The Dry Line

"Are we outlaws, Mom?" Anna Darby doesn't answer. She's not big on self-reflection, but she would do anything for her beloved daughter, Paris, except tell her about her soldier father, who was killed in Vietnam. Anna is running as fast as she can, trying to survive on her social worker paycheck in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1987. But when Paris gets into a scrape with the law, and an old friend asks for a big favor, Anna acts impetuously. As a result, she meets Cisco, a combat veteran who paints ghosts by day and rides the back roads on his Harley by night. Will he be the love of her life, or the death of her? And can feisty Paris save Tonio, a strange, neglected boy who lives in a cave? The barely suppressed sorrows of the past erupt in a remote desert village, and Anna and Cisco must figure out whether, and how, they can heal. Author note: The Vietnam War ruptured many small towns throughout America, among them the rural villages of New Mexico. This story comes from my heart and goes to the Vietnam vets and war protestors alike who were broken by that war and somehow managed to find a way forward. It is also for those who perished. You live in our hearts, dear ones

Ramona Gault is an award-winning writer who has worked as a newspaper and magazine editor. She is a former public relations director of the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts in Santa Fe, N.M., and author of its publication ＂Artistry in Clay: A Buyer’s Guide to Southwestern Indian Pottery.＂ She is co-author of ＂The Santa Fe & Taos Book: A Complete Guide.＂ She lives in Santa Fe, N.M. ＂The Dry Line＂ is her first novel.