Vanessa Lillie: On Exploring Family Heritage Through Fiction

Vanessa Lillie is an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and the author of the bestselling suspense novels Little Voices and For the Best. She also co-authored the instant bestselling and ITW award-nominated Audible Original, Young Rich Widows.

With 15 years of marketing and communications experience, Vanessa hosts a weekly Instagram Live event with crime fiction authors and was a columnist for the Providence Journal. She lives on Narragansett land in Rhode Island. Find her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Vanessa Lillie

Photo by Brittanny Taylor

In this post, Vanessa discusses how shifting gears helped her follow her instincts when writing her new suspense novel, Blood Sisters, her advice for other writers, and more!

Name: Vanessa Lillie
Literary agent: Jamie Carr
Book title: Blood Sisters
Publisher: Berkley
Release date: October 31, 2023
Genre/category: Suspense
Previous titles: Little Voices, For the Best, Young Rich Widows (Audible Original)
Elevator pitch: Blood Sisters is about a Cherokee archeologist who left her rural Oklahoma hometown but is called back when a woman’s remains are found near a crime scene she barely escaped as a girl, and soon after, her sister goes missing.

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What prompted you to write this book?

First my Cherokee heritage, which is something I’ve wanted to explore creatively for a while. My maternal family is in Northeastern Oklahoma because of the Trail of Tears, and it’s a place that many tribes were forced. While that may seem like a long time ago, there are modern implications, particularly environmental and the exploitation of land, people and resources.

The second piece is the unsolved disappearance and murder of two young women from near my hometown that happened right after I graduated from high school. The bodies were never found, and the family continues to look and advocate for justice in the case. In fact, there’s an incredible book about it (coincidently, with my same editor at Berkley, Jen Monroe), called Hell in the Heartland by Jax Miller. Blood Sisters is not based on that tragic crime, but the feelings I’ve had watching the family search for justice is a part of this book.

Finally, this book (and future books in this series) will have Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit (MMIWG2S) at the heart of the stories, a tragic issue I’m deeply committed to elevating in whatever way I can.

How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?

As a writer, I usually begin with a couple questions or ideas I want to explore. After my debut about new motherhood (Little Voices) and follow-up sifting through my own white female privilege (For the Best), I felt ready to write about rural Oklahoma, the exploration of people and land there, as well as my experience being white-presenting Cherokee. I started writing Blood Sisters in early 2020, and while the idea didn’t change, there were many drafts, cut chapters and characters, before it finally lands in reader hands on Halloween in 2023.

Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?

While I’ve published two thrillers and a bestselling Audible Original, the publishing journey for Blood Sisters was actually a return to square one. I was out of contract after my first two books, and I had parted ways with my agent. While it was scary at the time, it was the best thing that could have happened.

I was able to take a breath and think about my career and what I wanted the relationships with my agent, editor, and publisher to look like. I wrote Blood Sisters, which is deeply personal, in a creative place unattached to a contract or any expectations save my own. I learned to follow my instincts, not my anxiety, which was new for me. And when it was time to rebuild the business pieces of in my writing life, I sought people who felt like real thought partners and advocates for my career. I signed with an incredible agent (Jamie Carr at The Book Group), editor (Jen Monroe), and publisher (Berkley).

Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?

Even though I am from Northeastern Oklahoma where the book is set, I learned so much more about the area from my research, particularly about the Quapaw tribe and the stolen land rights. My main character is from the town of Picher, and it was almost all Quapaw land. But lead and other minerals were discovered there in 1913, then land was put “in trust,” which meant the tribal members who owned it didn’t see a dime. That area produced most of the lead for bullets used in both World Wars until the mining went bust and the companies fled. Long abandoned, Picher is now one of the worst environmental disaster sites in the country.

Blood Sisters is set in 2008, which was a tipping point for this community. While I knew about this generally (I grew up next to a creek that ran orange because of the pollution in Picher), going deeper into the history and implications was full of many terrible and tragic surprises that I was able to incorporate into the book.

What do you hope readers will get out of your book?

First of all, I hope readers are surprised by the twists and very entertained. I’m an impatient reader, so I do my best as a writer to give readers a wild ride. Next, if I’m able to raise awareness about the MMIWG2S crisis, that would be tremendous. I also feel honored to share some of the challenges my Oklahoma community has faced (and still face) and perhaps there are echoes in a reader’s own communities of injustices, from environmental to tribal, where they live. And perhaps readers would look up to see whose land they live on (I’m on Narragansett land in Rhode Island). It’s an opportunity to learn about the history as well as how to connect and support those Native communities today.

If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?

It’s not rejection, but redirection. Said another way: What’s meant for you will never pass you by. Sometimes we need to take a step back in order to go forward in the right way. I’m not saying it’s easy, or that it doesn’t hurt. But this is a lifelong career, and it’s OK to adjust so that you’re on the right path or accept that a path is not for you. Keep writing and growing and you will get there.

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