For the past few months, I’ve been writing new short stories related to my Civil War novel, Hagridden. Each story involves a minor character or two from the novel, people who have some important moments in the book but are definitely supporting characters to the main narrative; in these stories, those folks get their own narrative.
Today, SOL: English Writing in Mexico published the third of those stories, “Jarabe.”
This one addresses the Jimenez brothers, Mexican men who operate a tent shop in a poor section of Leesburg. In the novel, they interact with both the women and the Confederate soldier hunting for Buford, but in the short story, the Jimenez brothers have not yet moved to Louisiana — they’re still in Mexico, fighting in a border war known as The Cortina Troubles.
This means that, unlike the other two stories related to Hagridden (“What Have You Done to Deserve Such a Halo,” in Bartleby Snopes; and “The Voices Captain Brewster Heard,” in WhiskeyPaper), there’s no mention of the Cajun werewolf legend of the rougarou. But don’t worry, fans of the quasi-supernatural: “Jarabe” does play with Brujería and with indigenous Mexican legends of the shapeshifting naguals. 🙂
Meanwhile, Hagridden is still going strong — I keep getting positive feedback! Don’t own a copy yet? Find one in a bookstore near you! Or order one online!
Samuel Snoek-Brown 