Bookwild - Tori Eldridge's Kaua'i Storm: Family Drama, A Missing Persons Case, and A Setting That's Its Own Character

Episode Date: May 27, 2025

This week, I got to talk with Tori Eldridge about her newest novel Kaua'i Storm. Tori shares the inspiration for the book, how her settings matter so much to her, and how this book had her personally ...invested in nailing the culture.Kaua'i Storm SynopsisReturning to Kaua‘i, park ranger Makalani finds her family divided and their way of life at risk in this rich and emotional adventure by the bestselling author of the Lily Wong series.After ten years as a national park ranger in Oregon, Makalani Pahukula is back on Kaua‘i for her grandmother’s birthday. Having been gone for so long, Makalani finds the disconnect with her people and her struggles have never been more profound. Neither has her need to reacquaint herself with everything she left behind. When she reaches the homestead, she finds a bickering family and the disconcerting news that her cousins—a failed college football player and a rebellious teenage girl—have gone missing.Makalani hopes they just ran off, too careless to realize the worry they’ve caused. But when hunters find a dead body in the Keālia Forest Reserve, Makalani fears something ominous is at play, and the search for her cousins grows more desperate. Although her help may not be welcomed by family and locals, Makalani is determined to solve a mystery that poses a greater risk than anyone imagines.The investigation will open her heart, reawaken her love for the land she calls home, and strengthen her bond with her family. Because no matter how long she’s been away, for Makalani, Hawai‘i is in her blood. Get Bookwild MerchCheck Out My Stories Are My Religion SubstackCheck Out Author Social Media PackagesCheck out the Bookwild Community on PatreonCheck out the Imposter Hour Podcast with Liz and GregFollow @imbookwild on InstagramOther Co-hosts On Instagram:Gare Billings @gareindeedreadsSteph Lauer @books.in.badgerlandHalley Sutton @halleysutton25Brian Watson @readingwithbrian 

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Starting point is 00:00:00 This week I got to talk with Tori Eldridge about her new mystery thriller, Kauai Storm. And it is just fantastic. It is super fast-paced. It is hopefully about to be won in a series. And it takes place, as you may have guessed, in Kauai. After 10 years, as a National Park Ranger in Oregon, Makalani is back on Kauai for her grandmother's birthday. Having been gone for so long, Makalani finds. the disconnect with her people and her struggles have never been more profound.
Starting point is 00:00:34 Neither has her need to reacquaint herself with everything she left behind. When she reaches the homestead, she finds a bickering family and the disconcerting news that her cousins, a failed college football player and a rebellious teenage girl, have gone missing. Makalani hopes they just ran off too careless to realize the worry they've caused. But when hunters find a dead body in the Kala'i Forest Reserve, Makalani fears. something ominous is at play, and the search for her cousins grows more desperate. Although her help may not be welcomed by family and locals, Makalani is determined to solve a mystery that poses a greater risk than anyone imagines. The investigation will open her heart, reawaken her love for the land
Starting point is 00:01:17 she calls home, and strengthen her bond with her family. Because no matter how long she's been away, for Makalani, Hawaii is in her blood. I had such a great conversation with Tori about how this book was a little more personal for her than her others and the things that she enjoyed about building Makalani's world and her family and her history. That being said, let's hear from Tori. I am so excited to have Tori Eldridge here. We are going to be talking about her book, Kawai Storm, which was just so many things, thrilling, educational, like all kinds of stuff that was amazing. But I can't wait to dive in welcome to the podcast story oh mahalo thank you for having me kate yeah so the way i normally do it is i talk to you a little bit about you first so that we can kind of get to know you and then
Starting point is 00:02:14 we can kind of talk about this book specifically after that so was there a moment for you when you were like i want to be an author or a moment that was like oh all of a sudden i want to write a book what was your journey to that, like? There was, but it came a lot later in life than normally happens for authors, you know, because I was like this actress, dancer, singer person and musicals and TV and film and stuff like that. And that was my focus. And then right about the time I had my first son, I got into screenplays.
