The Reasons I Want to Write This Book

It seeps like fingers of rain
Soaking parched valleys in winter.

Whatever field we must cross, it
was crossed; whatever melody we
hear, it was heard.

Say that you don't seek these
notes distant like snow in the canyons...


One of the main reasons is that I've been taken, in one way or another, by this crazy wild land.

In painting and literature circles, it's common to say a that the landscape you are creating in effects the landscape of the mind.

And so, perhaps, it is.

But I do not mean that in a sugared, all-things-beautiful way at all. For there are many things here that are quite frankly, ugly. I begin to wonder, as a South African hotel concierge I met in San Diego a few years ago--who was working as such because this was one of the hotels his family owned--whether desert and tropical environments cause a lack of planning in the develpment of human beings. Whereas, I am almost sure he would theorize this is only inherent in dark skinned people, I would extend that to all people, and maybe especially some whites in this area and in those who initially settled this area.

I have never seen such poverty and wealth living side by side. The cities don't have it beat--not for the sheer disparity.

Down the road from me, this house which has been here for over 150 years, is a housing development with horse 'ranchettes,' all literally yards and yards of white picket fences mixed in with custom designed adobe mini-mansions. All of them--or most of them--looking uncomfortable and far too cavernous. A few miles a way, near a local high school, there are people living in old camper tops with lean to's built on to them with goats tied out in the front 'yard.'

People who live in the East or the Midwest, although they may be used to the inner city, have never seen such things, and never great poverty and great wealth spaced so close together.

And the place is truly what one would term 'Post-colonial,' with a mishmash of cultures and outlooks competing with each other and surviving into the millenium.

Indian art shops displaying artifacts abound. Oddly enough, it is mainly the Anglos who are interested in these cultural items. Or maybe we just like to institutionalize things. And the Indians--a numbered some--Yavapai, Apache, Navajo--are strangely more interested in the acutrements of traditional (our) status symbols than they are in any art.

This is the first time in my life, even though the term has gone Hollywood, that I have ever heard the term "Redneck" used on almost a daily basis. Also competitions as to which little hamlet has residents with the fewest teeth.

But then there is the land.

Inspiring greats such as D.H. Lawrence and Ansel Adams to record their impressions. And much to see, take in, digest. It has taken me a few years to understand the weather patterns and the micro-climates produced by the different elevations. How some little valleys can be alight in fall color while in other areas winter has already made its reach. What violent upheavals formed much of the texture of the rock walls of canyons, how steady and slow forces carved and continue to carve the largest canyon on earth--and how all that may be used in metaphor; in a story.

Random Thoughts

I was just thinking how in the Verde Valley her in AZ, Sedona is the now the little playground of a few wealthy and makes its money off the tourists who come to the big spas here. And all the little towns around it basically serve it with workers in this day and age.

In the 1800's, however, due to the need for an adjacent water source and reliance on local agriculture, the areas near the River Verde(Camp Verde) or Oak Creek were obviously the most valued properties.

It strikes me that the current situation is absolutely about the power of myth. Similar to the real estate in Manhattan, which is valuable not on to itself, but because many have ascribed value to it, and the rest follow like lemmings. And I wonder if those initiators of any real estate over-valuation believe their own myths.

Really a very current question, as well, to be asking.

Historical Facts

Stuff I dug up at Sharlot Hall (historical society in Prescott, Yavapai County seat) and the historical society at Fort Verde:

5 EARLY SETTLERS
FARMERS 1100: A cliff dwelling, six miles north of Camp Verde, c. 1100 supports prehistory evi-dence of early farming. Assumed to be descendents of today’s Hopis, the Sinagua Indians lived in this area about 300 years before disappearing or assimilating into other tribes. Today, the site is a tourist attraction known as Montezuma Castle National Monument. Earlier agricultural influence
(c. 700 A.D.) suggest Anasazi influence.

SPANISH INFLUENCE 1500-1583: Time period that five conquistadores, considered the first Europeans in the Verde Valley, came looking for silver.

MOUNTAIN MEN 1821-1848: Scoured southwestern rivers searching for beaver during the Mexican period—the first to reach the Verde Valley was Ewing Young in 1826. Like predecessors, the Spanish, they did not stay.

APACHE and YAVAPAI (dates unknown): Two tribes of pre-anglo residents lived in the Verde Valley, in and around Camp Verde. The Apache have an Athapaskan background, and the Yavapai are Yuman-speaking people-the Pai. Rounded up by the military in 1875 (Exodus), they were forced collectively into exile until 1900. The two tribes were formed into one, the Yavapai-Apache Nation in 1934. Today with 665 acres of reservation land in Camp Verde, Rimrock, and Clarkdale, they are successful entrepreneurs and owners of the popular Cliff Castle Casino located at I-17 and Montezuma Castle Highway.

