Linda Rodriguez

I lived most of my childhood on the move, following my career Navy father around, except for three pivotal years in Oklahoma where my father’s family lived. After marriage and three kids, I went back to college and received a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Missouri-Kansas City where I spent many years as an administrator, mostly running the UMKC Women’s Center. That job gave me many great pleasures, including serving on the planning committee and as co-convenor of one of the critical area caucuses at Women 2000: Beijing Plus Five at the United Nations.

Health problems eventually forced me out of the university and opened the door to writing full-time. I published two books of poetry, had two poems read by Garrison Keillor on The Writer’s Almanac, and won some awards. I also published a cookbook. I took a deep breath and jumped into the fiction pond. My novel, Every Last Secret, won the St. Martin’s Press/Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Competition and its sequels, Every Broken Trust and Every Hidden Fear, were published by St. Martin's Press. They earned some wonderful praise.

“Fans of Nevada Barr and Sara Paretsky will relish Linda Rodriguez's stellar debut. Her sleuth, Skeet Bannion, is a keeper. Every Last Secret is a triple crown winner; superb writing, hell for leather plotting and terrific characters.” – Julia Spencer-Fleming, New York Times bestselling author of One Was a Soldier

“Every Last Secret offers that rare and startling thing in the universe of thrillers: a truly fresh voice. Rodriguez's tale spares nothing. Skeet is an all-too-human heroine, and we just want more, more, more.”--Jacquelyn Mitchard, #1 national bestselling author of The Deep End of the Ocean and Second Nature: A Love Story

“Linda Rodriguez has created a captivating female detective with a mind for justice and a heart for those who’ve been unfairly treated.  Skeet navigates university politics and a nest of deadly secrets to find the truth, even when it means investigating people she cares about.”--Carolyn Haines, author of Bones of a Feather

“Murder on a college campus, plenty of bad people, and all kinds of puzzles to solve.  Linda Rodriguez has written a highly enjoyable procedural introducing a rough and tender heroine, Skeet Bannion.”--Kathleen George, author of The Odds and Hideout

“There's a new cop in town and she has smarts, courage, and a good heart. Mystery readers will find a new favorite in Chief Skeet Bannion.”  --Nancy Pickard, author of The Scent of Rain and Lightning

When I started writing this series, I wanted to explore Skeet Bannion’s character. She, like so many of us, is a good person still tangled up in family issues from her childhood. I wanted to spend more time with her and with my invented town of Brewster, Missouri, which partakes of so many Kansas and Missouri small towns I’ve known. I love mysteries set in small communities where the detective is a real part of the whole community. With Skeet, I have that—and yet, she’s not quite completely a part of it since she always holds a bit of herself back. I don’t know if Skeet will ever get over that. I’ll have to write it to see.

I have also published a book on writing, Plotting the Character-Driven Novel, and a new book of poetry, Dark Sister, as well as two highly regarded anthologies of poetry, Woven Voices: 3 Puertorriquena Poets Look at Their American Lives and. The World Is One Place: Native American Poets Visit the Middle East. My short story, “The Good Neighbor,” published in the anthology, Kansas City Noir, has been optioned for film.

You can find my books here.
https://www.amazon.com/Linda-Rodriguez/e/B0035NLB8Y

I enjoy knitting lace shawls, spinning alpaca and wool, weaving tapestries, and gardening with herbs and native plants when I’m not writing, always my first love. I am past chair of the AWP Indigenous Writer’s Caucus, past president of Border Crimes chapter of Sisters in Crime, founding board member of Latino Writers Collective and The Writers Place, and a member of International Thriller Writers, Wordcraft Circle of Native American Writers and Storytellers, and Kansas City Cherokee Community. Visit me at http://lindarodriguezwrites.blogspot.com.

AWARDS

Honor Shawl for Contribution to the Cherokee Nation 2015

National Latino Book Club Best Book 2014 (for Every Hidden Fear)

ArtsKC Fund Inspiration Award 2014

International Latino Book Award (for Every Broken Trust)

Finalist, Premio Aztlán Literary Award

International Latino Book Award (for Woven Voices)

International Latino Book Award (for Every Last Secret)

St. Martin’s Press/Malice Domestic Award for First Novel

ArtsKC Fund Inspiration Award 2010

Thorpe Menn Award for Literary Excellence (for Heart's Migration)

Macondo Fellow

Finalist, Eric Hoffer Book Award (for Heart's Migration)

Ragdale Fellow

Midwest Voices & Visions Award (for Heart's Migration)

Elvira Cordero Cisneros Award for Excellence in Writing

Barbara Storck Prize in Creative Writing

Crystal Field Creative Writing Fellowship