Book Reviews . . . and Who is Kalei-O-Mano

You've just finished reading a book that entertained you over a period of twenty-four hours or seven days. Everyone has their own pattern. Some pick up a book at bedtime for a half hour of reading, others don't set the book down until they reach "The End".

Whatever your preference, why would you want to take the time to write a review of the book? You liked it. You plan to call your friend and discuss it over the telephone. Your reading group at Starbucks is eager to hear your opinion of the story. Isn't that enough?

Word-of-Mouth

Actually, word-of-mouth is a terrific means of promoting a book you like. Who better to recommend a book than someone who read it and was entertained by it, maybe even used it to escape the duties of daily life for a time. Fiction is meant to "take the reader for a ride" away from the normal stress of everyday activities.

A word-of-mouth recommendation is, in essence, an audio book review. Any author would be most grateful to know you are discussing their latest book, or even the one they wrote five years ago. Contrary to popular belief, some authors do have considerable egos. (Even Stephen King still wants to know you liked his latest installment in horror.)

 

Reviews on Goodreads and Amazon

 

Other ways to show your support for an author is to post a review on Amazon (no, it is not illegal to post a review if you borrowed the book from a friend.)

 

Recently, a reader enjoyed all of the short stories and decided to write a review for the anthology MYSTERY IN PARADISE 13 Tales of Suspense. Each story is set in Hawai'i and written by an author living in or having strong ties to the 50th state. (You're right, that is why it's called Hawaii 5-0).

 

Before writing the review, though, the reader had a question about one of the stories and emailed the author for clarification. The short story is entitled TOURISTS and the author is Lehua Parker (aka Michelle Lehua Parker of Facebook.)

 

The reader's Quiry:
 

Hi Lehua,

I'm reviewing the stories in Mystery in Paradise. I loved yours, but am puzzled as to why you chose the name Kalei for the shark man when, according to mythology, his name was Nanaue.

Please let me know.

(Reader's name withheld)

 

Lehua's Response:
 

Hi (Reader's name withheld),

Thanks for your question. The simplest answer is that the story is not about the traditional myth of Nanaue. While the legends of Nanaue and Kamohoali’i are the most well-known shark man-stories in Hawaii, there are many tales throughout the Pacific about literal sharks, aumakua sharks, demi-god sharks, and chiefs who are shark-like. Building upon those traditions, Tourists is actually an adult side story to a middle grade/young adult series I write called the Niuhi Shark Saga. One Boy, No Water; One Shark, No Swim; and One Truth, No Lie are all set on Oahu in fictional Lauele Town where Hawaiian myths, gods, and legends are real and exist beneath the radar of most of the humans. The series is centered around a boy who is allergic to water. His name is Alexander Kaonakai Westin, but he’s called Zader. Throughout the series, Zader discovers who he really is and why his biological family hid him in Lauele Town.  

In this world, there are Niuhi who have the ability to appear as human on land or as sharks in the ocean. (In Hawaiian, niuhi is the word used to describe a shark big enough to attack a human and is usually translated as a large tiger shark.) Kalei is a character in the series. His full name is Kalei-O-Mano, which refers to a war club ringed with shark’s teeth or a shark’s mouth. In the series, he’s a scary bad dude who is mostly called The Man with Too Many Teeth by Zader. By the time his name is revealed, it’s very clear that the series is not a retelling of Nanaue, so there’s no confusion with Kalei-O-Mano and Kalei the maiden in the most well-known version of the Nanaue legend. In this short story I just called him Kalei because it’s simple and what he’d probably tell a tourist—and really didn’t consider there might be confusion with the Nanaue legend.  

Kahana and Ilima are also characters in the series, and I wrote Tourists to give adults a different perspective to consider as they read the Niuhi Shark Saga. While the publisher pigeon-holed the series as MG/YA because of Zader’s age, the series is read by as many adults as kids. 

In my head, I have lots of stories set in Lauele Town that are adult-themed, and someday I hope to write them all down and publish them under another pen name, Jace Hunter. As Jace Hunter I publish speculative horror fiction for adults. As Lehua I publish children’s literature, and as you know, Tourists isn’t for children. I originally published it as Lehua because of the tie to the Niuhi Shark Saga series, but I’ve since rethought that decision. A revised version of Tourists will soon be available as an audiobook by Jace Hunter, narrated by Michelle Parker.

 

Hope this answers your questions. As for your review, first of all, thank you!, and secondly, please feel free to write whatever you wish in your review. A hui hou!

