I grew up in the rapidly blossoming residential tract developments of the San Fernando Valley of Southern California in the 1950s and 60s. My brothers and I explored the wild chaparral-covered hills and canyons, where we found signs of former Native American inhabitants, including a cave with a natural chimney that had markings on the walls (now obliterated by graffiti) and whose ceiling was black with the smoke from centuries of fires. These discoveries were a revelation to me and excited my interest in earlier times and left me with the haunting impression that these mysterious, missing people still waited to tell their stories. Only many years later did I learn about the original people of Los Angeles, the Tongva, who had been driven to near extinction over the last four and a half centuries by the European and other conquerors. I wished to honor the Tongva and let more people know about them through my story, The Way of the Eagle, which is set in the period just before the encroachment of Spain. Today roughly 2,000 descendants of the Tongva live in Southern California and gather again to celebrate and honor their heritage and ancestors. * * *D.E. Lamont has been an independent nonfiction book editor for many years and is the co-author of three nonfiction books. She lives with her husband and birds in an apartment overlooking the Hudson River, which at rare, magical times transforms into a mystical rolling river of clouds--hence, the name of her indie publishing imprint, Cloud River Press. She is presently working on the sequel to THE WAY OF THE EAGLE and another full-length novel.