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I don’t think my book’s title, Never Name the Dead gives readers insight into the actual story, but for me it does mark it a Kiowa story. The title comes directly from text in the book. The protagonist, Mud discovers a body, when she tells her cousin Denny about the body, she stops abruptly before naming the man.
““… we will know who killed—.” I stopped before finishing the dead man’s name, remembering, we never name the dead.”
In the Kiowa culture, we do not say the name of the dead in fear of holding the spirit back from moving on. While the title wasn’t my first choice, I have come to like it. I think the title provides a hint of the Native American aspect in my mystery novel.
What's in a name?
I knew from the beginning that...[read on]
My Book, The Movie: Never Name the Dead.
Q&A with D. M. Rowell.
--Marshal Zeringue
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