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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