Historical Fiction
Spain is on the move in California and in turmoil at home. As wars ensue and revolutions brew, a Gypsy woman flees her captors, a young soldier dreams of a future, and a French naval officer conquers a dancer’s heart.
On the crescent shores of the great bay, a priest battles inner demons while pursuing men’s souls. An Ohlone chief worries. He does not understand his spirit guide, the Lioness. He hopes the shaman’s life force in his young daughter will point the way.
Set during the latter half of the turbulent eighteenth century, Five Hundred Moons spans nearly five decades and two continents as we follow the spirited Carmona family, Alta California’s Ohlone people, the zealous Junípero Serra and his Franciscan missionaries, and the heavy-handed Spanish military that sought to control them all. As richly drawn as the landscapes they inhabit, my characters meet indignity and deprivation with resourcefulness and compassion in the timeless search for where they fit in a world undergoing monumental change.
About the Author
Besides being something that I felt the need to accomplish in my lifetime, I wrote Five Hundred Moons because, since I was a young boy, I have wondered about the people in whose footsteps I tread. Along the beaches, over the coastal terraces, and in the redwood forests, the Ohlone lived and thrived without permanent structures, manufactured goods, domesticated animals, or traditional agriculture. They hunted and gathered to sustain themselves and formed societies that lasted hundreds if not thousands of years. They demonstrated fire ecology and managed the abundant natural resources surrounding them in a sustaining way.
I recently walked through the old-growth redwood loop near Felton, California. Surrounded by towering ancient trees, I felt the presence of its former inhabitants. I imagined I could hear their songs and see their villages spread out in the filtered light. To the Ohlone, those trees were as alive as any human who walked beneath them. I envisioned the great grizzly bear, the soaring eagle, the stealthy lion, and the cautious deer—all intimate to the Ohlone world. It is a world now lost, but I hope the mindfulness and sensibilities they practiced still hold a strong thread of existence in our present-day realities, perhaps rekindled in the reading of my book.
I'm 70 years old, retired, married for 43 years to my wife, Jennie. I live in Santa Cruz, California. I have three sons that live close by, as well as four grandchildren
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