A US-Mexico Border Memoir: Lisa G. Sharp's A Slow Trot Home

Lisa G. Sharp, author of the memoir
A Slow Trot Home

It was thanks to Women Writing the West that I first came upon the extraordinary writing of Lisa G. Sharp. Mexicans sit up and take notice when I mention that she's the granddaughter of the owner of the Greene Cattle Company, which had its headquarters in Cananea, a place synonymous with an infamous massacre in the years leading up to the Mexican Revolution. But to get beyond that: A Slow Trot Home, Sharp's memoir about growing up, first in her grandmother's house in Cananea, and then for most of her life on San Rafael, a working cattle ranch a scooch north of the border in a remote corner of Arizona, is one of the most beautifully written and moving memoirs I have ever read. The sweep of the land, the peace and violence of the sky, the people, both Mexican and American, and all the animals, come alive with a rare vividness. It's poetic prose that, in places, breaks open into poetry itself, as with this list in the chapter "Winter":

Frozen water troughs.
Short days.
Matches handy by wood stoves.
A dead calf half eaten by coyotes and vultures.
Dogs curled up by fire places.
Down comforters and flannel sheets.
Bare trees, dormant rose bushes, red berries.
Stews, soups, Christmas tamales.
Fires burned all day long.

By the end, as she returns to visit her mother's lonely grave, one understands what this is: an elegy for a world that is no more. Now the SUVs rumbling by might more likely carry birdwatchers or Border Patrol officers than ranchers or ranch hands. 9/11 changed everything on the US-Mexico Border. And in what had been velvet nights, electric lights from Mexico glow on the horizon.

Literati will note that this is self-published. I think that says far more about the state of publishing than it does this splendid book. I recommend it for anyone interested in a fine read, and especially for anyone interested in ranching culture and the US-Mexico border region.

From Lisa G. Sharp's blog:

Her visit to Cananea (Mexican history buffs, this is a must-read!)

Cowboys, Cattle and Copper (more about Cananea, with lots of photos)

If you're in Arizona, you can catch Lisa G. Sharp on her book tour this fall and winter.

Your COMMENTS are always welcome.

My review of the anthology edited by Sarah Cortez and Sergio Troncoso, 

Our Lost Border

A Visit to Swan House 

(The unique adobe teaching house on the US-Mexico Border

in Presidio, TX)

Tijuana: A Touch of Evil

Cowboy Songs by Cowboys 

(podcast)

Guest-blog by Heidi M. Thomas: 

A Roundup of 5 Things to Know About Old-Time Rodeo Cowgirls

Ceci n'est ce pas une Newsletter October 2014

Just sent out my October 2014 newsletter, chock full of book news, the best from the blogs, the news about the Texas Book Festival, and more. Read it here. 

My one day only workshop on Literary Travel Writing will be this Saturday October 11 at the Writer's Center in Bethesda, MD

The Writer's Center

10 am - 1 pm (one day only)
Literary Travel Writing WorkshopTake your travel writing to another level: the literary, which is to say, giving the reader the novelistic experience of actually traveling there with you. For both beginning and advanced writers, this workshop covers the techniques from fiction and poetry that you can apply to this specialized form of creative nonfiction for deliciously vivid effects.

+ Register on-line

+ Visit my page FOR CREATIVE WRITERS for upcoming workshops and a rich array of resources for writers

+ Read more about my workshop

+ Recommended literary travel memoirs



Some of my work:

+ Miraculous Air: Journey of a Thousand Miles through Baja California, the Other Mexico (travel memoir)

+ A Visit to Swan House (read article from Cenizo Journal on-line)

+ Marfa Mondays Podcasting Project #7: We Have Seen the Lights (listen to the podcast)

+ From Mexico to Miramar or, Across the Lake of Oblivion (link to ebook)




Want to know when I'm giving another workshop or post a podcast or bring out a new book?  I welcome you to sign up for my newsletter. I'll be sending it out again sometime in November.

COMMENTS always welcome.

