Most days I get up before the first squeak of light—yes, I say ‘squeak’. You see I am blessed with this perceptual anomaly. I can see an image and hear a sound; or smell a fragrance that can overlap with color; I can even hear music, for example a Casals concerto and taste a peach. It is a neurological phenomenon. So, first light always comes to me with a squeak. It’s my revelry. Normally I walk out into the desert with my sketch pad or perhaps I drive out in my Model A with my little portable studio in the back of the car.

Now, this morning I’m heading up to the stables at the Ghost Ranch where Orville Cox and I will drive way out over one hundred miles trailering our two horses to what I call the Black Place near the Colorado border. It’s quite an extraordinary region. Soft mounds of gray and black gypsum rise from the ground. Sometimes it looks like a parade of elephants marching again the sky. We trailer the horses behind us.

And behind us is another horse trailer driven by Ansel Adams and a fellow who is a collector of Ansel’s photographs. We’ll be there for at least two weeks. It’s one of my favorite places to paint. There is every kind of geological formation you can imagine. It’s also a big draw for archeologists. Yale and Harvard have been sending archeologists, paleontologists and geologists for years. It’s almost a living text book for those sorts of folks. And need I say it’s heaven—or possibly hell—for a painter if a sudden dust storm cranks up. And yet it is sacred land. You have to be careful where you walk. It’s a land for ancient souls and they do not like being disturbed. Need I say more?

SACRED LIGHT
Series Name: A Georgia O’Keeffe Mystery, Book 4
Genre: Historical Mystery (1930s)
Release: February 2026
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link

Tragedy, deception, and peril await painter and amateur sleuth Georgia O’Keeffe in this enthralling historical mystery set in 1930s New Mexico, from multi-award-winning author Kathryn Lasky.

Under the spellbinding stars of the New Mexico desert, a bloodied axe carves through the night—its story buried in silence and sand . . .

New Mexico, 1937. Painter Georgia O’Keeffe is excited for her trip to the intriguing wilderness of the Bisti Badlands—a common site for archaeological excavations, it’s a historical place with enchanting desertscapes but also perilous natural structures.

Her trip is overshadowed by the sad news of her friend and native Juan Nez going missing. No one knows where he is, and it’s unlikely he’s gotten lost. He knows these lands like the back of his hand. Has something happened to him and, if so, was it an accident, or has a horrible crime taken place?

Trying to make sense of the situation, Georgia seeks solace in her art, but soon comes face-to-face with a dangerous reality and an even deadlier disaster . . .

About the author
Kathryn Lasky has written for both children and adults. Her books have received numerous awards including a Newbery Honor, a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, and a Washington Post-Children’s Book Guild Nonfiction Award. She has won the Maine Writers and Publishers award for best mystery. Her series The Guardians of Ga’Hoole has been made into a motion picture, The Legend of The Guardians. She has twice won the National Jewish Book. She has twice won the National Jewish Book award. Her work has been translated into 19 languages worldwide. She lives with her husband in Cambridge, MA. You can learn more about her on her website www.kathrynlasky.com, SACRED LIGHT is her fourth book in her series featuring Georgia O’Keeffe as an amateur sleuth Award.