Why Hawaii?

People ask me why I set “The First Lie” in Hawaii.  The great writing mantra is ‘write what you know’, but I’ve learned the exhilaration of the opposite –‘write what you don’t know’.   As soon as I put Selkie in Hawaii as a stranger in town, I got to experience the energy of a new setting and a new culture.  As Selkie explored her new home, so did I.  And as I researched Hawaiian mythology and interwove it with Celtic and Australian themes, the plot evolved in unexpected ways.