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Archive for the "Hawaii fiction" Category

Pua Polu, The Pretty Blue Hawaiian Flower

July 19th, 2010
Pua Polu, The Pretty Blue Hawaiian Flower is the tale of a curious little koali, a morning glory, who is determined to see everything going on around her. Against her mother's advice, Pua Polu stays awake long after the sun has set and the rest of her family has gone to sleep. She discovers that the [...]
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Anshū: powerful novel coming in September

June 21st, 2010
Posted by Michael Little
I consider myself extremely lucky to be one of those with an early look at Juliet S. Kono's new novel, Anshū, from Bamboo Ridge Press. The book will be out [...]
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Godzilla and the Hawaii Book and Music Festival ...

May 11th, 2010
Posted by Michael Little

hbmf-scheduleIt’s back! The 5th  annual Hawaii Book & Music Festival invades the civic grounds at Honolulu Hale this weekend (Saturday and Sunday, May 15-16) like a family-friendly Godzilla (not the less-than-friendly Godzilla, the destructive version of the giant radioactive mutant Japanese monster with the dangerous tail who likes to smash Tokyo and anything else in his way).

All the festival details and schedule are online.  Take a look and then come back.

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Ben, Under Maui Skies, voted Top Books of the Year

May 1st, 2010
Posted by Thomas Cummings
Under Maui Skies, a book of short stories by Wayne Moniz, won the hearts, minds and votes of more than 1500 HawaiiReaders.com readers as the readers' choice book of 2009. The award was given as part of the Ka Palapala Po'okela awards at a gala event on April 30. Ben: A Memoir, from Street Kid to Go [...]
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Original book titles discovered!

April 6th, 2010
Posted by Michael Little

war-and-peace-21A diligent researcher has recently unearthed some original working titles for books that were later published under more familiar titles.  This person, who has chosen to remain anonymous, revealed only that he or she was inspired by an episode of Seinfeld. Here is the exact passage quoted in the introduction to the list of titles:

Jerry: Hey, you know what? I read the most unbelievable thing about Tolstoy the other day. Did you know the original title for War and Peace was War—What Is It Good For?

Elaine: Ha ha.

Jerry: No, no.. I’m not kidding, Elaine, it’s true. His mistress didn’t like the title and insisted he change it to War and Peace.

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Romance in mystery ...

March 26th, 2010
Posted by Michael Little

debby-atkinsonOur guest blogger today is mystery/crime fiction writer and Oahu resident Deborah Atkinson.

A recipient of the University of Hawaii’s Meryl Clark Award for Fiction, she is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and the author of Primitive Secrets (2002), The Green Room (2005), and Fire Prayer (2007).

Debby’s latest novel is Pleasing the Dead. I asked her to share her thoughts about romance and mystery. Welcome, Debby!

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Voices on the page in 2009

December 30th, 2009
Posted by Michael Little

reading-on-the-beachVoices on the page, or on the computer screen of this blog, echo down the last days of 2009. Here are some of the voices that have brightened “A Little Romance” this year:

Local writer and teacher Cami Nihipali: There are discussions in literary circles about whetherTwilight is ‘good’ literature. I know my colleagues and I have had this discussion numerous times. The truth of the matter is that it doesn’t matter. Like the Harry Potter phenomenon, which became embroiled in a religious argument several years ago, Twilight and its subsequent books have gotten kids reading, and excited about reading nonetheless. As for romance, Meyer hits the nail on the head. Whether the reader likes Edward or Jacob, everyone can find that flutter of first love in this story.

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Low hanging fruit ... and mango lessons

December 21st, 2009
Posted by Michael Little

mango-tree

“Low hanging fruit.” Easier to pick. There for the taking. Why venture higher when there’s good fruit you don’t even need a ladder for, or maybe just a short ladder?

I hear that phrase now and then in different contexts, often from someone on radio or TV. When they use the familiar phrase do they see the image in the metaphor? Do they see a tree with low hanging fruit, and perhaps someone picking?

When I hear “low hanging fruit,” an image of a mango tree immediately flashes in my head. Not just any mango tree, although where I live in Kapahulu/Kaimuki, on the island of Oahu, there are beautiful, fantastic Hayden mango trees on every block. I see a tree that is no longer there.

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Believing the story

December 18th, 2009
Posted by Michael Little

ireland-coverIn the middle of Frank Delaney’s novel Ireland, an engaging 560-page narrative about Ireland and Irish storytellers, there’s one paragraph that jumped off the page at me and said “Take me home with you.” Or perhaps it whispered “Kiss me, I’m Irish.” Whatever. But it’s a memorable paragraph for all writers, and readers, and here it is.

A story has only one master—its narrator; he decides what he wants his story to do. I know, I have always known, what I want my stories to achieve—I want to make people believe. Believe what I tell. Believe in it. Believe me. Belief is the one effect I’m always looking for, and I apply every device, every pause, every gesture, every verbal nuance and twirl, to that end. To achieve it, I myself have to believe; if I don’t, who will? I must believe ancient Ireland was as I describe it. The swords really did ring loudly off the shields. And the armor surely gleamed in the sun.

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Visiting writers at Farrington High School

December 16th, 2009
Posted by Michael Little
Last Thursday morning I had the opportunity to read and speak at Farrington High School, as part of the Farrington Library's visiting writers program. The [...]
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