Lonn Taylor's Texas People, Texas Places

Ever since I first came upon Lonn Taylor's column for the Big Bend Sentinel, "The Rambling Boy," I've been a big fan. I devoured his collection of columns, Texas, My Texas: Musings of the Rambling Boy— and added it to my list of top 10 books read in 2012. My mini-review:

"[T]his is far from the usual mashed potatoes newspaper fare.  Taylor is a wise and lyrical writer with a background as a professional historian and his mammoth love for Texas is infectious. This is a book to savor in a rocking chair on a hot day with a tall glass of spiked lemonade at your side. Get ready to howl with the one about the in-law aunts's oodles of poodles."

And lo, out of the blue (I don't think he knew I'd blogged about his book), Taylor writes to me that he wants to do a column about Agustín de Iturbide y Green, an historical figure he had known about since his days in Washington DC— having found me via my webpage for my novel, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire. I was happy to supply what I'd gleaned from my research, which included what I dug out of the archives in Iturbide y Green's personal archive in Catholic University, another archive in Georgetown University, the Iturbide collections in the Library of Congress, the Historical Society of Washington DC, and —whew, yeah, I did a heap of research— Mexico City and Vienna (more about all that here). I can count on one hand, with plenty of fingers leftover, the number of people who had even the basic outline of the story of Agustin de Iturbide y Green straight before I did; the published literature on Mexico's Second Empire is full of bizarre misunderstandings and mistakes and even some of his own family members in Mexico had some very strange ideas (for example, that Iturbide y Green had never married, but in fact, he had, in Washington DC in 1915, and happily, until his death in 1925). So! Now! Read Lonn Taylor's column, "The Royal Family of Mexico."

More Lonn Taylor news: his latest collection is Texas People, Texas Places: More Musings of the Rambling Boy, and I loved this one just as much as the first— I devoured it, chuckling over every other page. Just to give an idea, this is the sort of thing that kept me laughing out loud— from "The Jacksons of Blue and Other Texas Chairmakers":

"... most respectable people considered chairmakers somewhat marginal and looked down on them as not being totally respectable. This attitude probably originated in England, where chairmakers lived in the woods, close to their close materials, and did not farm or mix much with ordinary folk. In England chairmakers are called bodgers. Folklorist Geriant Jenkins once asked an informant where the word came from, and the answer was, "Because they be always bodgin' about in the woods."

Of special interest for me, since I am work on a book about Far West Texas, was his column "Albert Alvarez, Secret Historian," about a Mexican-American of Pecos, Texas. In Mexico, where every city and town seems to have one, Alvarez would be addressed with great respect as El crónista. In Texas as it is, alas, Spanish speaking historians and their contributions to Texas history remain marginalized. And that's something I'll be writing about, too.

More anon.

COMMENTS?


SURF ON
Marfa Mondays Podcasting Project
Marfa Mondays Blog
John Bankhead Magruder: A Military Reappraisal by Thomas M. Settles
Top 10 Books Read 2013

The All New Workshop Page: For Creative Writers

Ye olde home page, www.cmmayo.com, which got started back in the Paleolithic, I mean, the summer of 1999, has been undergoing some super seismic shifts, one of which is a re-do of the Workshop page. It even has a new name: For Creative Writers.

This is a page that I began over a decade ago for my workshop students at the Writer's Center (just outside Washington DC in Bethesda MD). It also served a class I gave at the Johns Hopkins Part-Time Writing Program, and later, workshops in Mexico City and for the San Miguel Writers Conference.

I've added to it through the years always with the goal of helping my students-- and myself, for in teaching and writing, I also learn.

The menu now offers:

+ HOME PAGE which includes a brief welcome and a bit about the "Orphic journey."

+ SCHEDULE
Info about my one day only Saturday October 11, 2014 Literary Travel Writing workshop at the Writer's Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

+ RECOMMENDED READING
Books on Craft
Books on Creative Process
Literary Travel Memoirs
War and Peace (Yeah! A whole blog about just that!)

+ PODCASTS FOR WRITERS

+ RESOURCES FOR WRITERS
Tips and articles galore

+ GIANT GOLDEN BUDDHA
And 364 More Free 5 Minute Writing Exercises

+ And the sign-up for my NEWSLETTER.

More news soon about the podcasts, including Conversations with Other Writers and Marfa Mondays.


YOUR COMMENTS are always welcome.

