JOAN C WRENN
Author
I was a mother of two, remarried, working as a computer programmer, taking oil painting classes, when I realized a deep need to study anthropology. Fortunately the state college on the hill behind our home had an anthropology department, and I enrolled. For me, being back in college was delightful. I had spent much of my childhood biking to the nearby university where my father was a professor, and I had always loved learning.
After I earned my BA in anthropology, and was working on my MA, I ventured out on my first, four day tour to the Yucatan, Mexico, seeing the contemporary sights and some of the ruins of the ancient Maya people. I was enchanted by the Maya culture, and began ten years of reading and studying the Maya, attending workshops to learn to read their inscriptions. That first trip was followed by seven other, longer tours, to Chiapas, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, with professional anthropologists and epigraphers, trekking through many ruined Maya cities and contemporary villages and towns, soaking up the art, history, environment, and culture of these amazing people.
In 2007 I self-published my first book, Call of the Panther, based on my first trip to Yucatan, a mix of the tour and time travel into a young Maya woman of the past.
In 2008 I again self-published my second book Samuel, Servant of Yahweh, a different kind of historical fiction about the biblical prophet, Samuel. I had begun writing this book before I went back to college, then picked it up and finished it.
In my studies and trips I had become entranced by the site of Yaxchilan on the Usumacinta river between Chiapas and Guatemala, and had visited the ruins twice. Their buildings and inscriptions were plentiful and beautiful, telling the history of the site and its inhabitants. I discovered the wonderful book by Carolyn E. Tate, Yaxchilan : The Design of a Maya Ceremonial City, which gave me details about all the buildings at the site, in which I could locate my story.
Always a big fan of historical fiction, I wrote and self-published the first book in my trilogy about the people of Siyah Chan in the eighth century. Young Lords of Siyah Chan came out in 2009, followed by Unsung Lords of Siyah Chan in 2011. Then family events curtailed my writing, my finishing of the third book, Holy Lord of Siyah Chan, until now, in 2020.
Although my books may be considered ‘old’, I think they are timeless, bringing stories of the past into the present.
~ First in a series of Three Books ~
Who were the Ancient Maya who inhabited those mysterious ruined cities in the Central American jungles? As aspects of their lifeways and history are uncovered by archaeological research and the decipherment of their intriguing inscriptions, it becomes possible to imagine the details of their daily life, their annual ritual cycle, their aspirations and challenges.
Unsung Lord of Siyah Chan: A Novel of the Ancient Maya
“Unsung Lord of Siyah Chan” is the first sequel to “Young Lords of Siyah Chan”, which told the story of three young men growing up as ancient Maya princes.
Coming Soon!
Yaxuun Balam is now Ahaw of Siyah Chan, facing many challenges. He must ensure that the People never learn exactly how Yoaat died; many would challenge his right to the Ahawship if they knew that he, Yaxuun Balam, was tied by blood to the perpetrator of this dastardly deed.
Call of the Panther: A Novel of the Ancient Maya
An aspiring anthropologist journeys to Mexico and becomes entangled in a tale of the Ancient Maya, amidst the Late Classic political upheaval, where foreigners infiltrate cities and social changes break up economies and families.