Interesting question

A reader with a wonderful Mattaponi surname wrote and asked if I’d ever been to the Mattaponi reservation. I couldn’t tell if she'd read my novel, Murder on the Mattaponi , or not, but it’s a classic murder mystery book. In fact, I have been to the Mattaponi reservation, starting with attending a pow wow with my young children, who were thrilled to be invited to dance. That spawned a deep interest in the Virginia tribe, which grew when Newport News tried to steal water from the Mattaponi river, which is part of the reservation, to fill their city reservoir. My family, children included, marched in opposition and were very vocal about it. Thankfully, the Corps of Engineers put a stop to the steal. For once, justice prevailed.

From there, I began reading whatever I could find about the tribe and its long history. The idea of setting a mystery on the river grew, and over several years, I worked on the novel. For those who don’t know, I wrote a seven book series using the history of the Kiowa, known as the Mythmaker books (which I will soon get up on Amazon, since I got the rights back from the publisher). Researching the Kiowa was the work of several years, just as it was for my mystery novel, and I learned so much. I also visited the reservation for those books. Of course, the 19th century was nothing like it is today, but as an author, I used my imagination to go back in time. I was as accurate as I could be, but ultimately, a book grows organically. The story is the master.

All fiction novels are just that - fiction. I approach all my books, whether romance, adventure, thriller, or mystery, with great respect for my characters and what drives them to be who they are in their lives within the pages of my novels. I want them to be true to themselves and their stories. At least, I try for that.