This story was inspired, in part, by a woman that I met from the Mexican state of Zacatecas. The woman wanted a colleague and me to visit a goldmine near her home. She told us that at sunset, the ghost of an Indian chief appeared in front of the opening to the mine shaft.
In writing this novel, I have attempted to interweave actual events with fictional events. For example, a colleague and I were arrested by the Mexican army near Tamazunchale. We did meet anthropologists studying Indian language at the Quinta Chilla. “Voodoo Hill” at San Pedro del Gallo is a real place. I did have a dream about my former wife dressed in a bridal gown rising from her grave and beckoning me to join her. As stated in the book, some of my colleagues also had weird dreams after visiting this strange place.
The characters in this story are fictional and are often based loosely on an ensemble of people I have observed over the years.
Finally, I should add that in light of the history of the earth, the geological events that occur in this story could actually happen. For example, the eruption of the Yellowstone Supervolcano could quickly change the earth’s climate from warm to cold within a period of a year; the monsoon cycle in the Southern Hemisphere might cease, causing severe draught and starvation in Southeast Asia; and the overall global temperature could drop by ten degrees.