Starting point is 00:02:54 And so I started writing a screenplay and expanded one. of those into a novel and oh my gosh i loved it but i was so into being like a full-time mom with projects and then i discovered the martial arts and i got way obsessive and crazy crazy about that so i know right so it wasn't until 13 years after that that i was like i have got to get back to writing. I love that so much. And I did and I started working on that novel that I had written and that was going to be the project on which I learned my craft. And I was like, this is it. This is what I'm going to do for the second half century of my life. And I timed everything around my 50th birthday. I stopped teaching, training, touring for the martial arts.
Starting point is 00:03:49 and I put all of my time, effort, resources, everything into becoming a novelist, and I timed it on my 50th birthday. Wow. I know, right? I was cool. You're like, at this point, I'm stopping and I'm doing something different. I love that. I've done that a number of times. Okay, it sounds like a personality trait, for sure.
Starting point is 00:04:12 It is. I left musicals when I was in the original First National of Cats, and I left and I moved out to LA and I stopped acting after like being on television shows and film and my family was like, what are you doing? And I'm like, well, time to shift. That's good. I mean, you know when you need to shift. Yeah. So how did your writing process develop like coming, did you say you wrote a screenplay first? I did. I did. I wrote quite a few of them first. Yeah. So my, uh, novel writing process is kind of takes from that, you know, that fore-out structure and, you know, pacing, really great pacing, and that kind of cinematic writing and layout. So that, that really
Starting point is 00:05:04 informs a lot of the way I approach novels. Yeah, that makes sense. Do you, so do you approach it as like writing every day? Do you kind of write when it comes to you? How? How do you do that part? I'm a real self-disciplined, everyday kind of person. I mean, that's what I did with dance, acting, singing, martial arts, everything. So when it came to writing, it was like, of course. So, you know, when I said I shifted everything on my 50th birthday, in my brain, I was a full-time writer.
Starting point is 00:05:39 That's what I was going to do. Eight hours a day, six days a week, pretty much, sometimes seven, sometimes five. That's how I approach it. Yeah, I love that. It doesn't surprise me from everything I'm getting to know about you. With your characters, do you typically get to know them as you write them, or do you do any, like, character development before you go into plot? Ooh, good question. All of my novels begin with there's something I want to write about and there's a place. So I start, even if I know it really, really well. I mean, I'm born and raised in Honolulu. I'm Hawaiian. Even if I know the subject really well, I begin everything with research.
Starting point is 00:06:24 And from the research, characters and plot and story emerge. And for me, it all began with Makalani Pahukula. See, my my my mom, my grandkids are in Portland. That's where I live now. And so I kind of wanted that connection with Oregon, which is why I made Makalani an Oregon. Ranger. And then I chose Kauai, because that's my favorite island. And I had her coming back for her for her Tutu's birthday. And so I knew it was going to be a multi-generational, multi-ethnic, because that's
Starting point is 00:07:02 what happens in families in Hawaii, mine included. And so I created a genealogy, all starting with her tutu, her 85-year-old grandmother, and her mother, her sister, her brothers who have passed away. And I created this whole crazy genealogy. And so I had that in my head and on paper, actually, before I began writing. Wow, that's cool. And it was so important to this story to be able to understand everyone's family connections. So that's cool that that's like kind of what solidified the characters.
Starting point is 00:07:41 Yeah. And I was so excited because my editor with Thomas and Mercer, she was like, Oh, I love your genealogy. Let's put it in the beginning of the book. So there it is. Michaelani's genealogy, which is fun, I think. Yeah, that is so cool. I saw in, that somewhere you talked about how it pretty much took you writing five novels
Starting point is 00:08:04 to feel like ready to write one in your homeland. It's so true. What was that like for you? Like what, what head trash was. making you think you couldn't do it. Well, you know, I moved away when I graduated from high school. That was a long time ago, right? You know?
