Novel

tiny url

2011-01-30T12:05:00.003-07:00

here's a new trick Anna Philpot sent me -- a way to make your long url tiny, so it will fit in a tweet!

http://tinyurl.com/4brbfqz

New Year's Resolution

2011-01-30T10:39:00.003-07:00

My New Year's Resolution!

I'm going to revive the blog and ship around some of my newest writings. AND I'm going to learn to use Twitter and Tweet some of these around. Hope to see more of my fellow writing and reading fans in cyberspace!

Another Review - The Road From La Cueva

2009-11-01T09:17:00.002-07:00

And here are the lovely reviews from Andrew Weiss and Mike Costello - Nice...

A Non-fiction guy gets into a fiction chick book - who knew?, October 29, 2009
By
Andrew Weiss "Andrew" (Bethesda, MD USA) - See all my reviewsAfter browsing in a bookstore and finding nothing of particular interest I came across this book. I usually have a very hard time keeping my interest in fiction, particularly works that stray from the standard guy themes (Ludlum, Griffin, etc.) But I found this work particularly captivating and engaging. A relatively quick read, the powerful scenery descriptions that Ortego employs in creating her story is really quite remarkable. The story is believable and captivating. I highly recommend and am looking forward to her next effort.

A Woman of Valor, October 27, 2009
By
Michael L. Costello (Santa Fe, NM) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?) I cut my teeth on mystery novels and they're still my favorite reading, so I surprised myself by reading Sheila's movel at the recommendation of a friend. I loved her book -- and that's not something I say very often. Sheila told a story that was so real to me that I cried. Her Ana is indeed a woman of valor, fighting her way out of the dark into the light of friendship and love.

The Road From La Cueva - New Review

2009-11-01T09:14:00.001-07:00

Here's Nat's nice review from her blog: In Spring It is the Dawn

Thursday, October 29, 2009

'The Road from La Cueva'
This was a beautifully written story of a woman struggling to lead a life of her own choosing, trapped in a marriage by her overbearing, controlling husband but afraid to leave for the sake of their daughter. The story follows Ana as she comes to some realisations about herself and the people around her, and as she essentially learns how to become her own person. The author said in her guest post at Tip of the Iceberg that she “basically used [her] own life as material”, and the story did feel very real and personal. The author is also a poet, and I think that careful wordsmanship comes through very clearly in her prose. There were some wonderful descriptions throughout, as well as some clever metaphors that beautifully express Ana’s struggle to become free.
He ran his fingers around the rim of the cup. “See how this isn’t even? The Japanese call this 'shibui', the flaw that makes something beautiful. The shape has to have some room, some freedom.” …. “Like with people,” he said, and she nodded. As an aside, I loved this quote because I, too, admire the natural, 'flawed' beauty often seen in Japanese pottery. We don't have any really fancy dishes but some of my favourites are the ones that we picked up in Mashiko, one of the areas in Japan famous for pottery, quite a few years ago. Some might consider them rough, and asymmetrical, but I think they're beautiful.
She pictured how he must have looked when he wrote the letter, saw his hands, his chapped, strong, tender hands, as he penned it. … He hadn’t needed to say more. … The words lay cruelly on the thick gray paper. She imagined him planning it while chopping wood or wedging clay, giving his anger back to the earth, to hold for him. He would hold the anger in while he was at work. It would still be waiting for him when he got home. The anger would sleep with him at night, wrapping itself around his heart like the parasitic mistletoe on the juniper trees. It would reveal itself in the pots he made, in crude, squat stoneware heavy with the weight of their emptiness.I thoroughly enjoyed this slim novel and in fact, I would’ve been quite happy if it had been longer, but as it is, it’s a touching story with an important message. Namely, that no matter how we have ended up in a situation, whether through our own poor choices or not, we do have the power to change our circumstances, to escape if needed, if only we can find the strength within ourselves to do so. Truly, a lovely little book.The author is working on her next book, apparently to be set in Canada, and I very much look forward to reading more by Sheila Ortego in the future.For more information on the author or the book, visit Sheila Ortego's blog, and this article in the Huffington Post.Thank you to the author, Sheila Ortego, for the opportunity to read this book.Buy this book at: Amazon.com Amazon.ca Amazon.co.uk BookDepository.co.uk BookDepository.com

In Spring it is the Dawn and Amazon.com: New Reviews

2009-11-01T09:07:00.003-07:00

Oops - links didn't post -- here they are again!

http://www.amazon.com/Road-Cueva-Sheila-Ortego/dp/0865347115/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257091760&sr=8-1

http://www.inspringitisthedawn.com/

Three New Reviews of The Road From La Cueva!

2009-11-01T09:01:00.000-07:00

Here are three wonderful new reviews for my book The Road From La Cueva -- on the Amazon site, look for the ones by Weiss and Costello (reviews from guys -- rare...) and on the blog site: In Spring it is the Dawn, look for the review by Nat (nice).

http://www.amazon.com/Road-Cueva-Sheila-Ortego/dp/0865347115/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257091061&sr=8-1

http://www.inspringitisthedawn.com/

Henry Finney Inspired This Poem

2009-07-19T19:14:00.002-06:00

I really liked Henry Finney's 'Monster Myths' poem at the Live Poets Society meeting today - in fact, it inspired this poem. I can't explain it - it's sort of silly - like a dream - one in which good prevails, but you are left wondering what the tiger is all about. Illness? Work? Uncertainty? Maybe I will figure it out as I rewrite it a few times, but here my rendition is, as it stands today...

Tiger Hunger

You are swinging your arms
Walking on sunshine
So tall, the trees shimmer below
And the clouds circle your head

Everything is wrapped up
Tied in a shiny bow
I hang on your waist
Like Curious George
And you like the man in the Yellow Hat

And just when all is right with the world
This god-damned tiger
Leaps from undergrowth
Knocks you down
Starts gnawing on your leg

One funny thing I notice
Is that the tiger is smiling
He has you!!
He glances up to see if you’re writhing
but there’s not much pain
and no blood to speak of

You peel him off
(Taking action to save yourself! Good!)
And lean over to inspect the wound
It’s about 8 inches long
Enough to warrant stitches
He watches from the sidelines,
Still smiling, Cheshire-like.

He speaks.

Breakfast of champions,
he says
I’m a pro
Only the best for me, Sports Dude
Today, basketball players
Tomorrow, I’ll check out the hockey.

New Poems!

2009-07-19T07:34:00.002-06:00

As I head off for my Live Poets Society Meeting, I'll share with my e-audience the two poems I managed to squeeze in (write) between all the work projects: The Banshee E-Mail (written about the screaming, hysterical woman that won't leave me alone, otherwise known as E-MAIL; and Stopping Work on a Sunny Morning, a take-off on Robert Frost's Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening - and expression of how I look forward to leaving work behind and getting out in nature for a beautiful sunrise...

The Banshee E-Mail

120 wpm
furious, furious
hit keys faster
Banshee-mail
screaming, howling,
faster, faster
click click click
a message
more
100 messages a day
more
200 now
Answer! Answer Now!
don’t stop to think!
She wants your very blood
and she will have it
machine’s slave
eyes shackled
screen hysterical
more tomorrow
more tomorrow
more, more, more

The Banshee Creature – Defined by Wikipedia

The Banshee (pronounced /ˈbænʃiː/, BAN-shee), from the Irish bean sí ("woman of the síde" or "woman of the fairy mounds") is a female spirit in Irish mythology, usually seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld. Her Scottish counterpart is the bean shìth (also spelled bean-shìdh).

The aos sí (people of the mounds, people of peace) are variously believed to be the survivals of pre-Christian Gaelic deities, spirits of nature, or the ancestors. Some Theosophists and Celtic Christians have referred to the aos sí as "fallen angels". They are commonly referred to in English as "fairies", and the banshee can also be described as a "fairy woman".

