“What’s that saying, ‘We are our ancestors’ wildest dreams’?” (Quote from Blood Sisters by: Vanessa Lillie.)
Vanessa Lillie is a best selling author, citizen of the Cherokee Nation, and lives on Narragansett land in RI. Her thrilling achievements include:
- USA Today’s best-selling suspense novel Blood Sisters, about a Cherokee who returns to her Oklahoma hometown after her sister goes missing and remains are found tied to a cold case she narrowly escaped as a girl.
- Her latest thriller, The Bone Thief, which takes place in Rhode Island after remains are found (and stolen) tied to the Great Swamp Massacre. Also, a Narragansett teenager is missing, both mysteries connecting to an elite historical society with roots stretching back to the Mayflower.
Her debut, Little Voices, was an Amazon best seller, about a postpartum mom trying to solve her friend’s murder on the East Side of Providence. And her second book, For the Best, also set on the East Side, is about a woman accused of a murder that happened on a night she can’t remember, and she starts a vlog to prove her innocence.
She’s the creator and co-author of the Young Rich Widows series available on Audible and in print, set in 1980s Providence. The series begins with four women who would never be friends suddenly thrown together after their significant other’s plane is blown up and the target is set on them.
Vanessa Lillie was a columnist for The Providence Journal and is a board member at the Tomaquag Museum. We reached out to Vanessa Lillie for a spirited interview:.
Kelly Marino (Motif): What inspired you to be an author?
Vanessa Lillie: I’m a reader first, so I love storytelling. I am drawn to the process of bringing a story to life for someone else to enjoy. Creating characters and exploring places that intrigue me and weaving it all together is a fun challenge every single time.
KM: How does your writing process unfold?
VL: I find I often have bright and burning questions that guide my thrillers. For my debut, it was the dark side of new motherhood, the complex questions and then a theme around finding yourself again. Of course there’s a murder, too, and a quest for justice. For my recent thrillers, The Bone Thief, in particular, I wanted to think about my experience being Cherokee from Oklahoma and then explore the Narragansett from Rhode Island experience, especially historically. I like finding echoes in history and commuting them in my plots. And I did find many.
KM: What research was involved in writing your books?
VL: Research is one of the most inspiring parts of my process. I love finding ways to write “truth in fiction” and building a plot around that history. For The Bone Thief, it was partly reading great books and research, but also it was connecting to the Narragannsatt community in ways that felt appropriate.
KM: Which of your literary works explore the theme of ancestral knowledge?
VL: For Syd Walker, the main character of Blood Sisters and The Bone Thief, she’s trying to find a balance between doing her job for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which has an adversarial relationship with tribes, and wanting to prove to the local tribe that she is trustworthy.
KM: How can you respectfully share culture and its sacred aspects?
VL: I think that’s a question everyone has to answer for themselves. For me, I keep my main character in my cultural lane, she’s white presenting, she’s Oklahoma Cherokee, and that’s a seat at the table I feel comfortable filling. The Bone Thief has Narragannsatt characters and history, but I was intentional about only sharing what’s publicly known and generously shared by the tribe or the Tomaquag Museum.
KM: How do you integrate teachings of Indigenous cultural values?
VL: In a big picture sense, I do try to create Native characters that value community, relationship with the earth, and history, especially because we’re so often erased from those textbooks.
KM: What advice would you offer aspiring Indigenous writers who are starting out?
VL: The importance of your voice and your story being told. For so long the Indigenous perspective was through a white lens, and without any lived experience. Now we have more opportunities to share our stories, so keep writing and letting people know we are still here.
If you’d like to join Vanessa at an area event for The Bone Thief, here are the dates and spots for upcoming readings:
An Unlikely Story
Nov. 2, 3pm. Plainville, MA
Wakefield Books
Nov. 3, 6pm. Wakefield, RI
With Lorén Spears
Hosted at The Contemporary Theater Co.
Charter Books
Nov. 14, 6pm. Newport, RI
With Kristin Offiler
Barnes & Noble
Nov. 16, 2pm. Warwick, RI
With Jess Lee (@literaryintersections)
Booked Author Series
Nov. 18, 7pm. Providence, RI
Hosted at Fleur Providence
With Catherine Newman & Nora Dahlia Zelevansky
Full list available at vanessalillie.com