Frida F. Burgesa
Thank you for taking an interest in my work. I follow the dictum to write what you want to read. I want more stories with women busting through the gates of traditional male roles for the simple reason that it’s more interesting. Let’s see women as gunfighters, as athletes, as gangsters, as agents of their own triumphs and tragedies.
With the enormous help of this collective, two of my novels have been published, Baja Sur and Sunday Pairing.
In Baja Sur, I wanted to explore the lawless West with a woman every bit the solitary gunslinger as the male figures of Westerns past. The future interests me more than the past, so instead of going back to the bad old days, how about imagining the conditions for a similar time to appear now? It’s not a stretch of the mind to picture a war across northern Mexico involving the drug cartels. As in all wars, the women trying to hold families and communities together, are visited with the greatest horrors. In Baja Sur, one woman, hardened by the fires and skilled in the tools of violence, faces the uncertain future of a rebuilt civilization.
Sunday Pairing was inspired by the Solheim Cup many years ago. Young women playing golf under more pressure than I can imagine. I watched both teams gather on the 18th green encouraging, comforting, cheering, clinging to each other with the entire tournament resting on the shoulders of the two remaining players. One faced the putt to win or lose. The other had to watch, powerless to affect the result. The pair were inextricably linked in both golfing lore and the stories of their lives. But what if there was something more? What if those two players had history together? What if their opponent was the single most important person of their adult lives?
As to me, it’s there in the stories. I love the desert when it’s unbelievably hot and when it’s, more unreal, bone chilling cold. I love all things physical. I love my body. I love making it move, making it sweat, challenging it, enjoying it. I love books that make me feel things deep in my body. I hope mine can do the same for you.
Baja Sur imagines a bleak future when law and order on the Peninsula has been destroyed by war. Life is again ruled by the Gangster and the Gunfighter. As in history, the ravages of war strike women the hardest, and the deepest. For many, survival depends on the giving themselves completely to a protector.
Eva Banuelos defied the brutality. She compromised others’ flesh, never her own. A soldier in her own independence movement. But even in Baja time passed and an uneasy peace returned.
Eva’s ally, her only family, conquered the seaside town of Dulzura and turned toward the legitimate businesses of hospitality and tourism. The criminal territory is being sold to a gangster from the mainland. To make the most of the venture, the newcomers plan to increase the smuggling of weapons, pharmaceuticals, and women. Disgusted as she is, Eva knows better than to object. Knowing better, however, never wins an argument against emotion.
"A classic western for a new age"
<<>>
"Pulp that never runs out of juice"
<<>>
"Heat that shimmers; Salt that infuses; Acid that burns. No fat found on the bodies, dead or alive."
<<>>
"A limited series waiting to be made"
<<>>
"A classic western for a new age" <<>> "Pulp that never runs out of juice" <<>> "Heat that shimmers; Salt that infuses; Acid that burns. No fat found on the bodies, dead or alive." <<>> "A limited series waiting to be made" <<>>
Sunday Pairing trades the hard-bitten desert of Baja for the lush greens of the golf course while keeping the fate of the characters teetering on the edge. The weapons are golf clubs instead of guns, dimpled white balls instead of bullets, skirts and visors in place of body armor, a tournament the battlefield.
Ghada Vitruvio grew up in Italy as an outsider in her own family. Golf her refuge, her escape, and the gateway to greatness. Seeking fame and fortune to heal the wounds of childhood, she comes to America to claw her way on to the big stage. Within days of having to limp back to Europe defeated and ashamed, Ghada meets a young woman of Thai descent, Polly Wongsuwan, herself a golfer of great potential undercut by a near crippling self-doubt sown by her own family. Their friendship spurs Ghada on to the successes that keep her dreams alive and pushes Polly to believe dreams are possible.
Under the weight of intimacy and need and desire, the shell of their friendship ruptures, the glow of romance emerges. An elation, a connection, a comfort that is threatened by distance, money, family, ambition, and insecurity. The relationship breaks under the pressure.
With scars covered by makeup, Ghada and Polly reach new peaks in golf performance. Both earn places on their Zahra Cup teams. Polly for the US. Ghada for Europe. The Zahra Cup, the biannual tournament where pride and glory for country and continent mean more than money. A competition that defines a player’s legacy to themselves and the millions who watch.
On Sunday, with the fate of the Zahra Cup in the balance, Ghada faces off against Polly. A match where courage is required to confront the questions that are asked with every swing, every step, every breath, and every glance. What will I win? What will I lose? What matters the most?