Starting point is 00:08:24 So it's like, ah, if I write a book set in Hawaii, it cannot be like, you know, all these wonderful mystery thrillers that are set in Hawaii. It looks so beautiful. They do a good job, you know. But if I'm going to do it, it has to be from a Kanakamo-Oli perspective, a native Hawaiian perspective. It has to be authentic.
Starting point is 00:08:46 It has to be looking at the issues that Native Hawaiians back in Hawaii are dealing with today. It had to be a book, honestly, that only a Kanaka Maoli would write. And that that made the distinction. Otherwise, why would I write it? You know, I mean, it's like it had to be that. And I wasn't ready for that, you know. That was a lot. I wasn't ready for that.
Starting point is 00:09:13 But after, you know, writing the Lily Wong series, which had my Chinese Norwegian heritage, after writing the standalone dance among the flames, which was deeply Brazilian, I was like, no, I can do this, I can do this. And I want to do it. And with my grandkids, it was the right time to do it. That's cool.
Starting point is 00:09:37 It just all came together and coalesced like that. Yeah. Yeah. So there are some social issues that you, multiple that you actually do like touch on in the book um specifically blood quantum and land rights and how complicated i guess is the right word for it that can be what what like did you feel like you needed to do a lot of research for that was that something you were just very familiar with already and like what made you want to like make sure that had its place in a thriller well you know what
Starting point is 00:10:12 one of the first things I did was I called up classmates from Punahou, the ones that I knew who were, you know, who were Hawaiian, but who were like really brought up deep in the culture. And one of my friends, Kalena, I named a character after her. Her family is from Kauai. And so I was talking to her about things. And she's a real activist too for the Hawaiian people. And I was saying, what are the issues? What's going on? What are you most concerned? concerned about. What do you want the world to know? What is the big heartache? And it was the Hawaiian homelands. It was having sovereign land, having land that was dedicated to the Hawaiian people and then not being doled out in a way where we could get access to it easily and reasonably. And this land set aside with this idea where, you know, a third of it would be, uh, sovereign land, royal land, a third would be government, a third would go to the people. But it was so complicated back in the day that so, so many people who should have,
Starting point is 00:11:26 probably my ancestors included, did not apply. So, you know, there are families, you know, that have millions of dollars worth of property that would have been in their family that don't. And at the time, Prince Cujillo, who was not only royal but also you know in the Congress and he was a representative
Starting point is 00:11:50 for this he was pushing for a very low blood quantum to prove that you're Hawaiian I mean something like you know a 30 second 132nd right but but no no the government you know
Starting point is 00:12:03 the the US government said no 50% can you imagine any other culture imagine any other culture you're not 50% you're not that thing excuse me
Starting point is 00:12:16 what you're going to tell me if I'm Hawaiian enough you know and so imagine what that does to your family right your family tree when you start marrying somebody you know I mean there aren't a lot of full blood
Starting point is 00:12:31 of Hawaiians so as you go down the family tree we have less and less and less and less and so there's in some families a divide where some have enough and some don't. Don't. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:12:46 That was one of the big issues. If you're an author, chances are high that you just want to spend your time writing and maybe reading, not thinking about social media, what to create and what to post. And the good news is, I have a solution for you. With just three hours of in-person filming, you can receive 90 days or three months' worth of social media content. The content is a mixture of videos, photos, edited reels. And when you receive the content, you also receive a PDF that's a content calendar that links to all of the content tells you exactly when to post it and gives you an option for captions. And if you've ever felt like you're tired of just talking about your book all the time,
Starting point is 00:13:31 we will help you come up with ideas that are general content for your page that's not just all about your books. If you are tired of thinking about your social media presence and just want to get back to writing, check out the link in the description. Right. And it makes it so difficult to navigate those relationships, then I'm sure, like, adds extra pressure to it. And there's, like, the added pressure I would assume to, like, marry within your culture, even if you fall in love with someone who's not, just because, like, the laws are set up so poorly. Yeah. It has caused a lot of strife in a way that it was never meant to cause strife. At least it was never meant on the Hawaiian side, you know, to cause strife, you know, from the U.S. government side.
