Talking Story
Book Review: The Kona Shuffle
by Tom Bradley, Jr.
There are moments in The Kona Shuffle where your eyes scan the words as fast as they can as your jaw hangs open catching flies. Esther and Tommy with the gun. The naked guy strapped to a chair and tortured with cheesy steel guitar music and a sunburn from hell. Gerald...
Sniff: A Lauele Town Short Story
Excerpt #8
No matter how hard Kona tried to stay awake, it always waited until he was asleep. Shhhhhh, shhhhhhh, not settling, moving. A dry sound, like snakes, like sand, like crisp, dried leaves against a window screen. Shhhhhh, shhhhhhh. The bed’s dust ruffle...
Sniff: A Lauele Town Short Story
Excerpt #7
In his room, Kona rummaged in the bottom of his closet and pulled out a wadded pair of boxers and worn soccer shorts, the same clothes he’d worn each night and hidden in his closet for over a month. Putting on the rank and musty clothes, he immediately felt better. It...
Interview with Author Teri Harman
Blood Moon
My good friend Teri Harman's book Blood Moon, book 1 in her Moonlight Trilogy is publishing June 22, 2013 by Jolly Fish Press. Teri stopped by to answer a few of my niele questions. Blood Moon is about witches, covens, good versus evil, and strength in numbers....
Book Review: Blood Moon
by Teri Harmon
Two weeks after high school graduation, he walks into Willa’s life, the boy who gets into her blood like a fever. But Willa barely has a chance to mention Simon to Solace, her best ghost friend, before they’re swept up into kidnapping, murder, and the dangerous hidden...
Sniff: A Lauele Town Short Story
Excerpt #6
Back in the kitchen, Kona opened the fridge, picked out a piece of raw onion from a plastic wrapped bowl, and ate it for luck, rolling the juice around with his tongue. He slipped the mango cobbler off a shelf and tossed the foil cover in the rubbish can. On second...
Sniff: A Lauele Town Short Story
Excerpt #5
At dinner, Kona ate all the chili and only a little of the mango cobbler, even though he loved it. He knew he’d need it later. “Kona, shower then bed,” called Mom. Kona looked up from his computer. “Just a minute. I need—” “Now, Kona. And hang up your towel...
Suck It Up & Get Back in the Water
Beach Lessons From My Father As you're packing the cooler, remember a little too much is the perfect amount. The coldest drinks are going to be at the bottom. The beer goes in first. Carry meat tenderizer in your beach bag for jelly fish stings. Pat stings with wet...
Sniff: A Lauele Town Short Story
Excerpt #4
“Mom, what’s for dinner?” “Teriyaki steak with rice, steamed veggies.” “Teriyaki steak! Tonight?” “You’re complaining? You always beg me to make teriyaki steak. Tonight I made it extra sweet and gingery just for you!” “I like it; I just… not tonight.” “Too bad. It’s...
Sniff: A Lauele Town Short Story
Excerpt #3
At recess, Kona couldn’t get anyone to play with him. “Too hot, dude,” said Glen Miyabuchi. “I don’t want to run around. I’ll get all sweaty and stinky.” “What do you mean get stinky? You’re stinky now!” snickered Brenda Chang. “Knock it off, Brenda. You wanna fight?”...
Fun with Food and Farm Animals
About once or twice a week I have to go through the fridge and pantry and weed out the limp celery, wizened apples, and suspiciously fuzzy baked goods. With two ravenous teens in the house it’s hard to strike the right balance between having enough fresh things...
Book Review: Insight
by Terron James
What if you had a powerful gift that was slowly killing you? What if at the moment you needed it most, it knocked you out cold? What if soldiers were hunting people with this gift and the only way to protect your family and everything you loved was to leave it...
Sniff: A Lauele Town Short Story
Excerpt #2
Kona hated making his bed. Walking around the edges and bending close to tuck in the top sheet made him feel…exposed. From the doorway Kona leaped to the middle of his bed. Kneeling on the edge of the mattress and leaning down, Kona held the top sheet in his hands....
Character Haiku: Zader
Knife blade in moonlight, Stink of fear on ocean breeze, Uncle, are you there? ~Zader
Sniff: A Lauele Town Short Story
Excerpt #1
Being an only child, Kona was blamed for things he didn't entirely do. The best he could figure, it was some kind of screwball adult logic that said if Mom didn't do it and Dad didn't either, it must have been Kona. “Robert Konahele Inoye, get in here now!” Kona...
Hair Wars
The Hair Wars are back. My kitchen and dining room look like a scene from Steel Magnolias. There are four different brands of hot rollers, two curling irons, clamps, pins, and enough abandoned bottles of crap-that’s-not-the-right-shade-either foundation to...
Book Review: Lehua, Ka‘ao a ka Wahine
by Gene J. Parola
Lehua, Ka‘ao a ka Wahine, by Gene J. Parola combines historical narrative with forbidden romance to paint a portrait of life in Hawai‘i circa 1819, just as Queen Ka‘ahumanu lifts the kapu, essentially abolishing the ancient Hawaiian religion and turning the...
Learning ‘Ōlelo: boroz, boroboroz
boroz, boroboroz (BOW-row-z) (BOW-row-BOW-row-z) (n) Pidgin word for the the oldest, most worn-out clothes, one small step above rags. Worn when painting, doing yard work, etc. Example “How come you stay wearing your boroz? I thought the new clothes Mom and Lili...
Character Haiku: Char Siu
Now I’d rather be sliding down a waterfall, no cactus landing. ~Char Siu
Pele Dreams
Living in the shadow of a volcano, there were many nights when I imagined lava pouring down Haleakala’s mountain sides and pooling in the hall outside my bedroom door. My sister and I even had a game where the floor was white-hot lava and you had to leap to safety...