{"id":1558,"date":"2010-04-29T11:29:13","date_gmt":"2010-04-29T17:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=1558"},"modified":"2010-04-29T14:44:33","modified_gmt":"2010-04-29T20:44:33","slug":"vampires-of-santa-fe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=1558","title":{"rendered":"Vampires of Santa Fe"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>\"Corn<\/a>A week ago I walked through a snow squall on Cathedral Place in the heart of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and thought, “Santa Fe needs a vampire novel.”<\/p>\n

I had in mind something like Anne Rice<\/a> meets Jake Page<\/a> meets Michael McGarrity<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It turns out that a Santa Fe-based writer, S.M. Stirling, has in fact been writing in that vein (heh).\u00a0 Here is his protagonist, hanging out in the Plaza, pondering an eternal Santa Fe question\u2014shopping or museum-ing:<\/p>\n

A homeless man was approaching, ready to ask for a handout; leathery skin and rank scent and layers of tattered cloth. She glared at him and found the weakness\u2014a blood-vessel in the brain ready to rupture, weakened by drugs, bad feeding, alcohol and stress from the untreated chemical imbalances that rode him more savagely than even her kind could do. She pushed<\/em>. The world shifted slightly as might-be switched to is<\/em>, like a breath of cold air up the spine and a tightness that went click <\/em>and released around the brows. The man collapsed.<\/p>\n

Adrienne rose and stepped by him; it would probably be minutes before someone noticed it was more than the usual unconsciousness. She\u2019d planned on spending the afternoon at the O\u2019Keefe Museum<\/a>, or possibly shopping for jewelry, but…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sample chapters of the book, A Taint in the Blood<\/em>, are available at his Web site.<\/a> Stirling seems to have a fondness for superhuman characters who, we might say, clean out the weak, which fits with the literary-vampire ethos.<\/p>\n

(Earlier mentions of Stirling’s work here<\/a> and here.<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Santa Fe might be called the New Orleans of the West, only “earthy” in an elemental sense rather than “watery.<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

It caters to tourists and offers them a good time. Tourist Santa Fe, selling High Culture (art and opera<\/a>) to Texans (and others) co-exists with governmental Santa Fe just hundreds of yards away\u2014after all, it has been a provincial capital since 1608<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But underneath . . . layers and layers. Ethnic balkanization and people cherishing hatreds and triumphs that go back centuries. Martyrs and massacres.\u00a0 Deep roots in the earth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A week ago I walked through a snow squall on Cathedral Place in the heart of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and thought, “Santa Fe needs a vampire novel.” I had in mind something like Anne Rice meets Jake Page meets Michael McGarrity. It turns out that a Santa Fe-based writer, S.M. Stirling, has in fact […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[57,32],"class_list":["post-1558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-books","tag-new-mexico"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6xQTg-p8","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9563,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=9563","url_meta":{"origin":1558,"position":0},"title":"The “Salem-Santa Fe” Mystery Solved","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"May 31, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A month ago I blogged how astonished M. and I were to see that Kakawa, the Santa Fe-based chocolate house, was about to open a new store in Salem, Mass. Imagine our surprise to see this storefront on Essex Street next to the [Peabody-Essex] museum: Kakawa is coming! Sure, I\u2019d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"chocolate\"","block_context":{"text":"chocolate","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=chocolate"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/kakawa-santa-fe.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/kakawa-santa-fe.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/kakawa-santa-fe.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1139,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=1139","url_meta":{"origin":1558,"position":1},"title":"The Difference between Santa Fe and Taos","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"April 7, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Looking back to the artists and writers of 1930s-40s Santa Fe and Taos, New Mexico writer Paul Horgan observed,Between Santa Fe and Taos there was a sense of rival constituencies, and sensitive persons tended to be loyal to the powers, virtues, and dangers of one place or the other. Santa\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"New Mexico\"","block_context":{"text":"New Mexico","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=new-mexico"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=chascli-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1423601823","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9349,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=9349","url_meta":{"origin":1558,"position":2},"title":"The Southwest Follows Us to Salem & Salem Follows Us Home","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"April 25, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Before M. and I left on this trip, someone mentioned a Georgia O'Keeffe exhibit at the big Peabody Essex Museum in Salem. As it happened, the exhibit ended just before we arrived, but that's all right \u2014 we can visit a whole museum devoted to her painting in Santa Fe\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"American religion\"","block_context":{"text":"American religion","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=american-religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/georgia-okeefe.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/georgia-okeefe.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/georgia-okeefe.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":76,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=76","url_meta":{"origin":1558,"position":3},"title":"Pueblo’s Hipper Image","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"December 4, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Pueblo, Colorado, where I am employed, has seen its reputation slowly changing. While this column by Colorado Springs Independent columnist John Hazlehurst is actually a reproof of his own city, with Pueblo playing the role of \"noble savage,\" it's part of a trend. As the northern Colorado Front Range region\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Colorado\"","block_context":{"text":"Colorado","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=colorado"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":215,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=215","url_meta":{"origin":1558,"position":4},"title":"Under the Spell of Sulis-1","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"July 3, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Back from England, I am planning several blog posts as I edit the photos and video clips to go with them. Left: the base of a column that once helped to support a high, vaulted roof over the main swimming pool in the Roman baths, rebuilt in the 2nd century\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"England\"","block_context":{"text":"England","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=england"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8780,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=8780","url_meta":{"origin":1558,"position":5},"title":"When Pagans Fought Back and Won (Sort of)","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"September 29, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Today's Pagans, particularly those who inspired by an ancient polytheistic tradition, often wonder why their Pagan ancestors gave up their beliefs. It's a complicated story. Some, like the Saxons conquered by Charlemagne, were in a convert-or-die situation, and thousands died. Sometimes, as in the Roman West, you get the feeling\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Arizona\"","block_context":{"text":"Arizona","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=arizona"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/greatpueblorevolt.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1558"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1562,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1558\/revisions\/1562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}