Chickasaw author Danica Nava talks new romcom novel

Chickasaw author Danica Nava’s new novel, “The Truth According to Ember” puts an Indigenous spin on the ever-popular romantic literature genre which has exploded in popularity in recent years thanks in no small part to Hallmark movies, the book-loving subculture of social media platform TikTok dubbed “Booktok”, and of course the burgeoning online community of Goodreads. 

“The Truth According to Ember”, which was released in August, has a 3.7 / 5 rating on Goodreads, and 4 out of 5 stars on Amazon where it was recognized as the Editor’s Pick for Best Romance. 

With November being Native American Heritage Month, readers will be more aware than ever about Native American voices in history, literature, and film.

Nava answered questions from The Marlow Review about her novel and what it meant to write a romantic comedy in an Indigenous voice. 

“The Truth According to Ember”, set in Oklahoma City, follows Chickasaw woman Ember Lee Cardinal who tells a little “white” lie that snowballs into a hilarious, poignant, and romantic comedy of errors as her small fib puts her new relationship with heart-throb IT guy Danuwoa Colson in jeopardy…along with her career.

“This idea came from what I know and that’s corporate life,” said Nava. 

“I found it so compelling to read a romcom about a young woman trying her best to get her foot in the door. I drew on inspiration from my own experience. I visited Oklahoma and my family as a child, and I always loved it. It’s beautiful.”

“With the Oklahoma City setting I loved the proximity to Ada and also the fact that there is a Park Avenue. In an early draft the book started with her getting to the office and I thought it would be so funny for people to assume Park Avenue NYC, but nope! It’s right here in downtown OKC.” 

Nava continued, “I have also never read a novel, romance or other, where the setting was in Oklahoma, and I wanted to change that. Oklahoma needs more rep than just the Rogers and Hammerstein musical.”

From the beginning, Nava set out to tell an Indigenous story.

“Yes, it was intentional that this story was going to star a diverse cast of Indigenous Americans,” she explained.

“I want to see myself represented in books and movies. I started this story in 2020 and it stemmed from ‘Why are there no Native American romantic comedies? If I wrote one, what would it be?’ And it turned into The Truth According to Ember.” 

Native American representation has blossomed in the last 4 years with Disney and 20th Century Studios’ award-winning TV series “Reservation Dogs”, the “Predator” prequel “Prey”, Martin Scorcese’s Oscar-nominated film “Killers of the Flower Moon”, and several others. 

When asked how she pitched her romcom to publishers, Nava kept it traditional. 

“I did everything the traditional way,” Nava said. 

“I wrote, rewrote, edited and polished the complete manuscript. Then, I wrote a query letter that provides title, genre, word count, and comparison titles to agents and the plot “blurb” follows which is two paragraphs summarizing the plot.” 

“It all happened very quickly once I started sending these query letters to agents in the middle of November 2022 and got offers of representation in December 2022,” Nava recalled.

“I signed with my agent, Laura Bradford, and in January after the holidays we took the manuscript on submission to publishers. Then Berkley won it in an auction.”

The novel originally started as a film, Nava explained. 

“This originally started as a feature film script. But then I felt the story was too big for just 90 pages. So, I then started working it into a TV pilot and treatment for a season with a major subplot for Ember’s brother, Sage,” said Nava. 

“But then I started my MBA program at USC, had a baby, and I got very busy and I never returned to it in that form because the it just didn’t feel right.”

“In May 2022, I set down to write the story out as a novel and the voice, character, plot just came together in this magical way, and I knew I was meant to tell this story as a novel.”

One would assume getting a novel published would be surreal- and they’d be right. 

“So many moments I get hit with the feeling of ‘is this real?’,” Nava reminisced. 

“Because I am living my dream. When I got the call from my agent that multiple publishers wanted it, and we would move to an auction I cried. When it sold, I cried and then danced to Peter Gabriel’s ‘Big Time’ with my then fourteen-month-old daughter and husband in the kitchen thinking I had made it.” 

“But editing a book is hard work and writing a second book under a strict deadline is even harder. I am full of so much gratitude and hope I can keep doing this for the rest of my life.”

Nava describes herself as a voracious reader from a young age, even working in her high school library just so she could read all the new books before everyone else. 

“I love reading romance and fantasy—anything with a happy ending. I am the biggest fan of Sophie Kinsella and Meg Cabot. Their novels shaped my writing.” 

The response has been tremendous for Nava. 

“I have been advised to stay the heck away from GoodReads!” Nava laughed. 

“I did see some early reviews and trade reviews and I am touched that the novel is resonating so well with readers. It’s terrifying to put something so personal out there that people are free to love or hate.”

When asked who she would love to see in a potential adaptation of her novel, Nava threw out a few names, but also welcomes fresh faces. 

“I have always envisioned Tatanka Means as Danuwoa,” said Nava. 

“I think Amber Midthunder would make an amazing Ember but the age difference between the two actors might be too big of a gap. I am sure there is incredible Indigenous acting talent just waiting to be discovered and if this is ever turned into a film or TV series, I hope we could shepherd them in.”

Finally, Nava said she wanted to thank “everyone”. 

“I will always take the time to thank The Chickasaw Nation for always believing in my dreams,” she said. 

“The only way I was able to go to college and then get my master’s was thorough their support. They have been so incredible with sharing my debut. I was teased a bit from my fellow writers, because the acknowledgements in The Truth According to Ember are five pages long, but it was so important for me to illustrate that it takes a community to succeed, and I wanted to thank every single person who has helped me get to where I am to bring this book to life.”