Most of Sketches from the Spanish Mustang was released between May 2011 and April 2012 as six novellas. Many people read them as individual stories and some provided feedback that let me know if I was headed in the right direction. The original idea was to sketch six people and tie them together with a seventh—the Artist—but going through the "serial" route, I was able to formulate a much better plan than waiting until they were all finished and releasing the novel without generating as much interest.
The following information is provided to give you a partial look into the creation of each story. They are listed in order of release.
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Nathan
Original Novella Title: The Retribution of Nathan James
Released: May 11, 2011
Nathan was the first character sketch, the one to kick it off, so-to-speak. The original sketch, however, had the man suicidal with a resolve that was seemingly unflappable. However, as he spent the last of his money in the Spanish Mustang, a strange thing happened: he won, and not just a small sum, either.
I didn't set out to write the retribution story that Nathan turned into, but I was strung along by the character until I had listened to what he had to say. I refused to force the story down his throat. This technique—going along for the ride with the character leading the way—is reflected in many other works.
Nathan James was also to be the introduction to a larger story about a treasure hunt. In the end, though, I felt the reader should be left to wonder if he did go after Rudy's hidden money or if he left it alone. Sometimes telling the whole story isn't as effective as telling just enough to make the reader think.
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Veronica
Original Novella Title: The Rebirth of Veronica Draper
Released: June 6, 2011
Veronica's story is one of the few sketches that didn't stray too far from the original notes. There were a few changes, however, in how and when her mother passed away. The Ice Festival that appears several places in the novel actually occurs in February of every year. If you get a chance, it's a sight to see. I took creative license in moving the festival to December, since it was in the December of Veronica's mother's life that everything took place.
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Dan
Original Novella Title: Mighty Chief Chappose Picks Berries
Released: July 6, 2011
In addition to all the research I did on the Ute tribes that currently reside in Colorado and Utah, I made sure I was well versed in the literature surrounding the original inhabitants of the Cripple Creek District. If you get a chance, I would suggest you read The Utes Must Go!: American Expansion and the Removal of a People by Peter Decker. This book provides a look at how pioneer settlement, racism and greed affected the Ute people.
I would like to mention that there is a ghost who hangs around the Boiler Room Tavern in the Hotel St. Nicholas in Cripple Creek. The spirit of a young boy, believed to be named Petey, mischievously moves small items or hides cigarettes in the bar. It's likely that Petey was an orphan who was cared for by the Sisters of Mercy in the St. Nicholas' early days when it was a hospital.
True story.
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Thomas
Original Novella Title: Cpl Thomas Tweed's War
Released: September 2, 2011
The original notes on Thomas Tweed significantly differed from what you read in this novel. Thomas was, at one point, to have seen his commanding officer, a man who put him in a position that allowed an IED to change his life. He was determined to kill the man, but after tying him up and beating him, Thomas learned the commanding officer also suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder caused by sending the squad into danger in the first place. It was meant to be a story wherein the viewpoint of an event is drastically different between two people who were at the same scene.
I strayed from the story immediately when I sat down one day and began writing out Tweed's journal entries. Yes, those journal entries you read in this novel are in a journal in my bedroom and they were written in the heat of the moment like someone might do if they found themselves alone in a hospital, unsure of even the time of day.
A note about the license plates: when I was younger, it was my grandmother who taught me to remember a license plate by making a phrase out of the letters. At that time, my parents had plates that read EAT-161. My grandmother studied the plates for a moment then said, "Everybody Attacks Tigers!"
I looked at her then back at the car. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. "Grandma," I said. "It says 'eat.'"
She smacked her lips and gave me a look that said I was being disrespectful to my elders. "Tigers," she muttered . . . and that was that.
Finally, there is a song out there by the alternative group Shinedown that really served as inspiration to the story of Thomas Tweed. Rather than quote any bit of the song, I encourage you to look up the video on YouTube.com or some other video sharing Internet website and see what I mean. The song is "What a Shame."
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Fulano
Original Novella Title: The Five Fortunes of Fulano
Released: January 11, 2012
Fulano was intended to be divided into two distinct renderings: an English-only version which would include only those Spanish words that are important to the story, and a mixed-language version where the dialogue of the migrant workers would be left intact. While my Spanish isn't good, I had thought I could separate the journey of Fulano across the border from the rest of the story by telling it in Spanish only. However, the translation of such a large amount of text was too difficult for this novice speaker. Perhaps in a later version of Sketches from the Spanish Mustang, the story will appear very mixed, indeed . . . assuming I can find a translator.
It was my feeling that the story should be read in its entirety as a mixed-language version. After all, the mix of our cultures is prevalent in the world today, and people don't always view America in English—especially if those people are migrant workers.
I feel the addition of Spanish to the story sets a different tone—one of isolation and wonder in a world that's not familiar. That isolation and wonder cannot be told the same way through an English-only version.
Finally, a word about Samaritans. Samaritans is the name of a group of people based in Tucson, Arizona. They hold no united political stance on the matter of immigration into the United States. Rather, they exist solely to prevent death in the deserts. In the 1950s, the American government decided the land in Arizona that borders Mexico is, of itself, a "natural border." That natural border, however, resulted in thousands of deaths. Between October 1, 1999 and September 30, 2007, a cartographer from Humane Borders plotted 1,138 known deaths in southern Arizona.
Samaritans hope only to prevent those deaths. Their mission is humanitarian in nature. If you'd like more information, I encourage you to check out Crossing with the Virgin: Stories from the Migrant Trail by Kathryn Ferguson, Norma A. Price and Ted Parks. This book was published by the University of Arizona Press in 2010.
By the way, "Fulano" is the Mexican equivalent of "John Doe."
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Carolyn
Original Novella Title: The Independence of Carolyn Woltkowski
Released: April 15, 2012
Of all the sketches, Carolyn was the most changed from the original sketch. In fact, her story wasn't supposed to be told at all.
I wanted to sketch the two boys seen in the opening and closing of the story. As a teenager exploring his sexuality, Brandon was slowly realizing he was gay. His friend, Josh, was forcefully denying the possibility he was, but it was fast becoming something he couldn't ignore. It was only in a moment of death and terror at the end of the sketch, that both of them would realize they were who they were.
I didn't write the sketch because Carolyn called to me and wanted me to tell her story this time around. It was important that I listened to her, and I decided to put the story of Brandon and Josh on hold for a bit.
By the way, the poem Carolyn recites is by Emily Dickenson.
I heard a Fly buzz - when I died -
The Stillness in the Room
Was like the Stillness in the Air -
Between the Heaves of Storm -
The Eyes around - had wrung them dry -
And Breaths were gathering firm
For that last Onset - when the King
Be witnessed - in the Room -
I willed my Keepsakes - Signed away
What portion of me be
Assignable - and then it was
There interposed a Fly -
With Blue - uncertain - stumbling Buzz -
Between the light - and me -
And then the Windows failed - and then
I could not see to see -