Starting point is 00:14:19 Well, you know, that's a whole other story. But there are things in the work right now you can inherit if you're only 25%. But still, that's a quarter. You know, I'm an eighth. You know, so that still is a problem. But there are things in the work to get it back down to the very low blood quantum that Prince Cahill intended. Yeah. It's fascinating in a sound way, I guess.
Starting point is 00:14:50 I was tremendously fascinated by that. I mean, it really opened a whole Pandora's box for me, you know, with everything, with getting priced out of Kauai, you know, locals getting priced out. They cannot live. They got to move away. and that brings the issue of poverty in Hawaii. You know, these are things that, you know, when you go and you visit Paradise, this is not what you know about.
Starting point is 00:15:12 This is not what you see. So it's, I think, I found it interesting to me, but I also thought it would be very interested to everybody else to know what's going on, you know, under that paradise. Yeah, and what you're talking about is also such a good, like, I don't know, know imagery in thrillers too that works well is like the here's what you think it is versus like this is what is actually going on so I feel like it adds like very thriller-esque tension yeah thank you yeah yeah oh you're welcome um so macalani is really complex and emotionally layered I love that
Starting point is 00:15:56 I prefer that even in my thriller characters um but what inspired like her character and her job as a ranger and like her deep connection as like a daughter of the land. Yeah. Well, you know, one of the things that I knew that if I was going to write this book, that it would have wilderness adventure. You know, Lily Wong was more urban, yeah, urban ninja. But McCollone, that was going to be wilderness. So I wanted a character that had those kinds of skills. So what better skills than... and a character who's a National Park Ranger. And then I wanted to make sure she also had some other skills.
Starting point is 00:16:40 So I made her a law enforcement national park rangers. So she's got that going on too. But she also grew up on a homestead right on a river. And so she's really familiar with the ocean and the land and going hunting and, you know, hunting the wild pigs. and, you know, hiking all the places and going up a river and everything. That's all like right in there part of her. And because she's on a homestead and also just because she was raised traditionally,
Starting point is 00:17:18 you know, she has been taught to care for the land. Malama Ayna, Ayna Malama. You want to care for the land and the land will care for you. The other thing that I wanted from Makalani is, and this kind of pulls a little bit from me. And it goes in, you know, in opposition to Hawaii, you know, which is lazy and laid back and everything's chill and, you know, chillax and all that. I had way too much energy growing up for the islands.
Starting point is 00:17:47 When I went to New York, I wrote my dance teacher a letter and I said, I'm finally in a place that has as much energy as me. I love that. I love that you found it, though. Yeah, yeah. So, but only then. I wouldn't want to be there now. But from Makalani, I wanted it, I wanted her to have that kind of energy, but what it comes out for her is she always wants to work.
Starting point is 00:18:12 She's not so terribly comfortable with peers and kids, you know, a little bit, you know, growing up, kind of uncomfortable, way more uncomfortable, working, helping, doing, right? Even when people don't want her to work, help, too, right? That's a really driving force. For her. Totally. It totally is. The other thing that kind of gets brought up about her is this term that that means the wind resisting bush.
Starting point is 00:18:42 I'm not going to try to pronounce it because I know I won't do well with it. But I'm sure you can pronounce it. And how did that phrase help shape the story and like kind of ground the story for you? Yeah. Yeah. You know, there are a lot of proverbs that are in. in this particular book. And that's one of them.
Starting point is 00:19:07 And, you know, I wish I could pull that up, you know, right from my head. I'm sort of like trying to pull it up even while we're talking. But, you know, with her, she's in dire straits at that moment, and she's pulling it up and she's reminding herself that she has that kind of fortitude, that she can root herself in the ground. and no matter what's coming at her, including an actual storm, that she's not going to blow away. She's not going to give up. She's not going to lose ground that she can hold on to that.
