The great thing about writing fiction is that its reality isn’t necessarily all that real. While most of us like to include real places, locations or organizations to give our books a realistic foundation, many times writers will try to push the limits a bit further by creating people, places or things we wish were real but aren't. That’s how NABSU – the Native American Behavioral Science Unit – came into being.
The heroine of the NABSU Series, Andie Prescott, founded this organization with her former partner from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Sid Crow Dog. They saw an obvious need and tackled it. Having written Native based romance for over twenty years - and being married to a Cheyenne/Lakota for almost seven – I’d known for a very long time that this is an association that should exist, but doesn't. So, I created it.
For those who haven’t seen any of my previous blogs regarding Blood Roles, book one of the NABSU Series, the purpose of the NABSU is to tackle Native American based crimes, usually on reservations. These are crimes that the BIA has overlooked, ignored and/or the FBI has been avoided due to previously well-documented history of bad-blood between certain tribes and the Federal organization. Believe it or not, there are plenty of these types of crimes in reality without creating any for fiction.
While the FBI has its well-known BSU the reality is that Native criminals, many times, don’t operate on the same level that other criminals do. Many times their spiritual foundations are interwoven with their reasons for committing a crime or crimes are committed for the good of the tribe. I actually know some BSU agents that do not understand the learning curve or differential mentality necessary to take on some Native based crimes. In all honesty, they don’t have the time to try. Their rosters are full as it is. A real NABSU could actually aid in cutting down Native American crimes perpetrated by Native Americans.
While Andie herself is white, she was raised on a reservation, was adopted as a toddler by her Native step-father and has lived a life immersed within the Lakota/Dakota people. She’s the perfect liaison between the two worlds. She works surrounded by a fully formed and functional – yet totally goofy and lovable – ensemble of hand-picked agents. Throughout the series the reader will get to see a little more of each of the unit.
Just this past week I started talking with a publisher regarding redeveloping the entire series. This will broaden the audience base but will still provide the same in-depth story telling. While I had originally planned to make all six books about Andie and Taylor, reworking things a little will allow for more spotlight time for many of the characters my fans have fallen in love with. In book two, Bad Medicine, we’re going to be taking a look at Marty and what he wants out of life while the next four or five books will delve a little more into the lives of the NABSU agents themselves – most of them male and all but two unmarried. There’s a much larger playing field to work with and I’m excited about the possibility of making these types of changes.
These are people who, like many law enforcement groups, are more like family than friends or colleagues, and, ultimately, given the diversity of Tribal affiliations among them, what you have is a very well educated group of individuals. They are not only adept at solving crimes, they’re adept at bringing the aspects of the Native circles in which the crimes occurred forward as a considered part of the pathology. They’re also all majorly screwed up by what they do – which is also a harsher reality of this type of work. To paraphrase a line from Law & Order SVU regarding the love lives of the Special Victim Agents – “Olivia doesn’t date, Fin never talks about his love life at work, and Elliot doesn't talk about work at home. And — and Munch has just given up.”. We’re looking at the same type of people within the NABSU and it all makes for some interesting and thought provoking reading.
If you like mystery/suspense entwined with a love story like none other – and awesome sex, can’t forget to mention that part – Blood Roles is a book that you won’t be able to put down. The NABSU brings “Into The West” face to face with CSI in a way that’s unique, sometimes scary, sometimes amusing, yet always as real as possible. It’s a ride readers won’t soon forget.
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Bio: Born and raised in New England, Mia Fisher spent twenty years in the Midwest before returning to the east coast. A prolific writer who spent many years writing Inspirationals, she crossed over to the dark side to write mystery/suspense and paranormal romance in 2008. The mother of four children she moved to sunny state of Florida after the death of her husband in 2011. She lives with her youngest child and a cat with evil intentions and works in Social Work when nobody is looking. To learn more about Mia Fisher's books, visit her website at www.miafisher.net.
