I know it's only New Year's Eve, but I pray you are Blessed and Prosperous in 2016.
Today we welcome back to our blog, author Janet Lynn. You'll remember her from her Saturday Spotlight and Tuesday Treasure posts earlier this month, so without much further ado, let's see what she's thinking about....
Since the internet did not reveal much about Molokai'i in 1955, we took a trip to the Hawaiian Islands to research our novel, STRANGE MARKINGS. The island is accessible by small planes like our Cessna 2088B which sat 9 people plus the two man crew. The turboprop plane hit air pockets and bounced around until we landed at a remote airport with a small terminal. Talk about Indiana Jones! We picked our luggage up off the tarmac and walked over to the car rental building. The small terminal seemed remote enough until we drove to Kaunakakai the largest town on the island with a population of 3,425.
Our rented waterfront Condo was beautiful and modern with full facilities. The three days of research on the island took us to uninhabited hills, tropical forests and abandoned shacks. Candid interviews with the locals revealed the island has not changed much since the 50's. In fact there was still no AC on the island except for the medical center, post office and the library. This made our job easier to set our characters in a place where time stood still.
In other words, we walked the places our characters would have walked and saw the things they would've seen in 1955. This time capsule was amazingly surreal. So, when we wrote the novel, all I had to do was close my eyes to sense, smell and feel Molokai'i in 1955.
A wealthy Bel Air matron sends her enticing niece to enlist Drake’s help in locating a missing nephew. The search takes him back to pre-statehood Hawaii where he stopped off on his way to the hell of the Korean War. Unexplained deaths, politics and superstitious locals turn the tropical paradise into a nightmare where nothing is what it seems and no one can be trusted.
Strange Markings can be purchased at Amazon
JANET ELIZABETH LYNN and Will Zeilinger are a husband
and wife and authors in their own right. Janet has eight novels, Will has four
novels. They decided to get together to write noir mysteries set in 1955.
STRANGE MARKINGS is the second. The Skylar Drake Murder Mysteries series. They
each bring separate talents to the writing team. Getting together to research,
interview, and appearances, they complement each other. Traveling the world has
given much insight, a long list of friends and a large basket of hotel shampoo
and conditioner.
Contact info for Janet:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janet.lynn.5477
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JanetLynn4
e-mail: janet_lynn51@yahoo.com
website: www.janetlynnauthor.com
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Contact info for Will:
Twitter: @Will_Zeilinger
Facebook: www.facebook.com/wzeilinger
website: http://www.willzeilingerauthor.com
blog: http://www.booksbywilzeilinger.blogspot.com
Hope you enjoyed Janet's visit again today! Saturday we'll begin 2016 with a brand new (to us) author and book. Hope to see you then!
Until next time...take care and God Bless.
PamT
Sounds like a fascinating trip and an interesting story! Love the idea of the research for the story as an adventure in itself.
ReplyDeleteJanet, I love you sharing your location experience with us. What a resource for writing true to the era. The book sounds like a feast of the senses. Thanks. Cheers, Marilyn
ReplyDeleteYour book sounds great! I've visited several of the Hawaiian islands multiple times, but I've never been to Molokaii. Now it's on my bucket list. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI am in Hawaii (Oahu) as I read your blog. Have been to Molokai and agree--it is in a time warp. Wondering if you include the leper colony Kalapaupa (sp?) in your novel. It is a creepy-looking place and hard to access. May the New Year treat you kindly.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, what an adventure. You are very fortunate to be able to do that kind of research. And very wise, too. I bet it gives your story a great deal of authenticity. Sounds like a wonderful read!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a great story.
ReplyDeleteHmm...may need to talk my husband into a little Hawaiian research trip...I guess I'll have to set a book there...
ReplyDeleteSounds extremely interesting! I love stories when you don't know who to trust! Keeps you glued to the page. Thanks for sharing this with us!