Our Trailblazer series continues with Pamela Sanderson, the first Native American author to write contemporary romance about Native characters in Native community. Pamela joins us to talk about her writing journey, about her decision to write and independently publish romance, about the need for more Native American romance in the world. We so enjoyed this conversation, and we’re grateful to Pamela for joining us to tell her story.

Listen to all the Trailblazer episodes.

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Notes

• Pamela Sanderson is an enrolled citizen of the Karuk Tribe, located in northwest California on the Klamath River. Pamela also publishes in other genres as Pamela Rentz. 
• People Mentioned this Episode: Louise Erdrich, N. Scott Momaday, Johanna Lindsay, Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, Stephen King, Anne Rice, On the Island by Tracey Garvis Graves, Courntey Milan, Sarina Bowen, Love is a War Song by Danica Nava, Ali Hazelwood, Tessa Dare, Alexis Hall, Theory of Bastards by Audrey Schulman, the TV show North of North, The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones, and Rebecca Roanhorse.
• Writing Workshops: Clarion West and Romancing the Craft
• The Dear Author blog was an early, vocal fan of Pamela’s work. If you are interested in KidLit or have children, you should be familiar with Debbie Reese and her blog, American Indians in Children’s Literature.

Pamela's Books

• Heartbeat Braves
• Lovesick Braves
• Sweetheart Braves
• Crooked Rock Braves

Sponsors

• Blue Box Press, publishers of Jennifer Probst's The Reluctant Flirt, available in print and ebook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, and Bookshop.org.
• Kylie Scott, author of Wildflowers: An End of the World romance, available in print and ebook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, and Bookshop.org.
• World Gone Wrong: A fictional chat show about friendship at the end of the world, available at audaciousmachinecreative.com and wherever you listen to podcasts.
• Renée Ahdieh, author of Park Avenue, available in print, ebook, and audio at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, and Bookshop.org.

The Rest

• For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2025/7/15/0743-trailblazer-pamela-sanderson
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