Inky Horizons

Coming to Mesilla was a big help to me in thinking about Western (specifically New Mesican) towns, how they are laid out, what the water situation is and how they get water to the town. Along with the history, the surrounding valley, the farms and orchards along the Rio Grande, the layout of the streets and the overall scenery, it was very helpful.

All the Old Towns I visited were good. I think Albuquerque's is the more beautiful, but this one was closer to what might have been going on in Haxan. At least as far as some of the history of its growth goes, if nothing else.

Here are some quick pics of Mesilla, NM.

Dust storm starts to blow up


It gets so bad it's a white out and we drive back to the visitor center.
They even lost power it was so fierce. But we made it out okay.
Gotta love New Mexico!

Albuquerque from the top of Sandia Crest

This is the working part of the vacation. The nuts and bolts of why I wanted to come in the first place.

For the past two days I've been in Las Cruces and Mesilla. LOTS of research and study and walking. My feet are sore. Lots of good food, too.

Tons of pics, but again I'm just too exhausted to post any. But every night I download them into my computer so I don't lose them, so they're all safe. You'll get to see them, and some are definitely going on the Haxan page of my website.

Here's what I've seen the last two days: Truth or Consequences, Socorro, Las Cruces and Mesilla. I spent a good part of the day yesterday in White Sands. I spent the ENTIRE day today in Mesilla, which is the old part next to Las Cruces. I saw old adobe buildings right off the sqaure of Mesilla. For someone like me that was like striking gold.

I like both LC and Mesilla, but there is a ton of history in Mesilla and it has helped me immeasurably with thinking about the Haxan stuff. Lots of history there, too.

I'll be here again tomorrow for more research and work, and then it's on to Carlsbad. It looks like it may actually rain tonight.

I spent from 9:30 in the morning to 5 pm in Mesilla, all by myself. I LOVED it. I stayed busy. But by five in the afternoon I figured it was time to treat myself, so I found a cantina and started drinking margaritas. That capped off the entire day.

Hee.

I liked Taos. I liked Santa Fe.

I LOVE Albuquerque.

I like the climate and the city is big, but not too big. There's lots to do and you're in the desert, which I love because it's HOT without any humidity and the Sandia Mountains are to the north standing hard against the deep blue sky and the food is to die for.

Yeah. I really like Albuquerque.

I'll try and get some pics for you soon as I can.

I spent five hours wandering around the plaza today in Santa Fe. I enjoyed it, going in and out of shops and stuff. Got some pics of the Santa Fe River. What a trickle!

I like Santa Fe, but it seems their whole perspective is focused on art. Nothing wrong with that, but it appears many other things are pushed to the side as a result. Everything is art and galleries here. That's how I see it, anyway.  But it is beautiful and the food is fantastic.

Tomorrow, Albuquerque!

Pueblo


Iconic image of New Mexico


Matthew and Patrick get their feet wet in the Rio Grande!

Okay, that's it for now. Today I'm headed to the plaza in Santa Fe.

So far I'm loving New Mexico. I'm reading all your comments but I hope you'll forgive me if I don't have time to comment back. I'm just too busy. I hope you understand but I AM reading them and they mean a lot to me.

I'm getting lots of ideas, too! I'm taking LOTS of pictures and will try to post some on a regular basis (semi-regular, half-ass regular?) basis as I can. Okay, here are some pics from Taos:

Made it to Santa Fe today. Beautiful country. I took some pics and made notes about the countryside, but I'm too tired to post the pics tonight. I'll do it this weekend, though.

So far so good. Santa Fe is beautiful. Having fun. Tomorrow I'm going to the 24th Annual Taos Pueblo Pow Wow. I'm REALLY looking forward to that. I bet it's going to be cool. Lots of great restaurants in Santa Fe, too.

Okay, I'm tired now. Off to bed. More tomorrow.

Finished "The Weight of Memory" today. I like the way this one turned out. It's from a different POV and clocks in at about 2500 words.

I don't think I'm going to start a new story during the New Mexico vacation, but I'll have this one and "Ozymandias" to edit. That should keep me busy on the writing front. I plan on doing a LOT of research.