Starting point is 00:19:45 And that's what's behind that. And that's a very big part of how she was raised and who she is. Yeah. And then you're also touching on there is also this storm looming, which is like very much also still a physical representation of like the internal conflicts the characters are going through as well.
Starting point is 00:20:08 Did you know you like always wanted to have that element as well in this story? Well, you know, yeah, yeah. But the funny thing was it wasn't always called Kauai's Storm. But, you know, as we were looking for things, then it was like, oh yeah, we can totally call it.
Starting point is 00:20:30 Kuwaiti storm because that it's it reflects the emotions you know the storm of emotions but it also affects you know like where she's um you know where that ends up so that was just one of those things that really worked when I when I was starting in my heart you know this book was always called Kuleana but you know but yeah hmm what's that you know that's not going to really help people understand what kind of book it is. Right? It's like, oh, yeah, Kuliana, what? You know, and Kuliana, by the way, for people who haven't read it, it's like a sacred reciprocal responsibility.
Starting point is 00:21:12 You know, you're like that land, right? You care for the land, the land cares for you. And Makalani has that sense of responsibility for, you know, for her family. And so that's a real, that's a real big thing. Totally. Yeah. Yeah. And this is also a book where, like, the location, the setting itself is pretty much a character. So how did you go about like choosing like which parts of setting to include and like, yeah, how did you, how did you build it up like that?
Starting point is 00:21:49 Well, you know, I, my son was married. Our eldest son was married in Kauai. So I had been there kind of recently, you know, but before. I got the idea to write this book. And that was another reason why I wanted to set it there and also because of the strong Native Hawaiian community. So when I knew I wanted to do the Hawaiian homelands, there were a couple of communities where that would be likely. And I chose Anahola, which is very small.
Starting point is 00:22:18 It's just above Kappa'a, which is a very touristy town, very small touristy town, you know, a very local kind of touristy town. And so I knew I wanted to be in Anahola, and I knew I was going to have relatives in Kappa'a, and a lot was going to happen there. And I knew I wanted to travel around the island, so I was going to go down the island up the opposite coast into the Kokea State Park. And that's where there's all this wilderness. And as I was looking for, well, where in Kokea State Park do I want to be? And I'm like, oh, my gosh, I want to go into the Alika'i Swamp, because it's a little.
Starting point is 00:22:59 That is so cool. And I want to go to these lookouts. I want places to be like, you know, really dangerous and adventurous. And so I was looking through all that. And I had friends who actually did the hike that is in this book from Pua O'Kila lookout through the Pihaya Trail into Alika'i Swamp and like that. So I was like, I had talked to them and got like, you know, this whole. insider information for it.
Starting point is 00:23:33 And I'm like, yeah, we definitely got to have that in there. And I wanted to go up the Wailua River. So I do. I personally enjoyed going up the Waila River River. If you guys ever go visit Kauai, do that. Rent a paddleboard, rent a kayak, go up the Wailua River, go to Ulawehi Falls. It's beautiful. Yeah, I mean, it had me Googling it.
Starting point is 00:23:56 So I can say from Google it's beautiful, too. from my landlock state. So Solomon and Becky also have this really interesting relationship dynamic. So how did you kind of balance how dynamic it is without like kind of like sensationalizing it? Well, it's really, you know, I love writing about family and family dynamics and that's a thing with me. And so, you know, I really want to keep it real. I want to keep it real. I want to keep it layered.
