Canceled! Words and Wine Author Talk Story

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 2 - 3 authors to attend each month and the evening to wrap up around 8 PM. Dress is Aloha casual wear.

April Authors:

Diane Piela is an emerging speaker, author and retired medical doctor.  She recently earned her Distinguished Toastmaster from Toastmaster’s International and is a Qualified Speaker. She is a native of Rochester, New York and  practiced  there as a Family Medicine Doctor for 18 years. Even though she no longer works in Medicine, she remains licensed in New York, California and Hawaii. It was during her first visit in 1984 that she became mesmerized by Hawaii, its culture and its people. It was many trips later that she began to dream a bigger dream, to one day live in Hawaii.

The Journey Of A Lifetime…..Moving To Hawaii was written with much Aloha after her long awaited move to Hawaii.

Imagine living in paradise.  If you’ve ever thought about moving to Hawaii, this book is exactly what you need. The author dreamed of someday moving  to Hawaii and after many years finally did it! 

Inside the pages of this informative book, you’ll find the author’s story of how she relocated to The Big Island.  She shares what’s involved in moving from the Mainland to Hawaii.  It’s loaded with crucial information on choosing where to live, how to prepare selecting the right moving and shipping companies.

Finally, the author provides insight about personal belongings, regulatory requirements for relocating pets, obtaining a driver’s license, auto registration, safety inspections and much more! Everything that you need to know and have before moving to Hawaii.

Julie Ziemelis owner of Ziemelis Communications, has been a full time resident of Kona since 2010.  She is the founder of the Kona Newbies group, author of  How to Move to Kona and the Insider’s Guide to Buying Real Estate on the Big Island of Hawaii, co-founder of the bestof Kona Festival and the Big Island Chocolate Festival, blogs daily on 365 Things to Do In Kona and Facebook, and vlogs on YouTube at 365Hawaii.  Julie is a passionate supporter of housing opportunities in West Hawaii and volunteers and raises funds as a board member on Habitat for Humanity, Hawaii Island.  Using her social influence, Julie is a proponent for sustainability, ocean conservation and visitor education.  She lives in Kona with her husband and two teenage children.

With skills like cooking from scratch, home canning, and gardening fast becoming a lost art, Kris

Bordessa realized that her lifelong knowledge of these subjects could fill a gap for people

desiring a lifestyle shift. In her book, Attainable Sustainable: The Lost Art of Self-Reliant Living

(National Geographic, 2020), she aims to help people reduce their dependence on supermarket

fare, fast food, and year-round produce, bringing food production – both in the kitchen and in

the garden -- closer to home. Kris lives on Hawai‘i Island’s Hāmākua Coast with her husband

and a menagerie of animals.

Packed with delicious recipes, natural remedies, gardening tips, crafts, and more, this indispensable lifestyle reference from the popular blogger makes earth-friendly living fun.



Whether you live in a city, suburb, or the country, this essential guide for the backyard homesteader will help you achieve a homespun life--from starting your own garden and pickling the food you grow to pressing wildflowers, baking sourdough loaves, quilting, raising chickens, and creating your own natural cleaning supplies. In these richly illustrated pages, sustainability-guru Kris Bordessa offers DIY lovers an indispensable home reference for sustainability in the 21st century, with tried-and-true advice, 50 enticing recipes, and step-by-step directions for creating easy, cost-efficient projects that will bring out your inner pioneer. Filled with 340 color photographs, this relatable, comprehensive book contains time honored-wisdom and modern know-how for getting back to basics in a beautiful, accessible package.