Anne Hillerman & the 'Cave of Bones'

ANNE HILLERMAN & THE 'CAVE OF BONES'
By Mike Raccoon Eyes Kinney

Anne Hillerman is a total delight to interview. She makes the art of the interview a joy to do. I interviewed her today about her new blockbuster book-' CAVE OF BONES'. I re-read my questions several times before starting the interview with Anne. I noticed a majority of my questions had to do with the evolution and human growth of many of her characters in new book, along with memories of her Dad, Tony Hillerman and her thoughts of the destruction & desecration of Native burial sites.

When I asked about her thoughts in how in past novels, she was always showing the different sides to Bernie as an example and now she is doing the same thing with Bernie's sister, Darleen. She noted that: " After having worked with Darleen in three books, I really know & understand her. I have more experience now with the people I write about in fiction. Darleen might see her past as being a 'bad girl', what I see in her is knowing her talent and potential.

She noted in the growing experience of being an author, she has a good handle on her characters. She noted as example, Bernie. " I know what makes Bernie tick and how she thinks. Bernie loves to drive in the mountains, deserts & forests of New Mexico in the CAVE OF BONES, it gives her chance to think about the special relationships she has with her Husband, Mother & Sister as we see in my book. "

And then we moved on to talking about Joe Leaphorn showing his different sides as well. As Joe grows older we read how Joe becomes more comfortable to reveal his many sides, some are which are very humorous. Here are two examples- " He smiled to himself, an old man cheered up by cat food containers." Or ' He (Leaphorn) uses a measuring cup to transfer soup instead of a ladle.' When asked who inspired her to have Leaphorn share these traits he displayed, she said it was her Dad, Tony Hillerman. " My Dad had a great sense of humor. He was such a dear guy, who never took himself seriously! As an example, he was totally amazed that millions of people read his books."

In her novel, 'CAVE OF BONES' one of the themes in her storyboard was the issue of grave robbing Native burial sites in New Mexico. I asked her what thoughts and observations were on the issue of grave-robbing Native burial sites, she stated-" It's awful, simply awful!! Even with archaeology and archaeologists, in the end it's grave-robbing! There should have to be a super-compelling reason to do as such! It is an abomination and the destruction & desecration of holy and sacred sites!. "