ANGLO FARMERS, late 1800s: In January 1865, a party of nine - James Parrish, Dr. J. M. Swetnam, William L. Osborn, Clayton M. Ralston, Henry D. Morse, Jake Ramstein, Thomas Ruff, Edward A. Boblett, and James Robinson traveled to what is now Camp Verde to find land suitable to establish a farming colony. Later, they would return from Prescott with a party of 19, six oxen-drawn wagons on a journey that took four days settling near the Verde River and Clear Fork. It was reported that the Swetnam party built a 60 x 40 foot stone fort, well, and ditch. Prior to this, around 1864, hay cutters from Prescott harvested lush grasses to sell to Fort Whipple in Prescott, but did not stake land.
Camp Verde’s Pioneer Legacy

Feature 5
Incorporated December 8, 1986
5 EARLY MILITARY
Lt. Antonio Abeytia headed a small detachment from Prescott’s Fort Whipple. In early May of 1865, the small homestead fort was attacked by Indians (no human casualties, but there was a loss of crops and livestock which threatened the outpost). Settlers demanded protection from the military.

Lt. William McNeil replaced Abeytia. The military encampment near the settler’s fort was relocated near the Verde’s junction with the Beaver Creek. In December 1865, it was named Camp Lincoln. There would be base changes and name changes, eventually it would become Fort Verde in today’s downtown area.

General George Crook became commanding office of the Department of Arizona and used Camp Verde as one of his main bases. His name is associated with Geronimo’s surrender.
Fort Verde: Built in 1871, successor to Camp Lincoln and Camp Verde.

Cap’t Smylie,: Indian Scout, born in 1833, a/k/a Chief Yellow Whiskers, was head of the Indian scouts and later the Indian police. It has been reported that he received a medal of honor for his part in the surrender of Geronimo under General Crook’s command in southern Arizona.

5 EARLY RETAILERS
Horn Saloon: Located on the western fringes of Fort Verde in Copper Canyon, this local establish-ment catered to fort residents near what is today the intersection of Oasis Drive and Salt Mine Road, adjacent to the Copper Canyon trailhead. Only a pile of rocks remain.
Wales Arnold: A former Army scout, he was first post trader, a “sutler” to the early military personnel.

William Sanford “Boss” Head: Purchased the sutler’s store in 1872 , built by Hugo Richards in 1871. It is the adobe wing located on the south side of today’s Wingfield Plaza. He expanded his business to include sales to civilians throughout the Verde Valley. Included inside was a post office and a club room. A hay-and-grain barn was north of the store. Mr. Head contracted to supply grain to military posts throughout the territory.

Stage Stop and Boarding House: Located on today’s Main Street, across from the Sutler Store, this building served as a stay-over for soldiers and freighters transporting by stage. This building still stands and is now a restaurant.

Clint Wingfield & Mack Rogers (tale of a fatal hold-up): Subsequent owners of the Sutler Store. On a late Sunday evening in 1899, a stranger entered the porch and ordered Rogers inside. Rogers grabbed for his gun and was shot. Clint came to see what happened and was also shot. Both died in this robbery-gone-bad incident. Black Jack Ketcham, who was reported to have been the culprit guilty of these horrific acts, would hang a year later for a different crime in New Mexico.

2
5 EARLY PREACHERS, TEACHERS, DOCTORS
Rev. R. A. Windes: A pioneer preacher of the Verde Valley, a missionary type who established churches.
Parson Bristow: Started the Old Tree Baptist meetings in Middle Verde around 1875. With help from Rev. Windes, Parson Bristow organized a Sunday school, the first church and was pastor until 1905.
Dr. E. B. Keycherside: c 1890s, doctor who also founded a church in Camp Verde
Dr. M. A. Carrier: c 1880s, early Verde Valley doctor
Professor John H. Hicks: Likely the first school teacher in the Lower Verde area.

5 EARLY POLITIC FIGURES
Dr. Swetnam: Helped head the original “19” who colonized Camp Verde in 1865. The Swetnam party built a stone fort. Dr. Swetnam, however, left for Phoenix to become a surgeon around 1866.

William Sanford “Boss” Head: In 1878, he was named to the Arizona Territorial Legislature.
Judge George Hance: Considered by many to be the area’s unofficial mayor who was held in high esteem throughout the Verde Valley. First official postmaster, a longtime notary public, territorial census marshal (1880) and most notable, elected justice of the peace for 30 years.
Norman Fain: Norman Fain served three terms in the Arizona State Senate (1941-1946) and was instrumental in the Arizona Right-to-Work Bill. He was actually born in Camp Verde in 1907. He ran his father’s Diamond S Allotment between Camp Verde and Cottonwood after buying an interest in an outfit near Sedona. The Fain family is well-known in the Prescott and Prescott Valley area for its major ranching operations and Arizona political history with early roots in Camp Verde.

Wingfield: The name Wingfield had a strong political presence in Camp Verde. In 1914, Robert Wingfield organized the Verde Valley Telephone Association. Later he headed a resident’s group that built the Camp Verde State Bank.

