It’s been too long since I posted here. And hopefully I will have good news to share soon. I have a lot of plans for 2024. Do you? I’m going to redo this website, continue to write for kids and the environment. Personally, I’m also focusing on my health in 2024. You know how you always say that, but health is kind of the last thing on your resolutions list? After being hit with a lot of viruses these last few Covid years and then getting what appears to be Long-Covid, which I’m still recovering from, I’m not just saying…
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I just listened to a webinar about how there are a lot of picture books about trees lately. This doesn’t bode well for my own picture book which I’ve been working on for the last few years. But it’s better for the kids and hopefully the planet, so this makes me happy. This is another thing that makes me happy. The Tree and the River by Aaron Becker is a wordless picture book that takes children (and adults) on a journey from a fantastical past to the illusions of a future beyond our imagination. It’s cinematic in its illustrations and…
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At this point, my interest in Hawaii sugar plantation life might be an obsession. I’ve been immersed in books, journal articles, phone interviews, maps and more. The history of sugar plantation workers in Hawaii is part of my ancestral history after all. It’s why I am a gosei, or fifth generation Japanese American born and raised in Hawaii. I got my BA in English and minored in Ethnic Studies because I loved to write, and even then had a fascination with this period in history. My mom, aunties and uncle were raised on a sugar plantation on Kauai but, I…
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I started out my writing career trying to be invisible. I wrote as neutral as I could so that my words would come through. To be honest, so that my color could not been seen. This is the way it was supposed to be. It’s the way my culture survived WWII and the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It’s the way we were raised – to be good enough. Not so good that you stood out. But you didn’t want to shame your family either. For years, it went this way until I realized my writing was stunted by neutral, bland…
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I’m working on a picture book about one of my grandmothers. She’s been gone for about 8 years now and I’m starting to forget. Having stories like, Kelly Starling Lyons’ My Hands Tell a Story, however has been helping me pull pieces of my culture and personal history into an actual story. The picture book published by Reycraft and illustrated by Tonya Engel is about a little girl’s relationship with her grandmother told through the story of her hands and every thing it’s been through. It’s such a beautiful story and there are so many layers about generation, hard work, passing…
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I so admire my very talented writer friend Kamalani Hurley for her tenaciousness at posting and creating relevant content about Native Hawaiian and local artists. As for me, my time is mostly spent taking online courses to beef up my knowledge of coaching and working on revising my picture book on Hawaii sugar plantations. As a writer for more than 15 years, I still feel like a beginner. Every day it’s about showing up when the laundry needs to be done and my kids need me for everything. To be honest, I nearly lost my writing mojo last month and…
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Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong place. Not that Hawaii isn’t a magical place to be raised. But when I first traveled to Europe for the first time, I felt more at home than I did when I went to Japan. Maybe this is why I find myself drooling over Enchanting Paris: The Hedonist’s Guide. The multitude of cathedrals, the cultural symbolism, and history dripping within its architecture fills me with enviable joy. It reminds me that I am a writer who lives for romantic places and whimsy. Even if real life is too harsh and practical, writing…
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{Photo by Rokki Midro} It seemed impossible during covid to meet new people especially during Covid which ravaged our communities and hearts. But this retired UH professor has been one of the few and rare gems of the pandemic. Although I have never met her in person, I feel a kinship with Kamalani. She is as genuine as she is smart. And I am so grateful to have met her. She graciously agreed to give us a picture of her life, what she aspires to and how her culture shapes what and who she writes about. Hi Kamalani. For those…
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Happy 2022! It was a challenging 2021, to say the least, which began with a robbery and ended with months of recovery from the vaccine. I haven’t had the motivation to write for a very, long time. But a new year brings hope and possibility. And 2021 wasn’t a total bomb. In fact, after several years of never believing I would ever find an agent, I finally signed with Tricia Lawrence from Erin Murphy Literary Agency last year. I wrote about the process on this website. For the new year, I’ve been contemplating what my writing goals are. With everything going…
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You may recall a time when I had a podcast of sorts a year ago. Ha! I can hardly imagine doing that now while my kids are at home with me again as well as a puppy and my husband. As we all try to feel our way through another pandemic year, now with even more stuff (political, health, etc.) getting time for myself is near impossible. You’ll know what I mean if you follow me on Instagram. Anyhow, while I was busy juggling homeschooling, one of my past interviewees, a memoirist that I grew quite fond of, wrote another book!…