Our busy summer continues, today with the release of Hawaiian Gothic, out now from Loose Id! Our blog tour kicks off today at Babes in Boyland with a post that asks, How Gay is MMA?
To celebrate, since I had so much fun with it last time, here's Six Facts about Hawaiian Gothic.
1. We chose the settings of the story based on our respective times in Hawai'i. Nanakuli, the city Ori and Kalani are from, is where I once stayed with my family when we travelled to O'ahu for a karate tournament. Hilo, where Ori journeys to in his quest to unravel Kalani's past, is where Violetta's father lives.
2. To prepare for a certain scene, Violetta and I spent an evening watching videos of caterpillars on youtube, which gave me some serious heebie jeebies. Violetta, however, was unaffected, possibly because she is a robot or a higher form of consciousness.
3. In a complete reversal of the composition of most M/M (and most other Western genre fiction in general), Hawaiian Gothic has only two named white characters as a part of its ensemble cast. Many of the characters are hapa, a Hawaiian term which refers to a person of mixed ancestry, usually Asian or Pacific Islander.
4. We consulted three separate RNs about the medical scenes centring around Kalani's coma and treatment. If there are still mistakes in the final text, those are ours, not theirs. ;)
5. Throughout the book, we use Native Hawaiian and Hawaiian Pidgin words and phrases. We've created a glossary (with pronunciation guides!) for the curious: here.
6. Nearly every chapter of Hawaiian Gothic starts with a flashback, going back in time from Ori's time in prison back to his and Kalani's meeting, one for every year. We specifically picked scenes from their lives that mirrored the struggles and tone of their present-day journey, from abject despair through to the promise of love and acceptance.
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