By: Kathie Scrimgeour
Wes Redfield fell in love with New Mexico when he taught at the University of New
Mexico. He was
drawn to [the state’s] old, deep, and sometimes tragic history, which resulted
in his series of historical fiction novels. In researching for these, he found
books published in the 1840s provided more information on the time period than
in modern books and articles.
Wes Redfield fell in love with New Mexico when he taught at the University of New
KJ Scrim: Your debut novel, Sangre de Cristo: The Blood of Christ
will soon be followed by Santa Fe: Holy Faith, and the final installment, Santa Cruz:
Holy Cross. Tell us a little
bit about these.
Wes Redfield: My first novel, Sangre
De Cristo: The Blood of Christ, is a coming-of-age story about a
young American in Spanish New Mexico who must come face-to-face with the slave
trade in Indians. It is raw, because I believe that is the only way to
treat slavery. My second is Santa
Fe: Holy Faith. It has the same characters and deals with abuse
of debt peonage, persecution of Crypto-Jews (Jews who faked being Catholic to
escape the Mexican Inquisition), and the origins of Penitentes, a secretive
religious sect. The third in the series, Santa
Cruz: Holy Cross, is about a short, brutal civil war between Hispanics in New
Mexico. Few scholars or fiction authors write about it.
KJ: What part of this
series did you enjoy writing the most?
Wes: So far, Santa Fe: Holy Faith because of the
intrigue and risks taken by Crypto-Jews against the Mexican Inquisition. I also
enjoyed debunking myths about Penitentes.
I am one of the few writers to treat them sympathetically.
PPW: What is the biggest
challenge you faced when writing and researching for these, and how did you
resolve it?
Wes: Finding information on
the civil war between Hispanics was the most challenging. Little has been written in modern times about
it, perhaps, a big perhaps, because certain groups don’t want the public to
know about it. But several books published in the 1840s contain valuable
information. One, Josiah Gregg’s Commerce
of the Prairies published in 1844, is still in print. Also until the last
twenty years little was written about the slave trade in Indians or the plight
of Crypto-Jews.
KJ: Do you set daily, weekly, or monthly writing goals?
Wes: Yes, absolutely. Writing is hard work. At least for me I need a disciplined schedule.
I start writing about 8:30 in the morning and go until noon when my brain gives
out. Then in the late afternoon I begin revisions of the first draft. I try to
not write on weekends. Writing is my new job. I wrote Santa Fe in a year. I think I can maintain that pace.
KJ: I noticed you used
Createspace to publish your first novel. Is this a platform that could be
easily used by anyone? What were the
advantages for you to self-publish?
Wes: I have found CreateSpace
to be easy to work with. Self-publishing is worthwhile in my opinion to
establish a platform. But the big problem for some people is marketing. Fortunately, I worked in marketing and sales
(they are different) in telecom, computing, and medicine. Initially, I did not
market Sangre de Cristo because I
knew my writing would improve. Now that I have a series, I will kick off an
aggressive marketing campaign. We shall see how it works.
KJ: Writing conferences,
workshops, and critique groups are an important part of all writer’s growth. What
have been a few of your favorite experiences?
Wes: All three have been
beneficial, particularly critique groups.
When I first attempted writing, I attended the Capitol Hill critique
group in Denver headed by Terry Wright. I had a long way to go, and still do,
but several published authors were members. I have attended numerous workshops
in Denver and Boulder, and I won first place in a nationwide contest for
historical fiction sponsored by the Southwest Writers Group in Albuquerque by
submitting an early draft of Sangre de
Cristo. Attending the awards banquet was a thrill.
KJ: Do you have any
“self-help for writers” books that you use regularly? Please share your list of
your top two or three.
Wes: I bought many of the
usual books until I realized that most of the authors had never written
successful fiction. The best book I’ve found is John Truby’s The Anatomy of Story. Several people
have excellent series of videos on the Internet. They include John Truby,
Robert McKee (of “Write the truth.”), and Stephen King and John Grisham have a
series of two videos together. What a powerful team! I also subscribe to Robert
McKee’s and Steven Pressfield’s newsletters/blogs. An excellent blog is edittorrent,
http://edittorrent.blogspot.com/ The producers of it, Alicia and Theresa, are
working editors, and lately their workload has been heavy, and they have made
fewer posts. However their index
contains many valuable posts. Alicia has recently begun a newsletter for
writing fiction. One can subscribe to it from the edittorrent blog.
PPW: Does your reading
influence your writing? How?
Wes: Absolutely! The most influential writing for me is a series
set in the West by A.B. Guthrie, Jr. He won a Pulitzer for his second novel The Way West, but his debut novel The Big Sky is his best in my opinion. I
have tried to write in his style, which is in deep point of view, in the
vernacular, and sudden--danger and risks appear suddenly. I also studied, I
mean really studied, John Grisham’s novels to try to understand why they are so
popular. My conclusion is that they have conflict and tension on nearly every
page. I read a lot of historical fiction such as works by Margaret George, Robert
Graves, Michener, Leon Uris, and Anita Dianant’s great little novel The Red Tent. Also works by Steinbeck
and Hemingway. Hopefully, I learned something about economy of words from
Hemingway. Willa Cather and Cormac McCarthy wrote the two best novels about New
Mexico in my opinion. Cather’s Death
Comes for the Archbishop is sweet and McCarty’s Blood Meridian is brutal. I’ve tried to split the difference.
KJ: If you met someone who
was thinking about starting to write, what advice would you give them?
Wes: Write, write, write. Learn
by doing. And read critically. Try to analyze what authors are doing to gain
their objectives. Understand that conflict and tension are the essence of
fiction. I am amazed at how many people don’t understand that. And definitely
join a critique group.
Contact Wes Redfield at:
LinkedIn - Wes Redfield
Email – wes_redfield@hotmail.com
Are you a member of Pikes Peak Writers and interested in being interviewed? Contact Kathie Scrimgeour at K.J. Scrim
Are you a member of Pikes Peak Writers and interested in being interviewed? Contact Kathie Scrimgeour at K.J. Scrim
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