 Bringing "Bless Me, Ultima" to fruition took Anaya six years and an additional two years to find a publisher.From 1965 to 1971, Anaya struggled to find his own "voice" as the literary models he knew and had studied at the University of New Mexico (BA English, 1963) did not fit him as a writer.He has also remarked on the unavailability of many authors at that time who could serve as mentors for his life experience as a Chicano.