The bean-sidhe (woman of the fairy) may be an ancestral spirit appointed to forewarn members of certain ancient Irish families of their time of death. Whatever her origins, the banshee chiefly appears in one of three guises: a young woman, a stately matron or a raddled old hag. These represent the triple aspects of the Celtic goddess of war and death, namely Badhbh, Macha and Mor-Rioghain.) She usually wears either a grey, hooded cloak or the winding sheet or grave robe of the unshriven dead. She may also appear as a washer-woman, and is seen apparently washing the blood stained clothes of those who are about to die. In this guise she is known as the bean-nighe (washing woman).

Although not always seen, her mourning call is heard, usually at night when someone is about to die. In 1437, King James I of Scotland was approached by an Irish seeress or banshee who foretold his murder at the instigation of the Earl of Atholl. This is an example of the banshee in human form. There are records of several human banshees or prophetesses attending the great houses of Ireland and the courts of local Irish kings. In some parts of Leinster, she is referred to as the bean chaointe (keening woman) whose wail can be so piercing that it shatters glass.

Stopping Work on a Sunny Morning

Whose work this is I think I know.
His house is in Chicago though;
He will not see me stopping here
To leave my work and rise to go.

My little dog must think it queer
To stop without an office near
And leave the reams in darkened rooms
The lightest morning of the year.

She gives her collar bell a shake
As if she sees the great surprise
The only other sound's the call
Of bird on wing and sweet sunrise.

The work I leave is deep and wide
But there’s a promise to myself to keep,
And miles to go before I die
And miles to go before I die.

For Reference:

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening – Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Commentary on Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening (from SparkNotes)

This is a poem to be marveled at and taken for granted. Like a big stone, like a body of water, like a strong economy, however it was forged it seems that, once made, it has always been there. Frost claimed that he wrote it in a single nighttime sitting; it just came to him. Perhaps one hot, sustained burst is the only way to cast such a complete object, in which form and content, shape and meaning, are alloyed inextricably. One is tempted to read it, nod quietly in recognition of its splendor and multivalent meaning, and just move on. But one must write essays. Or study guides.

Like the woods it describes, the poem is lovely but entices us with dark depths--of interpretation, in this case. It stands alone and beautiful, the account of a man stopping by woods on a snowy evening, but gives us a come-hither look that begs us to load it with a full inventory of possible meanings. We protest, we make apologies, we point to the dangers of reading poetry in this way, but unlike the speaker of the poem, we cannot resist.

The last two lines are the true culprits. They make a strong claim to be the most celebrated instance of repetition in English poetry. The first "And miles to go before I sleep" stays within the boundaries of literalness set forth by the rest of the poem. We may suspect, as we have up to this point, that the poem implies more than it says outright, but we can't insist on it; the poem has gone by so fast, and seemed so straightforward. Then comes the second "And miles to go before I sleep," like a soft yet penetrating gong; it can be neither ignored nor forgotten. The sound it makes is "Ahhh." And we must read the verses again and again and offer trenchant remarks and explain the "Ahhh" in words far inferior to the poem. For the last "miles to go" now seems like life; the last "sleep" now seems like death.

The basic conflict in the poem, resolved in the last stanza, is between an attraction toward the woods and the pull of responsibility outside of the woods. What do woods represent? Something good? Something bad? Woods are sometimes a symbol for wildness, madness, the pre-rational, the looming irrational. But these woods do not seem particularly wild. They are someone's woods, someone's in particular--the owner lives in the village. But that owner is in the village on this, the darkest evening of the year--so would any sensible person be. That is where the division seems to lie, between the village (or "society," "civilization," "duty," "sensibility," "responsibility") and the woods (that which is beyond the borders of the village and all it represents). If the woods are not particularly wicked, they still possess the seed of the irrational; and they are, at night, dark--with all the varied connotations of darkness.

Part of what is irrational about the woods is their attraction. They are restful, seductive, lovely, dark, and deep--like deep sleep, like oblivion. Snow falls in downy flakes, like a blanket to lie under and be covered by. And here is where many readers hear dark undertones to this lyric. To rest too long while snow falls could be to lose one's way, to lose the path, to freeze and die. Does this poem express a death wish, considered and then discarded? Do the woods sing a siren's song? To be lulled to sleep could be truly dangerous. Is allowing oneself to be lulled akin to giving up the struggle of prudence and self-preservation? Or does the poem merely describe the temptation to sit and watch beauty while responsibilities are forgotten--to succumb to a mood for a while?

The woods sit on the edge of civilization; one way or another, they draw the speaker away from it (and its promises, its good sense). "Society" would condemn stopping here in the dark, in the snow--it is ill advised. The speaker ascribes society's reproach to the horse, which may seem, at first, a bit odd. But the horse is a domesticated part of the civilized order of things; it is the nearest thing to society's agent at this place and time. And having the horse reprove the speaker (even if only in the speaker's imagination) helps highlight several uniquely human features of the speaker's dilemma. One is the regard for beauty (often flying in the face of practical concern or the survival instinct); another is the attraction to danger, the unknown, the dark mystery; and the third--perhaps related but distinct--is the possibility of the death wish, of suicide.

Not that we must return too often to that darkest interpretation of the poem. Beauty alone is a sufficient siren; a sufficient protection against her seduction is an unwillingness to give up on society despite the responsibilities it imposes. The line "And miles to go before I sleep" need not imply burden alone; perhaps the ride home will be lovely, too. Indeed, the line could be read as referring to Frost's career as a poet, and at this time he had plenty of good poems left in him.

July 18: Guest Author Post on Tip of the Iceberg!

2009-07-11T18:47:00.002-06:00

Check out Terri's book blog at

http://the-iceberg.blogspot.com/2009/07/book-giveaway-and-upcoming-author-guest.html

She's wonderful! Hope you sign up for a free book contest and read my guest author post!

New Review of The Road From La Cueva

2009-06-29T05:04:00.002-06:00

Here's a link to a new and wonderful review:

http://the-iceberg.blogspot.com/search?q=the+road+from+la+cueva

(And here's the text, for quick reference - but do go to the original site, as Terri's blog is beautiful and she reviews many wonderful books!)

The Road from La Cueva by Sheila Ortego
Title: The Road from La Cueva
Author: Sheila Ortego
Publisher: Sunstone Press, Santa Fe
Year: 2008

This beautifully written novel tells the story of one woman's journey of self-discovery. The novel not only contends with Ana Howland's increasing sense of being smothered by a domineering and controlling husband, but also shows her growing realization that she has always lived under the overbearing weight of an oppressive relationship. Neither her authoritarian mother nor her dictatorial husband can accept her as a separate and imperfect person.

The Road from La Cueva is full of metaphor and in the hands of Ortego, the use of this device brings a richness and poetry to a topic that might seem trite in other hands. We are given a deeper glimpse into Ana's struggles through the images of the hostile road from La Cueva, the stubborn clay shaped by the potter, and the Changing Woman Ceremony (sometimes called the Sunrise Ceremony).

The road to and from Ana's home is a very tangible representation of those oppressive relationships in her life. When this dirt road is dry, it is as hard and unyielding as rock ... ready to tear up and break what dares to pass over it. Wet, the road is even worse. It oozes over and sucks everything into it with "a satisfied, brown belch."

The beauty of the imperfect is gorgeously represented through the craft of pottery. As Ana learns this craft from Michael, a co-worker, she notices that one of his creations has an uneven rim.

He ran his fingers around the rim of the cup. "See how this isn't even? The Japanese call this shibui, the flaw that makes something beautiful. The shape has to have some room, some freedom." ... "Like with people," he said, and she nodded.

It is this very room and freedom that is lacking in Ana's life. She has allowed the oppressive behaviors of others to weigh down her very being and she knows that it is something only she can change.

