John Egenes - A Classic Yarn, Full of surprises

John Egenes is the author of “Man & Horse: The Long Ride Across America”. John has done pretty much whatever it takes to scrape by. He has been a musician, a saddlemaker, a dog catcher, a taxicab driver, and a university lecturer, among other things. John has ridden the freight trains he describes in the book, and he has seen the Marfa Lights. He now makes his home in New Zealand.  As our Author of the Day, he tells us all about his book The Marfa Blues.Please give us a short introduction to what The Marfa Blues is about.It starts with treasure from Mexico, buried in the Texas desert back in the 1860s, then jumps ahead a hundred years, to Marfa, Texas in 1968. Through happenstance and fate, our main characters are brought together and end up searching for that treasure. Along the way they encounter drug dealers and outlaws, scientists and giant cloned cattle, and of course, the famous Marfa Lights. It’s a story of their search for treasure, and of learning what treasure really is.The Marfa Blues is set in 1968 Marfa, Texas—a place already steeped in mystery and myth. Why Marfa, and why this particular time period?I love Marfa and the whole area of South Texas, along the Mexican border. I spent many years as a musician, and I traveled with bands and played shows in Marfa, Terlingua, Alpine, Kerrville, and all over Texas and the American Southwest. Marfa has always been one of those places that you just seem to keep going back to.The desert feels like its own character in the novel. How did the landscape of Southwest Texas influence the story you wanted to tell?The desert just might be the central character in the book. It’s difficult to describe to someone who hasn’t spent time in the desert just how vast and unforgiving it is… but beautiful at the same time.You weave in real-world phenomena like the Marfa Lights and cloned cattle. How much of the story is grounded in fact versus fictional embellishment?Well, it’s definitely fiction [smiles]. Cloning wasn’t a thing yet in 1968, so I played fast and loose with the facts a bit. I’ve seen the Marfa Lights, so I know that they exist. The treasure is based upon the myth of Maximilian’s Treasure. There are many accounts of that, so it’s likely based in truth, but I made up the rest.Vera DeSoto is a strong yet solitary figure who becomes a kind of magnet for misfits. How did her character come to you, and was she inspired by someone you know?Like most fiction writers, I based parts of my characters upon people I know or have met along the way. Not the entire character, but various parts. Vera’s personality was based upon at least a couple of women I’ve known, and her backstory came from a different place.Each of the “strays” in Vera’s life—especially the young girl, the hippie boys, and the artist—brings their own emotional baggage. What was important for you to convey through their interactions?The story is about orphans. Each character is an orphan in his or her own right, and deals with their emotional burdens the only way they know how. Ultimately, the book is about finding family.The book seems to suggest that treasure isn’t always gold or glory. What does “treasure” mean for Vera and her makeshift crew by the end of their journey?The real treasure is the thing that all humans crave, to some degree. It’s family, friendship, camaraderie… call it what you will. We’re a gregarious lot, we humans, and even the most hardcore hermit wants to make connection once in a while, whether they admit it or not.The book deals with second chances, loss, and rediscovery. Was that always your intent, or did these themes emerge naturally as you wrote?I didn’t set out with specific characters in mind. So yes, their themes and personalities emerged as I got to know them. It took a while to sort through their various histories and to make them come together in a logical and meaningful way.There’s a subtle mix of surreal elements—giant cloned cattle, drug dealers, the mystical desert. How did you balance the realism with the fantastical?I’m a songwriter, first and foremost, so I’ve learned to toss unexpected things into my writing, just to keep from bogging down. The story needed challenges, other than looking for buried treasure, and I could feel that it wanted some humor, which I threw into the mix in various ways, like naming one of the characters after a baseball field. And of course, once I started writing about them, I sort of fell in love with the raven and the cow. [grins]Humor and heartbreak sit side by side in the narrative. How do you manage that tonal balance without undercutting either emotion?It’s all about storytelling. As a songwriter who has been around songwriters most of his life, I love a good yarn. Songwriters are storytellers, and a good yarn touches on real life, and often has a healthy dose of humor in it. Cowboy poets are masters of this, and there’s nothing like a good cowboy poem.Your previous work, “Man & Horse”, was a nonfiction account of a cross-country journey. What was it like switching from memoir to fiction?I’ll say this… fiction is A LOT harder to write! [grins] With memoir, you’re trying to tell your story, and it’s already there for you. You just have to pick out the compelling parts and pair them with some philosophizing and a bit of humor. In my case, I was writing about a seven-month horseback trip I made across the United States in 1978, from ocean to ocean. I don’t really like talking about myself, so I tried to deflect the attention by describing my surroundings and the people I met along the way. And of course, I had Gizmo, my horse, to focus upon, which made things a lot easier. But like writing fiction, I tried to offer the reader some food for thought, something to take away from it, something that might inspire them along the way. And of course, after the book was out, Ryan Gosling read it and loved it, and it ended up with its own cameo in the “Barbie” movie. Go figure… [smiles]You’ve worked as a musician, saddle maker, dog catcher, and university lecturer. How have those varied life experiences shaped your writing style and storytelling?They have allowed me to view life through a lot of very different lenses. When you are forced to make do with what you have, you’re often forced to think outside the box. I know how to make a saddle, but I also have a PhD in music. I’ve been a carpenter, but I’ve also been published in academic journals. And I reckon what might be the greatest gift I’ve been given over the years is my curiosity.Did your own time riding freight trains or seeing the Marfa Lights find their way into the plot directly—or more as inspiration?Yes. In fact, the main story started as two hippie boys riding freight trains, which is what my friend and I were doing back in 1967-68. Back then, we spent six days in the Baton Rouge jail, for vagrancy, which is in the book. And much of the train ride from Louisiana to Marfa, near the Mexican border, was written from memory, although the two characters are very different from me and my friend. The young Mexican couple was there, and they were pulled from the train by FBI agents. It happened on June 6th, 1968, the day after Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles. I kept the part with the FBI agents, but left the assassination part out.If you had to sum up The Marfa Blues in one sentence that isn’t about treasure hunting, what would it be?There are many kinds of families, and if you search, and if you’re lucky enough, you just might find yourself in the one you belong to.