Historical Romance about an Irishman, Indian Woman and Spirit Horse
Authenticity
We spent an
enormous amount of time conducting historical research and authenticating locations, rituals,
dialect, phrasings, sayings and background events during the late 1800s in the American West.
Because the driving force of the story is Little
Dove of the Tohono O’odham Nation, and another main character is Eagle Eyes of
the Chiricahua Apache Nation, we asked historians Jose 'Husi' Cázares of the Tohono O'odham Nation and Joe Saenz of the Chiricahua ApacheNation to read the manuscript
and verify that everything we describe is accurate for the time period. Little
Dove’s fated mate, James, the man she falls in love with, is an Irish immigrant from Galway, Ireland, and we asked Irish author, Dawn Rafferty of Galway, Ireland, an Irish Dialect and Culture reviewer, to vet our use of Irish dialect, sayings and
humor.
Our advisors offered guidance on the story, characters, manner of speaking and events. Joe Saenz alone provided 9 pages of notes. In addition, they wrote about
how the narrative touched them.
Tohono O'odham
“A passionate, fun story about a young O’odham
woman and her destined love. The authors have a beautiful way of shaping words
into imagery where you picture what they describe and feel you are in the
story.”—Jose 'Husi' Cázares, MA, MS, CCC-SLP, Tohono O’odham teacher,
author
Chiricahua Apache
“It’s a
good story with lots of action, romance, and detail. The Apache girls are
rightly depicted as beautiful, tough and smart.” —Joe Saenz, historian, Co-director, Chiricahua Apache National
Foundation
Irish Author, Dialect and Culture Reviewer
Our hero, James Rafferty, shares his surname with Galway author Dawn Rafferty, who reviewed the book's Irish dialect and history. We gave him her last name as an homage to her fearless spirit. Allen had the honor of meeting Dawn in person when she visited Arizona about fifteen years ago.
“I was hooked from the first two sentences. Funny, serious, heartbreaking, anticipatory… all emotions evoked from powerful characters. They made me laugh, cry, worry, and fall in love. The story kept me engaged from beginning to end. It is a story weaving our much needed connection to Earth and our Ancestors with a thread of fantastical. I absolutely loved the ending. Irish readers will love the courageous warriors attuned to the magical White Horse. I want to read it again straight away.” —Dawn Rafferty, Author, Irish Dialect and Culture Reviewer, Galway, Ireland