One of the most beautiful chapters in the book is the one describing the Changing Woman Ceremony, a Native American ceremony celebrating the change from girlhood to womanhood. Ana already knows that the means to change her life is within reach. It becomes more apparent as she watches the ceremony and recognizes her own internal strength and power as a woman. No longer will she be passively shaped by others. Ana already has the ability to gain command over her weaknesses, to be physically and emotionally strong, and to endure and suffer with dignity. Before the readers' eyes, "[she is shaped] ... into the woman she [is] to become." Her deep compassion and resilience form a strong core around which to emerge.

The Road from La Cueva is an encouraging look at the power we all have to shape our own lives. The passion and beauty of the writing is something that will draw me back to this story repeatedly.

Rating: 5 of 5

**************************************

For more about Sheila Ortego, visit the author's website here.

Wowzio Tag Cloud

2009-05-30T18:37:00.002-06:00

So I just installed a 'Wowzio Tag Cloud' and will see how well that does with luring Oprah to my blog!!! (You know, Oprah WINFREY, of 'The Oprah Effect'?)

Besides, I think Oprah likes a lot of the same books I do, as listed on my Huffington Post article.

Here are some more "chick books" I highly recommend: Eat, Pray, Love; Breaking Her Fall; The Secret Life of Bees; The Beans of Egypt, Maine; Water for Elephants.

That's it for now -- off to start my next novel -- something on death, canoeing, redemption, water, nature, love...like that.

Cut and Paste from Huffington Post

2009-05-25T09:39:00.002-06:00

Sooooo...I couldn't get the live link to work! So here's the text, for those of you who couldn't make it over there to the Huffington Post

When I was interviewed about my novel The Road From La Cueva on Santa Fe RadioCafe, I was asked why a woman like the main character Ana would not fight harder for her own rights and independence, especially "in this day and age". My answer was: Have you ever heard of a battered women's shelter? A rape crisis center? Have you heard of a woman's plight in a third-world country, or in the third-world countries that exist for many women right here in America? I answered that Ana was the modern equivalent to Edna Pontellier in The Awakening, or Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, or Flaubert's Emma Bovary.

The Ana in my story is constrained, yet passionate. She is subsumed by a controlling husband, but desperately craving her own fulfillment. It is the age-old story of male domination and woman's struggle for fulfillment within real or perceived boundaries. What I like most about Ana is that through hardship and grim determination, she learns to look with her own eyes, to feel with her own heart. Unlike the tragic characters in the novels mentioned above, she discovers a deep well of resilience and compassion, with room for growth and freedom. Ana's story is one of a leap of faith, away from despair and toward life at its fullest.

This type of 'survival' response to oppression is not automatic, despite our relatively recent decades of feminism and "liberation". Women everywhere are still afraid -- of their husbands, of themselves and their own urges, of danger, of judgment. I wrote the book so that those who are disenfranchised might be empowered -- so that women who now see through the eyes of fear might learn, as Ana does, to navigate themselves through small but profound changes, into new ways of living, of relating to friends, their children, themselves.

I have spoken to many women about the book -- in New Mexico, Texas, and Maine, so far. I find that the women who understand it and love it the best are those who have experienced a similar oppression. I know that "in this day and age", women may technically have all the choices available to them that would allow them to live free and complete lives. But I also know that many of us, like Ana, do not readily have the tools or knowledge or skills to do so.

Look at some of the books in Oprah's book club:

Sula and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve
Here on Earth by Alice Hoffman

What are these if not depictions of women who have been weakened by their patriarchal worlds, and who have learned, painfully, of the need to move beyond such worlds?

Jane Brunton, one of the book reviewers featured on my blog www.sheila-novel.blogspot.com says:

[You depict] the way that our early familial relationships form the unseen scars that twist and warp all future relationships. When our lives are ruled by a controlling parent, we are ripe and ready for the plucking by a controlling partner. And how the controlee, almost feeling she deserves this treatment, becomes subversive rather than rearing up and fighting it out or simply scuttling away in the night...

And Linda Bankard says:

I could not put this book down. To me it was a true love story, not of the usual type that is so common, but a love story of a woman for her child, her father and a friend. When Ana was able to love herself, she found she was able to be loved by a man and not be his possession. This book will stay with me for a long time.

Why was my interviewer so doubtful of the relevance of such a theme in "this day and age"? I can only be grateful, for her and the many other young women who have apparently not known such oppression, for the women's movement that has provided such freedom for them. But I must also stress, as I did in the book, that many women today are not so lucky.

If you are a woman who has been oppressed, or even if you just know of one, get the book. Read it, and learn why Theresa Studer said:

This book could pertain to any number of women around the world in trouble. Ana learned that life is not always what you're handed, and you can change the outcome. [The Road From La Cueva] captured me, educated me, and let me see that there are true friends and love out there, you only have to reach for them.

Live Link to Huffington Post

2009-05-25T09:34:00.002-06:00

Trying again - to make this a 'live link' to Huffington Post. Hope it works!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sheila-ortego/the-road-from-la-cueva_b_205997.html

Huffington Post Link

2009-05-25T09:32:00.002-06:00

Here's the link to the article about The Road From La Cueva in The Huffington Post:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sheila-ortego/the-road-from-la-cueva_b_205997.html

Hope you read and enjoy!

Huffington Post

2009-05-24T20:21:00.001-06:00

Finally got a 'blurb' on the Huffington Post and I'm happy about that! There's a short article I wrote about the novel The Road From La Cueva and why I think it's important for women to read - or for anyone to read, for that matter!

New "Review" of The Road From La Cueva by Jane Brunton - Thanks, Jane!

2009-04-01T18:56:00.001-06:00

I had an uninterrupted read of your book.... right through from first page to last (no peeking).

The details you include, (about the potter's art, laboratory procedures inside a hospital, caring for a terminally ill person and folk lore) if not garnered by having lived in these other worlds, then they speak to your incredible powers of observation. This plays out in your descriptions of the characters you so clearly drew. My favorite character was Margaret. Earthy and warm as the Mother.

And the way that our early familial relationships form the unseen scars that twist and warp all future relationships. When our lives are ruled by a controlling parent, we are ripe and ready for the plucking by a controlling partner. And how the controlee, almost feeling she deserves this treatment, becomes subversive rather than rearing up and fighting it out or simply scuttling away in the night...
Lovely words (shibui), lyrical phrasing, (It was as if he reached in, searching for her heart, only to find the rock he'd built his house upon) and a good story.

Love the way you steer away from the hackneyed and create great descriptions of your own ....eyes darting like animals in a fire.

Being a fairly skilled sculptor in clay but a lousy potter I appreciated learning that my problem stemmed from having too definite an idea of what the outcome must be. I will keep in mind that the clay has ideas of its own and its best to heed what it shows you.

Anyway those are my thoughts. Thanks for a great read today! And a couple of good cries!

And many more to come we hope?

New Review on Terri's "Tip of the Iceberg" Blog

2009-03-31T06:26:00.002-06:00

Terri B. has a great blog - http://the-iceberg.blogspot.com/2009/03/sunday-salon-my-first-salon.html

Here's what she's said about The Road From La Cueva so far! Nice!

In current reading news, I just finished a gorgeously written book by Sheila Ortego titled The Road from La Cueva. Based on some of my other reading preferences, the author contacted me about reading and reviewing her book. The book setting is New Mexico and, since I have a love for this region of the U.S., I immediately agreed. I didn't want this book to end. I want to start over at the beginning and read it again. I think I will read parts of it again before reviewing it, but look for a review of this book soon. I hope my words will do it justice.

Week 2 Writing Course Quotes and Exercises

2009-03-27T12:16:00.005-06:00

Quotes for the Week:

To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive. - Robert Louis Stevenson

Every time you don't follow your inner guidance, you feel a loss of energy, loss of power, a sense of spiritual deadness. - Shakti Gawain

Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast--you also miss the sense of where you are going and why. - Eddie Cantor

Exercises

1. List twenty things you enjoy doing (rock climbing, roller-skating, baking pies, making soup, making love, making love again, riding a bike, riding a horse, playing catch, shooting baskets, going for a run, etc.). When was the last time you let yourself do these things. Next to each entry, place a date. Don't be surprised if it's been years for some of your favorites. That will change. This list is an excellent source for artist 'dates' (doing fun stuff to draw out your creative side).