Lehua

 

A review

of

all 13 tales of suspense

 in 

MYSTERY IN PARADISE:

http://www.amazon.com/MYSTERY-PARADISE-13-Tales-Suspense-ebook/dp/B00GYL6FEE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1461620595&sr=1-1&keywords=Mystery+In+Paradise 
 

http://www.amazon.com/One-Shark-Swim-Niuhi-Saga-ebook/dp/B00I2FWU94/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

 

  

http://www.amazon.com/One-Water-Niuhi-Shark-Saga-ebook/dp/B00I2FWTZ4/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1461620649&sr=1-1&keywords=One+Boy%2C+One+Shark

 

"13 FRIDAYS" INTERVIEW With AUTHOR BOB NEWELL

Today’s guest for the “13 Fridays Author Interviews” is Bob Newell, author of the short story, The Kahala Caper, included within the anthology, MYSTERY IN PARADISE 13 Tales of Suspense.

 

Sisters in Crime/Hawai`i: Thank you for sharing with readers your short story, and for taking time to visit today, Bob. Can you please offer a brief insight into something humorous, poignant, or unusual in your life that led you to a career in writing? 

BOB NEWELL: I can't point to any one thing. Writers have to write. It's part of who and what they are. I write because I can't not write. If you're a writer or some other type of artist, you'll know what I mean.

 

Sisters in Crime/Hawai`i: Why did you choose to collaborate with 12 other authors to participate in a short story anthology? 

BOB NEWELL: Writing for anthologies is a lot of fun. It's a chance to join in providing the reader with a rich and varied experience. It's an opportunity as a writer to compare notes with other writers and see different ways of looking at things.

 

Sisters in Crime/Hawai`i: In The Kahala Caper, what is one phrase or scene that reflects something about you as a writer? 

BOB NEWELL: The story wasn't written to be filled with layers of existential meaning, but I think if you look at the relationship between Jasmine and Jimmy, there's something deeper. What does it reflect about me as a writer? Putting that into words is difficult, and I'm not sure I even really know in a conscious way.

 

Sisters in Crime/Hawai`i: Can you tell us a bit about your current project? 

BOB NEWELL: I have a few things going on. Top of the list is a novel with the working title "Courting Jane" which is most of the way through a second draft. It's a romance at heart but it has sci-fi elements and some of it is set in Honolulu. I hope to have it out by the end of 2014, but we'll see how it goes. I also have a couple of short stories that I'm getting ready to try to market. I'd like to write a few more Jimmy Chan stories but I won't get to that right away.

 

Sisters in Crime/Hawai`i: What's it like to be a writer in Hawai`i as opposed to the mainland or elsewhere? 

BOB NEWELL: I have to say that it's definitely different. There is a vibrant community of writers here. That's true elsewhere, of course, but the attitudes and approaches are, well, Hawaiian. That means friendliness, mutual support, rejoicing in one another's successes rather than being jealous, a sense of family and taking care of one another, and of course gathering to write where there's plenty of food. 

Most of us tend to write about Hawai`i or at least include Hawaiian settings in our work. I've got one novella in draft that explores a romance between a haole and a leader in the Hawaiian independence movement, and I have a project in the planning stage that reimagines Pride and Prejudice in the Kingdom of Hawai`i. 

Bob Newell can be found at his Internet website, where he shares a variety of entertaining and educational material on a range of subjects, from checkers to tea to Talmud:

http://www.bobnewell.net/nucleus/bnewell.php

 

MEET "PARTNERS IN CRIME" ROSEMARY AND LARRY MILD

Please welcome today’s featured guests for a “Friday - 13 Authors” interview, the writing team of Rosemary and Larry Mild. Their entries in the short story anthology, MYSTERY IN PARADISE 13 Tales of Suspense, are The Joss at Table Twelve and Adrift on Kaneohe Bay. We look forward to hearing more about these stories and the authors’ writing careers. 

Sisters In Crime/Hawaii: What led you to a career writing fiction? 

ROSEMARY MILD: When I met Larry I was fifty-one, divorced, and out on a blind date. As he was driving me home, he announced: “When I retire, I'm going to write a novel and I want you to help me.”

 

I chirped, “Okay!” What was I thinking? I'd never written a word of fiction and neither had he. And I'd only known this man four hours! I was a career editor and journalist. Larry was an electronics design engineer writing technical papers. It didn't occur to me to say "Forget it" because in a matter of minutes we had become soul mates. It was chemistry, folks, and I'm convinced I knew him in a previous life. 

We married the following year, but it was seven years before we started writing together. Larry retired and, with his typical gusto, wrote the first draft of the novel he’d dreamed about. It’s our thriller, Cry Ohana, Adventure and Suspense in Hawaii. (Ohana is “family” in Hawaiian). Then he handed me his 450-page manuscript and said, “Your turn.” 

