Celebrate Hawaii Week - Aloha to Chip Hughes, The Surfing Detective, and KULA

Continuing our celebration of Hawaii, KULA is Book 3 in Chip Hughes' Surfing Detective series ...

Summoned to the Honolulu hilltop mansion of radio pitchman Barry Buckingham, presumably to trace his missing wife, the Surfing Detective is in for the letdown of his career. Kai Cook is hired to track another lost family member. A dog.

Despite his qualms, Kai would seem a natural for the case, since the golden retriever named Kula is a famous surfing dog. Yet the PI knows nothing about finding missing pets. But he does know where to find help—Maile Barnes, an ex-K9 cop and kindred spirit with the keys to unlock the dark underworld of animal theft in the islands. 

Then a questionable tip takes Kai to a late-night rendezvous, his tipster winds up dead, and the detective himself becomes a suspect. Can he clear his name and find the murderer before he strikes again? The PI tracks the illusive retriever from O‘ahu to the Big Island to Maui, but the killer is one step ahead—other players linked to the dog’s disappearance keep turning up dead. 

Is a ghost from Barry Buckingham’s past behind the murders? Or is Kai’s client just a misunderstood man with a lost pet? To solve this third case in the Surfing Detective series, Kai Cooke must do what he never does—take on a partner. Teaming up with the headstrong K9 cop is his only shot to liberate the famous surfing dog, who is somehow always at the center of this mystery.

Kailua Beach

People say I train dogs, but in many ways I train people. 

- Cesar Millan

Chip Hughes sends Kai Cooke, the Surfing Detective, into the heartwrenching world of dog fighting that plagues the Hawaiian islands.  Yet he leaves it in the background, giving Kai the opporutnity to demonstrate his sleuthing skills, act as a big brother to a neglected teenager, and team up with a sexy partner.   (And this is a cozy mystery, so there is a happy ending for the animals).   Hughes delivers a fast paced action adventure with vivid descriptions of Oahu, the Big Island, and Maui.   The author introduces readers to a capable heroine who can handle the criminal element as well as Kai's romantic overtures.  And then there is Kula - a dog worth the rescue.

KULA will appeal to readers who appreciate cozy mysteries, tropical settings, and animal lovers.  I purchased a copy of KULA for my personal enjoyment.

Dog Beach near Pearl Harbor

I am giving away a book choice from my convention stash to one randomly selected commenter.  To enter the giveaway,

1.  Have you seen a dog surf?  Or other unusual animal tricks?

2.  Comments are open through Saturday, June 14, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, June 15.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Learn more about Chip and his books at surfingdetective.com.

Check out pictures of Kailua Beach, where Kula surfs, at this link and link.

  

Celebrate Hawaii Week - Aloha to Chip Hughes, The Surfing Detective, and WIPEOUT!

Continuing our celebration of Hawaii, WIPEOUT! is Book 2 in Chip Hughes' Surfing Detective series:

“Delivering babies is not in my standard contract,” says Kai Cooke to his very pregnant client, Summer McDahl. Summer has hired the Surfing Detective with an unusual request: to prove her husband is dead. Corky McDahl wiped out on Christmas Eve in heavy surf at Waimea Bay and vanished. Now it’s February, Summer’s baby is soon due, and the P.I. finds himself on a twisted treasure hunt spanning three Hawaiian islands. 

Did Corky pull off the most daring skip-trace ever? The answer turns out to be more complicated than the question would suggest, involving the islands’ big-wave riding and drug trafficking scenes, not to mention the competing claims of Corky’s two “widows.” Is Corky McDahl dead or alive? Though the “Surfing Detective” seems the last to know, his client gains a great deal more than her money paid for.

Just take your time - wave comes. Let the other guys go, catch another one. - Duke Kahanamoku

WIPEOUT continues the sleuthing adventures of Kai Cooke, the Surfing Detective.  A very pregnant client visits his office in Chinatown, Oahu, asking for Kai's help to find her missing husband, presumed dead after a a wipeout at Waimea Beach.   The surfer's disappearance doesn't add up ... and neither does the wife's interest in finding him.   Kai's investigation leads him to Oahu's North Shore, Maui's cowboy town, and Lanai's Shipwreck Beach.   Tides come and tides go ... and Kai rides the waves to find the answer.

