Chaco Canyon and The Turquoise Legacy

            

            Chaco Canyon and The Turquoise Legacy. To win an e-copy of both books—My Heart Will Find Yours and Flames on the Sky get your comments in TODAY! Books will be awarded on June 17, 2017.

It’s fascinating for those of us who write flying by the seat of our pants when ideas and settings fall into our laps. I’d written My Heart Will Find Yours, a time travel romance that involves an antique turquoise locket. It has magical powers and transports Texanna Keith back to 1876 Waco, Texas. I wanted to write a sequel and knew the story would be set in the present, would include time travel, and revolve around an ancestor of Texanna’s. My research began with turquoise in the Southwest and boy-o-boy, I hit a goldmine—Chaco Canyon in New Mexico.

Interestingly enough, my husband and I had visited Santa Fe and Madrid, New Mexico and been on part of the Turquoise Trail, though unfortunately we did not visit the Carrillo Mines where the Anasazi of Chaco Canyon obtained most of their turquoise back around 1000 AD. Chaco Canyon was a center of trade and prosperous during their time trading turquoise for items not available to them in the canyon. Remains of parrots, macaws, seashells and other artifacts indicate traders came from far distances to barter with the Anasazi.

The Anasazi occupied Chaco Canyon between 850 AD and 1100 AD. No one knows exactly where they went or what happened to them. There are several theories surrounding the mystery. The one I prefer to believe is they migrated to live with other Pueblo tribes.

Chaco Canyon is a mysterious place and covers a vast amount of space. It includes ten buildings, some of which are believed to have been five stories high. “Pueblo Bonito also the center of an elaborate solar calendar:  all of the buildings are either part of the solar calendar that traces the 18.5-year lunar cycle.”

A large rock structure, Fajada Butte, is seen as you enter the canyon. There archaeologist discovered a sun calendar that has been named “The Anasazi Dagger.” “Concentric circles carved in the rock, with slabs of rock placed in just such a way that would make the light passing through turn into a dagger which, when it hit the circles would reveal the solstices and equinoxes.”

It is now believed that the entire Chaco Canyon, the way that its buildings were placed, the directions of the roads, etc. indicate they were aligned so as to line up with the arch of the sun and moon on important dates of the year.

Though Pueblo Bonito is the most impressive structure, my story, Flames on the Sky, revolves around Una Vida as it is nearer the visitor’s center and the setting was perfect for the scenes I created back in 1000 AD.

If you’ve not visited Chaco Canyon, you should stop by if you’re ever in the neighborhood.

References:

http://www.garygordonproductions.com/chaco2.html

http://www.angelfire.com/indie/anna_jones1/sundagger.html - photo of sundagger.

http://www.jqjacobs.net/southwest/chaco.html - photo of Fajada Butte and photo 2 of sundagger.

Links of interest:

http://www.nps.gov/chcu/planyourvisit/directions.htm

http://www.exploratorium.edu/chaco/HTML/canyon.html - this site has interactive videos showing solstice patterns and lighting changes in the canyon.

Here is an excerpt from Flames on the Sky, the second book in the Turquoise Legacy.

“Yes, you need to tell me about the dreams. They started at the time you received the necklace, right?”

Madison nodded. “How did you know?”

“I assumed the ancient Elders would haunt you, but when Lonan called yesterday, I knew so for a fact.” Her smile was sympathetic. “Tell me about them.”

Lilly’s eyes lit with excitement as Madison talked. When she finished, the older woman leaned back and closed her eyes.

Lonan’s brow was furrowed, his mouth pinched. “What did you mean when you said, ‘You are the one’?”

She pierced him with an intent look. “Did not Madison say you were the very image of the warrior in her dream? The prophecy requires that someone from the past, which is you, Son, be chosen to be Madison’s protector.” Lilly turned to Madison.

Oh, no. I don’t think I want to hear this. She held up her hands and shook her head. “No—”

“Yes, Madison, with hair of fire, whether you like it or not, the gods chose you, someone from the future, to find the third stone and reunite the twins with the mother stone. Together, you two will find a way to consign the evil one to the pit below Mother Earth, where he belongs.”

Please leave a comment. On the 17th, a name will be drawn for both books in e-book format.

Thank you for stopping by and Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda

Writing Time Travel Romances and Birdie's Nest

Why I Like to Write Time Travel Romances set in the Old West

While growing up, like most children, I watched Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, Rawhide, Have Gun Will Travel,  and other western television programs in black and white. Life in many ways was romanticized and fodder for a young girl’s imagination. I’d daydream. If I lived back then, would I be the banker’s wife, a poor farmer’s wife, the schoolteacher or one of Miss Kitty’s girls. Of course I had no idea what saloon girls did other than pour drinks and sit on men’s laps.

So, this love of things past carried over into my adult life. I went to college and trained to be a teacher, but loved my history courses. We learned interesting tidbits about politics and living in the white house. President Rutherford B. Hays, to the delight of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union banned wines and liquors from the White House. To get around the President’s decree, some staff and visitors injected oranges with vodka. It wasn’t uncommon to see people sucking on oranges. This ruling led Prohibitionists to vote Republican in the coming election.

