Bob Hogue's novel Sands of Lanikai, published by Island Heritage, is hitting the local bookstores this week on Oahu and next week on the neighbor islands.  Bob describes the book as "a historical fiction set in Kailua in 1941, with a little romance, mystery, and suspense tossed in for fun."

I asked Bob to share some of his experience in imagining, and then creating, this novel.

Q.  Of course a new book doesn't drop from the sky fully formed, looking for someone to catch it.  How did this all begin?

Bob: I grew up a big fan of historical novels, also anything to do with political thrillers—read a lot of James Michener and Fletcher Knebel, in fact virtually everything they wrote.  Lately, I've become a fan of John Grisham, and have read all of his books. Also Steven Ambrose.

This book came from reading a WWII novel while sitting on Kailua Beach and wondering what would have happened if the Japanese had invaded there after December 7, 1941. I realized that a "what if" story like that was way over my head, so I concocted a smaller story about a spy/mercernary entering Kailua Bay just before the 7th with instructions to send a signal for an immediate invasion/raid if conditions merit—and couple that story with a coming-of-age mystery/romance involving a young man arriving in Kailua about the same time.

Q.  Could you talk about the research involved in telling this story?

Bob: The research was very enjoyable.  I spent a great deal of time in the library, and also viewed photos, newspapers, and interviewed people from that era—including my own mother, who grew up in Hawaii during that time.  Some of the personal accounts and anecdotes have been woven into the narrative.  The hardest part was cutting back on all the historical research about Kailua and Lanikai—and allowing the characters to talk about the information rather than narratively explaining.

Q.  How did the novel evolve as you wrote it?

Bob: I wrote the novel in first person during my first attempt, almost in a journal form—that's the draft the publisher saw first.  He liked the development of the characters and the plot, but said I needed to get it into the "form of a novel"—that turned out to be the biggest challenge.

I rewrote the entire book in third person and added characters and sub-plots.  The addition of one particular historical character ended up being very helpful.  Jack Burns, aka future governor John Burns, was a police officer and Kailua resident at the time.  I added him to the mystery portion to help build that storyline.

It was important for me to stay true to history and historical figures (there are many in the book), while still creating a possible fictional storyline.  This may be the first book that finds a way to weave three major Hawaii historical events—December 7th, Liliuokalani and the overthrow, and Kamehameha's conquest at the Pali—into one storyline.

But what I loved most about this writing journey was falling in love with my characters.  I admit to falling in love with my romance and the people surrounding it, and also feeling the amazement of my main character as he discovers Kailua, its history, and ultimately himself.

Q.  I like the title. Was that also your working title?

Bob: My original title was Kailua.  It was my publisher who said he thought having Lanikai in the title was "sexier" and that led to my coming up with Sands of Lanikai.  After that title was selected, I changed the name of my main character to Paul Sands, so it's obvious that the title has meaning in many different ways.

I could go on and on—bottom line, I loved every minute of it, and I hope at least a few readers will enjoy the story too.

Thanks, Bob!

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