Wichita-area author landed coveted publishing contract for debut novel

For quite some time, a shelf in Laurie Dove’s writing space at her Valley Center home prominently displayed the mocked-up book jacket that her husband, Chad, had created to help manifest Dove’s debut novel.

“He took one of my Louise Erdrich books and made a cover. … He said, ‘Let’s make this real. This is going to happen.’ And he was right. Now here’s the real thing,” Dove said, gesturing to the shelf behind her that displayed her book, “Mask of the Deer Woman,” which will be released by one of the biggest global publishing houses on Tuesday, Jan. 21.

The book he covered wasn’t a random choice: The well-acclaimed Erdrich, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, features Native American characters and settings in her books and poetry. In Dove’s book, Carrie Starr, the troubled but strong central character, is an Indigenous woman who moves to an Oklahoma reservation — where she has roots but no real ties — to become the reservation’s Bureau of Indian Affairs tribal marshal. Dove also has Indigenous roots.

To celebrate the release of “Mask of the Deer Woman,” Dove will be at an in-store event and book signing at 6 p.m. on Thursday at Watermark Books, 4701 E. Douglas. To RSVP for the event, visit watermarkbooks.com.

The story behind Dove’s book is intriguing on two fronts: how she landed a coveted deal with an imprint of Penguin Random House and how the mystery thriller brings attention to the very real crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women.

Assignment leads to trilogy book deal

Dove was literally discovered by a Penguin Random House editor in an open submission program that its imprint Berkley launched in December 2021. Her novel was one of only four selected for publication this fall from more than 5,000 submissions.

According to a news release about Dove’s book, Berkley “is particularly committed to finding and publishing underrepresented stories regarding race, national origin, religion, age, color, sexual orientation, gender identity and ability.”

Dove was in the process of trying to find a literary agent who could help shop her book to publishers when she spotted the Berkley program’s call for submissions.

The book started in 2018 when Dove was assigned to write the ending of a short story for a suspense writing class as part of her master’s program with Harvard University. She graduated with her Master of Fine Arts in literature and creative writing in May 2022.

“This character who ended up being the main character of this story, Carrie Starr, came into my head and I knew exactly what she was all about,” Dove said. “When I was done (with the assignment), I thought, ‘This is a character I could spend years with. There is a lot to explore with this character.’”

After spending about three years writing and rewriting what would become her debut novel, Dove is getting the chance to spend even more time with her lead character. This past October, she signed a deal for two more Carrie Starr novels. The projected publication of the second book, “Wrath of the Water Tiger,” is spring 2026.

“Mask of the Deer Woman” is already getting favorable attention from sites that review books or offer best-pick suggestions, including Amazon, Publishers Weekly and GoodReads. It was one of four detective novels featured in a New York Times column about new books released in January. Times bestselling author Heather Graham calls it “a fantastic, intriguing and unique thriller.”

Lori Rader-Day, award-winning author of “The Death of Us,” said in her review: “A compelling and sinister story that brings to life the real, shocking epidemic of violence against native women led by a complex character divided from her own identity and history.”

A dream, but still telling stories that matter

For Dove, who was a Valley Center City Council member for two years before serving as the city’s mayor for nearly five years until 2020, becoming a published author “was the dream since I was very young.”

“Like a lot of creative people, I did things adjacent to it that I really loved,” she said, referring to her longtime career as a reporter for various local and regional publications.

As an undergrad at Bethel College, where she earned a mass media degree, she was the editor of The Collegian. She also spent more than a decade as a magazine editor, and for a time was the publisher of the now-defunct Wichita Family magazine. She also has been an adjunct professor at Friends University.

“I loved being a journalist and the other creative things I did, especially because telling other people’s stories matters.”

While her book is a work of fiction, it’s still telling stories that matter.

Starr is an ex-Chicago detective who is left reeling by the murder of her teenage daughter. After accepting the marshal job at the reservation, where her father had lived, Starr’s first assignment is to investigate a missing Indigenous young woman. She discovers several more women have disappeared from the reservation.

According to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, “Violence against Native Americans and Alaska Natives far exceed national averages.” In 2020, homicide was one of the top 10 leading causes of death for Native women ages 1 to 45.

The book is also about the lead character trying to find her own identity and “to reconnect with a history and a culture that she had never really been a part of,” Dove said.

It’s something that Dove can relate to. She was adopted as an infant by a Mennonite family. While it was a closed adoption, her parents made sure she knew of her heritage. When Dove was in her 20s, she met her birth family. Since Dove is not a member of a specific tribe, she uses the term Indigenous to refer to her roots.

Dove’s 336-page book will be available from Watermark Books, as well as other major book retailers, on Jan. 21; it retails for $29.