Words and Wine

Words and Wine – Monthly Author Event

Each month Kona Stories hosts an event with local and traveling authors. This event happens the First Tuesday evening of the month starting at 6 PM. Authors are available to talk story while you are getting your plate of appetizers and glass of complimentary wine. Authors then give a 15 minute talk about their book and themselves, the writing and publishing process or a short reading from the book. After all the authors presentations there is a time for individual questions and book signings with the authors. Expect 3 -4 authors to attend each month and the evening to wrap up around 8 PM. Dress is Aloha casual wear.

If you wish to pre-order any of these books, click the links below and during check-out choose the "Pick up in Store" and "Pay in Store" to avoid any additional shipping fees.

October 4th Authors

Debut novelist Mike Malaghan has turned his passion for history into the sweeping epic Picture Bride, newly released by Legacy Isle Publishing. Malaghan’s gripping 500-page saga follows Haru, a young peasant girl in turn-of-the-century Japan, from the temples of Kyushu to the sugar plantations of Territorial Hawai‘i. Betrayed by her best friend, she seeks refuge in an arranged marriage to a Buddhist priest in the far-off Hawaiian Islands, only to find herself with a husband who doesn’t want her, living among a white population distrustful of Japanese immigrants.

Portrayed as a woman of silk and steel, Haru soon emerges as a strong-minded community leader, a teacher and an insightful go-between who recognizes the looming threats to her family and friends. Having once pledged to produce sons to fight for the emperor, she dedicates herself to raising American children loyal to the Stars and Stripes. Absorbing and meticulously researched, Picture Bride is in fact the story of Hawai‘i’s Japanese immigrants, who survived—and thrived—against great odds.

Following a decades-long career as a businessman in Asia, author Malaghan found inspiration in The First Battle, a 2006 film about a group of multi-ethnic civilian and military leaders who monitored race relations in Hawai‘i during World War II and lent support to the Japanese community. “Only 2,000 of Hawai‘i’s 140,000 Japanese were imprisoned or interned,” Malaghan says, “rather than all of them as in California—but why? I knew that was my story. Originally, I began the novel the day Pearl Harbor was bombed, with the idea of following the young men of the famous Nisei 442nd Regiment. But I soon began asking, ‘Where did these exceptional men come from? Who were these amazing parents, these exceptional women who raised families to believe in the American dream?’ I wrote Picture Bride and created the character of Haru to reveal who they were and how they never gave up, regardless of the barriers they had to face.”

Populating his novel with fictionalized versions of actual historical figures, as well as characters of his own invention often inspired by real people, Malaghan drew from newspaper archives, personal interviews and trips to each location featured in this ten-year labor of love. He is currently at work on a sequel, A Question of Loyalty, which chronicles the twenty-one Nisei Medal of Honor recipients.

Marie Alonzo Snyder is the founder and artistic director of Zouk HI, Tangerine Dance Collective, a NY Times acclaimed dancer and choreographer, as well as international scholar, author and educator. She earned her BFA and MFA in Dance at  NYU and her Doctorate in Education from Columbia University. Marie is a founding member of the West Windsor Arts Council, co-founder of the “I’ll have what she’s having…” Dance Project, the NJ and HI pioneer in Dance for Parkinson’s for which she is a Dance for PD® Westheimer Fellow and she has been a leader for Zouk Dance in Wheelchair.  She has been dancing Zouk since 2011, is a certified ZoukNY instructor and performed with Jeremey Adam Rey’s  rawZouk. Marie is happy to have moved and found a new home in Hawaii where she teaches Zouk in Kona, Holualoa, Waimea, Captain Cook , Kealakekua and UH Hilo.  Marie also offered the first Zouk HI, Intensive Teacher Training course focused Zouk Fundamentals. She is on staff in Zoukology and has written  four articles on different aspects of Zouk.  The Art and Sensuality of Brazilian Zouk is the first book on Zouk published in the USA.

In her book, Marie provides a historical context and cultural perspective. This is done by discussing the dance genre’s influences and adaptations and then going into technical descriptions of the basic rhythmic and choreographic concepts of the form. Additionally, she articulates the influences of Duncan, Graham, Limon and Hawkins adding her personal and philosophical connection to Zouk. She ends each chapter with a question and answer section which is welcoming for the novice providing advice and the ins and outs of Zouk. She also includes links to many other resources for finding out more about Zouk. Her book is a wonderful introduction to the dance form.

Jane Lasswell Hoff is a professional forensic anthropologist, a member of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and a lecturer in anthropology. She has worked throughout the United States for tribal groups, police departments, medical examiners’ offices and for the U. S. Army, identifying and recovering human remains.

She was born in Hollywood, California, and spent most of her childhood in southern California. She attended the University of Hawaii, Manoa, and the University of Oregon. She is widowed and lives and works in Hilo, Hawaii.

Bones of Paradise is her first novel, part of an intended series of Big Island Mysteries.

Even in paradise, people do die. And it’s the job of Mimi Charles, Forensic Anthropologist, to analyze the bodies that aren’t found right away – skeletons, mostly. Mimi and her colleagues at the Medical Examiner’s office are a tightly-knit team that relishes solving the mysteries presented by each case. But outside of the office, their lives in the sweet little town of Hilo, Hawaii, flow in a gentle island rhythm. None of them is prepared for the disappearance of one of their own, right from the building where they work (or the parking lot outside, anyway). Soon a series of notes begins to arrive, supposedly from the missing person. Even though the FBI shows up to join the local police in the search for clues, Mimi and her friends can’t resist doing a little “digging” of their own. Suddenly, there’s a very pesky TV reporter calling Mimi at home and peeking out at her from behind potted plants. And then John, the Death Investigator who works with Mimi, begins to act strangely. Despite the distractions, Mimi begins to piece together odd, seemingly unrelated bits of information in the race to find her missing friend, and she most sincerely hopes that she’s not too late.