SPOTLIGHT BOOK: Did you know?
Winner of the Kiss of Death Daphne du Maurier Contest for Mainstream Mystery/ Suspense
A cop's estranged mother holds the key to a deadly tribal secret—now killers are closing in, and time is running out in the frozen New Mexico wilderness.
Spirit Daughters follows police Sergeant Nicky Matthews as a non-Native “outsider” cop working on a fictional Native American Pueblo in New Mexico. The first two books—Hearts of the Missing and The Third Warrior—are the first two “acts” in a four-act (book) series. The fourth and final book in this part of the series, Sacred Ghosts, is coming out soon.
The book is, in a sense, about creation. Creation stories of Native American tribal people, the birth of a baby, and reconciliation, which is, in its own way, a change from the old way of thinking about someone to a new way.
And, in the Nicky Matthews mystery series, its “element” is water, associated with rebirth, right?
One of the things that I wanted to do with this series was to compare and contrast cultures in a meaningful way without disparaging EITHER SIDE. I’m not an expert by any means, but I had both non-Native police officers and Native cultural voices (sensitivity readers) to help me with these stories.
If I sound a little grumpy, it’s because I am. When Hearts of the Missing was published traditionally after winning ANOTHER contest (Tony Hillerman Prize), I was basically told that, as an outsider to Native culture, I had no right to tell a story as a non-Native American.
Do something else, write something different. Write about what you know.
That’s what I’d done. That’s what I do.
And that’s when I abandoned traditional publishing. I realized how they presented themselves was as a fantasy about bringing great stories to readers, when they were all about fearing cultural trends and backlash (see American Dirt, 2020; Shy Girl, 2026).
So remember, traditionally published books aren’t necessarily “better”, and Indie published books are not necessarily “less than.” Don’t judge a book by its cover—or its author’s affiliations. My advice?