Hughes delivers another cozy mystery set in the Hawaiian Islands.  He captures the exotic landscape that attracts tourists ... and the ugly underbelly of criminal activity that plagues paradise.   This quick read will appeal to fans of Hawaiian life and surfing lingo.  

I am giving away a book choice from my convention stash to one randomly selected commenter.  To enter the giveaway,

1. Have you tried surfing and/or stand up paddling?  I have not ... I preferred to photograph the beach landscape.

2.  Comments are open through Saturday, June 14, 10 pm in Baltimore.  

3.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, June 15.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Learn more about Chip and his books at surfingdetective.com.

Check out my pictures of Waimea Beach at this link and nearby Pupukea at this link.

Celebrate Hawaii Week - Aloha to Rachel Grant and BODY OF EVIDENCE

I recently met Rachel Grant via email through a mutual friend, knowing that I would find Rachel interesting ...

Rachel Grant worked for over a decade as a professional archaeologist and fully intends to mine her experiences for storylines and settings, which are as diverse as excavating a cemetery underneath an historic art museum in San Francisco; surveying an economically depressed coal mining town in Kentucky; and mapping a seventeenth century Spanish and Dutch fort on the island of Sint Maarten in the Netherlands Antilles.

In all her travels and adventures as an archaeologist, Rachel has found many sites and artifacts, but she’s only found one true treasure, her husband, David. They met while working together excavating a four thousand year old site about to be destroyed by the expansion of a sewage treatment plant in Seattle. Despite their romantic first meeting, she has no intention of ever setting a story at a sewage treatment plant.

Rachel Grant lives on an island in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and children.

Rachel joins us for a cozy chat ...

Kim:  You lived in Hawaii - what was your favorite sight, sound, and smell of Paradise?

Rachel:  I loved everything* about Hawaii, from waking up in the morning to a cacophony of birds, our amazing view of the Koʻolau Range, being able to escape the rain on the windward side with a quick trip leeward, taking my kids to the gentle beaches of Kailua, to driving north to watch the big waves on the North Shore. I loved the food: lau lau, kalua pork, and haupia (but not Spam musubi). Plus my neighbor once gave me a homemade passion fruit pie that was to die for.

My son was born in Hawaii, and we celebrated his first birthday with a traditional luau. My neighbor was amazing; she came over the morning of the party as I stared at an array of ingredients and had no clue where to start. She took over, making an incredible spread of traditional foods. I did make the chicken long rice myself though, and it was pretty good.J

*I will admit I don’t miss the mosquitos.

Kim:  Professional archaeologist ... wow! What inspired you to enter this career field? Is it as sexy as Indiana Jones?

Rachel: I blame Elizabeth Peters for my career choice. In my senior year in high school I discovered her wonderful mysteries and was hooked. I still want to be Vicky Bliss when I grow up.

Hmm… as sexy as Indiana Jones? Well, I did meet my husband on my first professional dig, and we’ve been together for twenty years, but that dig was at a sewage treatment plant in Seattle. Enough said?

Kim:  I love that you incorporate your profession into your books - how have your colleagues (past and present) responded to your new direction in career fields?

Rachel: My archaeologist friends are wonderful and supportive. They read my books and appreciate that my heroes aren’t treasure hunters (a huge no in the profession) or artifact collectors. It’s important to me to keep the archaeology accurate to the profession, because they’d come after me if I got it wrong. 

My husband, who is also an archaeologist, helps me with plotting. His colleagues are more leery of my books because of the romance, so he gets the typical ribbing husbands of romance authors receive. A few of his coworkers (the women) have read my books, enjoyed them, and are now starting to read more romance. I love luring readers in with plot, but keeping them with the romance.

Kim:  What did you learn as an assistant to Jill Barnett? 

