FIREBORN

Linda Ballou is a free-lance writer based in Los Angeles.  She writes adventure travel, and is a nature photographer whose works have been published in many national publications.  Her numerous articles and essays have appeared in the Los Angeles Times and literary journals. 

Her short story ?Look Both Ways on Small Islands? was included in the I Should Have Stayed Home anthology published by RDR Books.

She invites us all to view many of her articles and photos at her website: www.LindaBallouAuthor.com where if you look closely you may discover the Secret to Youth.

Her newest book is a historical novel Wai-nani High Chiefess of Hawai?I is inspired by the favorite wife of Kamehameha the Great.  Its wonderfully flowing style easily recreates the almost magical qualities of Hawaiian culture.  (It?s the next best thing to being there.)

Linda joins us today as part of her blog tour for Wai-nani High Chiefess of Hawai?i.  To follow Linda as she tours across the blog-o-sphere check her schedule at http://www.lindaballouauthor.com/bookevents.html

 So tell us a little about yourself.  Your bio mentions your appreciation for nature originally took you to Kauai in the Hawaiian Islands.  Tell us some more about this?

When I graduated from the California State University of Northridge with a B.A. in English Literature, I was mentally and physically exhausted. I decided to take a year off to contemplate my career path and to determine if I was, in fact, a writer.  The lure of the islands was intense. The sensuality and soothing calm of the sea and balmy breezes were what the doctor ordered.

   In my year on Kauai I was introduced to yoga, tai chi and eastern meditations all performed in the open air on the beach.  Soothed by the purl of the waves and a soft wind, I received a spiritual awakening on the Island of Kauai that has made me a more centered human being and enabled me to cope with the stresses of modern life. The state of being in balance and harmony with nature is called Pono by the Hawaiians. It is a condition I strive to achieve and maintain in my daily life

 While I was there I did a little freelancing for the local paper, conducting interviews of a few locals of note. The paper did a special that year on the arrival of Captain  James Cook to Kauai in 1778. History tells us that the Hawaiians stabbed the famous explorer in the back. But, in my reading and talks with locals I learned that there were two sides to the story. Yes, Cook was killed by the Hawaiians, but not until he had eaten all their foodstuffs stored for the Makahiki festival, trampled upon their religious customs and tried to take an elder chief as hostage. This was the seed planted to so very long ago that germinated into the story told today by Wai-nani.

This must?ve been a massive undertaking to compile information for Wai-nani High Chiefess of Hawai?i   about everything from dolphin behavior to Hawaiian culture and mythology.  How long did that take you?  Do you have any favorite links to share with your readers who might want to learn more?

Wai-nani is the culmination of a thirty year long-distance love affair with the Islands.  I enjoyed the research that took me ever deeper into the complexities of the Hawaiian culture. The Cook incident brought me to Kamehameha the Great and his wife Ka?ahumanu.  It was prophesied that a chief would be born under a bright star that would bring the island under one rule. Haley?s comet blazed through the sky the night Kamehameha was born. His story seemed as fantastic to me as that of Jesus resting in his manger beneath the brightest star in the heavens to guide the wise men bearing gifts to him. 

Ka?ahumanu, his favorite wife out of twenty seven, was brave, athletic and strong-willed. Her keen intelligence made her question the harsh penalties of the Polynesian kapu-system in place for 2000-years. She was responsible for the burning of the wooden images of the gods and putting an end to separate eating and much more harsh practices. I identified with this independent woman who bucked the system.

There is evidence of dolphins befriending and rescuing humans since ancient Greece. Even though her relationship with a dolphin family takes the story into the realm of the fantastic all the dolphin behavior in the story is taken from actual accounts with humans interacting with dolphin.  When I was living on Kauai, I interviewed a woman named Bobo who was a long distance swimmer. She told me dolphin often swam with her and that they loved to play. It is not unrealistic to think that a woman, like Ka?ahumanu who often swam eighteen miles in a day would have a friendship with a sea creature.

Each book I read about the people of old Hawaii brought me deeper in the mystery and romance of the time. Eventually, I went to the Big Island to walk in the footsteps of the ancients. On this trip I visited all of the sites described in my book. The most memorable being the two nights and days I spent in the sacred Waipio Valley where the bones of the ali`i chiefs are hidden in caves.

As far as links go I would say that the Bishop Museum. www.bishopmuseum.org. on Oahu has the best collection of artifacts from Hawaiian antiquity. There is a great deal of information on their site.  The University of Hawaii Press www.uhpress.hawaii.edu has a comprehensive catalogue of books on all things Hawaiian.

