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Writer D.G. Larson recently spoke with Heidi about how her latest book Red Willow's Quest came to be. They met in her home while she was taking a break from visiting bookstores around the country recently.

DGL: Your home has a wonderful log cabin feeling inside. I understand as well there is something special about the area around your home that relates to Red Willow's Quest.

Heidi: That's true. We are not far from Lake Minnetonka, and the land surrounding the lake has been sacred burial ground to many Native Americans.

DGL: The Bloomsbury Review said that Red Willow's Quest was "... talent(ed) mystical and spiritual writing.... action, adventure, and romance (brought) together into one powerful epic."

So, obviously, your technique for writing this book was a sucess! But great reviews aside, what interests me is that I know you've written several books, and I understand this one started a little differently for you. How did Red Willow's Quest come about?

Heidi: Each book I write comes to me in a unique way. My first one came to me in a series of six dreams; it was like watching a movie over a period of six nights and writing down what I saw. I ended up with a 90-page dream journal that became a novel.

In writing Red Willow's Quest, at first ideas just kept coming about a young woman going though a spiritual quest. As I continued to write I realized that the story was based on my own past life as a Native American woman studying to be a medicine woman. But out of respect for Native American spirituality, I wasn't sure if I wanted to write it from the perspective of a Native American woman.

DGL: But then you received a spiritual sign from out of the blue.

Heidi: It was quite special - I had just read the first page of a manuscript about a woman who remembered her past life as a Native American woman and was walking to my mailbox when I found a hawk feather in perfect condition. Then, on each of the next two days I found another hawk feather. For me finding three hawk feathers was a very significant spiritual sign that I should write the book as a Native American story, as to some Native Americans the hawk's cry means clear spiritual vision and flying above the mundane world.

DGL: How were you able to offer the reader such a deep insight into what it was like to live as a Native American living in the early 1800's?

Heidi: As the story of my past life unfolded I did extensive research to figure out what tribe I had lived in and where I had lived based on what I remembered about that life. To make this as vivid a glimpse into history as possible, I traveled to visit places near the area where the book takes place.

DGL: I noticed that one of the reviews at Amazon.com said "The author does not flinch at (showing the) rigors of the old west, yet the book is uplifting throughout thanks to Red Willow's ability to rise to her higher purpose." The realistic writing really transported me back to Red Willow's time while I was reading the book.

Heidi: Well, as I traveled and researched the history of this time and area, it became more and more clear that this was a rugged time and place to set out on a vision quest!

When Red Willow sets out alone into the Rocky Mountains on her vision quest in the beginning of the book, she faces tribal opposition, wild animals, enemy warriors, and dangerous white trappers. Red Willow's only companion was Wind Chaser, her dog-wolf companion, until the Kootenai warrior Masheka is guided to protect her.

 Read Part 2: "A spiritual sign in the Rocky Mountains"    

 Buy the book for 33% off — only $9.99!