Okay, gotta pack and stuff and get ready for my trip.

I sold my David Weber interview to Strange Horizons. When it goes live I'll provide links and stuff. Yay!

Last night wedschilde and tx_cronopio came over for grilled burgers and beer. Oh, and there were also dragon cupcakes loaded down with sugar for maximum Sugar Impact for the kids, so how could the night not be a rousing success?

We had a good time. We talked about writing and then writing some more. When we were done we talked about more writing. It was fun. You know how it is when writers get together. They often talk about writing. Heh.

I had a really good time. I hope we can get together again sometime. My only complaint is that it wasn't nearly hot enough to show wedschilde what true Texas heat can be like.   :P

I'm headed to the Land of Enchantment at the end of the week for a long-planned and much needed vacation. Leaving Friday. I'm going to go to Santa Fe and Albuquerque but spend a most time around Las Cruces (Haxan country, haha) for research purposes.

I hope I can see some of my friends in NM, but I'm just not sure how much free time I'll have.  I will try if I can, though. This is actually going to be more of a working vacation than anything else but I'm still looking forward to it. I hope it will help with the stories.

I'll be sure to take pics and post them, and I hope to have regular updates of what we're doing here on my LJ.  

Gotta get back to work on the new story tomorrow. It's still looking like it'll be kind of a short one so I'd like to finish it before I leave for NM. I don't want a story hanging over my head while I'm trying to do research about New Mexico. I don't like that.

Today I had an opportunity to meet my writing buddy at the coffee shop. I wasn't expecting it, but it was nice. So since I was there I decided maybe I should try and start my new story even though I hadn't planned that until later this week.

I wrote three pages on the new story. So far so good. It's a Haxan tale (what isn't these days) and I'm experimenting a little here. The POV is someone other than Marwood. So far I'm enjoying playing with this. I'm still curious as to where it will go. It also seems like a story that will be pretty short, too. It has that feel about it.

Tomorrow I have Internet stuff I must do for my writing and then I'll try and do more on the story.

You don't quit with a year and half to go in your first term as governor unless something is majorly wrong. Majorly.

You don't release the story on a Friday, which is typically a garbage day you want to use to bury a story, if you're quitting the governorship because you are thinking of running for president in 2012. 

You don't belong to a political party that jabbers 24/7 about personal responsibility and then bail when the shit hits the fan.

Unless the shit is itself of such nuclear toxicity, such Mega-lethal Kryptonite, that you have no other choice.

There's more to this story than meets the eye. 

I think I know what it is.

I got up early, had breakfast and coffee, and went out on the back porch to write.  Eight pages later I had the story finished.

It turned out okay.  I'm pretty happy with it.  But I"ll let it sit a week or two before I start the final edit.  In the meantime I'll be thinking about a new story.  Probably a Haxan one.  No surprise there, of course.  I have to decide which one, though.  That's cool.

My main sense is one of overwhelming relief.

Now I have the rest of the day all to myself.  I'm going to hit a used bookstore and bum around, then treat myself to a meal at Gloria's Restaurant.

I'm happy.

I did eleven pages on "Ozymandias" today.  I sat on the back porch and worked.  The end is definitely in sight.  Ten more pages, or thereabouts, and I'll be done with this story.  Maybe a little less. That's the feel it has.

Can't say as I'm sorry to put it behind me when that happens.  Even though the story itself isn't so bad.  It's okay I think, with a little Orpheus in the Underworld sideshow thrown in for good measure.  But what do I know. I really do believe the worst judge of his work is the writer himself. I believe that devoutly.

Anyway, I made really good progress today and the end is in sight. So I'm going to have to force myself even more to toe the line and finish this story.

I'm just tired of working on this project, that's all.  I"m ready for something new.

I did 50 miles on my bike this week. Not bad, considering I lost an entire weekend to Fish Poisoning and it rained all day Monday. I did 28 miles today. That's a lot of ringing my little bell!

My little bell rocks.

I bet you're wondering if I'm working on my story or goofing off.