Authorpreneur Dashboard – Cathy Ann Rogers
Here Lies Buried
Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
History! Mystery! Murder! Looking for family among strangers, a woman finds that seeking out distant relatives can be deadly and that some Arizona mysteries are better left buried! PILAR SAGASTA steps into a world of cunning deception when she travels to Arizona to connect with her late grandfather's sister, Virginia. Eager for details of their Mexican history before the family fled the political turbulence in 1916, Pilar realizes quickly that she made a mistake. Far from the loving relatives she envisioned, she finds a group of odious characters who doubt her motives and want nothing more than to drive her away. When Virginia dies suddenly, Pilar takes that as her cue to leave. But when she agrees to investigate after another relative is murdered, she discovers her family has a dubious past enmeshed in unsolved Arizona robberies, foreign politics, missing loot, and murder. Secrets buried deep in the past reach to the present generation and obscure motives in a family where no one is who they seem and everyone has a secret to hide.
Book Bubbles from Here Lies Buried
Evil Shadows
As a child, I remember experiencing stark terror as I ascended a flight of stairs with the darkness following close behind me. I had no doubts that evil lurked in the shadows of the first floor, ready to reach out to grab me if I didn't run fast enough. I outgrew most of my childhood fears, but every once in awhile, after I switch off all the lights on the first floor, I run up the stairs in a panic, too spooked to look behind me.
Childhood Fears
I will always remember the dread of walking through the basement door as a child. Apprehension that a scary man, no face, only the merest form of a human, hovered just around the next wall, prepared to grab at me when I passed. Every trip down those stairs set my nerves on edge, safe as I thought I'd be bykeeping my back against the wall as I descended. Even after I reached the light switch and saw the illuminated rooms, I'd complete my task and run back up the stairs, barely out of the monter's reach. When I wrote this scene, I knew I had to show Pilar, now an adult, reverting back to that childhood fear just as I still do sometimes.
Revolutionaries
Looking back at the tumultuous early twentieth century, I am humbled by the courage of the people to risk the certainty of a familiar way of life (as oppressive as it was), for the mere chance to achieve financial rewards and political influence in an unknown future government. Driven by desperation not only to improve their working and living conditions, but to ensure their survival at its most elementary, they challenged corrupt political systems established centuries before them—physically present, emotionally committed, and morally justified—not too different from events happening around the world today.
Mexican Soldaderas
During my research into the Mexican Revolution, I discovered the women known as the Soldaderas. While we have all seen movie renditions of frontier women taking up guns and getting into the fields to temporarily replace their men , I could not recall an actual account of women present on the battlefield. Their actions were logical. It was not uncommon in those days that battles were lost when men abandoned their army to be with their families. There are those who say the success of the Mexican Revolution was due to the Soldaderas supporting efforts though they did not receive public recognition for their sacrifices.
1881 Rogers Lake, Arizona
When I first read about the unsolved robberies from the late 1800s, I knew I had to incorporate the details into this book. In our age of forensics, computer technology, and instant communication, we can forget how easily some outlaws concealed their crimes. About the only sure way an outlaw was caught was either by victim statements or the literal smoking gun. What peaked my interest the most were the eyewitness accounts that some of the outlaws were women. My research revealed there were several well-known female bandits in those days-some rather successful.
