Marcie Rendon: Take Risks With Your Work

Marcie R. Rendon, citizen of the White Earth Nation, is one of O: The Oprah Magazine’s 31 Native American Authors to Read Right Now and a McKnight Distinguished Artist Award winner. Her debut novel, Murder on the Red River, received the Pinckley Prize for Debut Novel Award and was a finalist for the Western Writers of America Spur Award, Contemporary Novel category, and her second novel, Girl Gone Missing, was nominated for the G. P. Putnam’s Sons Sue Grafton Memorial Award. Her script, Say Their Names, will be produced by Out of Hand Theater in Atlanta, Georgia. And her script Sweet Revenge had a staged reading at the Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The creative mind of Raving Native Theater, she curated Twin Cities Public Television’s Art Is . . . CreativeNativeResilience. Rendon received the Loft Literary Center’s Spoken Word Immersion Fellowship with co-creator Diego Vazquez for their work with incarcerated women. Follow her on X (Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram.

In this interview, Marcie discusses the real-world crisis that inspired her new mystery novel, Where They Last Saw Her, her hope for readers, and more.

Name: Marcie Rendon
Literary agent: Jacqui Lipton/Tobias Agency
Book title: Where They Last Saw Her
Publisher: Bantam/Penquin Random
Release date: September 3, 2024
Genre/category: Mystery/Crime
Previous titles: Sinister Graves; Girl Gone Missing; Murder on the Red River (Soho Press)
Elevator pitch: Quill, an Ojibwe woman from the fictitious Red Pine Reservation in Northern Minnesota learns that women are going missing from the local casino. She decides to take matters into her own hands.

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What prompted you to write this book?

I enjoy writing crime/mystery. Ultimately, my writing goal is to pull in the reader of crime stories. This book of fiction focuses on the very real missing/murdered (#mmiw) Native American women and the impact this crisis has on all Native women, our communities and families. It speaks to the toll this ongoing trauma takes on all our relatives. Most importantly it speaks to the strength and resilience of Native women as the three main female characters in the book take action to set things right.

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

This book was a couple years in the making. The overall idea that Native women who have a strong bond of friendship would work together to find out the cause behind women disappearing was always a central theme of the story.

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

Not so much suprises as I gained tremendous respect to copy editors—their keen eye to detail—whew! I am a writer, a storyteller, so I work to get the words and story out of my heart and brain to the page. To me it is a “big picture: job. Editors and copy editors on the other hand, deal in specifics and detail. I am amazed at their capabilities.

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

In doing research about mancamps and extractive industries, I read newspaper articles from across the northern states. It became evident that this trafficking of women and children is happening to all women, regardless of race. But it was, is, Native American women who raised the alarm and said, “Our women are disappearing, and they are NOT just runaways, prostitutes, or drug addicts. They are mothers and wives and aunties.” A question I am left with is how come other communities have kept their silence about this issue regarding their women?

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

First and foremost, I hope readers will be pulled into the story, and when finished, feel like they have been on a heart-stopping journey—like they read a good crime fiction book. I also hope more readers become aware of and develop compassionate responses to #mmiw (missing and murdered Indian women). If fiction can move people to concrete action regarding an important issue, in my mind, that is a good thing.

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

Take risks with your work. Seek out publication. Seek out an agent. All too often I encounter writers who fear rejection, so they write but don’t take the next step. There are so many stories that need to be told, need to be read, need to be heard. Just go for it.