publisher of fiction by

Sally Bennett Boyington

Tales of the Watermasters,

volumes 1 and 2

Deception, betrayal, and murder ravage a peaceful people facing a terrifying future as their canals begin to fail.

A Watermaster called home from exile to restore the canals  must find a way to survive in a community divided by religious conflict.

A series of novels set in indigenous Arizona

Explore the world of the Hohokam, who farmed the Arizona desert for a thousand years, building vast networks of canals, multistory buildings, and platform mounds as big as football fields . . . and then disappeared.

What happened to this magnificent civilization? Walk with the Watermasters and find out.

Praise for the series:

Rainbow Knife: “The strength of this novel lies in its expert, detailed worldbuilding that shows thorough research and is conveyed in artful language. . . . Readers will feel fully immersed in this . . . engrossing tale.” — Kirkus Reviews

Swallowing the Sun: “Richly imagined narrative spins a spellbinding tale of ecological disaster, a false messiah and an existential human crisis.” — Court Atchinson, author and historian

“Such vivid writing! Transported me to perilous, dry, prehistoric Arizona.”— Kaye George, author of Death in the Time of Ice

“I am SO enjoying the read: the characters, the setting and the world you have conjured!” — Barbara T

I write about ancient people to show that they were not so different from ourselves: dreamers and engineers, artists and farmers, politicians and demagogues and fanatics, riddled with jealousy and ambition and buoyed by love and optimism.

Recent thoughts, upcoming events, news

(Hohokam petroglyph, age unknown)

 

A dark coating called varnish forms on rock outcrops in the Arizona desert. Wielding hard stones like chisels, the Hohokam Indians pecked away this coating to reveal the lighter rock beneath. Such petroglyphs can still be seen in many locations.

 

The Hohokam had no metal tools. They built their canals, adobe buildings, tools, and weapons using stone, wood, clay, and other materials that we would consider primitive. Yet their engineering skills were of such high quality that some of their constructions can still be seen in the landscape today, 700 years later.