Here you’ll find posts about what, where, how and why I came to write the books, along with excerpts and sample chapters
Cave near Comb Wash
The world myth represents a journey undertaken by the hero (used for both female and male characters) which leads to a battle against an adversary of unimaginable power. In mythological tales which have existed for thousands of years, cross-cultural similarities have been noted by scholars such as Joseph Campbell in […]
Where I Threw-Up my Ghosts
I grew up in Chicago, in the heart of the North Side. As a boy, I recall going to my grandma’s house a couple miles away for dinner on Sunday afternoons in the summer. She lived a couple blocks from Wrigley Field. I’d be in the yard playing. When the Cubs […]
The Last of Dusk from Claycomb’s Last Day
Yale depended on Rolando Claycomb – a hard drinking old rancher with hardened veins – for his sustenance, his livelihood. I was defending Yale’s freedom in his guardianship trial. The State wanted to declare itself guardian over his person and property. He definitely had a person. […]
A trace of Yale
I’ve always felt this rootlessness, this restlessness, never felt at home in my own skin. Condemned to search for meaning, the formulaic truisms of the world never fit me well. You know, the ones you may find in a religion or a certain philosophy or the equations for happiness provided […]
Late May storms
It’s usually hot by this time of year. Only got 10 days left before June. Monday is Memorial Day. I feel for the hummingbirds. They migrated up this way a couple weeks ago, and I’ve had to knock the snow off their feeders and stick an ice pick through the nectar […]
A sunset from Claycomb’s ranch
Rolando Claycomb was one of the last big ranchers left in the county, which was surrendering to development. My client, Yale, lived in a tiny, battered old Airstream up on blocks on Mr. Claycomb’s section of land. Yale served as a hand to help Mr. Claycomb run the place. […]
Candlestick Tower,Canyonlands, a favorite place of contemplation for Yale
What can I say about Josh Shorty? Built like a tank, he had the temperament of one, too. Josh was a Navajo who practiced in the tribal courts all over Dinetah, as well as representing Anglo defendants in a flourishing criminal defense practice in gateway […]
Yale would disappear,& they’d find him here
I’ve always had this hair-brained genius for public speaking, coupled with a knack for stumbling onto the truth by accident. But it takes so much more to be a topnotch litigator like my friend Josh Shorty, a pit bull criminal defense attorney who practices in the tribal […]
Lava Tube,Nevada
My ex-girlfriend, Udenni, once said that savants aggregate in the areas of numeric calculation, arcane memory retrieval, music played by ear, and drawing. But that itch inside me wanted to believe, craved believing. And so I convinced myself that Yale possessed the savant-like gift of sagacity.
He couldn’t do simple arithmetic, and the […]
I was due at his trailer to go over the rest of his testimony. Hadn’t slept in nights. Not real sleep. Just veering into the vacant rooms of dreams without inhabiting them, or snagging a voice that called my name. Udenni’s voice. Seeing her face. Feeding my tears into the Dolores, the River of Sorrows. […]