One of my novels in development is about a 21st century Apache-Mexican War. The concept was to take a historical event and have it reoccur in a contemporary setting.
In _Geronimo’s Spirits_, Chappo, a retired Army sergeant, returns home because his younger brother, Tak died of a fentanyl overdose. As part of his grief, Chappo commits to destroying the Mexican cartel that trafficked Tak’s fentanyl into New Mexico. While following the trail from Tak’s dealer through the cartel’s operations, Chappo forms a band on Apache and Commanche to invade Mexico to destroy the cartel.
The female lead in the story is a CIA agent sent to monitor Chappo’s activity in Mexico. The US is undecided about Chappo’s actions. Thus, she might be ordered to help him or kill him; however, will he compromise her loyalties?
Chappo is named after Geronimo’s son; yes, that historical Geronimo. Tak is an abbreviation from an Apache name I ran across in my research, but I can’t now remember what the full name is.
As part of the integrated Selfish World story universe, Tak’s son is a character in a separate novel about a future Second American Civil War, _Boudica and The Butcher_. Further, from _The Misadventures of Chad Seeking a Wife_, the origin of blind date Esmeralda’s mysterious teardrop tattoo gets dramatized in Chappo’s story.
Originally, the working name for the story was _Geronimo’s Sons_ but I shifted towards _Geronimo’s Ghosts_ as that could refer to Chappo’s psyop tactics against the superstitious Mexican cartel members. I pivoted to _Geronimo’s Spirits_ as I read ghosts have a negative connotation in Apache culture, but spirits have a positive one. Further, legend holds that Geronimo was guided by spirits.
Copilot created an image for me of Chappo from a description. I did not expect the goatee as I think of my male leads as clean shaven. What do you think? After seeing Chappo with a goatee, would you miss it?
Jaycee Woods 
Leave a comment