Rachel:  Goodness, this is a tough question, because I learned so much from Jill! She taught me how to structure a scene for impact, how to recognize when dialogue is forced, but probably most importantly, how to wield point of view effectively. There is nothing like a Jill Barnett critique. She has an incredible ability to breakdown and explain why a scene doesn’t work, but she never told me how to change it, instead she gave me the tools to find my own fix.

Kim:  Now that you have a few books under your belt, what have you learned about yourself as a writer?

Rachel:  I’m a fast writer when it comes to first drafts, except I’ve been known to follow a wrong plot thread for 50k words, making the second draft that much harder to write when I have to scrap half the novel. I’m learning to recognize when a plot thread is veering, so I don’t waste time and writing energy on a story that falls apart. This is making me a faster writer overall, and I’m enjoying writing first drafts more. (I LOVE revisions, not first drafts.) I tend to complete anywhere from twelve to twenty drafts of a 100k word novel before it’s ready to publish. I’m trying to get that number down to about eight.

Mahalo, Rachel, for celebrating Hawaii with us! I am giving away a digital copy of BODY OF EVIDENCE:

And she thought facing a firing squad was bad…

When archaeologist Mara Garrett traveled to North Korea to retrieve the remains of GIs lost in combat, she never imagined she’d be arrested, convicted of spying, and sentenced to death. Her only hope is Curt Dominick, the powerful, ambitious, and infuriatingly sexy US attorney prosecuting her uncle, a former vice president of the United States.

What starts off as a rescue mission quickly morphs into a race across the Pacific. Someone is after Mara, and they’ll risk everything to stop her from reaching Washington DC. With betrayal around every corner, Curt and Mara have little reason to trust each other and every reason to deny the sparks between them that blaze hotter than the Hawaiian sun. Still, desire clashes with loyalty when they discover a conspiracy that threatens not only their lives but the national security of the United States.

To enter the giveaway,

1. Leave a comment about archaeology - does it interest you? I admit I thought I wanted to dig in Egypt when I was a child.

2. Comments are open through Saturday, June 14, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3. I'll post the winner on Sunday, June 15.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Learn more about Rachel and her books at rachel-grant.net.

Check out my pictures of Kaneohe at this link and link.  Plus my pictures of North Korea via the DMZ at this link.

Celebrate Hawaii Week - Aloha to Chip Hughes, The Surfing Detective, and MURDER ON MOLOKA'I

We are celebrating Hawaii this week at SOS Aloha!   We kick off the party with Chip Hughes, the creator of the Surfing Detective.  From his bio,

Chip Hughes learned to surf in San Diego in the late 1960s. He earned a Ph.D. in English at Indiana University in 1981 and taught American literature, film, writing, and popular fiction for nearly three decades at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. His non-fiction publications include two books on John Steinbeck and numerous essays and reviews.

MURDER ON MOLOKA'I is Book One in the Surfing Detective mystery series:

When Boston heiress Adrienne Ridgely strides into his Honolulu office, Surfing Detective Kai Cooke likes what he sees, but doubts what he hears. Adrienne’s sister, environmental activist Sara Ridgely-Parke, plunged to her death from a mule on Moloka‘i – the first fatal incident on the soaring cliffs above Kalaupapa’s fabled leper colony. Murder, cries Adrienne, perpetrated by Sara’s ex-husband, developer J. Gregory Parke. Cooke flies to Moloka‘i, tracking tantalizing leads to an unlikely murder that, despite himself, he starts to believe in. 

Was the mule prodded or spooked or drugged? Did Parke do it for vengeance, or Adrienne for an inheritance, as Parke alleges? Soon Kai uncovers a motive more noxious than either of these – entangling him in the shady dealings of big-time developers, corrupt politicians, and underworld thugs. As he hops from island to island seeking a pivotal clue, the clock ticks down on more than the P.I.’s case or even his own life. The future of Moloka‘i itself is at stake.

Kalaupapa, Moloka'i

Ua mau ke ea o ka `aina i ka pono.
The life of the land is preserved in righteousness.