Yikes! It was truly the halt leading the blind. This is the book on which we cut our fiction teeth. We subjected it to two critique groups, three different titles, and umpteen drafts. After twenty years as snowbirds in Honolulu, we're steeped in local color and cultures, which gives Cry Ohana its authenticity. Recently we waved goodbye to Severna Park, Maryland, and moved here permanently to be with our daughters and grandchildren. 

Sisters In Crime/Hawaii: Why did you choose to collaborate in a short story anthology? 

ROSEMARY MILD: We already had a stable of stories under our belts, many of them published. We've had a series of eight stories featuring a "soft-boiled" detective named Slim O'Wittz in MYSTERICAL-E, an on-line magazine. We were thrilled that Gail and Laurie created the project Mystery in Paradise. An anthology has a lasting quality, and our fellow contributors are excellent writers. It's an honor to be included. We lucked out getting a second story in it when one contributor backed out. 

Happily keeping our Maryland connections, we're members of both the Chesapeake and Hawaii chapters of Sisters in Crime. This fall, we'll have a Valentine's Day story in the "Chessie" chapter's anthology Chesapeake Crimes: Homicidal Holidays.  

Sisters In Crime/Hawaii: What is one phrase that reflects you as writers? 

ROSEMARY MILD: Larry and I are cheerful partners in crime. We have a great time thinking up well-deserved punishments for characters that our readers love to hate. In general, mystery writers are placid, genial folks, because we can take out our aggressions on our villains. 

Our titles in Mystery in Paradise are "The Joss at Table Twelve," based on an ancient Chinese legend: Where lions and dragons prowl, six strangers take a chance on fate; and "Adrift on Kaneohe Bay": Captain Rick's glorious day-sail takes a tack into a deadly enigma. 

Larry and I have coauthored two novel series: the Paco & Molly Mysteries: Locks and Cream Cheese, Hot Grudge Sunday, and Boston Scream Pie. They have food titles because one of the sleuths is a gourmet cook—and because Larry is an incorrigible punster. The night we met, he slipped a pun or two into our dinner conversation. I retorted: “I bet you pun in your sleep.” 

“Sure,” he said. “I was born in the Year of the Pun. That’s the thirteenth sign of the Zaniac.” (I still laugh. I’m pretty sure our marriage depends on it.) 

Our newest series begins with Death Goes Postal, A Dan and Rivka Sherman Mystery. Rare fifteenth-century typesetting artifacts journey through time, leaving a horrifying imprint in their wake. The Shermans risk life and limb to locate the treasures and unmask the murderer. Not quite what they had in mind when they bought The Olde Victorian Bookstore. 

Sisters In Crime/Hawaii: What is your current project? 

ROSEMARY MILD: Death Takes a Mistress, the second Dan and Rivka Sherman Mystery, is our work-in-progress. Woefully behind schedule, I admit; I'm the villain here. 

The way we work is this. Larry says he's more devious than I am, so he conjures up our plots and writes the first draft. I come behind him, tossing and dressing the narrative salad and breathing life into the characters. Then we "negotiate" to be sure the writing comes out seamless, sounding like one author. Larry has tremendous drive. He depends on me to keep pace with him. But I don't. 

I also have a writing life of my own in nonfiction—essays and memoirs, and I tuck my projects in between our fiction. For months at a time! My new book is Love! Laugh! Panic! Life with My Mother. (It's on Kindle now; paperback coming soon.) I recently published Miriam's World—and Mine, my second memoir of our daughter Miriam Luby Wolfe, whom we lost in the terrorist bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. 

Still, I love working with Larry. He's the Energizer Bunny—only cuter.  

All our books are available on Amazon, Kindle, and Nook. Or from us. Visit us at www.magicile.com or email us at: roselarry@magicile.com. 

Thank you for including us on the Sisters in Crime/Hawaii blog.

The Face: An Interview with Author Greg Field

 

Sisters in Crime/Hawaii: This week we welcome editor and author Greg Field to our “Friday - 13 Authors” interview. Greg, thank you for sharing with readers your short story, The Face, included within the anthology MYSTERY IN PARADISE 13 Tales of Suspense, and for taking time to visit with us today. 

Can you please offer a brief insight into something humorous, poignant, or unusual in your life that led you to a career in writing? 

GREG FIELD: At an early age I enjoyed telling stories. I even drew comic books with my own made up characters. The heroes were not necessarily endowed with super powers, but more likely to be a kid my own age. The villains were teachers, police officers, or other grown-ups who used their authority for evil or to bully others. Firemen were heroes — they ran to the fire when everyone else ran away. 

