Leah Cutter --Novels - The Jaguar and the Wolf

Novels -- The Jaguar and the Wolf

We know Vikings reached North America. What happens if one Viking ship goes all the way south, into the Gulf of Mexico, and lands on the Yucatan peninsula?

Due from Roc May 2005.

The Jaguar and the Wolf-- Novel Notes

The inspiration for The Jaguar and the Wolf came at a dark period in my life. I had recently had an abnormal mammogram with an "area of concern." After the doctor did a needle biopsy, they determined that the cells were benign. But it wasn't a pleasant experience.

About that time, I was consciously trying to come up with the next novel idea. I was sitting at a bar in California (I had flown out there for work), and I asked myself what I was most concerned about, what concept consumed me. A single word came to me: sacrifice. I was afraid I was going to have to sacrifice one of my breasts. That got me thinking about other sacrifices, in terms of culture and mythology. I knew something of the Mayans, and how important they held sacrifice to be. I also knew the story of Tyr, and his sacrifice of his sword hand. The novel just flowed together from there, with all the characters exploring the theme, "For every loss there is a gain."

Selected Bibliography for The Jaguar and the Wolf