Words Unspoken, Things Unseen
by Joe Rodriguez

A downtown homeless shelter, the Settlement, is targeted for demolition during the Great Recession. In its place, the city wants to build a sports complex. Its pastor was offered full market value for the shelter property in order to move the stadium forward. A money manager set the price and interest rates. The deal to vacate the site includes a relocation bonus, if the mission signs the contract in the next twenty-four hours. Will the pastor give in?

Growing the American Way

Outlaws and smugglers have sought refuge in the United States-Mexico Borderlands since the days of the Wild West. Five Americans facing bankruptcy and homelessness retreat to the Southwest desert badlands to grow marijuana. A modest crop of buds (sin semilla) can net a small fortune, if the group can find water and hide from the Border Patrol (la migra) as well as poachers.

Growing the American Way is an adventure novel, a survival narrative about desperate times. The story revisits the American Dream of rags-to-riches. Go to the wilderness and make your millions. This myth fueled the movement West from the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. Sunset leads the way to prosperity. “Growing” gives this odyssey a twist. The mother lode isn’t gold but high grade chronic — enough of a fortune to avoid the poor house.