Not So Happy, Happy, Happy

Back in November, I was doing the Snoopy dance. Now, I'm struggling through one of those periods in which I am feeling frustrated, troubled, and depressed. I think the Vado book is doomed. I have just written the publisher to that effect, and I'm awaiting word from their representative. I am going to see what happens when one must wiggle out of a contract.

This is unfortunate, in my opinion. The primary founding family in Vado seems to think there is all kinds of material about them already out there. There may be some, but it is not very accessible. While I have found several articles (one in New Mexico Magazine and several in regional newspapers), I've found no photographs, except in materials about Blackdom (where some of the Vado families came from). I've been told there were books written by the Boyer family that are publicly available, but I have not been able to find them. One of the family members had a fire and her photos were destroyed. The local newspaper also had a fire, and thus
has few photos from previous years in its morgue.

Gathering together what is left into a book, I thought, would be welcomed by the community. However, I am a stranger, and perhaps the family has been approached so many times they are weary of scholars. Like Floyd Westerman says, "Here come the anthros, better hide your past away; here come the anthros, on another holiday."

They say that when one door closes, another opens. We'll see what happens next. Will it be a maiden on the railroad tracks, Simon Legree pounding on the door, a jail cell or lawsuit for our heroine? Or maybe I'll get to work on MY MYSTERY NOVEL . . .