NATIVE FATE, Book 10 of the Zeb Hanks Mystery Series has finally been published and hit #1 on the Native American Fiction Amazon chart due to your support. Native Fate, like all of the other books in the series has an underlying theme. As alcoholism was covered in Adios Angel; land rights, religion and government power in Holes in the Sky; and revenge in Native Justice, the extended family is is the underlying theme in Native Fate.
I thought significantly about this because through 23 and Me I discovered I had a heretofore unknown grandchild. This got me thinking about what do we really know about our lineage. This is true not only when it comes to our immediate and blended families but to those we know and care about. With Zeb and Echo becoming aware of what it is to be parents in the beginning of the book, I twisted that into Zeb's lineage as well as some discovery of Echo's family. I was striving to make the reader think on multiple levels, as I have in all the books. The story is fun, but what goes into the research and thought behind it is quite intense. As in life, fiction can lead anywhere. Only in fiction writing the author has a better chance of finding the destination and the path.
Many of the ideas in Native Fate had been roaming the open plains of my mind since I began the series years ago. Who really is Zeb Hanks? As it turns out, he hadn't even known. That in and of itself opens a world of possibilities for the future and a greater understand of the past and present. I like Zeb...no I love Zeb's character. He inspires me to think and be creative. I am glad he is in love. I am glad he is apolitical. I am glad that he is a survivor. He holds many complex variables within his character, all of which I hope the reader finds endearing or at least thoughtful.
I didn't know where this book would end when I began writing it. I was aware that it had to have a strong finish is all that I knew. I was aware that I wanted to make Echo and the other female characters stronger. I knew I wanted to make the mystical component of the stories more 'real'. I want to continue to strengthen the female characters as well as Zeb in future books.
So thank you for your support on this journey and for reading the books. If you have time, please review NATIVE FATE or any of the Zeb Hanks Mystery Series books that you have read. It really helps us reach new readers.
In the meantime, for the next half dozen months or so I will be concentrating on a a baseball book. It is called THE GREATEST BASEBALL GAME EVER PLAYED. Baseball is how my wife, Kathy and I fell in love and learned many things about each other. The book concerns a game that takes place on July 4, 1939. The actual game begins right after Lou Gehrig makes his famous farewell speech at Yankee Stadium (check it out on youtube). The book is from the heart of me as it also involves my grandfather who coaches one of the teams. Oh, by the by it takes place on top of Mount Rushmore.
--Mark Reps
Author, ZEB HANKS: Small Town Sheriff Big Time Trouble Series