Chip Hughes plunges right into the ongoing crisis facing the Hawaiian islands - tourist development.   Kai Cooke, the Surfing Detective, is hired to investigate the death of an activist along the mule trail on Moloka'i. The mules are one way to visit Kalaupapa - the leper colony secluded on a penisula.  The mules traverse almost three miles with 26 switch backs from "topside" to the beach.  Yet the mules are reliable in their footing, so it raises suspisions that the activitist may have been murdered.  But how?

Hughes delivers a suspense filled story with vivid descriptions of the Hawaiian landscape.   Having lived in Oahu, and visited Kalaupapa, I felt Hughes transported me back to the islands. He raised my consciousness of the real struggle between developer and preservationist.    This is a quick read with little violence, other than references to the murder.  

Recommended read for fans of Hawaii, cozy mysteries, and quirky characters.

I purchased this book from Chip Hughes when he was a guest speaker for the RWA Aloha Chapter.

A view from the northeast side of the peninsula.

I am giving away a book choice from my convention stash to one randomly selected commenter.  To enter the giveaway,

1.  Leave a comment on whether (or not) you would ride the mules from topside to Kalaupapa.  Or would you rather take flight on a small propeller plane from Oahu (as I did)?

2.  Comments are open through Saturday, June 14, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, June 15.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Learn more about Chip and his books at surfingdetective.com.

Learn more about Kalaupapa on my travel blog, ALOHA ON MY MIND, at this link.

Learn about the mule rides at muleride.com.

Learn more about TASTE OF ALOHA from my food review at this link.   Chef Robert Alcain hails from Moloka'i. 

Aloha to Courtney Cole and BEFORE WE FALL

My mother in law reads my blog ... and she commented that all roads lead to Hawaii.  Well, hold on to your grass skirts because we are heading to Hawaii, in part, with Courtney Cole for her blog tour!

Kim:  Oh, Courtney, we are going to have fun with your Random Facts (link)

1.  I collect dashboard hula-girls.

2.  I like to have my car stereo volume set at an even number.

3.  I can barely remember my natural hair color.

4.  I am terrified of buoys and birds.

5.  I love cemetery angels. Is that weird?

What inspired you to collect dashboard hula girls? Where do you find them to add to your collection? There is quite an assortment at the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet near Pearl Harbor.

Courtney:  Haha, well obviously I’m going to need to come to Hawaii to find authentic hula girls. It’s as good a reason as any! Lol.

A long time ago, I came across the cutest hula girl and I bought her to put on my dash. My husband was mortified, because he thought it was the tackiest thing ever, but I did it anyway. And you know what? Every day that I drove to work, that little hula girl made me happy. She reminded me of warm places and vacation.

So after that, I started buying them whenever I went on vacation. I keep them on a shelf in my office now, and I’m always on the lookout for new ones. 

Kama'aina (local) offers hula girls at Aloha Stadium.

Kim:  Reference your car stereo volume, you remind me of the TV show, Monk. Did you watch the show?

Courtney:  Oh my gosh. I had totally forgotten about that show. I did used to watch it—I was so disappointed when it went off the air. 

Kim:   Reference cemetery angels, it is not weird! What draws you to them? Do you have a favorite one ... or one that is unusual?

Courtney:  It’s not weird?? That’s good!

I’m not sure what draws me to them. There’s just something so haunting and beautiful about them. Maybe it’s because I grew up as a preacher’s kid under the belief that we all have guardian angels. Maybe it’s the idea that even after we die, they stand watch over us… I’m not sure.

My favorite is in the Staglieno Cemetery in Genova, Italy. It’s titled Love Will Tear Us Apart. There’s something so sad and haunting and beautiful about it, that it’s just remained my favorite over the years. 

Courtney sent me a picture of the cemetery statue, but I can't download it.
So let's go back to Aloha Stadium - how about hula pigs?

Kim:  Tell us about Indiana - what is your favorite sight, sound, and smell?

