Synopsis

The Indian Queen would risk torture and worse to keep her secrets from these barbarians in suits of metal and their search for cities of gold. They never found the gold. Empires rose; empires fell, the centuries passed. Legend became fireside myths, but no treasure was ever found. Yet, among the grey-green drapes of wisteria and wild jasmine along the misty shrouded lowlands of bayous and marshes of the Westo River, the folktales persist.

In the lazed creep of a near-tropical dawn lit the pungent Turkish coffee permeates Moccasin Hollow. Beyond the kitchen door Lucky, Craige Ingram’s German shepherd gnaws a favorite bone. Looted burial mounds seem a world away until plundered mounds on Moccasin Hollow land brings amateur archaeologist PI Craige Ingram into the cross-hairs of kidnapping. Stealthy hideaways are concealed in old colonial brick-lined river grottoes beneath the big house of Ardochy plantation. Sex-tape underage blackmail and thrill killings on federal land spur a medical examiner’s preliminary postmortem to more than a hired cleaner’s quickie cover-up passed off as drug deals gone sour. Greed tangles a witch’s pigswill of illicit affairs and murder-to-hide-murder. Shady investigators and shadier politics stir an unexpected concoction that threatens the lives of those at Moccasin Hollow in a spiteful plot against ex-SEAL Craige Ingram and the woman he loves.

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Interview

Do you write every day? 

Absolutely…even if that comes down to scratching notes between airport boarding gates or boarding an overnight sleeper riding the rails–laptop gadgets really do come in handy for the quickie note-takin’.

Where do you write?

In a secluded no-window study…UNLESS…I’m out and about where there’s lots of warm bodies letting me make notes for downside-up characters/faces/body-shapes/clothes/ruffle-hair…the out of the ordinary or blend into the wallpaper.

What is your writing schedule?

Though not a written in stone schedule – early in the sunrise a.m. after my sunrise cup of Marine bilge-slurry coffee…then brunch…then afternoon usually deleting or editing “stuff” followed by an early snack. Take a walk or go to the gym and p.m. editing.

In today’s tech-savvy world, most writers use a computer or laptop. Have you ever written parts of your book on paper?

All of them. For the written word computers/laptops are typewriters with pages made into pictures; paper and pen bundled into printers/copiers/faxes. These contraptions are tools, and make 15-20 edits/drafts possible for a manuscript. First drafts are written pen-to-paper for scribble and scratch-outs…churning imagination/fantasy into warp-drive…developing characters, grabbing the setting, pace, theme, conflict and so much fun.

If you’re a mom writer, how do you balance your time?

Balancing time isn’t gender related. It’s a budget with one EXCEPTION…a body can’t buy more time. Spend more money (or time] than one has…one’s peace of mind vanishes. Cram one’s time beyond the rim of the proverbial over-filled glass can be destructive…Mother Nature will win – and sometimes win very unpleasantly. Keeping that in mind, I always try to pace myself and not schedule more in a day than I know I can handle.

If you could go back in time, where would you go?

…back to my horses and dogs BUT only if I could take what I’ve learned from my mistakes. I miss unencumbered country living with all its worldwide ‘tools’ it hammered into me.

About the Author

Internationally acclaimed author and public speaker, Hawk MacKinney began writing mysteries for his school newspapers. He served in the US Navy Reserve for over 20 years, and was a tenured faculty member at several state medical facilities, teaching postgraduate courses in both the United States and Jerusalem, Israel. Since retiring Hawk has authored several novels that have received national and international recognition. Moccasin Trace, a historical novel, was nominated for the prestigious Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction and the Writers Notes Book Award. The Cairns of Sainctuarie, his science fiction series, includes The Bleikovat Event and The Missing Planets, with a third book in the works. Hawk’s latest project focuses on The Moccasin Hollow Mystery Series. Book 1 in the series, Hidden Chamber of Death, was released early 2016.

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