2. Select and write out one horror story from your monster hall of fame. You do not need to write long or much, but do jot down whatever details come back to you--the room you were in, the way people looked at you, the way you felt, what your parent said or didn't say when you told about it. Include whatever rankles you about the incident: "And then I remember she gave me this real fakey smile and patted my head...." You may find it cathartic to draw a sketch of your old monster or to clip out an image that evokes the incident for you. Cartoon trashing your monster, or at least draw a nice red X through it.

- from The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron

Invitation to Write!

2009-03-27T05:38:00.002-06:00

Here's a little something to get you started -- a blank page! Click 'Comment' below and post whatever you want of your latest and/or greatest writing. And soon -- more writing course material coming up this weekend...

Reading at Santa Fe Public Library

2009-03-26T04:56:00.001-06:00

New Announcement from the Santa Fe Public Library - see their blog at:

http://santafelibrary.blogspot.com/

Thursday, April 9, 2009
7:00-8:30 pm
Main Library Community Room

The Road from La Cueva:
Ana Howland is at a crisis point. As a constrained yet passionate woman, she finds few outlets for her desires in her role as mother and wife. She is subsumed by a controlling husband, but is craving her own fulfillment. Her frustrations find outlets through a friendship with an eccentric neighbor and an affair with a man who respects her and nurtures her spirit and independence. Through hardship and grim determination, she learns to look with her own eyes, to feel with her own heart. She discovers a deep well of resilience and compassion, with room for growth and freedom. Her story is one of a leap of faith, away from despair and toward life at its fullest. Despite all odds, she navigates herself, through small but profound changes, into new ways of living, of relating to her friends, her daughter, herself.

Sheila Ortego is president of Santa Fe Community College. Born in New Orleans and of Acadian ancestry, Dr. Ortego received her doctorate in American Studies at the University of New Mexico, and since has taught Southwest Literature, Women's Literature, and Women's Studies at several colleges and universities. Her poetry has been published by the "Santa Fe Literary Review," and she has recently been admitted to the "Live Poets Society" in Santa Fe.

This program is free and open to the public.

Posted by am@main at Wednesday, March 25, 2009 Post a comment (0)

Next Writing Course Posting by Sunday

2009-03-26T04:54:00.002-06:00

I think I'll do the 'writing course' posts on Saturdays or Sundays. So stay tuned for the next one! Post your writing on my blog as you like - the more the merrier!

The Artist's Way - A Free Course for Subscribers

2009-03-23T07:40:00.003-06:00

I've decided I'm going to give away something for free - as they advise folks who want successful blogs.

That something will be a course on few things I've learned about being a writer - for all those aspiring writers out there.

To start, I'm going to feature a few quotes from a great book on writing and creativity - The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron.

Then I'm going to provide an assignment or two. Hopefully some folks will do this and I will end up seeing all the great writing here on this blog or in Facebook.

Write Away!!

To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong. - Joseph Chilton Pearce

Undoubtedly, we become what we envisage - Claude M. Bristol

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler. - Henry David Thoreau

Your Assignments:
1) Take yourself on an artist date. You will do this every week for 12 weeks (the duration of this 'Artist's Way Course'. A sample artist date: take five dollars and go to your local five-and-dime. Buy silly things like gold stick-'em stars, tiny dinosaurs, some postcards, sparkly sequins, glue, a kid's scissors, crayons. You might give yourself a gold star on your envelope each day you write. Just for fun.

2) Keep a journal for two weeks, even if it's just a paragraph or two. Decide not to let it slide for even one day. Use a freewriting technique. That's the notion of getting something, anything, down on paper. Don't worry about spelling or grammar or the subject matter. Just write whatever comes into your head. Here's an example:

"I am going to put anything on paper - that is my assignment. And I mean anything. It doesn't matter as long as it's coming out of my head and the tips of my fingers, down ont the page I wonder if;m improving, if this is getting me going better than other stuff--however many years ago? I know my typing is getting worse, even as we speak (are we speaking? to whom? IN what forM? I love it when i hit the caps button by mistake, it makes me wonder whether there isn;t something in the back or bottom of the brain that sez PAY ATTENTION now, which makes me think of a number of things, freud and his slip o tonuge, self-deception, the way it operates in everybody's life, no not everybody's but in my own exp. llike Aunt Ch. mourning for the dead cats whenevershe hasn't got her way. I wonder if we ever disconnect kinds of sadness, the homesickness for grandma's house, the dog rolling under the tree, the empty weight of loss, loss, loss"
(loosely quoted from The Artist's Way)

See you again next post: Sheila Ortego, Author of The Road From La Cueva
Available on Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/Road-Cueva-Sheila-Ortego/dp/0865345880/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237816860&sr=8-1

Book Discussion - April 9

2009-03-22T18:58:00.002-06:00

The Santa Fe Public Library (Main Branch, 145 Washington Ave., in the community room) will have a book discussion on The Road From La Cueva April 9, 7-830 pm.

Book Signing Coming Up Soon at Borders!

2009-03-22T18:40:00.002-06:00

Book Signings at Borders Cottonwood

Borders Cottonwood, located at 10420 Coors Bypass NW, Albuquerque, is hosting a series of book signing events to honor winners in the 2008 New Mexico Book Awards. This is your opportunity to come and meet these great authors.

Mar 28, 2-4pm Sheila Ortego (The Road from La Cueva-First Book) & Mike Sutin (Graven Images-Poetry)

The Road from La Cueva
By Sheila Ortego

The central idea of the book is the struggle for the survival of a woman's spirit, as experienced by the protagonist, Ana. The story is about Ana's life in poverty on a bad road in New Mexico, a road that serves as a metaphor for life itself. She struggles to 'drive straight' and not get stuck in a bad relationship, as she gradually learns how to navigate her life properly, how to self-actualize and find personal fulfillment. Readers will cheer Ana on as they see that through her persistence, a focus on 'the higher good', and on healthy love relationships, any woman can not only survive, but thrive.

Graven Images
By Mike Sutin

Mike Sutin is a member of the prominent Santa Fe law firm, Sommer, Udall, Hardwick & Hyatt, P.A. His first book of poems, Voices from Corner/Voces del Rincon, a one-person anthology centering on northern New Mexico’s multi-cultural tensions, was published in 2000 by Pennywhistle Press. Mike’s second book of poems, Naked Ladies on the Road¸ chronicles the good, bad and ugly of Santa Fe’s celebrated and legendary Canyon Road and was published in 2005 by Sunstone Press. His third book of poems, Graven Images, a tribute to poet Robinson Jeffers, also published by Sunstone Press, concentrates on human goddesses and god-men, and won first place in the 2008 New Mexico Book Awards competition. An adherent to the old school of meter and rhyme, Mike’s Graven Images poems are full of sharp, witty lines, sometimes deceptively complex, with candor, power and poignancy, often illuminating the glorious absurdities of our lives. Poetry book royalties being insufficient to maintain his family in its accustomed standard of living, Mike intends to remain at his grinding-out-work desk at the firm until publication assures immortality. Mike is a member of, and serves pro-bono counsel to PEN New Mexico, the New Mexico Book Association, and Santa Fe’s Live Poets Society.

Mar 7, 1-3pm Lexi Petronis (Our Favorite Recipes-First Book), Dave DeWitt (Cuisines of the Southwest-Cookbook) & Clyde Casey (Red or Green?-Cookbook)

Our Favorite Recipes from Albuquerque The Magazine
edited by Lexi Petronis

Sometimes what's on our nightstand isn't a novel, or a book about current events, or science fiction, or even poetry. Sometimes what's on our nightstand is a cookbook. #1 reason why it might be there is that we just want to read recipes. #2 reason why it might be we might need just a little inspiration to remember the great food from the holidays. These are tried and true "kitchen cook friendly" recipes that are a joy to make and a delight to serve. You can't go wrong. The pictures alone are an inspiration to get into the kitchen. These recipes were a great hit for the holidays. You and your family will be glad you tried them.

