Statehood of Affairs

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Water Damage

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Reviews

Romance, state’s political destiny collide in ‘Affairs’

By David Steinberg /Journal Staff Writer on Sun, Mar 4, 2012

Daniel Cillis’ interest in writing historical fiction has multiple roots. Cillis has written academic articles about New Mexico, one of them on Intel. He’s made film documentaries about the state. And he has a strong interest in history. “My idea was to put together something that had political and historical interest. So I came up with ‘Statehood of Affairs.’ It’s about affairs of the heart that complicate affairs of state,” Cillis said in a phone interview.

“The concept for the book occurred to me when I was up in the Four Corners area and I realized how arbitrary borders are. … And I was looking at the history of New Mexico and Arizona.” At the heart of the story is the fictional Revert Document, hidden somewhere in Chaco Canyon. The document gives the novel much of its tension. The story refers to it as an amendment to the Treaty of Mesilla, which had been signed by the presidents of the United States and Mexico to settle issues unresolved by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The document, which the novel calls “a dormant political time bomb,” has serious consequences for American claims to the territory of New Mexico if it doesn’t achieve statehood in early 1912.

The novel contains a lover’s triangle, Cillis said, that centers on Adoloreto “Adobe” Centuri, a New Mexico sheriff, ranch owner and a delegate to the convention to draft a state constitution, and Gabriella Zena. During the Spanish-American War, Centuri had met Zena, who is now Cuba’s ambassador to Mexico. “They have a ‘love-of-my-life’ relationship before she’s ambassador,” Cillis said. “But she distrusts American expansion.” The hypotenuse of the triangle is the Revert Document itself, the author said.

“Centuri and Zena share love, but they’re not on the same side of the border. … She finds the Revert Document,” Cillis said. He said if his novel can in some small way contribute to New Mexico’s centennial, “then my goal will be satisfied.”

Cillis grew up in Queens, N.Y., and has homes in Rio Rancho and New York. He taught business ethics at the University of New Mexico’s Anderson School of Management for three summers. He currently teaches graduate courses in management behavior and leadership at Molloy College in New York.

Daniel Cillis discusses, signs “Statehood of Affairs” at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 10, at Bookworks, 4022 Rio Grande NW; at 3 p.m. March 11 at Collected Works, 202 Galisteo, Santa Fe; and at 6 p.m. March 15 at the Range Cafe, 925 Camino Del Pueblo, Bernalillo.

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Fun and Insightful — In this fun and insightful work of historical fiction, Statehood of Affairs, Daniel R. Cillis presents readers with an excursion into a hidden history of New Mexico and its long struggle to achieve statehood. By leading the audience through an international plot centered around the mysterious Article X of the Treaty of Mesilla, known as the Revert Document, Cillis crafts a story of romance and revenge, with major significance for New Mexico’s fate in the Union. Embroiled in this plot is Sheriff Adobe Centori of Valtura, who finds that statehood, as well as life and love, are at stake.

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[Excerpt from Book Review  Section)….. For the record, New Mexico officially became the 47th state on January 6, 1912, and Arizona became No. 48 on February 14. Both states celebrated their 100th anniversaries in grand style in 2012. Holtby’s compelling tale is worth celebrating as well for doing such a good job of explaining how corruption, racism and partisan politics were key factors that made the road to statehood as bumpy as the road to Chaco Canyon. One thing is certain.  Neither the territory of New Mexico nor the territory of Arizona was going to revert to Mexico. But that unusual notion still makes for entertaining reading in Statehood of Affairs (iUniverse, Bloomington, Ind.), a 2011 book of historical fiction by Daniel R. Cillis. In this imaginary 1911 scenario another war between Mexico and the United States threatens due to a missing document, called the Revert Document, that could allow Old Mexico to legally recover the two lost territories. It might help, though, to know the real history first.— Wild West Magazine, February 2013.

In Water Damage, Cillis’ style creates a vivid view of the pre-World War  I era. The intrique and historical detail within this tale are  expressed through a wide variety of compelling characters in New Mexico and New York. Adobe Centori, obsessed with a woman he failed to save, is back within the wake of the U.S. violation of the Revert Document. This political adventure provides a clear sense of early 20th century America and Germany’s secret war.

Gary Herron – Rio  Rancho, Observer.

READER REVIEW – In appreciation of the author’s scenic writing style, the third book of the Statehood of Affairs series, Adobe Centori and the Silver Medallion, leads you directly to Adobe Centori at the Circle C Ranch. Here, previous characters are reintroduced and new characters are met as the adventure begins and mysteries are solved. At the ranch within his sanctum sanctorum, we are able to be one with Centori. The reader is able to witness his character grow while he contemplates several positions: as a patriotic American, as a highly respected rancher, as an intellect and as a man
affording himself a lifestyle he wishes. Yet, he still simply lives as a man with and without the women he has chosen and with those women who have chosen him. Including those currently living here and those in the hereafter.