Starting point is 00:24:36 Authenticity is like really important to me. So, you know, at the heart of this is she comes home, right, and her two cousins have vanished. They're missing. And one is from one auntie's family and the other is from another auntie's family and they're at each other's throats. And there's this relationship between them. And I wanted there to be enough between this really vivacious high schooler
Starting point is 00:25:07 and this kind of has been, you know, football player, even though there's this change in age and these, you know, cousins kind of removed. And so I wanted there to be enough that the reader is constantly, wondering hmm you know how how is how is this you know whose idea about this relationship is right whose is maybe off base you know and so I just I keep that going throughout the whole thing and and it ends up being quite you know I mean yeah I don't want to say too much right but right but yeah it was it was an interesting relationship between them
Starting point is 00:25:55 I wanted to interrupt this episode really quickly. I have a goal of monetizing Book Wild, but I would love to do it without having to have ads in the podcast. And one way that I can do that is through my Patreon community. For those who don't know, Patreon is a community platform that allows creators to share what they're creating behind a paywall. And so that means exclusive content or early releases. The Book Wild Patreon has two tiers. The first tier, is the bookish tier. And at that tier, you get all of the episodes out a day early, and you get access to our private community chat where we can talk about anything book related or TV shows or movies. The second tier is the book Wilde tier, and it includes everything from the first tier, but also
Starting point is 00:26:44 Book Wilde's Backlist Book Club. So this year, I've been wanting to also still read more backlist, even though I read plenty of arcs. And Book Wild's backlist book club felt like the perfect way to do that. We meet on Sundays. We are international right now. So Sundays are the best way to do it. And we meet on Zoom and we all pick a book and we talk about it. And then we talk about everything else we read during the month. And then we pick another book for the next month. So it's been so much fun so far. And we'd love to have you join the book club. So if you're you'd like to support the book wild podcast you can go to the patreon link in the show notes and you can sign up for whichever tier interests you and if you're looking for a free way to support the show
Starting point is 00:27:30 if you can like and review it on whichever platform you listen to that helps so much yeah it is it definitely is and there's there's also kind of this tension for makalani as well because she has her job in what she's allowed to do legally, but without giving it away because it's not going to spoil any choices she does make, but sometimes she has to make choices of like justice versus law, like, and how they don't line up. So what kind of drew to you? Yeah. What drew you to like those elements with like what she had to deal with? Yeah. Yeah, I'm big into the gray area. I don't know anybody who's black and white. I know lots of really great, admirable, good people
Starting point is 00:28:26 who make bad choices and do bad things. And I've met some really atrocious people who, you know, on other sides are, you know, so loving to other people or whatever. And so it's very important to me to have a character that is, you know, not pigeonholed into one way or another. She has guiding morality.
Starting point is 00:28:51 She has her own sense of priorities, what's important to her. And with Makalani, family comes first. Family will always come first. And so she has to make a lot of her decisions based on that. Yeah. She just does. She just does. She just has to.
Starting point is 00:29:14 Yeah, I always, what you're talking about with like that gray area. I think that's always fun. Yeah. In the context of a thriller, too, because as a reader, like, you're just like, just do the more gray-leaning thing. Like, just do it. Yeah. So I feel like it sometimes helps remind us, like, it's easier than you think to, like, make a questionable decision because we're all motivated by so many different things. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Or you could just, like, lose your mindfulness in a moment and just, you know, do something. Do you see. something that you're like, what was I thinking? So sometimes there's that and sometimes there are really choices where you're like, well, I'm going to do it anyway, right? And I think we all make
Starting point is 00:30:01 those kinds of choices. I like universal, I like to touch into that, those things that we all do. You know, so even though this is a family that is, you know, all sorts of these ethnic things with, you know, the predominant Hawaiian running through it is still, it's all universal themes, coming home, dealing with families, dealing with, you know, all of that kind of stuff, sisters, aunties, cousins, expectation, identity, you know, who doesn't, who doesn't have that going on, right? We all do. Totally. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:30:38 That kind of brings me my other question about, like, family and Ohana is what it's called, in this context. It's a multi-generational story. We have very complex relationships between each person and their families. And it sounds like from what you said, like the genealogy, or at the beginning, was what was important for you to have a grasp of.
