Lessons from Indoctrination

In this episode of Write of Passage, Vanessa reflects on an unexpected lesson learned at 30,000 feet. On a turbulent return trip from the Historical Novel Society conference, she witnesses firsthand how indoctrination quietly seeps into our lives—not through shouting, but through repetition, comfort, and curated fear. From her own journey as a historical fiction writer breaking free of industry expectations, to the quiet propaganda playing beside her on a flight, Vanessa explores how narratives shape perception, silence empathy, and reinforce harmful patterns. This is a call to wake up, speak plainly, and reclaim the power of story.Featuring book recommendations, historical insight, and a raw look at allyship, empathy, and media influence—this is an episode about seeing the pattern and choosing not to sleep through it.

https://vanessariley.substack.com/p/lessons-from-indoctrination

Flying home from the Historical Novel Society conference, I learned a lesson in indoctrination. I’m on a fast-moving deadline for a special project, but I had to go. HNS holds a special place for me. My very first HNS conference changed the trajectory of my life.



Arriving in Vegas at the Historical Novel Society Conference
Before attending in 2019, I published lovely Regency romances. Sweet, comforting, polite novels—educating the world through fun, nonthreatening, history-filled reads.But HNS cracked something open. Meeting a tribe of fellow history nerds and selling the book I never thought I’d sell—https://malikbooks.com/shop-1/ols/products/island-queen-by-vanessa-riley, the biographical fiction about Dorothy Kirwan Thomas, one of the richest Black women in the Georgian world, a woman who bought her freedom and defies every rule and obstacle to live freely—that gave me the courage to keep telling stories that tug at my heart and mind.Being free to create is a gift. One that’s hard to achieve. Black and brown creators, and women creators, have been indoctrinated, fed rules in the simplest of terms that challenge our freedom. Rules such as:
- That more ethnic the cover, the more it can impact book sales—or determine where a book gets shelved.
- That a pen name that sounds like a man’s carries more heft.
- That “historical accuracy” will be weaponized to silence you if you make one mistake.
- That if you fail, your failure will become the reason the next person who looks like you gets turned away.
You’ll never know how much that last one haunted me. How it still probably drives me to go the extra mile.And I share all this to say: we’ve all been indoctrinated by our circumstances.Writers learn quickly by how we’ve been treated—and how we’ve seen others treated—in publishing. It’s hard to break the pattern. And it’s about logic. It’s 1 + 1 = 2 when one sees patterns repeating.And you, the listener—you’ve been indoctrinated.Certain patterns, behaviors, even thoughts have been ingrained through images and repetition. This was made clear to me on my flight home.Flying back from Vegas, Atlanta’s weather did not cooperate. Several delays and cancellations later, I was finally on my way but rerouted through Minneapolis. I’d arrived in Atlanta with just a four-hour delay and a bump up to first class. All was good.But I wasn’t prepared for the real lesson I’d take from that flight.An older gentleman sat beside me. The moment we took off, he flicked on his monitor and tuned into the news. He looked like a typical executive—loafers, golf watch, faint aftershave. He popped in his headphones, stared at the screen, and then drifted off to sleep.I was writing but I couldn’t help watching. Something about flickering images in my periphery always pulls me in. For ten minutes, I stared at his monitor. No sound—just headlines and smiling faces discussing stories that disturbed me.Ice raids with masked men capturing women on the street. The host smiled.
Florida detention camps pop onto the s