C.M. Mayo For Mexicophiles: Books, Articles & Essays, Blogs, Podcasts, Videos

Prompted by Jane Friedman's excellent advice, I have made some big changes over on ye olde home page, www.cmmayo.com, est. 1999. These include lassoing a bunch of content into an all new section, FOR MEXICOPHILES, which has menu of:

+ BOOKS

+ ARTICLES & ESSAYS

+ BLOGS

+ PODCASTS

+ VIDEOS

and of course, my NEWSLETTER, which by the way, will go out this week with updates about fall events and workshop.

ASAP to go onto the FOR MEXICOPHILES page: a fascinating podcast interview with Literal editor Rose Mary Salum, which will also appear in the occasional series, Conversations with Other Writers. More anon.

Your comments are always welcome.

Guest-Blogger Short Story Maestro Clifford Garstang on 5 Favorite Novels About a Dangerous World

Clifford Garstang is the author of In an Uncharted Country and What the Zhang Boys Know (Winner of the 2013 Library of Virginia Award for Fiction) and Editor of Everywhere Stories: Short Fiction from a Small Planet, an anthology of 20 stories set in 20 countries by 20 well-travelled writers. Here's the description:

"Assembled from over six hundred submissions, this collection reminds us that our world is dangerous: a man disappears in Argentina, despair reigns in post-Katrina New Orleans, teen bandits attack in Costa Rica, wild boars swarm in a German forest, biker gangs battle in New Zealand, security guards overreact in Beijing, rogue militias run wild in Africa, and more. These are not ordinary travel stories by or about tourists; the contributors are award-winning authors who know their way around—former Peace Corps Volunteers, international aid workers, expatriates—and dig deep beneath the surface. "

>>CONTINUE READING THIS POST AT WWW.MADAM-MAYO.COM

FIVE FAVORITE NOVELS ABOUT A DANGEROUS WORLD
by Clifford Garstang

Some of my favorite American writers create dark stories set abroad. That’s what I like to read and it inevitably informs my own writing and my selections for the book. Here are 5 of the best:

1. Ann Patchett’s State of Wonder: I also liked Patchett’s earlier novel set in South America, Bel Canto, but this book, set in Brazil, really grabbed me—it has mystery, a heroic structure, and explores fascinating, credible science. One researcher has gone missing and another goes searching for him in the heart of darkness—classic. 

2. Russell Banks’s The Darling: Set in Liberia, Banks’s novel (which is said to be based loosely on The Tempest) explores failures of both American and Liberian governments. A former member of the Weather Underground faces exposure back home, but also faces a near-constant civil war in her adopted home.

3. Barbara Kingsolver’s The Lacuna: Kingsolver’s agenda-driven fiction isn’t for everyone, but I was drawn to this novel, set mostly in Mexico. Having grown close to Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera in Mexico City, the protagonist settles in the U.S. and attracts the scrutiny of the Joseph McCarthy’s House Un-American Activities Committees.

4. Robert Stone’s Damascus Gate: This is a sprawling book that explores the history of Israel and the forces that would destroy it. The book is a fascinating look at one of the Middle East’s most dangerous flashpoints.

5. Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried . Like O’Brien’s fantastic Going After Cacciato, which won the National Book Award, The Things They Carried explores the horror of the Vietnam War and the intense personal toll it takes on all. 

--- Clifford Garstang

===> COMMENTS always welcome and you are also most welcome to sign up for my newsletter.

Recent Madam Mayo guest-blogs include:

> Nature Writer Gin Getz on 5 Best Ways to Slow Down

> Novelist Joanna Smith Rakoff on 5 Favorite Books of New York Stories

> Archive of all Madam Mayo guest-blogs

> Updated guidelines for guest-bloggers

SURF ON over at the home page, www.cmmayo.com

>  Listen in to the podcast interview with the brilliantly original novelist Solveig Eggerz

>  September exercises from "Giant Golden Buddha & 364 More Free 5 Minute Writing Exercises"

>  My one day only workshop on Literary Travel Writing, Saturday, October 11, 2014 at the Bethesda MD Writer's Center

Updated Guidelines for Guest-Bloggers

The guidelines for guest-bloggers have been updated here.

Just a few of my guest-bloggers:
Peter Behrens, Susan Coll, Nicholas Gilman, Sandra Gulland, Dylan Landis, Sam Quinones, and Joanna Smith Rakoff.

