1--What is the title of your latest release?
MASK OF THE DEER WOMAN
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Ex–Chicago detective Carrie Starr is hired as tribal marshal on the reservation where her father was raised and falls into the investigation of a missing college student that leaves her drowning in memories of her daughter—the girl she failed to save. When Starr catches a glimpse of a figure from her father’s stories, with the body of a woman and the antlers of a deer, she must discover whether Deer Woman is there to guide her or to seek vengeance for the lost daughters Starr can never bring home.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I was really drawn to the differences between where Carrie Starr comes from (Chicago) and where she ends up in MASK OF THE DEER WOMAN. For her new job as the tribal marshal of the Saliquaw Nation in Oklahoma, Starr rents a rundown duplex Dexter Springs, a small town in the northeast corner of Kansas that is within the 20-minute on-call response radius her role requires. I like to approach the setting as if it is a character, and by exploring the distinct personality of place, I was able to exploit the contrasts between Starr’s old life in Chicago and her new life on the Kansas/Oklahoma border. These contrasts mirror Starr’s experience in the book as she navigates the complexities of identity and belonging.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
I can’t decide whether hanging out with Carrie Starr would be a dangerous proposition or a whole lot of fun, or maybe a combination of both. Either way, I’m in.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Gritty. Tenacious. Resilient.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
As I was writing MASK OF THE DEER WOMAN, I discovered the alarming statistics about missing Indigenous women. An estimated 5,500 Indigenous women are currently missing in the United States, according to the most recent data released by the FBI’s National Crime Information Center. But—and this is horrifying—incidences of missing Indigenous women are vastly underreported, so the actual numbers are likely to be much higher.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
This is such a great question because I am always asking other writers about their process. I’m so curious about writers’ routines! As a journalist, I developed a specific editing that worked for me, but I’m still learning about myself as a fiction writer. Despite all the literary craft courses I attended and process books I’ve read, I think I needed to write a novel to understand how to write a novel. I also think I may have a different approach for each book I write. I like to be experimental and generative in my work, so generally I try to write a full (albeit short) first draft so I can uncover what the story is truly about. After that, I reverse outline the story, then write it again, fresh. Usually at this point, I start doing more substantial edits.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Hands down, it’s a visit to Snug Harbor Fish Company in Duxbury, Massachusetts. While on a day trip from Cambridge where we’d attended a few Harvard commencement festivities, we stopped at Snuggie’s, met a few instant lifelong friends, and shared the most delightful sustainable and fresh-caught seafood on the restaurant’s patio. The owner, Dianna, asked for a copy of my book when it was published, which was still just a dream at that time, and about six months later—voila!—I had an agent and a publishing deal. I can’t wait to go back and give her a copy of my book.
9--Describe your writing space/office!
I was fortunate to spend my early career as a journalist in newsrooms, which prepared me to block out distractions and write anywhere, anytime. That said, I do enjoy my cozy office space, where I’m surrounded by books. My office always includes the company of a dog or two—especially Oakley, a Shih Tzu who has a rich interior life and equally lofty literary preferences. He’s become a bit of a book czar; he knows what he likes.
10--Who is an author you admire?
This is a tough question! I admire every author because I know the determination and vision it takes to write and edit a book, and what’s not to admire about that? There are, however, books I read that hurt a little because they are simply so powerful and cause me to wonder how the authors channeled that literary magic. Anthony Doerr is one of these authors, and so is S.A. Cosby. To this list I would add Vanessa Lillie, Ramona Emerson, Iris Yamashita, Nathan Hill, Allen Eskens, Nick Medina, TJ Klune, Heather Graham, Christina McDonald, Craig Johnson, K.T. Nguyen and C Pam Zhang. Okay, way more than one author, but books are life!
