Amazing fellow author S.L. Huang interviewed me for the International Thriller Writers magazine The Big Thrill. I talk about why I wrote Caged, attack turkeys, and the Grim Reaper, so check it out here!
One thing I get asked quite often is how to get a novel published. All I can talk about is my personal experience, but here are my thoughts and advice on such things. The most important thing I can say is, there is no right way! Never, ever listen to writing advice that claims to […]
I have always loved writing and have always spent some of my free time writing, but it was never a serious personal goal of mine. Instead, I spent twelve years working toward a career as an academic. I love anthropology, love history, and love the way the human mind works — my Ph.D. allowed me […]
I am wildly excited to share this announcement in Publisher’s Weekly about the sale of the first three books in my crime thriller series to St. Martin’s Press! My excitement is only slightly tempered by the error in the announcement (I attended Georgetown Law, but left to get my Ph.D. when I decided my true […]
I cannot wait to see this film, Ixcanul, which roughly translates to, “the internal force of the mountain which is boiling and looking for eruption,” in Kaqchikel Mayan. In fact the entire film is in Kaqchikel, written and directed by Jayro Bustamante who is 1/4 Maya. Even though about 60% of Guatemala’s population is Maya, […]
The Cratch, Thy Keeper A friend from college, Matt Amati, wrote this flash piece a while ago but I just got around to reading it and it is amazing! It even features an anthropologist….
Recent archaeological work near Mexico City shows that conquistadors were imprisoned, sacrificed, and eaten by the Aztecs. “The town was eventually renamed from Zultepec to Tecoaque, which in the native Nahuatl language means: “The place where they ate them.”” This is not the narrative we learn about the conquest of the Americas….
This documentary looks amazing, very excited to watch Tomorrow We Disappear when it’s released. “Hidden away in the alleyways of New Delhi is the Kathputli Colony, India’s last home to magicians, acrobats, and puppeteers. This emotional documentary premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and was named by IndieWire one of the “20 Best Documentaries” of […]
Excavation of the Los Arboles structure at Xultún uncovered numerous painted sculptures. This is a great article on the National Geographic Daily News: Losing Maya Heritage to Looters. One of the issues near and dear to my heart is cultural heritage. The theft of Maya antiquities is a massive problem in Central America and Mexico […]
This is so exciting! This is how lasting change in the status of indigenous communities happens so YAY for Monica Coc Magnusson! “Monica Coc Magnusson, the sister of noted Maya rights activist Christina Coc, made legal history today as the first member of the indigenous Maya community of Belize to be called to the Belize […]
