Carol Potenza
New Mexico Mysteries
An asteroid as large as 50 miles across hits what we now call the Yucatan, vaporizes in the 20,000-degree heat caused by the energy of the collision, catches pretty much everything on fire for 100s of miles, creates tsunamis as tall as the Eiffel tower, pitches the world into darkness for a year because of debris and dust thrown into the sky, and completely wipes out the dinosaurs.
In 79 A.D., a catastrophic volcanic eruption rained ash, rocks, and death down on Roman cities in southern Italy. Pyroclastic flows, superheated gaseous clouds measuring 700°C (1300°F) swept down the sides of Mt. Vesuvius (1), vaporized everything in their paths, including the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and every living creature inhabiting them and the surrounding countryside. This area of Italy is where my people are from. In fact, right next to the region of Campania, where Mt. Vesuvius rests, is Basilicata and its capitol city, Potenza. One day, I think I’ll go there and become their queen. Paesano! This …
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I love reading. Books and stories–fiction and nonfiction–take you to places you can never go and let you become friends with people you will never meet. I love writing even more because then I get to create those places and people. People with characteristics I want but will never have except on the page. Places no one will ever go because they’re in the past or future. And science twisted into science fiction that drive the plots of my stories. For example: People: Sergeant Nicky Matthews in Hearts of the Missing, Tony Hillerman Prize winning book. She’s actually based on …
Two very short stories. Which one is your favorite? POOL OF DESPAIR Something wasn’t right. He stopped and crept out on the rocky ledge and peered over. Reflected on the surface, his shaved head with its a parchment face stared back. The breeze rippled the water, pulling his tight lips into a slash above his chin, his deep-set eyes dark holes. He compared staring into the spring to looking through the air on a winter day. The water, so clean and cold, burbled out of the surrounding rocky crags as if they’d been struck by a miraculous staff. Nothing was …
Calcium (Ca), Lovers’ Graves, and the Periodic Table of Death Think of Calcium as life’s structural support element. It’s the fifth most common element in the earth’s crust but easily forms compounds (1). In fact, about 99% of Ca found in our bodies is built into our bones as a complex and complicated mineral component that approximates this formula—Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2 (2). When we toddle off this mortal plane and elect to be buried whole, the carbon-based organic portion of our bodies can become nutrition for other living creatures (e.g., bacteria, fungi. Bears.). But consumption tends to stop at the hard crunchy middle, …