I loved the way you interspersed Hawaiian words throughout the story.  It added a true ?feel? of culture.   How did you determine which words to use and which not to use?

This was a natural process. In my reading of the oldest books on the subject I learned many of the Hawaiian words.  I admit that I can?t pronounce all of them properly even though I know what they mean. When it seemed they were the best to describe something I used them. I tried not to over do this for the modern reader. There is a glossary at the back of the book to make it easier for those unfamiliar with basic Hawaiian words.

What first inspired you to become a writer?

When I was thirteen, my parents uprooted me and took me from sunny Southern Cal to a small town in Alaska. Looking back I can say I am grateful as this gave me a unique point of view and a genuine appreciation of nature. The move helped me become a more centered human being. However, it did set me apart. I was not quite an Alaskan, and no longer a Californian. I turned to books for companionship. Writers became my best friends. People who read obsessively have a tendency to become writers.

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

Jack London said ?The world is filled with boneheads and boobs. Don?t get hung up on listening to them. Just write from your heart. Don?t worry about them not understanding your work. They never understood his.

You need to be writing about something that matters to you. It must be a subject you really care about, or you won?t be able to stay with the story until it is finished. Writing is a craft, one that entails a great deal of work and attention to pains taking detail. I could not have brought Wai-nani to the professional level it stands at now if I did not have an editor to help me and a publisher who cares. The main thing is don?t give up on yourself. No one else can write your stories.

How would you describe your writing? 

It is the best of me.

Would you like to post a teaser (few paragraphs from your book) here to give the readers a taste of what to expect?

Excerpt from Wai-nani High Chiefess of Hawaii-Page 122

Once beside Makaha my thoughts of death ended. I followed him to the cold blue bowels of a roaring wave. I could feel the pull of Milu as he tried to take me to his kingdom. I fought with all my might to paddle up the curving breast of the beast that dwells in the ocean. The churning rage over my head was about to drop on me when I slipped just under its snarling lip. I turned to make the drop and felt myself falling into eternity. I hit hard, nearly toppling over in the heaving swell. I shuffled back and forth on my board to regain my balance. Before I knew what was happening, I was encircled by an ice-blue tube shot through with light. I was inside the belly of the whale. Many moments passed in which I was lost toall but the immense power shooting me through the whorl of blue. It fired me out and down the face of the great wave.

I turned my board up and rode the crest to shore. When I emerged from the water my aura flew off of me in a halo of sparkling light. Pinpricks of light shot off my fingertips and the soles of my feet as I walked on the hard packed sand. The mystery of moana?the grand and vibrant sea?could never be grasped and made to stay still, I reminded myself. All one could do is let it go and live in harmony with it. I was content to live that day and did not re-enter the surf with Makaha, who continued wave-sliding for many hours like a dolphin born in water.

When the gods tired of the storm, the skies cleared to sapphire blue and three-colored rainbows burst over the valley. I took Makaha by the hand and led him up the canyon to Hi'ilawe and Hakalaoa, the twin waterfalls. These two streams plunging from the sky into a secret pool were once forbidden lovers. Rather than be separated, the lovers jumped off the pali together into the pool at the bottom of the falls to meet their deaths together. The joined water flows from the stream to the sea and supports the taro fields, feeding the fishes and nurturing the land.

?Like these streams our lives are forever bound,? I told him.

?My brave Wai-nani, you are my never-fading flower,? he said, rubbing my nose tenderly with his own.

?Your hard path is to be softened by the pure water of my love,? I said. We held hands and turned to watch the silken tracks of the dying lovers.

Your man website has already been listed above but do you have any other websites/MySpace/newsletter/blogs?

I am a member of the North American Travel Journalist Association http://www.natja.org/member/lindaballou

I have a page on MySpace, Author?s Den, Author?s Coaliton and various networking sites. But, I prefer people go to my page www.LindaBallouAuthor.com  where they will find my articles, photos and a page dedicated to Wai-nani.  On my site they can purchase a signed copy of Wai-nani and receive free shipping anywhere in the world.

Are you working on any other projects now?

 I can?t wait to get back to Lost Angel Walkabout, my collection of travel essays. I have about 18 stories that I plan to compliment with interviews of inspirational people I have met along the way. I interviewed Tim Cahill, my travel writing hero, in his home in Livingston Montana. His writing is filled with good humor, adventure and information that he delivers in a conversational style that I admire. I am proud to say his interview will be in my book.