BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--GUEST AUTHOR SHANNON BAKER

Shannon Baker, author of the Nora Abbott Mystery series involving murder, environment and Hopi Indians, can often be found backpacking, skiing, kayaking, cycling, or just playing lizard in the desert. Learn more about Shannon and her books at her website. 

Since I was about six years old, sitting in the backseat of our Chevy Impala on long nighttime drives, listening to my parents talk about Edgar Cayce and his mystic predictions and revelations, I’ve had a fascination with weird stuff. You know, stuff that tingles your skin, like ghosts and reincarnation, aliens, telepathy. I read all those accounts of near-death experiences, books about talking to God, dipped my toe into studying various religions. I can’t say as I believe everything I’ve heard or read, and can’t say I don’t believe it. Frankly, I don’t feel the need to decide.

What interests me is what people believe and how it makes them act.

Sometimes there’s a bizarre collision in my brain. Things that seeped in years earlier start to grow, sort of like the Blob in the early black and white horror flick. Then something new gets misfiled up there and Blam! a book idea slides out.

In the case of Tattered Legacy the messy explosion mixed all these interesting bits I’d read about the Mormon religion with the amazing information I’ve learned about Hopi.

Like most religions, there are often different versions of the main church, so I don’t pretend to be an expert on Mormons, Church of Latter-Day Saints or any of the off-shoot sects and cults. But there is a little tidbit about Mormons believing if they live a righteous life, they (the men, that is) will get their own planets when they die.

When I first moved to Flagstaff, I happened on a website of Hopi news. An article talked about the recent UFO-siting in the desert, and I read the dozen or so comments. From these postings, I learned that visits from space are not seen as particularly unusual on the reservation.

The Hopi have a long-standing relationship with the Sky People. Old Oraibi, the first Hopi village on the mesas north of Winslow, was established in 1050. That’s a long time ago. According to the petroglyphs, especially Prophecy Rock, it’s said that the faithful Hopi will be lifted to other planets when they die.

There are plenty of websites saying with certainty that UFO’s hang out in lenticular clouds that hover over mountains, specifically, over the San Francisco Peaks. It’s no coincidence that this is where the Hopi kachinas live.

Mormons. Hopi. Aliens. How could I not see the connection? You see it, plain as day, right? What I needed was a character to go head to head with Nora.

Remember a few years ago when Mitt Romney was all the rage? Rich, well-connected, Presidential nominee…Mormon. Oh yeah. I assume Mr. Romney is a nice guy with a perfectly normal family. And being on the national political horizon creates some issues I didn’t want to deal with. So, my guy, Warren Evans, is nothing like our man Mitt. Except he’s rich and Mormon.

Toss in some very telling petroglyphs and Nora’s Hopi connection and there you have it.

Do I believe in aliens?

Does it really matter?  

Want a chance to win a copy of Tattered Legacy (US only)? Leave a comment. Tell me if you believe in aliens, or just say hi. I’ll be randomly picking a winner from all who comment and will contact you directly.

Tattered Legacy

The third in the Nora Abbott series, Tattered Legacy is set in the iconic red rocks of Moab, UT. Working to solve the murder of her best friend, Nora uncovers an unlikely intersection of ancient Hopi legends, a secret polygamist sect and one of the world’s richest men. Will Nora put all the pieces together in time to prevent disaster?

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BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--GUEST AUTHOR SHANNON BAKER

Shannon Baker is the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers’ 2014 Writer of the Year and the author of the Nora Abbott Mystery Series, which includes Tainted Mountain, a 2013 New Mexico/Arizona Book Award finalist, Broken Trust, and Tattered Legacy, slated for a March 2105 release. Learn more about Shannon and her books at her website. 

Fact versus Fiction

I am not the kind of writer who can make up whole worlds from my imagination. My plots always come from real stuff, the cool facts I read about. For instance, when I moved to Flagstaff and found out about the controversy to pump manmade snow on the San Francisco Peaks—land sacred to 12 tribes—I had to write a story about it

I needed a protagonist in the center of the storm who had everything at stake. That turned out to be Nora Abbott, owner of the ski resort. Driven, insecure, timid and ferocious in equal measure, Nora sprang onto the pages.

In my research about the tribes involved, I stumbled across the Hopi. Suddenly, my book took off in a whole new direction that lent itself to a mystery series. My Hopi research turned up so many intriguing aspects of their history, culture, and beliefs I couldn’t address even a fraction in one book. So I was excited when I was offered a three-book deal. Tainted Mountain delves into the Hopi prophesies and explains a little bit about their ceremonies. It introduces kachinas and their role in Hopi lives.

For Broken Trust, I wanted to focus on a different aspect of Hopi’s connection with the world. Hopi are concerned about end times. According to Hopi beliefs, we now live in the fourth world and we’ve just about messed it up so badly we’re approaching the end of this world and emergence to the fifth world. Sad news for most of us, since not very many will survive to start the fifth world.

In Broken Trust, Nora returns to her favorite place, Boulder, and lands a job at an environmental trust. (Coincidently, I also moved back to Boulder while I was working on this book.) But all is not as it seems. The trust is a hotbed of conflict and corruption. Nearly a half million dollars is missing and Nora’s predecessor is murdered.

Nora’s mother pops onto the scene with her own drama. She is determined to hook Nora up with handsome Cole Huntsman. Cole has been waiting for a year to let Nora get over the death of her husband and the traumatic events in Flagstaff, but he’s ready to start a relationship with her. In the meantime, with the help of quirky staffers at the Trust and an Ecuadorian hunk, Nora uncovers a plot that could destroy one of the most pristine locations on the planet. 

And how, you might or might not be asking, is such monumental destruction possible? That was the really fun part for me. I got to research conspiracy theories surrounding HAARP (High-frequency Active Auroral Research) and using weather as a weapon of mass destruction. This stuff is scary/interesting. I spent hours watching Jessie Ventura and others present the case that the shadowy Powers That Be are planning to control our minds/kill us all/wreak havoc on the environment. I dabbled in learning a little (very little) about Tesla towers and the potential for sustainable energy.

When I sold Tainted Mountain I was happy and proud of my new baby. We all know the analogies of writing and publishing books to having babies. I don’t know if anyone else felt this way, but when I was expecting my second baby, I worried I’d never be able to love it as much as I loved my first one. And even though I’d planned and wanted the baby with all my heart, part of me was jealous it would come between me and my firstborn. Weird, I know. But I kind of had the same misgivings about creating a series and wondering if I’d love the second book as much as the first.

The book is here and, just as it was with my kids, I do love book two as much! I learned a lot between book one and two and even more between two and three. It turns out I like writing a series and I’m glad Nora got to live on.

What about you? What is the most interesting or fun fact you learned while reading fiction?

Broken Trust

Nora moves to Boulder and  lands a job as an accountant at an environmental non-profit. But the trust is rife with deceit and corruption. Nearly half a million dollars is missing and one person has already been killed for knowing too much. Complicating matters are Nora's uninvited visitors: her mother, Cole Huntsman, and a Hopi kachina that technically doesn't exist. As the body count climbs, Nora races to stop a deadly plot to decimate one of the planet's greatest natural resources.

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