Heavy Lifting at Mission Days

Photo by Mavourneen Nolte

I was privileged to participate in this year’s Mission Days, San Antonio de Padua’s spring fiesta. It includes folks in period costume (including me!), wandering musicians, crafts, art and (of course) books for sale. This event took place on Saturday, April 15th in perfect weather. I sat in the mission courtyard for several hours, enjoying sunshine, flowers, and the newly repaired fountain. You’ll notice from the pictures that the author is hard at work! The work was joyful, too, because several of the stories in Joaquin’s Gold are inspired by Mission legends and are set very close by. 

Photo by Joan Ungs

“Llorona” is one of the best!

 Bewildering Stories just included “Llorona” in its Third Quarterly Review, a collection of the best stories from all its summer issues. I’m most pleased that Joaquin Murrieta’s encounter with the famous ghost was so honored!

http://www.bewilderingstories.com/anthologies/anthos2020/861-872_antho.html

El Niño’s Tears

Editor Jayne Jaudon included this poem in her excellent poetry blog and I thank her for the honor! Please follow the link to see if my words can aspire to accompanying Ed Haskell’s glowing  photo.

http://www.yourdailypoem.com/listpoem.jsp?poem_id=2781

Flower Tumbles is now a Kindle title!

The Esselen Tribe lived in southern Monterey County near the headwaters of the Arroyo Seco River for many thousands of years. As with most of California’s Native Americans, their way of life disappeared – along with most of them – in the 19th and early 20th Centuries. This story is set before the great disruptions and attempts to offer a glimpse of Esselens as they once were. Its unlikely hero is a young boy who confronts one of the greatest dangers to his small tribe – an engraged grizzly bear.

Art Salvagno and I had a great time working on this story back in 1981 and again when we revised it in 1995. Ed Haskell offered patient and indispensable service in creating this Kindle edition. Sadly, we had to lose some of Art’s great double-page illustrations when converting the story to the required format. We’ll tinker with our effort in coming months and try to wedge some of the drawings back in – I promise!

By the by, Flower Tumbles won the Salinas Californian’s 1981 John Steinbeck Award for best fiction – not too shabby!

It’s free on Kindle unlimited and otherwise $2.99. Here’s the Amazon link:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y5NSHX4/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1491901764&sr=1-1&keywords=flower+tumbles+walton

Teacher Pals, here’s a link to  lesson plans posted on TPT. They’re good, if I do say so myself!

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Flower-Tumbles-lessons-and-activities-for-the-Steinbeck-Award-winning-story-3115748

Mission Days – April 1st, 2017

Mission San Antonio de Padua holds an annual celebration of California history. I was most pleased to participate in the 2017 event as story-teller and visiting author. The hundreds of visitors and dozens of presenters enjoyed an April spring day – mild sunshine, warm breezes and perfume of wildflowers – that only the  San Antonio Valley can produce – a heavenly visit to old California. I got to share Native American stories about silly Tarantula and how Kangaroo Rat got his blackened tail. I hope to be included once again next year!

Principia Ponderosa is out!

Principia Ponderosa (Third Flatiron Anthologies Book 18) just came out today. “Welcome to the “Principia Ponderosa,” land of wide-open spaces and
dark dreams. This new anthology from Third Flatiron features 17
stories that combine elements of the Western with other literary
genres, including steampunk, fantasy, occult, and horror. We invite
you to mount up and ride with us into the sunset.” My “La Loca” is included, though it takes place somewhat after sunset!

El Niño’s Tears

Photo by Ed Haskell

Friend Ed Haskell’s gift and craft is to find and capture transcendent images. I try to kindle images in others’ minds by relating what I see in words. It’s a gratifying surprise when it turns out that he and I perceive the same thing. I think this happened at Mission Days last month. You be the judge:

http://www.quailbellmagazine.com/the-unreal/poem-el-ninos-tears