Cuisines of the Southwest
By Dave DeWitt

At last, a food history-based cookbook that captures the spirit and the flavors of the cuisines that evolved in what is now the American Southwest! From southwestern Texas through New Mexico and on to Arizona, discover the Southwest’s culinary history, unique ingredients, and flavorful recipes. Filled with historical photos selected from museum and university archives, this book vividly portrays the cuisines of America’s spiciest region, from Tex-Mex to New Mexican to Sonoran, plus barbecue from all three sections. The recipes include many incarnations of enchiladas and chili con carne, plus unique specialties such as Julio's Salpicón (a shredded beef brisket salad), Smoked Pork Mole Enchiladas, Pueblo Blue Corn-Chile Bread, and Piñon Flan with Caramel Sauce. “No one knows more about fiery foods than Dave DeWitt.” --Steven Raichlen, author of The Barbecue Bible.

RED OR GREEN
New Mexico Cuisine
By Clyde Casey

“Red or green?” This is the most commonly asked question in New Mexico’s restaurants. In Red or Green: New Mexico Cuisine, author Clyde Casey helps you decide that question, offering more than 200 recipes for traditional and modern dishes from New Mexico. And while this book specializes in chile cuisine, it features wonderful recipes of all kinds. Casey also includes discussion of the various types of chile peppers, New Mexico’s wines, wild game cooking, adjustments for high-altitude cooking and a user-friendly index.
Mar 8, 2-4pm Teresa Wilkins (Patterns of Exchange-Multicultural) & Sally Moore (Backroads & Byways of New Mexico-Travel)

“Patterns of Exchange: Weavers and Traders”
by Teresa Wilkins

“Patterns of Exchange: Weavers and Traders,” a book by UNM-Gallup anthropology professor Teresa Wilkins on the historical interactions between Navajo weavers and traders, has received the 2008 New Mexico Book Award for best non-fiction multicultural subject. Wilkins, who has a degree in art marketing and production from Appalachian State University, obtained her Master’s as well as her Ph.D. from the University of Colorado. She has been with UNM-Gallup since 1997. Her next project, she says, will probably be about Navajo weavers and traders and the Shiprock Fair in the early 1900s.

Backroads & Byways of New Mexico
by Sally Moore

Backroads & Byways of New Mexico is the result of a love affair with New Mexico. The state is a seducer of the potent sort whose siren lure many years ago captivated a born-and-bred easterner whose roots go back to 17th century Massachusetts. An award-winning travel writer with over 25 years experience, Moore wanted to create a guide which would direct visitors and natives to those out-of-the-way, less explored places along our back roads and byways. The resulting book whisks you away from our major tourist attractions of Santa Fe, Taos and Albuquerque and gives you ten neatly packaged day trips and weekend getaways to take you to many fabled, infamous and unbelievably beautiful locations, revealing the tall tales and stories behind them. Each trip provides recommendations for where to find a memorable meal and a place to hang your hat should you need rest along the way. It is the shortest route to explore like a native and for natives to delve more deeply into the history and magic of their home state.

Mar 15, 2-4pm Kersten Hamilton (Red Truck-Children's Picturebook) & Marcy Heller (Loco Dog and the Dust Bowl-Young Reader)
Red Truck
By Kersten Hamilton

The award winning RED TRUCK is the ‘youngest’ picture book Kersten Hamilton has written. It is tailor-made for little boys who love trucks and adventure. With such a short text—just 106 words—every little thing had to be perfect. Not just words, but even the sound of individual letters and letter combinations. Hamilton says the whole book was ‘sparked’ by the sound of the title words: RED TRUCK. She loved the repetition of the R’s; the almost hard D and the hard CK sounds. She liked the way it felt to say them, the way they settled in her ears. She added a vroom! and a sploosh! or two, and the fun sounds grew into a book!

Loco Dog and the Dust Devil in the Railyard
by Marcy Heller and illustrated by Nancy Poes

Once upon a time, in a small, dusty Southwestern town, in the middle of the busy railyard, there lived a large, black dog. His name was Loco, short for Locomotive.
The railyard was always gritty, and sometimes dust devils swirled through. One wild and windy spring evening, a huge, powerful dust devil forever changed the lives of everyone who loved the railyard and its big, black dog.

Mar 21, 1-3pm Kathy Barco (ReadDiscover New Mexico-Children's Activity Book) & Jill Lane (New Mexico A to Z-Children's Activity Book)
READiscover New Mexico – A Tri-Lingual Adventure in Literacy
by Kathy Barco

Tag along with Rosita the Roadrunner on her journey to learn about the Land of Enchantment. On the trail, meet Roja & Verde (the Chile Twins), Biscochita (a Smart Cookie), Piñon Jay, Dusty the Tumbleweed, and a town full of prairie dogs who love to read. "Rosita's Ramble" is provided in English, Spanish, and Navajo. READiscover New Mexico encourages the discovery of the vast cultural, natural, historical, and literary treasures found in our beautiful state. Enrichment material includes programs, activities, crafts, song parodies, celebrations, and bibliographies. Also featured are riddles, New Mexico trivia, relevant websites, an extensive booklist, several recipes for Biscochitos, instructions for making Star-O-Litos, and a large collection of reproducible artwork.

New Mexico A to Z
By Jill Lane

A 32-page Coloring Travel Guide to New Mexico, the book takes the reader through the alphabet and throughout the state, introducing children to our many treasures. In addition to fun illustrations and children oriented information about the destination, the book also includes contact information on each location, driving the reader to either the Internet or phone to further explore the area. A companion piece to “New Mexico A to Z” is the “Kids’ Passport to New Mexico” ($3.99)-a souvenir passport for kids to track their New Mexico explorations. It also includes New Mexico facts.

Terri B's Blog

2009-03-22T14:46:00.000-06:00

I've just discovered Terri B's Blog, "Tip of the Iceberg":

http://the-iceberg.blogspot.com

One of the best I've seen! I wish I could get the 'contact me' button to work on the blog, though, because I'd love to have her review The Road From La Cueva. Maybe she'll find me here on my blog...
Waiting for you to show up, Terri! And congratulations on your wonderful blog site!

'CAJUN HEAVEN' - Revised!

2009-03-06T05:30:00.000-07:00

Cajun Heaven

At the Cowgirl downtown
Mardi Gras night
Fat Tuesday
Popcorn shrimp, remoulade, Diablo sauce
Fried okra, andouille sausage gumbo
Beer, German, not Cajun, it doesn’t matter to me

I wear a single string of gold beads
Listen to the music
The Balfa Waltz
Lafayette Breakdown

I think of dad
Three years gone
Under the portal of grass and rain

In my mind, a telephone appears
Not a cheap flip metal one
But the real deal
Heavy in the hand
Black, Bakelite
Rotary dial my finger feels with every turn

I use it to call him up
Cę va? I say
What’s up?
Wish you were here

We could dance the Balfa Walz
Like when I was young
My black patent leather shoes
On top of your brown loafers
Smashing your toes while you smiled
And held my little hands in yours

It’s enough, it’s enough, I tell myself
I know you can hear me calling
Even if it’s not for real,
I know your intention was to meet me again

Jambalaya, crawfish pie, file gumbo
Son of a gun
Gonna have some fun
On the bayou, if not in Heaven

A New Poem for Live Poets Society

2009-03-03T05:49:00.000-07:00

I wrote this up for my Live Poets Society meeting -- obligated to present a few poems, thank goodness for them or I would never write at all! This one came to me almost fully baked at about 5 a.m. I did go to the Cowgirl on Tuesday night (Fat Tuesday) and I did have great Cajun food and heard some good music - and the image of that telephone is still with me.

