I’m a sucker for old English churches, villages and folklore. I’m also in love with the Old West and the technology that allows me to explore it from home. In a previous book, Phage, I became an expert in navigating myself around Phoenix and the surrounding mountains via Google Earth to the extent I wanted to go there and drop in to two or three of its more interesting bars.
Gallup New Mexico is currently exerting a similar hold and for the same reason, a book—tentatively named Final Battle— that will hopefully surface in two years’ time. Set some time in the 2030’s, it features John Grey and Elizabeth McBride, first seen in the Gift Trilogy. Along with Elizabeth’s dark sister, Elsie they are characters too good to waste, and as Adepts with abnormal lifespans they allow me considerable scope to play with time.
So why Gallup, New Mexico? A minor character is Chenoa, a Navajo* Shaman who leads a double life as Gill Darrat, a renowned psychotherapist, who for obvious reasons operates from the Navajo nation. On any map, Gallup stands out as the only serious contender, and that was where the fun began. Research is a compelling black hole, and I now know more about Gallup than most people—at least those living outside of it.
There were three essential things I had to work out. Where did Gill Darrat live in Gallup? Where was her office? And where would her alter ego, Chenoa, be based?
The first question was answered by researching local estate agents, scanning charts showing the good and bad neighbourhoods, demographic profiles and crime statistics. Estate agents proved wonderfully compulsive, allowing me to wander through the interiors of their videoed properties until I almost became a serious buyer—like someone in the TV programme ‘Escape to the Country’—though a far cry from the bucolic English countryside.
Does Gill Darrat live here?
Google Earth allowed me to prowl the streets of Gallup in search of office space. I eventually settled on somewhere along the NM 610 between a Taco shed and an Indian Cultural Centre five miles farther down the road.
And finally, Chenoa, her sanctuary—a far harder call. I had a cave in mind, its walls filled with ancient petrographs, but where? Two obvious contenders stood out: Pyramid Rock and Church Rock; not too far away from Gallup, but perhaps too close. Surely there’d be a convenient cave there, one that Chenoa could call her own? There was though the further problem: tourists, too many of them.
Pyramid Rock
The search continued deeper into Navajo country along Indian Route 12 which snaked into Arizona. I glided over such evocative names as Window Rock, Fort Defiance, Sawmills, Wheatfields until finally I came across it—Lukachukai. By this time, I was Chenoa. This was my home.
But what about the extraneous, the research not used but tucked in a folder just in case? The fact that Route 66 passes through Gallup. That Errol Flynn once rode into one of its bars for a drink—I’m guessing whisky, and water for the horse. The event is now part of Gallup folklore and advertised on Route 66 as you approach the town.
By this time I had become acclimatised, memories of the New Mexico I’d visited many years ago flooding back—deserts, mountains and sky, dry and invigorating heat. There are few architectural gems in Gallup, but several interesting bars, some of which I might be wise to avoid. But do I want to go there? You bet—especially Lukachukai.
* The Navajo refer to themselves as 'The People' or Dine.
2 comments:
Not knowing how Chenoa plays into this story, the red rock reminded me of something else that could take you down another rabbit hole.
Sedona, AZ is renown for the vortices scattered among its red rock formations. I hadn't heard of New Mexico having these vortices but it's an option if you're looking for an ethereal element.
I can attest that you can definitely feel the vortex when you enter. Greg could not. It felt like I had entered an enclosed place, like a net had come over me even though we were out in the open.
Many people find it healing. Some feel angry or sad.
I found it fascinating.
The one we went to was Cathedral Rock Vortex.
Thank you, Maria, that was so helpful. I've just incorporated it in a chapter. Thing is, my Adepts (including Navajo medicine women) astrally project or 'spirit walk'. I've always wondered how easy it was to spirit walk vast distances eg across America or the Atlantic, so, independently of Vortices I've developed the idea of 'sacred stones' that allow you to 'hop' large distances. It adds to the idea, I think to include sacred spaces like vortices. So, thanks again, collaborator :)
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