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A WRITING LIFE
Harlan Hague
Teaching and writing proved a happy combination that was both
intellectually stimulating and personally satisfying. I retired from teaching a bit
earlier than I had always planned so that I could devote full time to writing and
traveling, another happy union. To colleagues and friends who asked why I retired somewhat
early, knowing that I enjoyed teaching immensely, I paraphrased Thoreau. I have many lives
to live, and I had to be about the next one.
This is the web site of Harlan Hague, BBA, MBA, MA, PhD, writer and
retired history professor. On these pages, I will talk shamelessly about my
various passions, chiefly writing and travel.
Principal fields in my scholarly writing were the American West and
California. My research and writing on exploration in the West is illustrated in my
article on the origins of the southern overland route to California
and the Indian role as guides
in western exploration. I discuss my fascination with California in an article titled
California
Dreaming. My concern for the environment is illustrated in my article, Eden Ravished.
I combine my enthusiasms for writing and travel in freelance travel
writing. My travel articles have published in the travel sections of newspapers throughout
the United States and in travel magazines. I have put up a number of my travel articles here on my web site.
David J. Langum and I collaborated in writing a biography of
Thomas O. Larkin, published by University of Oklahoma Press. The book won
the Caroline Bancroft History Prize. An American merchant and United States Consul to Mexican California,
Larkin was the chief figure in the American acquisition of California. The paperback and
hardback may be purchased online from Amazon
and Barnes & Noble and by order
from any bookstore. Read a summary of Larkin's life in my article.
For more detail on the book, click
here.
 My Road to
California: The Search for a Southern Overland Route, 1540-1848, originally
published by The Arthur H. Clark Company, has been reprinted in paperback. The book is the
only volume to bring together the story of the search for an overland route to California
by Spaniards, Mexicans and Americans. It may be purchased online at Barnes & Noble
and at Amazon and by order at any bookstore.
This reprint volume contains an index.
The general reader may prefer the most recent reprint,
right, which does not contain the index. More
on the book.
 My
short novel, Santa Fé mi casa, was released in June 2011.
This is a love story set in New Mexico and the Southwest at the opening of
the Mexican War. John
Henry Harris ,a young soldier in the United States Army of the West, is
eager to wave the flag and fight for his country. But
John Henry’s world is soon turned upside down. In Santa Fé he meets
Morita and falls in love. Finding no enemies in New Mexico, John Henry questions whether he can
support this war against a people who have committed no wrong against him
or the United States. He is torn between conflicting passions of loyalty,
justice, duty and love. The idyll ends when the army leaves Santa Fé to
carry the conquest to California. John Henry longs for Morita and a life
with her in the little adobe house in Santa Fé. The print book is
available at Amazon,
also the Kindle
eBook edition. Also available at Barnes
and Noble and as a Nook
Book. More? Go here.
 My
second love, after writing, is traveling. The two proved a happy
combination. I traveled with my family, and I organized and escorted
tours. Soft Adventure tours, I called them, since they involved
experiences that were a bit different and a bit more challenging than the
typical tourist experience. In the course of my travels, I have visited
some sixty or seventy countries and dependencies. My travel articles
published in newspapers and travel magazines throughout the United States.
This was in the salad days when newspapers had budget for freelance
writing. A collection of my articles, titled Soft Adventure Travel,
was published in June 2011 as an eBook. It is available at Smashwords
and at Amazon
Kindle. For more on the book, click here.
I
reversed the usual path of novel-to-screenplay by writing a novella based
on one of my screenplays. Sakura, the book, is based on my
screenplay of the same title. This is a story about a good man who loves
two women. He lives the good life of a respected professor in a quiet
college town on the United States west coast. He loves his wife, his
cottage garden and his academic routine. He is content. But when his new
Japanese graduate assistant’s mother visits her son from Japan, the
professor’s world is turned upside down. Memories that he thought he had
forgotten or suppressed flood back, and his tranquility vanishes. The
eBook is available at Amazon and Smashwords
and other online purveyors.
The print volume is available at Amazon, CreateSpace and elsewhere.
For more detail on the versions of the book, go here.
Print:
eBook:
Since the trends in recent years have been toward self-publication, the
options in the production of covers has proliferated. I have displayed
some examples of the various options here.
In recent years, I have turned to writing screenplays and teleplays. What
writer does not have a screenplay or two in his
head, on disk, or making the rounds? Have a look at a short description of
each of my scripts.
Write to me, and see my
web site.
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