Heaven at the Cowgirl

At the Cowgirl downtown
Mardi Gras night
Fat Tuesday
Popcorn shrimp, remoulade and Diablo sauce
Fried okra, andouille sausage gumbo
Beer, German, not Cajun, but it doesn’t matter to me

I wear a single string of gold beads
Listen to the music
The Balfa Waltz
Lafayette Breakdown

I think of dad
Three years gone
Quiet under the portal of grass and rain

In my mind, a telephone appears
Not just a cheap flip metal one
But the real deal
The one heavy in the hand
Black, Bakelite
A rotary dial my finger feels with every turn

I use it to call him up
Ce’ va? I say
What’s up?
I wish you were here

We could dance the Balfa Walz
Like we did when I was young
My black patent leather shoes
On top of your brown loafers
Smashing your toes while you smiled
And held my little hands in yours

It’s enough, it’s enough, I tell myself
I know you can hear me calling
Even if it’s not for real,
I know your intention was to meet me

Jambalaya, crawfish pie, file gumbo
Son of a gun
Gonna have some fun
On the bayou, if not in Heaven

New Review from Book Contest Winner

2009-03-02T19:48:00.000-07:00

Linda L. Bankard "Bibliphile" (Simi Valley, CA)

I could not put this book down. To me it was a true love story, not of the usual type that is so common, but a love story of a woman for her child, her Father and a friend. When Ana was able to love herself, she found she was able to be loved by a man and not be his possession. I could feel myself walking through the woods with her and smelling nature at its best. I now want to learn to make baskets and pottery. This book will stay with me for a long time. Linda L. Bankard

Review from March issue of New Mexico Magazine!

2009-02-19T04:37:00.001-07:00

Fiction
The Road from La Cueva
By Sheila Ortego
Sunstone Press
144 pages, cloth, $26.95
The fire in the marriage of protagonist Ana Howland has gone out—or was it ever there in the first place? At the novel’s start, Ana begins to feel the burning pangs of suffocation caused by her controlling husband, but she hasn’t yet found the strength to escape, and dreads the perilous trip down the muddy, twisting road to her home in the small northern New Mexican village of La Cueva. But throughout the course of this novel, the same road that has led her to despair is also her lifeline. In this story of self-discovery, author Sheila Ortego, who is the president of Santa Fe Community College, gently and artistically probes the heartbreaks and triumphs along one woman’s journey to independence. The Road from La Cueva was honored as the Best Book from a First-Time Author at the 2008 New Mexico Book Awards.

Contemporary Authors

2009-02-15T12:42:00.000-07:00

ORTEGO, Sheila 1952-
PERSONAL: Born August 15, 1952, in New Orleans, LA. Ethnicity: "Acadian"
Nationality: American Education: University of New Mexico, Ph.D.
ADDRESSES: Office--Santa Fe Community College, 6401 Richards Ave., Santa Fe, NM
87508.
CAREER: Santa Fe Community College, Santa Fe, NM, faculty member and
administrator, 1983--, began as adjunct professor, became executive vice
president and vice president of instruction and student services, served as
president, 2006. GROW Santa Fe Community College Foundation, initial
president.Has worked on committees, including the Santa Fe Economic Development,
Inc., Workforce Development Alliance, the Higher Learning Commission of the
North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, and the Council on Podiatric
Medical Education.
WRITINGS:
The Road from La Cueva (novel), Sunstone Press (Santa Fe, NM), 2008.
Contributor to poetry journals.
SIDELIGHTS:
Sheila Ortego's debut novel, The Road from La Cueva, was some fifteen years in
the making, as the author balanced fiction writing with her primary career as a
faculty member and administrator at Santa Fe Community College and as a poet. "I
think I was driven to write the book," she told Journal Santa Fe Online
contributor Polly Summar. The novel, loosely autobiographical, is the story of a
New Mexico woman struggling to break free from an unhappy marriage to a violent
and controlling husband. Ana Howland, who works as a hematology technician at a
hospital in Santa Fe, New Mexico, lives several miles out of town with her
husband Frank and daughter Emmy. Raised by a strictly religious mother, Ana was
taught to be submissive to her husband's rules; as a result, she has no friends
of her own and no self-esteem. The action begins when Ana meets Michael Woods,
who works at the same hospital as a nurse and is also a potter. In Michael, Ana
sees a man who will treat her with consideration and respect; in turn, she can
respect and love him. They begin a passionate affair, yet despite Michael's
pleadings, Ana cannot find the courage to leave Frank. When Michael finally
breaks things off, Ana blames herself. She eventually quits her job, takes Emmy,
and leaves Frank's house for an apartment in Santa Fe, but her actions may have
come too late to regain Michael's love.
Discussing the novel with Summar, Ortego explained that she wanted to emphasize
the importance for women of getting out of emotionally abusive relationships.
"People would say women aren't oppressed like that anymore," she said, "but my
contention is that they are."
A writer for Kirkus Reviews considered The Road from La Cueva a "low-energy" and
predictable story that lacked sufficient narrative drive and tension. Others,
however, enjoyed Ana's story and praised Ortego's novelistic skill. An Internet
Bookwatch contributor recommended the book as sensitive and "deftly told."
January Online reviewer Linda L. Richards found the novel both intellectually
rewarding and emotionally moving, and she praised the "sharp eye and delicate
tread" that make Ana's story such a "vibrant journey of discovery." A
contributor to Terra's Book Blog described The Road from La Cueva as a
"touching, heart melting story," which "could be any one of our lives."
Ortego, who holds a Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of New Mexico,
was named president of Santa Fe Community College in 2006.
BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:
PERIODICALS
Internet Bookwatch, June 1, 2008, review of The Road from La Cueva.
Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2008, review of The Road from La Cueva.
Women in Higher Education, July 1, 2006, "Dr. Sheila Ortego," author profile, p.
18.
ONLINE
January Online, http://januarymagazine.com/ (November 14, 2008), Linda L.
Richards, review of The Road from La Cueva.
Journal Santa Fe Online, http://santafe.com/ (November 14, 2008), Polly Summar,
"Long, Winding Road to a Novel," review of The Road from La Cueva.
Santa Fe Community College Web site, http://www.sfccnm.edu/ (November 14, 2008),
author faculty profile.
Terra's Book Blog, http://terra57.blogspot.com/ (November 14, 2008), review of
The Road from La Cueva.*

Entry in "Contemporary Authors"

2009-02-15T12:35:00.000-07:00

New Review for Librarians on AuthorBuzz

2009-01-18T16:26:00.001-07:00

THE ROAD FROM LA CUEVA, a 2008 New Mexico Book Award winner, is charged with emotion and sensuality, and is a book many women relate to. If you enjoyed The Beans of Egypt Maine, you'll enjoy this book as well.

Midwest Book Review recommends it highly to romance fans: 'Ana must overcome these problems and somehow find a resolution – deftly told by Sheila Ortego'. Miriam Sagan, author of Searching for a Mustard Seed, says: 'Rooted in the land, in women's friendship, and in the mother-daughter bond...this novel has a lot of heart.' Front Street Reviews says: 'The author of this book deserves the best of reviews for this touching, heart melting story that could be of any one of our lives.'

You can reach me through www.sheila-novel.blogspot.com or sheila.ortego@gmail.com.

I'd be delighted to talk to book groups, and to do readings in New Mexico.

Happy Reading,
Sheila Ortego

New Review by Rudolfo Anaya, Author of "Bless Me, Ultima"

2009-01-18T13:14:00.000-07:00

Here's a new review of the book by Rudolfo Anaya, bestselling author of "Bless Me, Ultima". I'm honored to be reviewed by this author!