One evening when I was young I saw a park structure on fire. Sparks and burning cinders swirled into the night sky. I called the fire department and soon the fire trucks rolled up. Men in heavy yellow coats pulled thick canvas hoses to the fire. Overspray from the nozzles chilled the air. I stood with onlookers — adults who insisted I stay back because I was a child. I wanted to tell them I was the one who called the fire department. One adult suggested it was kids who’d set the fire. And so onto my list of heroes went those who were unjustly accused. These same characters and themes appear in my stories: kids who take on the roles of adults, persons who must prove their innocence or overcome bullies who gang up on the weak.

 

Sisters in Crime/Hawaii: Writers, by default, are independent contractors who sit alone at their computer/typewriter/journal, composing prose, poetry, lyrics, haiku, or limericks, for hours on end. 

Why did you choose to collaborate with 13 other authors to participate in a short story anthology? 

GREG FIELD: I often share the early drafts of my writing with Laurie Hanan, another author in the anthology. She suggested I write a story and submit it to Sisters In Crime. I’d just finished a novel, Red Dirt, and wanted to hang out some more with the same characters. This often happens. After living with my characters for a few months I’ll see them in little vignettes, like hanging out in Chinatown or eating ice cream cones. I had an idea that wasn’t enough to carry a novel, but was perfect for a short story.

 

Sisters in Crime/Hawaii: Each short story in the anthology offers a glimpse into the personality of the writer. 

In your short story, The Face, what is one phrase or scene that reflects something about you as a writer? 

GREG FIELD: The scene where detective Kai leads Ka’ena into the soup kitchen — it’s menacing, bleak, hostile, but it is also part of his past, so in a way it is familiar to him. Kai even meets someone he knew from when he was a kid — and yet they’d never known each other’s name. Kai revealed all of this to Ka’ena, not in words but in an active way. At the time Ka’ena is terrified but later she thanks him for it. 

This scene in particular resonates for me. Many times we struggle to tell another person about ourselves, our past — often words just don’t capture the experience or evoke the emotions. With their descent into that miserable place, Kai told Ka’ena what his life had been like at her age.

 

Sisters in Crime/Hawaii: Every writer has a WIP (Work-In-Progress). 

Can you tell us a bit about your current project? 

GREG FIELD: I’m putting the final touches on Red Dirt, a novel that brings Detective Kai and teenage Ka’ena together. It should be available soon. At the same time I am outlining their next adventure – With Eyes Like Those. Detective Kai is accused of killing a motorcycle cop’s brother while rescuing a kidnapped girl. Meanwhile a friend of Ka’ena has gone missing, lured by the promise of easy money as a fashion model. Ka’ena decides to go undercover, and Kai must get her back before she is smuggled off the island.

 

Following is an Excerpt from Greg Field’s short story, The Face:

 

“Who’s that? Your girlfriend?”

“It was the medical examiner. She’ll be here soon.”

“Dr. Emerald-Eyes,” and she adopted a quick succession of Bollywood poses. The uniform cops suppressed a grin.

“Knock it off.”

Ka’ena shrugged. “I think I’ll walk down the street and make sure it’s the same guy.”

“Just stay here. I don’t want you confronting him.”

“I won’t confront him. I’ll just look in the window—like I’m window shopping.”

When the ME arrived he could turn custody of the site over to her. “Wait five minutes and we’ll go down there together.”

“Five minutes will turn into ten.” She minced Bollywood with the hands of Kali, dipping at the knees as if wearing a tight sari. “And how are you, my Beloved Inspector Detective?” She dropped her eyes seductively, then shot them up at him.

“Cut her some slack.”

“I’ll just take a look.”

“Wait.”

Ka’ena was already striding down the block. She crossed Hotel Street without waiting for the light, even though she had to know four cops plus Kai were watching her. The uniform cops seemed to get a chuckle out of it, like Kai had a sparkly puppy that totally disregarded his commands. Kai reached into his HPD bag and found his binoculars. He trained them on her. She was halfway between Hotel and King Street when she stopped and looked into a storefront. She leaned forward with her hands cupped above her eyes, the heels of her hands to the glass. She stood up straight, looked his way, blew him a kiss, and stepped into the store.

 

 

The anthology of short stories set in Hawaii, MYSTERY IN PARADISE 13 Tales of Suspense, includes Greg Field's short story, THE FACE, and is available in trade book and e-Book format at Amazon.com

 

http://www.amazon.com/MYSTERY-PARADISE-13-Tales-Suspense-ebook/dp/B00GYL6FEE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1391741480&sr=1-1&keywords=mystery+in+paradise+13+tales+of+suspense