Welcome to Craig Nettleton's Home Page

I am happy to announce the publication of my first novel, Rocks in my Bed, by Sunstone Press in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  The book is the culmination of my explorations in the Malpais, Zuni Mountains, and Datil Mountains of central New Mexico.  While living in the foothills of the Zuni Mountains in 1973, I first learned of the Lost Adams Diggings when I came across J. Frank Dobie's Apache Gold, Yaqui Silver on the bookshelf of a friend in Phoenix, Arizona.  A short time later, I was fortunate to work with Al Hutton, a cowboy prospector, who had searched for the Diggings for years.  His stories haunted me after I moved to Albuquerque to pursue my doctorate at the University of New Mexico.  While I was doing my internship in Clinical Psychology at the Veteran's Administration Hospital, several old timers shared their knowledge of the Lost Adams.  A few ended their tales with "if you could just bust me out of here, I'd take you right to it." I've dragged many friends and lovers over desolate lava fields, high mountains, and dusty canyons over the past thirty years.

Eventually, I came to the conclusion that that the riches of my experiences were probably the only return that would come from my search.  There's a saying in Spanish that hope will never make you fat, but it will sustain you.  When I narrowed my research to the writing of Rocks in my Bed, I actually came closer to the possibility of finding the gold than I had when I was searching in earnest.  I hope some of my excitement comes through in the pages of the book.

My choice of having a half-Lebanese and half-Hispanic hero is unusual, but deliberate.  I spent my junior year of college at the American University of Beirut.  It was one of the best times of my life.  I had many adventures in the Middle East, some of them planned, but many were surprises.  The Arab people were the most hospitable people I have ever met.  In the 21st century, they have been vilified as fundamentalist killers.  I wanted to have a protagonist who showed the depth of an Arab-American and would also allow me to exploit the prejudice that emerged after the 9/11 attacks.

My villain is a composite of some of the veterans I have known with post traumatic stress disorder and some modern "patriots" whose misguided loyalty limits their vision of global interdependency.  I hope that I have given him enough humanity so that my readers can empathize with him as I have learned to do.

If a novel of suspense that incorporates a historic treasure hunt with modern issues of terrorism appeals to you, please use the following links.

Amazon.com

Sunstone Press "Rocks in My Bed"

www.rocksinmybed.com

Thank you,

Craig Nettleton