"The search for meaningful relationships is the theme of this excellent first novel by Sheila Ortego. The Road From La Cueva winds from the despair of the cave to eventual freedom. Set in the real earth and traditions of New Mexico, this moving story will garner many readers." Rudolfo Anaya

New Review by Patricia McDowell on Amazon.com

2009-01-11T17:22:00.000-07:00

See Patricia McDowell's new review of the book at:

http://www.amazon.com/review/R2HOL3JW5973VE/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

or read here!

A journey taken, January 4, 2009
By Patricia M. Mcdowell

The Road to La Cueva is a book which takes root in the soul growing from a tiny bud to a tree full of wisdom and possibility, unafriad to shed its leaves and change with the seasons. Sheila Ortego weaves the warp and the weft of disapointments and challenges into a fabric of tenderness and compassion that warms the body of women with the comfort of a shawl. The strength of Anna, her tears and laughter,her courageous actions bring color to a life dulled by fear. We find ourselves on a quest as we walk with Anna through her uncertainities and struggles. We feel in our bellies her determination as she leavse the familiarity of abuse moving forward one slow step at a time to create a life with meaning and purpose. The relationships woven between Mother, daughter and friend are rich with compassion, understanding and a woman's gift of speaking without words.

The Road From La Cueva

2009-01-07T18:29:00.000-07:00

http://www.sheila-novel.blogspot.com

Review by Lola R. Eagle

2009-01-03T21:23:00.001-07:00

ORTEGO, SHEILA

The Road From La Cueva

Sunstone Press, ISBN 978-0-86534-588-1

$26.95 Amazon

WINNER 2008 NEW MEXICO BOOK AWARDS

This beautifully done novel pulls the reader along through the trials of a young mother, unhappy in her marriage yet reluctant to do anything about it. Her home is thirty miles out in an undeveloped area. She resents the inconvenience, her husband’s lack of respect for her, his obsessive controlling, and the fact that he hasn’t provided the home he promised.

Working as a lab technician in a Santa Fe hospital, she meets a male nurse who is attracted to her. She sneaks an affair into her life which goes on for some time, until her lover breaks it off because she won’t leave her husband, being afraid of a confrontation.

She then gives up her job at the hospital to avoid her estranged lover.

During this time she becomes friends with a fiercely independent Indian woman who lives alone in the same neighborhood. From this friendship she derives strength of her own and builds her independence, finally divorcing her husband and starting a new job and a new life.

After taking care of her friend through a terminal illness, she finds herself no longer afraid to face life. She decides to reconnect with her lover.

This is a well-written story with only occasional typographical errors, the most disconcerting of which was the use of hyphens in place of commas in many places which makes the reader stumble over the meaning of the phrase. However, all in all, well worth reading for its examination of a woman’s psyche and her spiritual growth.

12/08 Reviewed by Lola R. Eagle, author of From the Eye of an Eagle

AuthorBuzz posting on The Road From La Cueva

2009-01-03T09:55:00.000-07:00

http://www.authorbuzz.com/dearreader/ortego.shtml

Dear Reader,

THE ROAD FROM LA CUEVA combines the sensuality of a warm Southwest setting with a love story and a psychological study of a woman in need of redemption, resulting in a book Front Street Reviews contends a story that "could be any one of our lives."

The book is a 2008 New Mexico Book Award Winner in the First Book category, and Miriam Sagan, winner of the National Association of Independent Publishers' Best Memoir award and author of Searching for a Mustard Seed says: 'Rooted in the land, in women's friendship, and in the mother-daughter bond...this novel has a lot of heart.'

Enter the five free (signed copies!) book offer by writing to sortego@sfccnm.edu, and visit the blog: www.sheila-novel.blogspot.com. And please feel free to link to one of my interviews at www.santaferadiocafe.org/podcasts/?m=200805.

Sheila Ortego
www.sheila-novel.blogspot.com

TOP OF PAGE
BACK TO MAIN PAGE
© 2005 by AuthorBuzz

Long, Winding Road to a Novel

2008-12-16T07:09:00.000-07:00

http://wwwsantafe.com/Pages/1872

See link above for interview: "Long, Winding Road to a Novel" from Santa Fe Journal

Excerpt:

Ortego, who has a Ph.D. in American studies from the University of New Mexico, said she had to teach herself how to write a novel. “I’ve written most of my life, poetry beginning in high school,” she said. “I was working the whole time I was writing it. There were a lot of false starts, self-study and workshops. The Writers’ Digest books on plot and character were helpful.”

Ortego’s book is loosely based on a period of her life in the mountains of New Mexico. “I was trying to write about how an emotionally dominated situation is not good and women should find the strength to move out of that,” Ortego said.

“People would say women aren’t oppressed like that anymore, but my contention is that they are,” Ortego said.

Ortego, who was born in New Orleans, is of Acadian heritage. Her Spanish heritage dates to Joaquin Ortega in the 1700s who was married to a French woman in Louisiana.

“They had nine sons, and she taught them all to speak French,” Ortego said. “It’s much more natural to pronounce the last syllable in French, so probably within the last generation, it became Ortego.”

Her next book will focus on her Acadian roots. Since becoming president of the community college two years ago, Ortego hasn’t had as much time to write, but is fitting in time for research and reading and drafting out some skeletons of chapters on the weekend.

Ana’s shift at St. Joseph’s had ended. The road ahead was a familiar ordeal. At La Cueva, 30 miles from town, the battered cattle gate had come into view, chained and padlocked on its cedar post. A late November snow had come, turning the road to muck. She had to get out to open the gate, slogging anke-deep in caliche, then back to the Wagoneer to drive through, and out again, to shut it.

— opening lines from “The Road from La Cueva” by Sheila Ortego

2008-12-14T20:38:00.000-07:00

Breaking Her Fall - by Steven Goodwin

2008-12-14T20:36:00.000-07:00

Will try to post a link on this great book - if it doesn't work, just look this book up on Amazon.com
It's a good one!

2008-12-11T08:45:00.000-07:00

From: http://www.readingnewmexico.com/Fiction.html A new review!

NEW

ORTEGO, SHEILA
The Road From La Cueva
Sunstone Press, ISBN 978-0-86534-588-1
$26.95 Amazon
WINNER 2008 NEW MEXICO BOOK AWARDS
This beautifully done novel pulls the reader along through the trials of a young mother, unhappy in her marriage yet reluctant to do anything about it. Her home is thirty miles out in an undeveloped area. She resents the inconvenience, her husband’s lack of respect for her, his obsessive controlling, and the fact that he hasn’t provided the home he promised.
Working as a lab technician in a Santa Fe hospital, she meets a male nurse who is attracted to her. She sneaks an affair into her life which goes on for some time, until her lover breaks it off because she won’t leave her husband, being afraid of a confrontation.
She then gives up her job at the hospital to avoid her estranged lover.
During this time she becomes friends with a fiercely independent Indian woman who lives alone in the same neighborhood. From this friendship she derives strength of her own and builds her independence, finally divorcing her husband and starting a new job and a new life.
After taking care of her friend through a terminal illness, she finds herself no longer afraid to face life. She decides to reconnect with her lover.
This is a well-written story with only occasional typographical errors, the most disconcerting of which was the use of hyphens in place of commas in many places which makes the reader stumble over the meaning of the phrase. However, all in all, well worth reading for its examination of a woman’s psyche and her spiritual growth.
12/08 Reviewed by Lola R. Eagle, author of From the Eye of an Eagle

The Road From La Cueva - 2008 New Mexico Book Award Winner

2008-11-29T20:56:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to the New Mexico Book Co-op for
choosing the book as a 2008 New Mexico
Book Award Winner!

Review by "Terra57" - Theresa M.Studer (My Favorite Review!)

