The scene is set in this literary history as five children destined to become monarchs of Hawaii are placed into the hands of Calvinist missionaries in a resdential school. The damage done to the personalities and self-concepts of these future monarchs by the indoctrination (rather than education) of the Euro-American zealots causes difficulties that come to light when the children eventually take power in the Hawaiian monarchy, which under their rule, is overthrown in 1893. The facts surrounding the collapse of Hawaiian independence are woven into the story of two modern day Hawaiians, Keono Kane--a computer specialist--and his girlfriend, Tamara Noguichi. The lovers are brought back in time against their will by the akua, or ghost, of Queen Lili'uokalani. The akua forces them to view the Queen's life and find the reasons that resulted in her reign being overthrown so that her spirit can free itself from it's earthly bounds. The result is a lively adventure story that takes place in both modern and past Hawaii.
Born Vancouver, B.C. - Unusual childhood - Mother was Mentally Challenged, Father died during the war. As an only child I witnessed the unthinking behaviour of my mother's relatives towards her. Her relatives treated her as some kind of a joke and were always putting her down. The result of witnessing this treatment taught me a lot about discrimination. I pursued knowledge about mental illness when I was older eventually resulting in three University degrees including a Ph.D. from Simon Fraser Univ. and a career as a School Psychologist.
I started writing as an extension of Psychology and Education to raise awareness about various discrimination issues. I decided to write in a fictional format to reach readers about various social issues who normally did not read non-fiction. My first novel came out of my experience in my province's institution for the mentally challenged. The novel was called "Alias the Tank", the nickname for the Access Mobility Wheelchair System. A series of novels followed embedding the actual facts of the history of Hawaii from 1820 to 2000 into a five novel series to bring the actual facts alive such as the overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani in 1893.
Other novels about social issues have followed including one about nuclear testing on the Mururoa Atoll, aboriginal treatment in Australia, First Nations history in British Columbia, seniors issues, culture clash in Malaysia, capitalism without social responsibility in California, and recently the terrible treatment of Sikh, Chinese and Japanese immigrants in the logging industry in B. C. at the turn of the century.
My novel "Aloha and Mai Tais" about music and musicians in the 1930's received a five star review from Midwest Book Review and my screenplay "Journey Great Barrier Reef" was a winner in the 2003 Telluride Indiefest Screenplay contest.
Currently I do Vocational Assessment in my office in beautiful Qualicum Beach, B.C. and have branched into self-help writing with the publication of my book about 55 Plus Non-Retirement Retirement called "Way of the Supernova."
