IVC prof's first novel gets high praise

Although he's an Imperial Valley College creative writing and English professor, Brian McNeece simply considers himself a "hobby writer" despite having published his first novel in June.

"Crossings" is a 260-page novel set in the twin border communities of Jacumba and Jacumé, villages on opposite sides of the international line in southeastern San Diego County. The novel examines the changes in the Jacumba area from 1994 to 1996, after the implementation of Operation Gatekeeper along the southwestern border in San Diego County.

The novel's protagonist is Aurelio Gonzalez, a naïve and idealistic college graduate from Mexico City who arrives in Jacumé to be its schoolteacher. Gonzalez's naïveté and idealism must cope with the pragmatic reality of life in a border community, a place where he can earn more as a dishwasher in Jacumba than as a teacher in Jacumé.

Gonzalez must find his path in life while having several near-fatal encounters with Mexican-American Border Patrol Agent Raul Camacho, dealing with the recruitment overtures of drug trafficker Cuauhtemoc and winning the affections of Jacumba businesswoman Kristin Kuhl.

A review of "Crossings" in a recent edition of "Wyrd," a literary journal published by San Diego State University, called McNeece's first novel "the work of an accomplished craftsman" who humanizes Mexican border crossers for "those of us who seldom or never come in contact with Mexicans in a familiar way but only view them from either condescending perspectives of employer or customer."

The review continues: "For anyone who lives in and loves the border area or simply would like to know what it's like to live near the Mexican-American border, this is a book for you."

McNeece's publisher, iUniverse, gave the novel its "Editor's Choice" blue ribbon distinction. iUniverse is an Internet-based, print-on-demand publisher.

McNeece, 52, explained the idea for the novel came from elderly friends of his in Jacumba whose back fences are literally on the border with Mexico. McNeece's friends would recount to him the easygoing nature of the Jacumba border community prior to Operation Gatekeeper. Jacumé villagers would freely cross the border to shop and work in Jacumba, where illegal immigration wasn't really considered a problem, with few Border Patrol agents in the area.

However, the start of Operation Gatekeeper shifted human trafficking toward southeastern San Diego County. A two-mile stretch of 12-foot high fencing was put up in Jacumba, to the surprise of area residents. Some of the villagers of the impoverished Jacumé (which is 1 kilometer south of Jacumba) then entered the human trafficking business by serving as guides called polleros, renting their homes to immigrants waiting to cross or by selling supplies to them.

"This was a living laboratory, a microcosm, of two cultures on the border. I said this is a story that needs to be written. ... I thought it was so ripe for a novel," explained McNeece.

Calling his writing a means of organizing his thoughts, ideas and emotions (and of also organizing the world), McNeece noted he has been keeping a journal since age 15. McNeece began writing "Crossings" during a semester-long sabbatical, when most of the novel was written. However, the novel was not completed until November 2003 because of the demands of work, family, community involvement and a battle with skin cancer in the late 1990s.

McNeece said he's amazed to have finished his book because of the piecemeal fashion it was written in and the time-draining nature of writing.

"To me there's too much in life. There's something new happening all the time. In order to write you've got to stop everything," said McNeece.

Although he feels writing is fun, McNeece said writers must be disciplined and focused if they expect to take on a novel-writing project. McNeece recommended aspiring novelists take a writing class to learn the basic tenets of fiction writing as well as possessing the perseverance to finish a project. McNeece also recommended giving rough drafts to friends and keeping an open mind to their feedback.

As for his future projects, McNeece is about two-thirds finished with a short story collection, and he's working on a memoirs collection that's tentatively called the "Growing up in the Valley" book.

"Crossings" is available at The Book Nook and Fifth Avenue Books in El Centro. Additionally, "Crossings" and McNeece's short-essay collection "Slipknots" are both available for purchase at www.iuniverse.com, www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com

>> Staff Writer Michael A. Salorio can be reached at 337-3441 or msalorio@ivpressonline.com http://www.ivpressonline.com/articles/2004/10/11/news/news01.txt