I read or listened to Mr. Hillerman’s books but had used my imagination at what it would look like.

In case you haven’t figured it out already, I have been a huge fan of Tony Hillerman’s books since reading the first one. While he has more Native American life, traditions, and legends in his stories than I have in mine, he was my inspiration to have a Native American character as the main protagonist in my three mystery series. 

He lived on or near the four corners area where the Hopi, Navajo, and Pueblo tribes live. He had many contacts among these tribes to help him show more of the culture than I’ve been able to cultivate living a distance from the reservations and tribes I write about in my Gabriel Hawke novels, Shandra Higheagle Mysteries, and Spotted Pony Casino Mysteries.

I aspire to write as intriguing and thrilling reads even though they aren’t as steeped in the culture and lives of the people.

The next Gabriel Hawke book, I’m having Hawke and Dani, his significant other, attend Tamkaliks. A powwow held every July in Wallowa, Oregon. I attended it this past year for the third time and am now feeling confident I can give my two Nez Perce characters the experience they would undergo having been away from their culture for decades due to their careers and trying to fit into a culture other than their own.

However, with the return of Hawke’s sister to his life, she is showing him how good their culture is for their wellbeing. That will be a subplot in the book to his investigation into a decades-old body he discovers while patrolling the Snake River in the Hells Canyon.

I‘m hoping my contact within the Nez Perce community and the Fish and Wildlife Trooper helping me with the patrol of the river will give my story more realism.

Speaking of realism, I took a trip to the Oregon Coast last Spring to research for my newest release, The Pinch, book 5 in the Spotted Pony Casino Mystery series. In this book Dela Alvaro, head of security for the Spotted Pony Casino is at a tribal-run casino on the Oregon Coast helping them beef up their security. While there a child is kidnapped and she runs into an old friend.

The Pinch

Dela Alvaro, head of security for the Spotted Pony Casino, is asked to do a security check of a casino on the Oregon Coast. She no sooner starts her rounds at the casino and a child of a dubious couple is kidnapped. Special Agent Quinn Pierce of the FBI has been out to get the father for some time.

One of Dela’s best friends from the Army is also at the casino and they catch up. The next morning, Dela finds her friend strangled. As Dela struggles with the violent death of yet another best friend, Tribal Officer Heath Seaver arrives and the two begin untangling the lies, kidnapping, and murder.

As Heath carries the kidnapped child to safety, Dela must face a cunning killer alone.

Pre-order now, releases on February 22^nd. https://books2read.com/u/38Y787

I hope you enjoy this latest book and follow my books to learn more about the Nez Perce, Umatilla, and Cayuse tribes as my characters, Hawke and Dela begin to, in Hawke’s case become reacquainted with his roots and Dela is just beginning to learn she may have a Umatilla heritage.

I purchased this seed holder pot from a Pueblo woman in front of a market on the reservation. She told me she was Acoma (Ah-kuh-muh) Pueblo with the Bear Clan. She showed me her name and a bear paw on the bottom of the pot. She then told me the solid black on the pot represents mountains and land, the orange sun, and the thin lines rain. I enjoyed my visit with her.

That is the thing I love most about reading, writing, and traveling. I learn new things and broaden my horizons.