Author, A. J. Llewellyn

Aloha gang, today we are meeting the totally awesome and amazing, award-winning historical author, J.L. OAKLEY. Her richly detailed books have been widely acclaimed, as well as ripping up the Amazon sales ranks! She has a new historical mystery, which has already won a lot of fans.  It’s called COCONUT ISLAND, and in it, everyone’s favorite Hawaiian sleuth, Lei Texeira must solve a murder dating back to World War II.

This Kindle World Novella is out now and you can check it out here: http://www.amazon.com/Lei-Crime-Coconut-Island-Novella-ebook/dp/B01722XC4O/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448819326&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=janet+oakley+coconut+island

OR

You can post a comment here for the chance to win a FREE copy!

Aloooooooha!

But today we are gonna ask Janet some incredibly stupid questions about the writing life and COCONUT ISLAND, which is one da kine, really amazing addition to the Lei Crime World created by the talented superstar author Toby Neal!

1. Hi Janet, what’s your favorite cocktail? I’ll have the cabana boys whip one up for you while I ask you some stupid, I mean irrelevant. no, no, I mean important questions.

It’s funny, but I’m such a cheap date that I don’t drink many cocktails – too much alcohol, but lately my favorite drink to have at a bar is a really good ginger beer, non-alcoholic, with a nice kick. 

 2. What was your favorite toy growing up and do you still have it?

I come from a family that saves things so I was taught to care for my toys. I loved horses and dolls. I still have my collection of plastic horses that were inspired by the Black Stallion books and Ginny dolls. My Ginny dolls came with  a wonderful kitchen set with working sink, a refrigerator which has a light that goes on when you open the door and a stove (non-working), dresser, dining room table and armoire.

3.  I adored Ginny dolls too! Now, if you had a third eye, where would you put it?

Having a third on the back of my head would be disorienting. I think right in the middle of my forehead would work. There I could read things far away and tiny scribbles up close. Some sort of light source included.

4. You write historical tales. What is your favorite era in history? If you could go back in time, who and where would you want to be?

I am very interested in the Civil War period probably due to my great-grandfather. W.F. Osborn who was a surgeon in the Union Army at Gettysburg. It’s a very interesting time from the 1850s through the 1860s almost everywhere in the USA—including Hawaii. But I also love the Great Depression and WW II. The period right after that lends to some great storytelling and you see more post-war showing up on TV as lives and technology changed. 

 But in all honesty, I’d love to go back to my great-grandmother’s time when she came West in the 1862 (she was 12) and homesteaded all over the territories. She finally ended up in Idaho. Civil War and post Civil War lives of a wonderful woman, my mother’s grandmother, all the way into the 1950s at 101.

5. Wow. You are so interesting! Wish I could ask you some intelligent questions instead of foolish ones…anyway… You’re stuck on a deserted island after a three hour tour that goes awry. Name six people alive or dead that you’d like to be marooned with…and your fantasy castaway meal.

My great-grandfather Marquis de Lafayette March, a Civil War vet who homesteaded in every territory in the West; my late husband Rolf, a Vietnam vet and all round handyman, baker, and hunter; my mom for musical entertainment, and some means to get my critique partners with me so we can continue our readings.

The best castaway meal would be a pig with special sauce in imu pit, pineapple and other tropical fruits, rice, wine coolers and key lime pie. I supposed I could change my mind, but this will do.

 

COCONUT ISLAND Synopsis:

Memories are dangerous. 
Investigative reporter Wendy Watanabe is no stranger to mysteries, but can she handle one steeped in her own family’s history? 

A box of letters from a WWII soldier stationed on the Big Island is found at the Hilo Historical Society and unlocks painful memories for Wendy’s Great Aunt Bee. 

Bee’s older sister was swept away in the 1946 tsunami, but now Wendy suspects she was murdered first. As she delves into the mystery, Wendy meets a group of nonagenarians who were at the USO center on Coconut Island during the war. One is a hero. Another is a cold-blooded murderer. 

When the threat turns to Bee, Wendy seeks the aid of Detective Leilani Texeira and together, the women race to catch the killer before he claims another life. 

J.L. Oakley Links:

 Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/J.L.-Oakley/e/B004CF0W0W/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

Website: https://historyweaver.wordpress.com/

Blog: https://historyweaver.wordpress.com/tag/historyweavers-blog/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JLOakleyauthor/

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/jloakley