Like her protagonist Mud, D. M. Rowell comes from a long line of Kiowa Storytellers within a culture that treasures oral traditions. She’s an award-winning and nominated producer/writer on several documentaries, including Vanishing Link: My Spiritual Return to the Kiowa Way, seen on PBS and winner of TrailDance 2007 Best Oklahoma Documentary.

As a child, Rowell was heavily influenced by her traditional Kiowa Grandfather, C. E. Rowell. He was an artist, master storyteller, recognized Tribal Elder and one of the last readers of the Sai-guats, winter count deerskin calendars that chronicled a hundred years of Kiowa history. Her Grandfather’s stories, memories, and art instilled a deep respect and love for her Kiowa culture and traditions within Rowell.

After a three-decade career spinning stories for Silicon Valley startups and corporations with a few escapes creating independent documentaries, Rowell started a new chapter writing a mystery series that features a Silicon Valley professional Kiowa woman and her Plains Indian tribe. The first in the series is Never Name the Dead, Crooked Lane Books, November 8, 2022.

  Rowell enjoys life in California with her partner of thirty-eight years, their son and a bossy, feral gray cat.