Hey there, this is NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Glenn Weldon.

Author Kennedy Ryan is not a member of the indigenous community, but the heroine of her romance

novel The Kingmaker is. She's a Yavapai Apache activist who falls for the son of a local

oil baron. Ryan is very aware that many non-indigenous authors before her have set out to tell stories about the lives of indigenous people and done so in exploitative ways.

How did she deal with that in writing this book?

Well, there's really only way to do it responsibly, and you'll hear her talk about it.

Basically, she put in the work.

She made every effort not to appropriate indigenous culture, but to seriously engage with it in a sustained, thoughtful, and respectful way that was backed by research and by listening.

She talked to indigenous people, had them read the draft, and incorporated their feedback.

She sought their permission.

Ryan and NPR's Chloe Veltman discussed those efforts and why she chose to self-publish

the book back in 2019. In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily

life. Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show,

sources and methods. NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people, helping you

understand why distant events matter here at home. Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or

wherever you get your podcasts. USA Today, bestselling author Kennedy Ryan, is the creator of

genre-defying works of romantic fiction. Her novels fearlessly explore

serious topics like divorce, domestic abuse and climate change, and they focus on strong

women characters, often from underrepresented communities, who are firmly in control of their

destinies, if not always, their passions. Now, the romance fiction imprint, Bloom Books, is coming out with five of Ryan's

previously self-published titles. The first, The Kingmaker, opens on a startling scene at a protest.

A young Yavapai Apache activist is trying to protect her tribal lands from the ravages of an oil pipeline.

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