Celebrating the multi-faceted heritage, history, and hope of Indigenous peoples.
Indigenous peoples are not the past.
They are living, powerful, and loving today.
Elders, children, activists, teachers, leaders, community, and so many among the missing.
~ Bernice King, on #IndigenousPeoplesDay
Rick Mora as Eddie Edmunds*
Evolution Device‘s main character is Warm Springs Apache, but he doesn’t identify as Indigenous. The 1970s guitar god Eddie Edmunds was born in the USA to his mother’s family, but raised in London by his English father. As an adult Eddie’s mind is not on his New Mexico heritage and he’s all but lost his cultural identity.
Except when the magic overwhelms him.
Lily, Eddie’s muse, is nominally his cousin. Actually, she’s the spiritual, creative part of Eddie. She’s been linked to him from his birth and is the source of his creativity. She was a being of pure energy until one day in Eddie’s late twenties when he accidentally manifested her into the physical. Lily’s had enough trouble identifying as a female human being, much less thinking about what it might mean for her to be Native American. It just never enters her mind. She’s more concerned about how she’s losing her connection to Eddie as he falls deeper and deeper into heroin addiction in a futile effort to block the magic he fears.
The magic that comes from his Apache blood.
Nateh is Eddie’s aunt. She’s a powerful elder in her Warm Springs Apache community and curandera for all. And she knows about the power Eddie is hiding from. The curse he calls magic — but that is much, much more.
Evolution Device is the name of Eddie’s band. They’ve come a long ways since the days of basement clubs. Now they play stadiums and headline festivals. For good or evil, they hold the audiences in their musical thrall through the power of Eddie’s magic.
None of them know if they will survive Eddie’s battle for his life — and his soul.
Evolution Device is available on Amazon and through book stores near you.
*Note: Authors like to use photos of actual people — often actors or models — as visual inspiration for the character they’re writing. I started out with photos of Willy Cartier, who’s a gorgeous hunk, but who has no Native American ancestors as far as I know. On the other hand, I’ve been following Rick Mora for some time now for his spiritual ideas, and Mr. Mora happens to be of Apache and Yaqui blood. I know people of Apache and Yaqui blood and some of the characters in Evolution Device have been inspired by these friends. Mr. Mora is perfect inspiration for Eddie Edmunds.
As @nativerickmora tweeted last June, “Don’t be afraid to start all over. Close out one chapter and start on a new page. You may like the new chapter better.”
Rick Mora as Eddie Edmunds