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
So many! Books have been changing my life for as long as I can remember. Most recently, my list of “lifetime books” includes There There by Tommy Orange and Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
It was surreal, in the best possible way. It was a moment I’d spent a lifetime dreaming about, and it was…suddenly coming true! I’d just finished reading Writers and Lovers by Lillie King and started my annual re-reading of Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, so the timing was impeccable. I shared my book news with my husband and children, and then I told my parents and my Harvard Writers group. Being able to celebrate my publishing dream with them is something I’ll carry forever.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
I read everything. I like to read books that challenge my notions about the world, and I especially like characters who are backed into corners, who are presented with impossible choices, who persevere and survive, and who ultimately find purpose.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
About once a year, I rewatch Genius, a film directed by Michael Grandage of a screenplay by John Logan, which is based on A. Scott Berg’s Max Perkins: Editor of Genius. Perkins edited Thomas Wolfe’s hefty novels, and the film portrays the crucial relationship between editor and writer. Early in my publishing journey, I worked with my editors to retitle my book and was reminded of this quote from the film, in which Perkins said to Wolfe: “Imagine you’re a reader: You’re wandering through a bookstore and lots of books, and you see a book titled Trimalchio in West Egg and you see one titled The Great Gatsby. Which are you going to pick up?”
15--What is your favorite season?
I love winter in the Midwest because we all tend to hibernate a bit, which for me, offers many glorious hours of reading and writing.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
When my children were younger, I would ask them to choose how we celebrated. We’ve spent my birthday at beaches, on hiking trails, at the farm or on horseback. Inevitably, there were a few birthdays at Chuck E. Cheese, the children wide-eyed and half-crazed with the click and whir of an outsized rodent’s pint-sized casino floor.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I always listen to the Writer’s Routine podcast. In every episode, host Dan Simpson interviews authors about how they plan their day, and how they make that most difficult leap of all: getting ideas from their brain to the page. Hearing from all of these authors, and sometimes even trying out their routines, has been one of my favorite things to do for the last few years.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
I could probably live off hors d'oeuvres, or fruits and vegetables picked ripe from a garden, or the briny crack of a chilled oyster. As C Pam Zhang wrote in Land of Milk and Honey, “…in the end we have only the choice of what touches the lips before we go: lobster if you like it or cold pizza if you don't, a sip of smoke, a drink, a job, a reckless passion, raw fish, the beguilement of mushrooms, cheese luscious beneath its crown of mold.”
19--What do you do when you have free time?
I’ve always been interested in, well, everything—and I think my free time (and the work I did as a journalist) reflects these varied interests. I grew up on a working farm, and many of my interests still involve animals. I volunteer at a local shelter to help socialize pets in preparation for adoption. My dad and I have trained horses for many years, and my daughters and I enjoy horseback riding. I’m revamping our landscaping with a variety of native, pollinator-friendly species. As an occasional professor, I’m always searching for short stories to discuss and new ways to teach craft elements. As the former mayor of my town, I keep up on policy and strategic plans. I read and listen to audiobooks. I recently started painting. I like to end the day by relaxing to a true crime documentary.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
MASK OF THE DEER WOMAN is now a series! I am currently writing the second book in the series, WRATH OF THE WATER TIGER, and a forthcoming third book. I am ecstatic to continue publishing with the talented folks at Berkley who have made my lifelong dream come true!
To find a missing young woman, the new tribal marshal must also find herself.
At rock bottom following her daughter’s death, ex–Chicago detective Carrie Starr has nowhere to go but back to her roots. Starr’s father never talked much about the reservation where he was raised, but the tribe needs a new marshal as much as Starr needs a place to call home.
In the past decade, too many young women have disappeared from the rez. Some have ended up dead, others just…gone. Now local college student Chenoa Cloud is missing, and Starr falls into an investigation that leaves her drowning in memories of her daughter—the girl she failed to save.
Starr feels lost in this place she thought would welcome her. And when she catches a glimpse of a figure from her father’s stories, with the body of a woman and the antlers of a deer, Starr can’t shake the feeling that the fearsome spirit is watching her, following her.
What she doesn’t know is whether Deer Woman is here to guide her or to seek vengeance for the lost daughters that Starr can never bring home.
Thriller Crime [Berkley, On Sale: January 21, 2025, Hardcover / e-Book , ISBN: 9780593816103 / eISBN: 9780593816127]
Laurie L. Dove is an author at Berkley / Penguin Random House, and an award-winning journalist with a master's degree from Harvard University. Her debut novel is MASK OF THE DEER WOMAN.
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