COMMENTS always welcome.
And you are most welcome to sign up for my newsletter.

The Last of the Nomads by W.J. Peasley

W.J. Peasley's The Last of the Nomads is one of the most powerfully moving books I have ever read. It tells the true story of the 1979 rescue of an elderly couple, Warri and Yatungka, the last of the Mandildjara people, marooned in the vastness of Australia's Gibson Desert, starving and slowly dying of thirst. 

This goes on my top 10 books read list for 2014, and the list of recommended travel memoirs.

A bio of the author, W.J. Peasley
About the documentary of 1997 (includes clips)

==> COMMENTS always welcome. And you are most welcome to sign up for my newsletter.

SURF ON:
>Top 10 Books Read 2013
> Kenneth White's Across the Territories: Travels from Orkney to Rangiroa
> Guest-blogger Travel Writer L. Peat O'Neil with 5 Links on Walking and Literature
> Demon of the Waters: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Whale-Ship Globe by Gregory Gibson

And over on the home page, www.cmmayo.com
>>>> More about my one day only Literary Travel Writing Workshop at the Writer's Center, Saturday October 11, 2014, in Bethesda, MD.
>>>> Book Review for Tin House: Fanny Calderon de la Barca's Life in Mexico

Cyberflanerie: Writerly Whatnot & Miscellaneous Missives Edition

Michael Hyatt says imprints don't matter. Interesting argument, possibly valid. For the general reading public, certainly valid.

Learn about my one day only Literary Travel Writing workshop to be held at the Writer's Center, Bethesda MD on Saturday October 11th.

Updated and redesigned webpage: Giant Golden Buddha & 365 more Free 5 Minute Writing Exercises.

My amigo novelist Peter Behrens (and guest-blogger for Madam Mayo) sends this message:

"I'm leading a 5-day writing workshop next month at a retreat center on the west coast. Cortes Island isn't easy to get to, but it sounds like an amazing place. A few spots still open: I'd be very grateful if you could fwd the link to people who might be interested. http://www.hollyhock.ca/cms/Peter-Behrens.html There will be no chanting in my workshop." 

And my San Miguel de Allende writer amigo (and guest-blogger for Madam Mayo) John Scherber writes:

"My new book on the expat experience offers an intimate look at issues everyone thinking about settling in this historic town must consider. Health care, cost of living, crime, housing, and many others are answered with frankness and insight. Available in print, Kindle, Kobo, Nook, and iTunes formats." 

Speaking of San Miguel de Allende, I'll be opening the season for PEN San Miguel on January 13 at 6 pm. Be there or be cuadrado.

New on the blog roll: travel writer and blogger Francis Tapon, new on the blogroll (over to the right and scroll on down)

Holly Brady, former director of the Stanford Publishing Course,  suggests the best fonts for books covers and the best fonts for book interiors.

===>>>COMMENTS always welcome. And you are also most welcome to sign up for my newsletter.


SURF ON:
>MADAM MAYO
> Cyberflanerie: Epic Travel Edition
> Cyberflanerie: Fun in Mexico Edition
>>>>>AND ON THE HOME PAGE, WWW.CMMAYO.COM
>>>>> Updated and redesigned page on recommended reading for creative writers
>>>>> Marfa Mondays: Cynthia McAlister with the Buzz on the Bees

Texas Book Festival

Delighted to announce that my book, METAPHYSICAL ODYSSEY INTO THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION: FRANCISCO I. MADERO AND HIS SECRET BOOK, will be a featured book at the Texas Book Festival in Austin the weekend of October 25-26, 2014. Details to be announced.

More events for this book, including a talk at Mexico City's Palacio Nacional (part of a conference on Madero and esoteric influences) and at Tepoztlan's La Sombra del Sabino later this fall.

> Read excerpts and learn more on the book's webpage.



===>>> COMMENTS always welcome. And you are most welcome to sign up for my newsletter.


MORE FROM MADAM MAYO
> The Memoirs of Rafael L. Hernández Madero
> William Curry Holden's Teresita, the Biography of Teresa Urrea, La Santa de Cabora
AND ON THE HOMEPAGE, WWW.CMMAYO.COM
> For Mexicophiles 
> Upcoming Literary Travel Writing Workshop at the Writer's Center, Bethesda MD