2008-11-29T20:01:00.000-07:00

Courageous Survival, April 17, 2008
By
Theresa M. Studer "Terra57" (Hopedale, MA USA) - See all my reviews "Reviewed for Front Street Reviews" The Road from La Cueva by Sheila Ortego is such a wonderful read. It was short, far from sweet and to the point without all the added fluff and filler you will find in most books. This book could pertain to any number of women around the world in trouble. Ana Howland is an almost to perfect woman for a fiction novel. She's a wife, mother, friend, daughter and lover. Lacking self esteem, being depressed, feeling trapped and scared to death keeps her in a marriage of hardship. The story is a journey through a year of Ana's life and of the changes that come from a welcoming hand out of the blue. Each day, week, month offer up steps forward and steps backward while Ana tries so hard to find the tiniest morsel of courage to make the right decisions for her and her daughter. Ana is in an abusive controlling marriage with the constant threat of danger at every turn she makes. What she thought would be a life long loving relationship has been anything but. The only kindness her husband does show is to their young daughter and she wonders how much of that is true. A stranger comes along and offers her salvation but at what cost. A neighbor becomes friends with her on such a deep level that Ana's husband is jealous and forbids her to stay friends with this person. Both of these people help Ana see that life is not always what you're handed and you can change the outcome. All you need to do is ask for help but does she have the courage and will she escape unscathed. The author of this book deserves the best of reviews for this touching, heart melting story that could be of any one of our lives. The novel seems too real to be a work of fiction and I wonder how much is fact and how much is truly fiction. I would give this a 5 star rating because it captured me, educated me and let me see that there are true friends and love out there, you only have to reach for them.

Excerpt of Review by Bestseller Eric Wilson, Author of The Best of Evil

2008-11-29T19:57:00.000-07:00

A Heartfelt Gift, October 27, 2008
By
Eric Wilson "novelist" (Nashville, TN United States) - See all my reviews I had the pleasure of meeting Sheila Ortego at a book festival in Nashville. She was unassuming, pretty in an unpretentious way, and there were stories of beauty and pain lurking behind her eyes. Within minutes, we discovered that we were fellow writers and decided to swap books. The pleasure was all mine. "The Road to La Cueva" is a wonderfully wrought tale of New Mexico's landscape and people, and yet it's also a microcosm of many who have lost and loved and tried to adjust to the changes of modern society. The story centers around Ana, a stoic wife who must endure her husband's carelessness and controlling ways. As she negotiates the treacherous mud and ruts of her rural road, we see her own inner turmoil with life and relationships. Along the way, she meets a male nurse with a tender soul, and a rugged Mescalero Apache woman who has scars of her own to bear and wisdom to impart...I think this storyline reflects a very real and desperate need many had to be free of a long-time, male-dominated society. In conclusion, we find Ana growing as a person, as a mother, and as a friend. She learns how to love by giving and serving, and this becomes her true ticket to a new existence. Ortego has offered a heartfelt gift to many who have felt this disconnection and loneliness, and she does so with poetic grace.

Review by Alex Pattakos, Author of Prisoners of Our Thoughts (A Best-Seller in Spain!)

2008-11-29T19:53:00.000-07:00

I'm going to do a few postings with a variety of the book's reviews, so you can see all the different and insightful perspectives! Here's the first:

Review from Alex Pattakos, March 24, 2008
By
Sheila Ortego "Sheila Ortego" (Santa Fe, NM) - See all my reviewsHere's a review from Alex Pattakos, author of Prisoners of Our Thoughts: The Road from La Cueva"A powerful and passionate story about the defiance of the human spirit! The Road from La Cueva is an existential drama that needs to be read by anyone who has ever questioned the deeper meaning of their life's circumstances. In an engaging and empowering style, Dr. Sheila Ortego takes us on an adventurous road trip through the hills and valleys of the human experience. And she does it with characters with whom we can all resonate on some level! Here's an intimate, authentic account of the struggle within that all of us, as human beings, must face in our everyday lives."

Southwest Literature

2008-11-25T13:39:00.000-07:00

While some have billed The Road From La Cueva as Southwest Literature, others have tagged it as a Romance NOVEL or Relationship Book. I like to think of it as women's literary fiction, with a strong (and spicy) southwest flavor.

Review by Bestselling Author Michael McGarrity

2008-11-24T16:43:00.000-07:00

Michael McGarrity, bestselling author of Nothing But Trouble and Dead or Alive, provided this review of the book:

A touching story of the search for fulfillment. Sheila Ortego's tender voice will move you.

Nice! Thanks, Michael!

2008 New Mexico Book Award Winner!

2008-11-24T16:32:00.000-07:00

The Road From La Cueva is a winner (for the 'first book' category) in the 2008 New Mexico Book Awards competition! Many thanks to Melissa Weiner, my publicist, and Sunstone Press, for entering the book in the competition and for all their support in general.

2008-04-18T13:04:00.000-06:00

New This Week: The Road from La Cueva by Sheila Ortego

January Magazine

Sheila Ortego’s debut novel is interesting on several levels. Ortego holds a doctorate in American Studies from the University of New Mexico and she has taught Southwestern literature, women’s literature and women’s studies at several institutes of higher learning. She is currently the president of Santa Fe Community College, the first woman to hold that post. So, clearly, she is someone who has spent time exploring the intellectual side of making words that move hearts.

On the other hand, Ortego is a poet and she was recently invited to join the Live Poets Society in Santa Fe.

Both of these facets of Ortego’s life path are well represented in The Road from La Cueva (Sunstone Press) where we meet Ana Howland, a woman at a violent emotional crossroad in her life. Ana is faced with choices, some of which are hidden from her by a controlling husband and a habit of personal repression. None of this is particularly new ground, but Ortego’s sharp eye and delicate tread make it a vibrant journey of discovery. The Road from La Cueva is slender, but engaging and entirely memorable.

Front Street Reviews

2008-04-18T13:02:00.000-06:00

The Road from La Cueva
Sheila Ortego

Reviewed by Terry Studer
Front Street Reviews

The Road from La Cueva by Sheila Ortego is such a wonderful read. It was short, far from sweet and to the point without all the added fluff and filler you will find in most books. This book could pertain to any number of women around the world in trouble.

Ana Howland is an almost to perfect woman for a fiction novel. She's a wife, mother, friend, daughter and lover. Lacking self esteem, being depressed, feeling trapped and scared to death keeps her in a marriage of hardship.

The story is a journey through a year of Ana's life and of the changes that come from a welcoming hand out of the blue. Each day, week, month offer up steps forward and steps backward while Ana tries so hard to find the tiniest morsel of courage to make the right decisions for her and her daughter.

Ana is in an abusive controlling marriage with the constant threat of danger at every turn she makes. What she thought would be a life long loving relationship has been anything but. The only kindness her husband does show is to their young daughter and she wonders how much of that is true.

A stranger comes along and offers her salvation but at what cost. A neighbor becomes friends with her on such a deep level that Ana's husband is jealous and forbids her to stay friends with this person. Both of these people help Ana see that life is not always what you're handed and you can change the outcome. All you need to do is ask for help but does she have the courage and will she escape unscathed.

The author of this book deserves the best of reviews for this touching, heart melting story that could be of any one of our lives. The novel seems too real to be a work of fiction and I wonder how much is fact and how much is truly fiction. I would give this a 5 star rating because it captured me, educated me and let me see that there are true friends and love out there, you only have to reach for them.

Writing Awards

2008-04-07T16:21:00.002-06:00

Here's a short list of awards I've won:

Third Prize ($25), for the Santa Fe Writer's League 2007 Quarterly Poetry Competition, for: "Agamogenesis"

Second Prize ($50), for 2008 Modern Love Writing Competition, for The Road From La Cueva synopsis.

First Place for First Novel (Recognition Only) in 2008 New Mexico Book Cooperative's annual Book Awards.

I hope there will be many more awards to come!

The Road From La Cueva

2008-04-07T15:43:00.000-06:00

The book signings for my new novel, The Road From La Cueva, are coming up soon! Even better -- they will serve as fundraisers for Esperanza, the shelter for victims of domestic abuse. I'll attach the post card invitation momentarily...