G. M. DiDesidero never had her sights set on fantasy. If anything, she was very grounded in the real world as a scientist, educator and technical writer.
Most would not expect someone who writes AP biology end-of-year exams for school districts in Louisiana and Texas to weave a fantastical narrative, but that is exactly what DiDesidero did.
As her life unfolded and took her on adventures she had never dreamt, she found herself writing a young adult fantasy novel, and now her debut novel, “Undrowned,” has been published by Leaning Pole Press.
DiDesidero, a Chickasaw citizen, grew up in southeastern Washington. She had a strong appreciation for biology and ecology and studied both in college. After college, she worked in the ecology department for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. She would do land surveys, collect samples and create Landsat images before GPS was a common tool.
While she loved her work, she wanted to do more.
“I wanted to travel and experience cultures. I wanted to see a side of the world that wasn't very easily accessible from where my socioeconomic background typically led me,” she said. “I wanted to be exposed to a different kind of way of life that I wasn’t necessarily comfortable with and stretch my boundaries.”
So, at age 24, DiDesidero joined the Peace Corps. She traveled to Belize in Central America and worked with the different Indigenous populations, primarily in rural villages outside the Cockscomb Basin, which is home to the world’s largest jaguar population.
DiDesidero brought her training to Belize as an environmental educator and served the village board and the water board to help bring potable water to the village. She also worked to improve the relationships between different ecological entities, like the wildlife refuges and the villagers who would hunt in the rainforest.
Her time in the Peace Corps made her think more about the way culture is tied to the land.
“The geography of an area informs the way people live, the way they build their homes. Even their language is based in place,” DiDesidero said. “Their stories and their culture are tied to the land in a lot of ways.”
These thoughts opened her own perspective of the world and made her think more about her own Chickasaw heritage.
After marriage, her husband’s work took their family of four to the Marshall Islands for six years. During this time, DiDesidero taught science at an elementary school, and she and her husband adopted a third child. Those six years were a very special time in their lives.
“It really was a beautiful, very simple way of life,” DiDesidero reminisced.
The family didn’t even need a vehicle. However, after their six years in the Marshall Islands, the pace of life changed dramatically when they moved to Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Now it was necessary to have a car. This was a foreign experience to their three children, who were in fourth grade, second grade and preschool, and had little memory of spending time in a car, dealing with long travel times and traffic.
It was frustrating for the children, and frustration led to arguing. DiDesidero did the only thing she could think of. Instead of yelling or threatening, she told stories.
“I would interrupt their arguing by starting to tell a story, and I would just say, ‘Once upon a time’ and they would all quiet down, like they were magic words,” DiDesidero said.
During the two years they were in Saudi Arabia, these stories developed further. There would be certain recurring characters that her children would love, and there would be some stories they would ask to hear again and again. As time went on, they also became infused with traditional Chickasaw and Choctaw stories, which caused DiDesidero to seek out more and read as many as she could find.
Growing up, DiDesidero was not raised with traditional stories. The most prevalent stories in her household were family stories, like the time her greatg randfather was working at the historic Bank of the Chickasaw Nation in Tishomingo when it was robbed in 1909. But now, as a mom who was telling her own stories, she had a thirst to know more.
It was difficult for her to find stories specific to her Chickasaw heritage, especially living abroad. She did a lot of research and still wanted to find more, but what she found connected with her and engaged her imagination. These stories became interwoven into her own narratives, which led to the development of “Undrowned.”
“Undrowned” is a young adult fantasy book in the same vein as the Percy Jackson book series. However, instead of being set within a Greek mythological framework, it is infused with characters and themes inspired by Chickasaw and other Southeastern Indian culture.
While DiDesidero was not raised with the Chickasaw stories and culture, this is something she is rectifying with her own children while also educating herself. Not only have they been exploring the traditional stories as a family, but her youngest daughter has taken an interest in the Chickasaw language. This year, DiDesidero had a chance to attend the Chickasaw Annual Meeting and Festival and was very excited about the opportunity.
“I was very much impressed with the breadth and depth of all the different textiles, jewelry and painting,” she said. “There were so many different types of artistry present.”
The m o r e DiDesidero learns about her heritage, the more she wants to know. Her book, “Undrowned,” is a first step for her, as well as for her readers. She encourages those who enjoy the book to look more into the stories themselves.
“Undrowned” can be purchased as a hardcover book or an e-book from the Chickasaw Press website at ChickasawPress.com.
