Author
D.B. Pacini

When I first decided to write this novel, I called a number of American Indian organizations and professors who specialize in Native studies. I also emailed organizations associated with American Indian tribes. I was seeking a knowledgeable consultant.

I received little help. Most people passed on my request because they were truly too busy. Some felt they were not qualified to serve as a consultant. A few admitted that they did not want “another white person” writing a book that portrays American Indians as savages or as romanticized tragic figures.

Without discouragement, I did reseach on my own. To my years of American Indian studies, I added several weeks of study. I read personal accounts of American Indian people and dozens of American Indian myths, legends, and handed down stories. I researched native horses, art, diet, religion, tribal politics, and ancient ways of life. I also studied other cultures, researching everything I wished to include in this story.

This inspiring fantasy story is a message to all people, regardless of color, to treat one another with respect. It encourages all people to view one another as equally valuable. It urges us to respect and to take care of the earth, our environment. This novel features red, yellow, brown, black, and white characters. It is not New Age; it is old and ancient age. The tribe is named the Tribe of the Innocent Ones. Some people are displeased that I say the tribe is Native American in a story set in a time before Columbus. My reasons are understood by most of my readers.

The main characters are deliberate composites of several Native American tribes. For years I've felt that mainstream literature has rarely featured American Indian youth. I feature them as an amalgamation in order that all American Indian youth from any tribe can feel honored in mainstream literature.

I've received criticism for the “romanticized” names I've purposely given to many of my characters. Most young readers love the names. I know that American Indian people in ancient times were generally given ordinary names. The Loose End of the Rainbow is a fantasy novel. The names are meant to be enchanting.

I have received criticism for having supernatural powers and a bit of magic in this fictional story. Some of my favorite books are The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkin, The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkin, The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, A Wonder Book for Girls and Boys by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie, and Harry Potter by J.K. Rowlings. Naturally, The Loose End of the Rainbow has talking animals, fairies, unicorns, mermaids, univeral knights, and giant frog monsters.

I am a “white” woman, so what? I don't define myself solely by the color of my skin. I was raised by an economically poor single mother, who suffered the illness of chronic alcoholism. My early childhood was difficult. We sometimes lived in poverty. I remember hunger. It is an experience you don't forget. My siblings and I endured the undeserved stigmatism of being innocent children trapped in a desperate circumstance. When I was almost fifteen, my remarkable mother was hospitalized. I was sent to live with my father. That was interesting. I had not seen or heard from him since I was nearly four.

I have a compassionate heart for people who've been neglected or abused, never out of guilt, but out of empathy. I've experienced and survived deep pain. I'm stronger and richer because of it.

I loved my parents. They did the best they were equipped to do. Unfortunately, I was not taught many things that I should have been taught by my parents. I had to learn too much on my own. There are young people of every color in the world today like I was. They must learn on their own, for a number of reasons. I hope The Loose End of the Rainbow will inspire them to become men and women of excellence. I hope it will motivate them to treat one another with compassion and respect. I hope it will help them understand that they have a personal responsibility to take care of the earth.

I wrote this novel to encourage young people. If some people cannot embrace the story, that is fine. I can't please everybody. I don't try. Some people object to my decision to put Native Americans in one group. They feel that when writers put indigenous peoples into one clump that they make them invisible.

I do put Native Americans in one group, the group of humankind. I put them with "all" people. I advocate that all peoples are equally valuable. No race has more specialness.

No person can be free if they clutch "specialness" in their hands. There are 195 countries in this changing world. It is time to embrace being human together. We must celebrate all peoples.

We must join hands to help one another and to help this suffering earth. That is what we must teach our children. Our hands must be open to one another, not clutched in a fist.

This is a novel. It is fiction. It does not matter if I'm male, female, young, old, red, yellow, brown, black, or white. When a young person settles down with this book, who I am is not relevant. I want readers to be swept into the world of the story.

Young people of all colors, it doesn't matter who I am. What matters is the message this story shares. The blood in our veins is the same color. Don't allow anyone to define your creative art solely by the color of your skin. Don't be afraid to share your art with the world. Those who can receive your gift will receive it. Those who can't; they won't. Don't let anyone silence you. Be true to yourself. You will always have critics. Don't worry about them.

"A critic can only review the book he has read, not the one which the writer wrote." --- Mignon McLaughlin

“Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.” --- Mahatma Gandhi