Courtney:  Hmmm. Well, I live in a great location—I live in a tri-state area very close to the edges of Indiana, Michigan and Illinois. While my address is in Indiana, I can literally drive a few minutes and reach either Michigan or Illinois. I’m very close to Chicago, but I can drive a couple of hours and reach Indianapolis in one direction or Toledo, Cincinnati or Kalamazoo in other directions. It’s really cool because we’re never lacking for something to do. The summers are mild, although the winters are harsh. We live close enough to Lake Michigan that we get tons of lake effect snow.

Incidentally, Lake Michigan is my favorite part of living here. It’s vast and beautiful, and has all the benefits of an ocean, without the fear of sharks. Haha. There’s nothing better than standing with my toes in the edge of the icy water and having the summer breeze lift the hair off my face. Perfection!

Shark mural near Shark's Cove on the North Shore

Kim:  Who or what prompted you to jump into publishing, especially New Adult?

Courtney:  I started out writing New Adult, which was fun. And I still might revisit a couple of story ideas in the future. I didn’t set out to change over to New Adult… but the story idea for IF YOU STAY came to me and wouldn’t leave me alone. Pax insisted that his voice was heard, so I wrote his story. And in order to do his story justice, I couldn’t water it down. It had to be gritty and real and raw. Therefore, there was no way it could be YA. So I jumped into New Adult and haven’t looked back. I love it because I can write about the issues that 20-somethings have, and I don’t have to toe that YA line of propriety. 

Kim:  Tell us about the Beautifully Broken Series and your new release, BEFORE WE FALL?

Courtney:  The idea behind the Beautifully Broken series is a simple one…I believe that each and every one of us is broken in some way. We’ve all been hurt, we’ve all experienced loss of some sort. That affects us each in different ways, some of us more than others. My characters all have amplified issues, for the sake of entertainment, but the idea is still the same. Each book features a new set of main characters, pulled from the book before it.

BEFORE WE FALL is book three in the series and it features Dominic Kinkaide, a troubled 24-year old actor. On the outside, it would look like he has the world on a string. He’s famous, sexy and rich. But he’s carrying something inside of him that has been eating away at him for six years. Dominic is my baddest bad boy yet. BEFORE WE FALL is the story of his redemption….and salvation.

Kim:  What's next for Courtney Cole?

Courtney:  I keep saying that I’m going to take some time off, take a breather. But I know that won’t happen. I’m already plotting out a new book in the series, as well as a spin-off series… a series featuring Sin Kinkaide, Dominic’s older brother. 

Thank you so much for having me on your blog today. It’s been a pleasure!

BEFORE WE FALL will be available in print and ebook on December 17:

Sometimes, one dark moment is all it takes to turn your world black...

For 24-year old Dominic Kinkaide, that moment took place on the night of his high school graduation. One dark incident changed him forever. He's a hardened actor now, famous in the eyes of the world, but tortured in his own. He doesn't care about much of anything, except for losing himself in the roles that he plays.

23-year old Jacey Vincent doesn't realize how much her father's indifference has affected her. She is proof that sometimes it isn't one specific moment that wrecks a person, but rather it's an absence of moments. She's like a bird with a broken wing-strong yet fragile, as she tries to float through life, finding acceptance in the arms of random guys, one after the other... to fill the void that her father left in her.

Until she meets Dominic.

After jaded Dominic and strong-willed Jacey are thrown together, his secret and her issues create a dark and damaged energy that will soon turn their attraction to each other into an explosive storm.

Even though when the clouds have cleared and the dust has settled, both of them are almost obliterated... they've learned a priceless lesson.

Sometimes, before we fall... we fly.

Buy Links:

Amazon
Barnes and Noble

Book Trailer 1 link

Book Trailer 2 link

Mahalo, Courtney, for being my guest!   Courtney is hosting a special giveaway at this link.   Meanwhile, in honor of Courtney's love of hula girls, I am giving away Hawaiian souvenirs from Aloha Stadium.  To enter the giveaway,

1.  Leave a comment about a fun fact about you.  

I can pick up things with my toes!

2.  This giveaway is open to all readers.

3.  Comments are open through Saturday, December 7, 10 pm in Baltimore.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, December 8.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City

To learn more about Courtney and her books, check out her website at courtneycolewrites.com.