1–What is the title of your latest release? COME AWAY FROM HER   2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? A deaf woman fleeing from unspeakable acts seeks shelter in a rural Pennsylvania town, sets into motion a chain of events fueled by secrets from her past, and the shameful history of the residents as well. The morning a dead body is found outside the local church, life as the town knows it is forever changed.   3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I’m drawn to returning to the area I grew up in all my stories. It’s a small, isolated town in Northeastern Pennsylvania where time seems to stand still. Winters are hard and most people in the area make a living with their hands. Farmers, truck drivers and meat packers at the local slaughterhouse. This is the same region that my debut book, Deep Winter, was set, and a few characters from that novel return to this story and play pivotal roles.   4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely. Cap is a flawed character who struggles with his faith and addiction, and I can relate to…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE LOST KINGS 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Twenty years after the mysterious disappearance of her father and twin brother, a young woman hunts down her missing father through the help of a childhood friend. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I went both familiar and somewhat exotic with this novel. I set it in Washington State, which is where I grew up, so I knew the landscape pretty well. I also set part of the novel in Oxford, UK, where my older brother taught at the university for a while. I was able to visit him a few times and absolutely loved the city. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Yes! All my characters are buried somewhere inside me, so really, I hang out with her every day. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Stubborn. Humorous. Troubled. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? That the system of education at Oxford University is way different than the universities I’m used to. 7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? I…

Hawaiian Freediving Association Semifinals The Elysium Grand Resort Wailea, Maui Lisa Kealoha searched the beach crowd crammed against a rope line thirty feet from the water—a collective living, pulsating organism, growing by the minute as more pushed in to see the local favorite Kelly Alana. Finding her target among all that movement was no easy task. Show your face for me, Koa. I just want to talk. No arrests today, unless you do something dumb. She needed an in with the local criminal element. And she’d grown up with the perfect candidate—Koa Alana, the cousin that Kelly Alana saw more as a brother. She always had, ever since they were all kids, even though Koa had dragged both Kelly and Lisa into a lot of trouble over the years. Lisa stayed close to the rope on her approach, minimizing Koa’s view angle, but he’d always had sharp eyes. He saw her coming. “Hey, Sistah. I heard you back. Didn’ believe it ’til now.” “Don’t run, Koa.” “You see me runnin’? I don’t care if you some big, scary LA cop now. I don’t care where you been.” Funny, because he did look scared. Lisa had overtaken him in height after…