Culture Series: Write What You Know, with Carol Potenza

New Mexico author Carol Potenza is the speaker for the Sept. 8 Culture Series presentation at the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum.

The lecture, hosted by the Friends of the Museum, begins at 7 p.m. and admission is free. The title of Carol’s talk is: Write What You Know: Creating Mysteries in a Historically Rich and Culturally Diverse State.

New Mexico, with its scenic beauty, depth of history, and culturally diverse people, provides a fertile field for writers, from Fabiola Cabeza de Baca to Tony Hillerman to Rudolfo Anaya. Writing—whether fiction or nonfiction, novels or newspaper articles—takes hard work and dedication. Authors spend countless hours on research, character creation, plots, editing, marketing, and publishing their work.

Carol will talk about her process, the ghost stories woven through her novels, how her scientific background shapes her stories, and the unwritten rules that can have a profound effect on a writing career. Please join her for what she hopes will be a lively discussion on the content of her books and how New Mexico has shaped her writing career.

Carol taught biochemistry at New Mexico State University before transitioning to a full-time mystery writer. Her first book was the Tony Hillerman Prize winner, Hearts of the Missing, followed by The Third Warrior and Spirit Daughters, the second and third book in the Nicky Matthews mystery. Unmasked is the first book in her De-extinct Zoo mysteries.

Carol loves the combination of strong women sleuths, paranormal and murder mystery, mixed with science or, as she likes to call it—BiocheMystery. She sets all her books in the beautiful state of New Mexico, where she lives with her husband, Leos, and her extremely grumpy chihuahua, Hermès. You can visit her at www.carolpotenza.com and on Instagram and Facebook at @carolpotenzaauthor.