Tales from the Desert: how New Mexico inspires one mystery novelist

"Life took me to other places but that heart-bond never changed."

Please give a warm welcome to my fellow author and Substacker, EA Mayes! I love her always thought-provoking substack, EA’s Mysteriousities, and her description of her soon-to-be-published novels is awesome. “EA Mayes writes action mysteries set in a beautiful but troubled New Mexico, think an aging Nancy Drew swerves her classic pickup truck into the set of Breaking Bad.”

How can you not be intrigued by that?

Here’s a brief description of her novel Rattlesnakes Strike Twice. (If you click through to her website, you can read an excerpt from the novel.)

Out-of-work anthropologist Minoa Diamond is back in Santa Fe when a childhood friend dies of rattlesnake bite. The police call it an accident. But rattlers turn up in too many strange places, like a venom trader’s hideout, a New Age diva’s oracle chamber, a deviant Penitente cult and somebody’s bathroom in a cheap southside housing development. Minoa must chase a rattler killer from the adobe mansions of Santa Fe’s historical zone to forgotten villages and ancient Indian pueblos in northern New Mexico to find out where the venom is really coming from. —from book description of Rattlesnakes Strike Twice

Tell us a little about your background and your novels. What inspired you to write the Minoa Diamond crime series?

New Mexico is in my bones and connective tissue for life. I grew up there, my family members lived and live there. Life took me to other places but that heart-bond never changed. New Mexico is culturally unique: a third Spanish-speaking with 19 Indian pueblos and a history of art and spiritual colonies.

Plus it’s a super interesting laboratory for what’s happening in our world: cultural clashes, narcotrafficking, gangs, wealth inequality, resource extraction, crime and more crime. I decided to update noir conventions with an educated woman investigator plopped into the middle of these ongoing crises New Mexico style.

Photo by Maddy Baker on Unsplash...

Are you like your protagonist Minoa in any way?

I’m fascinated by how people in different cultures view the world. My anthropologist protagonist studied other cultures and then came home with that greater awareness to face problems in her multicultural childhood home.

What kind of research do you undertake for your novels?

I research evolving and historical issues in New Mexico compulsively and then portray those conflicts in the books. I’m interested in mildly fictionalized reality that has relevance for the dilemmas we're facing today.

You’re obviously passionate about crime fiction, and based on reading your Substack newsletter/blog, you think deeply about it. (Note: Readers, check out EA Mayes' Mysteriousities!) What inspired your interest in this genre?

My mom read every murder mystery in the Albuquerque public libraries, so they were always around the house. I fell in love with classic noir and traditional mysteries and gradually became obsessed with figuring out what makes crime fiction tick.

In real life, which characters in your series would you like to hang out with?

Minoa Diamond has a couple pals who argue, ponder, give advice and show up when there’s trouble. One is a nerdy young woman who wants to become a physicist, the other is an environmental activist. I’d love to have a couple friends like that to chat about problems and disagree about solutions.

Out of curiosity, do you know any true crime or ghost-story-type legends from your hometown?

From alien remains in Roswell to La Llorona weeping by rivers and calling to children, New Mexico teems with ghosts and other weirdness. Some stories spring from real tragedies, like Dawson Cemetery by a former mine where disasters in 1913 and 1923 claimed 384 lives. Ghosts are often sighted at La Posada Hotel in Santa Fe, the Kimo Theater in Albuquerque, Ghost Ranch near Abiquiu and on and on. The living and the dead share the state.

Where can readers connect with you online?

Readers, please check out my substack at eamayes.substack.com. I’m in the process of publishing the first four Minoa Diamond mysteries. Find descriptions and New Mexico curiosities at eamayes.com.

Thank you for joining us! EA’s Mysteriousities has inspired at least one of my blog posts, Mystery Classes I’d like to take, and I anticipate that she’ll inspire another someday. If I ever need an expert on New Mexico, I know where to go!

In my personal life, I am continuing to query agents while writing a second novel. This particular book is giving me issues. Sigh.

I am also continuing to serialize Pawfect Partners, my attempt at writing a YA romcom, despite being neither a teenager nor a huge reader of romcoms. It’s about two ultra-competitive cross country teenage runners who must work together to raise money for an animal shelter before the crotchety landlord, the girl’s grandfather, forecloses on the property. Silliness, cliches, and first draft crappy writing abounds, so if you need something to laugh at during this stressful holiday season, here you go! (You’re welcome.)

Readers, this holiday season, let me say how thankful I am for each and every one of you. If you enjoyed this interview or have questions for Elizabeth, share them in the comments. I’d love to hear from you. As always, share this with your mystery-loving friends!