Devon Mihesuah: Polishing the Manuscript Is the Toughest Part of the Process
In this interview, author Devon Mihesuah discusses breaking stereotypes about Native people in her new novel, Blood Relay.
Devon Mihesuah, is the Cora Lee Beers Price Professor in the Hall Center for the Humanities at the University of Kansas and is the former editor of the American Indian Quarterly. An enrolled citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and a historian by training, she is the author of numerous award-winning books on Indigenous history, current issues, and novels, most recently the Foreword INDIES award winner, Shirley Jackson Award finalist, and starred Kirkus Review recipient, The Bone Picker, and Recovering Our Ancestors’ Gardens that was recently named the Best Indigenous Book in the World by Gourmand Food and Wine International. See her blog at DevonMihesuah.blog.ku.edu, and follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky.
In this interview, Devon discusses breaking stereotypes about Native people in her new novel, Blood Relay, her hope for readers, and more.
Name: Devon Mihesuah
Literary agent: Jacqueline Lipton/Tobias Literary Agency
Book title: Blood Relay
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Release date: February 24, 2026
Genre/category: Suspense and thriller; women’s fiction
Previous titles: The Bone Picker: Native Stories and Alternate Histories; The Hatak Witches; Roads of My Relations; Ned Christie: The Creation of an Outlaw and Cherokee Hero; So You Want to Write About American Indians? A Guide for Scholars, Students and Writers; American Indigenous Women; American Indians: Stereotypes and Realities.
Elevator pitch: When Oklahoma City detective Choctaw Perry Antelope and her partner Sophia Burns investigate the disappearance of Dels Billy, a women’s Indian Horse Relay rider, they quickly realize that it’s not as cut-and-dry as anything they’ve faced before. As the investigation deepens, Perry and Sophia follow a tangled web of clues that point to a close-to-home plot more chilling than they could have imagined and they must race against the clock, and across tribal Nations, to find Dels before her murderous abductor can carry out their sinister plan.
What prompted you to write this book?
I always write strong Native female characters and have been thinking about this book for years. Stereotypes abound about Native women and few stories portray us as resourceful, intelligent, and as heroic as men. Most people have never even heard of Indian horse relays and are unaware of the complicated criminal and civil jurisdiction in Oklahoma. With Blood Relay I had the opportunity to write a story incorporating all of these elements.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
I had the book outlined in my head before I started writing. As always, I knew the ending, I just had to get there. It took me a few months to write the book but editing took me much longer. Emptying my brain is the easy part! Polishing the manuscript is the toughest part of the process. Publication was pushed back almost five months so total time, including finding an agent and publisher, was around two years.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
I learned that there is more than one way to tell this tale. I originally wrote the story from multiple points of view but my editor suggested that the majority of the chapters should be from the perspective of Detective Perry Antelope. What was I to do with the crucial horse relay chapters that included conversations between team members, rider, and horse interactions, and the plethora of details that go into racing? The gentle nudge that I change the point of view had me greatly concerned. Initially I had no idea how to rewrite those scenes from the perspective of a person who was not even present for the races. For a while I thought well, I just can’t. I actually thought the book would die. One morning while swimming laps and feeling sorry for myself, a solution suddenly appeared. Have the Chatah Riders team wear cameras on their heads because they want to create a relay racing documentary. Not only could I keep the points of view from two important characters, but now I also had the viewpoint of the detectives the day after the abduction as they watched those videos alongside the other riders who offered commentary. This alteration led to a few others that improved the story. The moral is, don’t panic after receiving what you might at first perceive as impossible-to-honor editorial critiques.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
Writing the fight scenes. My grandfather was the middleweight boxing champion of the Southwest. He taught me how to throw a punch when I was in elementary school. I later earned my black belt in Tae Kwon Do and competed in tournaments for years. I also worked out with boxers and judokas and learned the basics of nun chukkas and knife fighting. I thought that writing a fight scene would be easy. I was wrong! Ideally, if you encounter a murderous person aggressively wielding a knife, you need to get out of there ASAP. Or, as Sun Tzu tells us, “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting."That’s not terribly exciting, so my task was to create an extended fight without resorting to tired tropes such as having a character become deeply lacerated, stabbed in the abdomen or neck, or struck in the face repeatedly and continue to function as if they had only been slapped with a wet noodle. Describing crucial aspects such as fighting down panic, how to hold a weapon, and reaction to pain was a challenge.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
As a Native person, I am sensitive to misconceptions about us. My tribe did not live in tipis, wear braids, are not confined to a reservation, and the women do not need retribution delivered by white men (ala Wind River). Readers often seek our stories of relentless trauma, poverty, alcoholism, drug and alcohol abuse because that is all they have read and seen in movies about us. Many Native writers are trying hard to break that cycle. I want readers to understand that Native women are not pacifist victims. They are strong, resilient problem solvers. I also hope people learn that Indian horse relays are dynamic and extraordinarily difficult. It’s a sport that is purely Native and reflects tribes’ love and respect for horses. In addition, Oklahoma is home to 39 federally recognized tribes, and each is culturally and politically distinct—which leads to complicated criminal jurisdiction.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Details matter, so it’s crucial to fact check. Make sure the weather, animals, and plants of your environment are correctly described. Verify distances, dates, and technical procedures. If you write crime stories, what is the hierarchy of the police department? What vehicles do officers use? What color are their uniforms? Guns, cars, and trucks are not all the same. Speak to people with expertise about your topic. Don’t only rely on what you have read in novels or have seen on film, even if the book, show, or movie is successful. Be honest about your life encounters and cultural knowledge if you position yourself as a writer who claims to use authentic identity to build a unique story.