I became a Home Economics Teacher (now called Family Consumer Sciences) but often regretted not getting a degree in history. Yet, studying Home Economics gave me the opportunity to learn about the history of dress, furniture styles and housing.

I digress here, but wanted to share my love of history which led to writing time travels that are set in the old west. The first one I wrote, My Heart Will Find Yours, I struggled with how I would make travel through time and space possible. A writer friend suggested I read up on ley lines, energy fields and ancient artifacts (ex. standing stones). While reading I also ran across data on spin torsion fields, a method used in the sequel Flames on the Sky. Oh boy I had fun with these.

It is hard, however, to make the methods believable. There has to be a key to make it possible. For example in Outlander, there were the standing stones. I've read stories where gateways open at different phases of the moon. I'm sure each of you could list an example of a method you've seen used. If you would, please list them in the comments below.

I hope I’m successful in making my methods of time travel believable. And I want life in the past to be factual and credible when I send my heroine back in time to a prior time period. Oh, the fun I have writing these stories. We are so lucky to live in this modern time where things are so easy. Imagine, learning to cook on a wood stove, churning your own butter, wearing a corset and being restricted from what men considered unladylike pursuits. The hardest thing for my heroine, Texas Ranger Birdie Braxton, to cope with in 1890 is not being allowed to participate in unladylike pursuits—mainly police work.

An idea for a new time travel is perking in my mind, but I'm having difficulty coming up with a method. It is to be set in Waco again sometime in the late 1800s. I'm stuck on the Victorian era as I love the styles.

I hope this gives you a little insight into why I like to write time travels. Thanks for stopping by today. Please take a look at my other books on my website. Birdie’s Nest is available at Amazon.com     

 

Blurb:

Texas Ranger, Birdie Braxton boards the Brazos Belle to attend a costume party, gets tossed into the Brazos and when she's pulled from the river she's told the year is 1890. A fact she can’t accept … until she looks across the river to see Birdie’s Nest, her ancestral home, no longer exists.

Tad Lockhart is a content man—a prosperous rancher with a ladylove in Waco. He's not interested in marriage and family, yet … until he pulls an unconscious woman from the Brazos who insists she's a Texas Ranger from the year 2012.

As romance blooms between Tad and Birdie, she struggles to earn enough money to build Birdie’s Nest, and Tad strives to mold Birdie into a Victorian lady suitable to be his wife. Can Birdie give up dabbling in police work and other unladylike pursuits yet stay true to herself? When faced with an indiscretion from Tad's past, is Birdie's love strong enough to support her man and be the woman he needs?

Excerpt:

His mother, Olivia Lockhart, listened intently as Tad talked. She enjoyed a good story and his tale of saving Miss Braxton titillated her interest.

                  “You say she thinks it’s the year 2012?” She fanned her face with her napkin. His mother wasn’t overly large but her face was often red, and she complained about the heat. “The poor dear. Do you think she’s crazy, son?”

                  “No, ma’am. Her blue eyes are clear as a bell and she talks rationally. If I didn’t know it was impossible, I’d believe her.” He took another bite of roast beef and swallowed. “She had a gun holster strapped to her leg and a Texas Ranger’s star pinned to it.”

                  She paled and the fanning increased in intensity. “You looked under her skirts?”

                  “No, Mother. The nurse who undressed her found it and turned it over to the detective in charge of the case. He showed it to me.”

                  “Well, thank goodness. All we need is another scandal to tarnish our good name.” She shot him a heated look. “If you’d just settle down, you’d --”

                  “Mother, don’t start that again or I’ll take my meals in the bunk house.”

                  She sniffed. “Well, I’m just saying, you’re not getting any younger.”

                  He laughed. “I’d hardly call thirty-five old.”

                  Her mouth turned down at the corners and she sputtered. “Well, I’m not getting any younger, and I’d like to dandle a grandchild or two on my knee before I die.” She fanned her face again. “At the rate I’m going, it may not be that far off.”

                  Tad blew out a breath. “Mother, you are not that old. I’ve seen you run up and down these stairs like a woman half your age.”

                  She pursed her lips and glared.

                  “When I find a woman who can keep my interest for more than a day, then I’ll marry.”

                  “What about that woman you’re keeping time with in town. What if she turns up pregnant and expects you to marry her?”

                  Thank goodness his sister was visiting with friends tonight. He didn’t want her impressionable young ears to be privy to his private affairs, which his mother considered scandalous.

                  “She’ll be sadly disappointed because I’ll not marry someone I don’t love. Plus, I’m not sure she’d be faithful.” As far as pregnancy, Doc Floyd kept him in a supply of condoms. Odd how the Comstock Law allowed a man to have access to them to prevent disease, but wouldn’t let him use them to prevent his wife from getting pregnant. Didn’t make a lick of sense to him. If he fathered a baby out of wedlock, he’d see the child was well taken care of.

                  “It’s a sinful relationship. God is going to strike you dead one of these days.”

                  “Let’s drop the subject, Mother.”

                  “Mark my words, your clandestine affair will come back to haunt you.”

                  He didn’t know how secret the relationship was, but if it bit him on the butt, so be it. He was ready to call it quits anyway.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you'll leave a comment, especially if you have an idea for a mode of time travel. All help is appreciated.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda

www.lindalaroque.com

http://www.lindalaroqueauthor. blogspot.com