The Power of Stories

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceRP8rSwlMc

This was originally posted by Pam Grundy on FB, but it is worth re-posting. Especially in regards to the discussion of myth, how we believe in our 'modern' society, we have none; our machine oriented culture, and just the power of narrative to shape world views...only most people listen to a few others' ideas, to their possible detriment.

Why don't people write more of their own stories? The question I'm asking.

Researching Historical Facts and Stories

http://www.thebigmoney.com/blogs/goodnight-gutenberg/2010/05/19/want-write-historical-fiction-now-you-can

This is cool. Unfortunately, it will be a long time, I reckon, ;), before the historical societies in Northern Arizona's Verde Valley are open more than 1-2 days a week, let alone commit their documents to the internet.

Which makes this book all the more authentic, doesn't it, in a sort of very direct way?

What I Always Liked About Michener

The fact that he creates an almost complete world within his books. Not the least of which each book is a tome, truly. I read my first when I was about 12 years old, and I remember being impressed with my self that I could sustain 500 pages or more!

The writing was always rich, rich in detail and I think that is important in an historical novel. I see Michener as basically analogous to the director Ridley Scott in that the atmosphere both create feels lived in.

Inertia and Self Doubt

As I told 'an interested party,' this blog is primarily for myself. To get me writing and to get me thinking of issues that I want to bring out in this novel, about structure, about influences, about character, and even, yes, about marketing or creating a buzz about this thing if it ever does near completion and any interest is shown in it.

I've found through experience that as far as I am concerned, plain old inertia and exhaustion--also self doubt and talking yourself out of sticking to a creative work--are by far my worst issues. Talent, usually--check. Structure and understanding all that--check. Time and other needs or fulfilling other peoples' 'needs,' or image issues, or what others want to pigeon hole you with, can also be a problem.

And then there is jealousy. Strange thing with that, though, is that only you can produce what you want and need to produce, regardless of any fame or notoriety deserved or undeserved, making the whole thing a moot point in reality. Something for the lazy.

And I'm feeling lazy.

Maybe ideas of plot structure are in order after all. This is like building a house or cutting up firewood and stacking it--innately practical and delivers and instant and obvious evidence of having produced something immediately.

On Character Development

You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.
~Ray Bradbury

Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.
~Anton Chekhov

The characters are evolving as I think of the history of the house and the stories behind it. I'm also drawing on personalities (in a general way) I've known and witnessed in real life. Of course, this is all a work of fiction, and these characters are not meant to represent any real person, living or dead.

Silvie 'Sil' Houlihan:

A prostitute that has made her way from Ireland to the mining towns of Arizona. She is the victim of a disease acquired aboard an immigrant ship that left her face scarred. However, this doesn't seem to stop her at all from her profession, which she plies with great manipulation and skill.I keep thinking of this character in a way as Shakespeare's Caliban in the Tempest. I want to portray her in a sympathetic yet clear-eyed way. one of the things i wonder about is how ordinary evil occurs...and it does occur in all of our lives, no pretending.

I'm also, I know, strongly influenced by Annie Pollux's story and characters in 'the Shipping News,' which I feel is as strong a work of fiction as I have ever come across.


There has to be a fundamentalist preacher in this book, too:

Sil's father, probably. I spent a lot of time on Hubpages' (a writing site) forums, watching a ludicrous religious spectacle. I'm interested in fundamentalism as a source, frankly, of every day evil and why not seeing the forest for the trees begets evil. Or is it greed and avarice that underscores what the 'evangelical' really do? Do they believe there own crap...or just expect others too? When they achieve the $$ they are after, and squander them, is it like an addiction? What feeds it?

White-haired, silver-tongued in a crude sort of way, absolutely at the core of things knowing what he is worth, alcoholic.


William S. 'Boss' Head:

A young man of about 30 from a upper middle class New York family, a lawyer by profession, who comes west to Arizona with his brother to try his fortune in mining or other prospects. Bent on adventure and very capable, the two brothers settle around the mining towns prevalent in Arizona during the mid 1800's.

This character...as it is shaping up...is based on Steinbeck's conception of the one brother in East of Eden, only I see William as a much stronger person. I've also been influenced by a couple people I've known in life.

I think I'm going to make the two brothers that of a single character study. sort of a split duo character. So that William, the younger of the two, has the strength and the innocence. The older brother will be image oriented, greedy, too full of propriety, conservative and politically motivated in a bad way...he also is one of Sil's biggest customers, ;).

First Thoughts

The first thoughts I've had on the structure of my novel- which is way weird, because with my other books that is the first thing I thought of - mapping out the structure. But they were nonfiction, and that is a totally different thing. I mean, it doesn't have to be, but if you want your book to be a literary work......a true slice of thoughts, feelings and the things important to you, I think it does have to perhaps come in pieces. at least for me.

So, I'm thinking I have to set part of the novel back east in New York, and the part with the character Silvie maybe before Ellis island, on an immigrant ship. wow...and I'm just remembering these incredible photos of the interior of the buildings I saw in Santa Fe by Stephen Wilkes in one of the galleries there.

A blog detailing the development of a first novel