Adam James Jones is a true enthusiast when it comes to the Wild West. He latched onto a little known but fascinating true story when he just was a kid and has since made it the centerpiece of his very impressive writing/screenwriting career. We’re so glad to be able to speak to him about his exciting projects here on Occhi.
The Vendetta of Felipe Espinosa, your debut novel, has garnered some very impressive five-star reviews, including from Booklist and ForeWord magazines. Please tell us a little about the book.
The Vendetta of Felipe Espinosa is a historical novel about America’s first serial killer. In the summer of 1863 Felipe Espinosa and his brother Vivian killed an estimated 32 people between New Mexico and Colorado. After Vivian was killed by a Colorado posse, Felipe recruited his 12-year-old nephew to resume the murder spree. The two were eventually hunted down in a fierce, high-country manhunt led by the famous scout Tom Tobin, a close friend of Kit Carson.
It’s a fascinatingly little-known story. With the Civil War in full-swing, all attention and resources were being cast eastward. Officials in these western territories could spare precious few men to track the killers. In fact, for a long time, no one knew for sure who was committing the crimes. Some attributed them to hostile Native tribes, others to the Confederate guerrilla groups infiltrating the Rocky Mountains at the time. Given the gruesome nature of the murders, some newspapers even began to dub Felipe the “Ax-Man of Colorado.”
And yet, with the Mexican-American War still fresh in the minds of much of the Hispanic population—a population that saw many of its farms and ranches seized as a result of the War—Felipe was heralded by some as a Robin Hood. It is even believed that he lasted as long as he did without being caught because sympathetic residents were sheltering him.
Felipe Espinosa is not nearly as well known as some of the other gunslingers of the Wild West. How did you discover him?
I grew up in South Park, Colorado, the region in which Felipe committed most of his crimes. My mom’s house overlooks a hill where two victims were killed. There’s also a tiny, unmarked cemetery nearby containing mostly victims of the Espinosas. In the 7th grade, I took a Colorado History class where we examined the story in closer detail, which really stood out to me. Later in my undergrad, I wrote a research paper on the topic.
Because so little is known about him, you might have written a nonfiction. But you decided to fictionalize his story. Why?
History is written by the victors, the vast majority of primary resources in existence that pertain to the Espinosas were written by the soldiers and government officials who hunted them, as well as the regional newspapers documenting the crimes. It was for this very reason that I decided to write the book as a novel; it was the only way to step into Felipe’s shoes and explore motivations from his perspective. There is evidence to suggest the Espinosas lost both land and loved ones to the Mexican-American War, and that family members suffered abuse at the hands of encroaching settlers. As a member of Los Hermanos Penitentes—a self-flagellating religious sect akin to Opus Dei—Felipe was also deeply spiritual. In (since lost) letters sent to Colorado Governor John Evans, Felipe details visions of the Virgin Mary in which she directs him on his crusade. All these items and more added up to what seemed a fascinatingly complex character, one whose characterization I wanted to explore with dialogue, interior monologue, and mannerisms that would be out of place in a non-fiction account.
In addition to being a novelist, you are a screenwriter. How does your knowledge of one inform the other?
Screenwriting forces you to be succinct and make every word count. There is no room for superfluous exposition in scripts, and because you cannot write inner thoughts (unless there’s voice-over), you’re constantly practicing the golden rule of showing instead of telling. I think one of the best things an aspiring novelist can do is take a screenwriting class.
Have you written a screenplay for Vendetta yet? And if so, what kind of reception is it receiving from the film world?
When the novel was first released I was approached by a relatively well-known director who asked me to adapt the book into a feature film-length script for him. I did this, working all day, every day for about three weeks in order to strike while the kettle was hot. The two of us workshopped different drafts of the script for a few months after this before said director suddenly went AWOL. Not long after this, the story was optioned by a production company out of Toronto. They wrote their own script, shopped it to a few actors and financiers, but the story never quite got the green light. Hollywood loves to seduce and then abandon, I’ve come to find, although the Toronto company was good to work with. Ultimately, I think if you want to get something made, you have to do it yourself. And there have never been as many viable opportunities for doing just that as there are today.
You are the husband of actress/director Catharine E. Jones, who we had the pleasure of interviewing here at Occhi in May. Do you envision that the two of you will work together to see Vendetta transition into film?
Yes. Cat actually directed the book trailer for Vendetta. Last year the two of us worked together on a short horror film called Hatchlings. I wrote the script and Cat directed. The film was rocking the film festival circuit, picking up numerous awards in multiple countries, before COVID shut everything down. Now our goal is to adapt the book into a limited series, something like Hatfield & McCoy or Godless. It’s a long book with a lot of characters, something that lends itself well to a series rather than a film. There also seems to be a larger appetite for series right now. Lastly, we could shoot on location right here in New Mexico where productions get a 25% tax rebate.
Almost every time someone hears the story of Felipe Espinosa, their response is, “How is that not a movie?!” It’s time to get it done.
You have a second novel, Daughter of the Dark World, coming out soon, also based on a true story. What is it about?
In 1998 three men in southwestern Colorado stole a water truck with what is believed to be the intent of using it to blow up the Glen Canyon Dam in Utah. Before they could do this, however; they were stopped by a police officer. The officer was shot, and a high-speed chase ensued. Amazingly, all three men escaped, dispersing across Utah’s canyonlands where they had buried caches of weapons and supplies. It would be nearly a decade before the bandolier-wrapped skeleton of the last of the fugitives was finally discovered. Inspired by this true story, Daughter of the Dark World is about a man who commits a devastating attack of homegrown terrorism, and then disappears into the desert… taking with him his mother and two children. There’s an element of paranormal suspense in this book. I describe it as Ruby Ridge meets The Shining.
So yeah, obviously another heartwarming tale for the whole family!
Will you write a screenplay for Daughter of the Dark World?
Unlike Vendetta, Daughter of the Dark World is a more self-contained story with fewer settings and a small cast of characters. There’s also a lot of dialogue. These items make script adaptation easier and, more importantly, productions more affordable. Adaptation is definitely a possibility.
You appear to be a walking encyclopedia for all things having to do with the Wild West, whether historical or legendary. Will you return to this territory for your next book?
There’s a lot of southwestern lore present in Daughter of the Dark World, especially the legends and creation stories of the Navajo and the Ancestral Puebloans. Setting has always been my primary inspiration in writing—the time and the place. While researching Vendetta I camped along all the key sites in the story. For Daughter of the Dark World, I backpacked through canyon country, explored ancient ruins, and meditated in dark, underground lava tubes, just to imagine what my characters might feel in these environments. This second book isn’t a Western Western, a la Louie L’Amour, but rather a modern crime caper set in the west, like No Country For Old Men.
On the other hand, I’ve recently completed a rough (very rough) draft for a third novel that’s unlike anything I’ve done so far. It’s a sci-fi-western-fantasy spanning multiple centuries, exploring certain metaphysical beliefs along the way. Kind of a Cloud Atlas meets The Celestine Prophecy. Switching genres so radically makes maintaining a readership platform trickier. But, this is what the muse wanted written, and you don’t argue with the muse.
How can Occhi readers learn more about you and your work?
https://www.facebook.com/adamjamesjonesauthor/
And, for a full, non-fiction account of Felipe Espinosa:
https://adamjamesjones.com/2010/12/14/the-real-story/
Photo Credits: Cat E Jones
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