Of necessity, a writer’s work is often conducted in solitude. Yet, it can be fascinating to meet the people behind the words. On Saturday Farmington’s newest bookstore, Quill & Quest, hosted a “meet the author” event for local writer Margaret Cheasebro.
Cheasebro, who has also worked as a local journalist and newspaper editor, among other pursuits, was on hand with several of her books for sale. She was happy to chat about these as well as an upcoming novel, “Murder near Meroe.”
“I started writing when I was 9 years old, writing little short stories about my cats and dogs,” she said. Cheasebro grew up in the Sudan. Her missionary father and mother had moved there from Spokane, Washington, when she and her sister were toddlers. In high school she was editor of her high school newspaper. “That gave me a lot of experience with interviewing people,” she said.
It was a long and winding road from northeast Africa to northwestern New Mexico. In college, Cheasebro wrote an article about some of the political unrest in the Sudan in the mid-1960s that was published by a magazine. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in humanities with an English emphasis from Sterling College, Kansas.
Upon graduation, she was hired by the Bureau of Indian Affairs as a teacher/counselor at Toyei Boarding School in Arizona, head of a dormitory for children from kindergarten through third grade. “These little kids had to leave home and be in a dorm when they were kindergartners,” she said.
Following a year there, she then moved to Many Farms, Arizona, as an elementary school teacher. After a couple of years she got her master’s degree from Greeley, Colorado, in elementary counseling, and returned to Many Farms to teach again.
She learned of an opening for elementary counselors in Farmington. She was hire, and the school district also hired her husband as a teacher. That’s when she began doing freelance writing for The Daily Times and The Aztec Independent Review. She left counseling and began working for the Aztec Independent Review as a reporter and then editor. She has also worked as a correspondent for the Albuquerque Journal.
Over time, she received a Ph.D. in metaphysics from the American Institute of Holistic Theology in Birmingham, Alabama, and has become a Reiki Master. The books she had on display for sale included three about Reiki, which draw from many different sources a vast amount of information about this healing art, including Cheasebro’s own personal experience.
Also on display were three of her other published works, including one for children from ages 4-10 titled “If I Were a Tree, What Would I Be?” and a young adult fantasy novel set in Aztec for ages “9 to 100.” That book was a 2015 finalist in the New Mexico/Arizona book awards.
Another award finalist from that organization in 2017 is “Healing With Trees, Finding a Path to Wholeness.” This nonfiction works revolves around the benefits of being around trees. “This book has a metaphysical flavor and has a special appeal for people who have discovered a bond with trees,” Cheasebro said.
She is now working on is a mystery novel that draws from her many experiences, both in the Sudan and locally. The book concerns a family of archaeologists that live in Aztec but travel to do work in Meroe with their little girl.
Cheasebro explained Meroe is the site of an ancient kingdom deep in the Sudanese desert. There, more than 200 pyramids were built by the Kingdom of Kush, smaller and steeper than the more famous Egyptian pyramids. She drew from her experiences in Sudan and also along the Animas River, Aztec Ruins, and her former home north of Aztec, where she found some ancient artifacts.
She succinctly sums up the novel’s plotline: “Two archaeologists are murdered near a pyramid dig site in Meroe, Sudan, by an antiquities thief who discovers their artifact-rich Aztec, N.M., land. Their daughter and friends seek justice. Romance blossoms.” A publication date has not been announced.
This event with Cheasebro was the second hosted by the Quill & Quest Bookstore, a new independent bookstore located in downtown, Farmington. Their next event is slated for 8 p.m. March 18, a release party for the book “Sunrise on the Reaping.” For more information and to discover more upcoming events, visit their Facebook page.