Starting point is 00:31:05 So what made you so sure that, like, that needed to be a part of it, like multiple generations? Well, it actually is a big subplot in and of itself. Right. There is a huge story element that is completely entwined into that genealogy and that family history. And so that's why, that's why it played such an important part. And in my genealogy, I mean, like when I do all that at home, because what's in the book, you just see, you know, and clean, right? Mine has all the percentages of whatever ethnicity is going on. So you get,
Starting point is 00:31:53 you know, so it begins with Makalani's great grandmother, right? So when you come down to cousins who are two generations younger than Makalani, they have, you know, like 10 different ethnic, and the percentages are, you know, are like this, right? I have that all figured out. That's in my spreadsheet. I didn't put that in there, but I know. I know exactly how much Korean you got with your Portuguese and your Filipino and you're, I know. Right.
Starting point is 00:32:33 Yeah. Yeah. You know, and it influences the kind of cultures that come in. Right. I bet. So I'm Hawaiian, Chinese, and Norfolk. Norwegian and yet my parents met and married in Japan where both of my sisters were born. So Japanese is also a huge culture in my family culture, you know.
Starting point is 00:32:54 Yeah. So, you know, everybody in Hawaii has these different things, you know. Only in Hawaii, do you actually go up to somebody and say, oh, yeah, what are you? And nobody takes offense because, you know, we're all interested. Right, right. It's not a demeaning question. No, no, no, no, we all want to know because, by the way, we might have family. Yes, I love that.
Starting point is 00:33:22 Was there anything intimidating about writing this after spending so much time with Lucy Wong? Was it a different experience? Oh, with Lily Wong? Oh, sorry, Lily. Oh, my gosh. Well, you know, it's a very different book. Kawai Storm is a very different kind of book. You know, as you were saying, you were saying it's mystery, but so much more, right?
Starting point is 00:33:46 It's some. There's family life drama. There's, you know, I mean, and a lot of, you know, the sense of place and things. Of course there's this mystery. Of course there's this adventure. But it's also woven in with some, you know, traditions and mythology of Hawaiian. It even has Hawaiian language written in to, to, the prose and into some of the dialogue. So it has all those things going. Lily Wong was not like that.
Starting point is 00:34:19 To begin with, it was all written in the first person. Very different, very different, you know. That was that was a very action-oriented modern day ninja with, you know, family, Joy Luck Club family issues. You know, that's how I always thought of, thought of her. Yeah. Yeah. Well, if you can't tell, I loved Kauai. storm. I was so cool. I love when people can incorporate so much into still a thriller because I just have pacing problems and I just want things to still be happening. So I love when there's more going on, but it's still a thriller. Yeah. You know, I appreciate that. And I keep track of that as from my screenwriting ways. Oh, yeah. You know, I'm used to that kind of pacing. I'm used to like taking these different subplots and, you know, regulating them so that we don't forget anybody. And I actually
Starting point is 00:35:16 write in Scribner where I can see a binder full of all my chapters and stuff, and I color-coded, so that I know how long it's been since I've been with this character or that theme or that subplot or action versus family so that I can, you know, keep that, you know, that pace and that enthusiasm, that energy going. Yes. Yes. I love that. I am doing something similar in Scrivener right now. So I'm so happy to hear that it's good to use for that direction, basically. Yeah, yeah. You know, the color coding makes sense because I basically, I kind of wrote the backstories, but now I want them to intertwine. So I'm going through that, like, where should this chapter go? And kind of what you're saying, I'm like, oh, yeah, that is what I'm thinking about is like,
Starting point is 00:36:07 have they forgotten about this? Because it was like, like four chapters ago. And it's really great because in Scribner, you can see all those things in the chapter. So, you know, when I, when I finish writing, then I put it into a word document. But then I, you know, I can search words, keywords to find things. But it's easier to just also pull up the scrivener and look at the chapters. And then like I just finished the second book, the book that comes after Kauai Storm. Ooh! It's set on the Big Island of Hawaii. And, um, I just finished. And, um, I just finished, I had to do some real restructuring. And so I started moving things a lot, bringing things forward, bringing things forward,
Starting point is 00:36:47 adding things. And so I had both things open. I had the Word doc open and I had the scriptor open. And I did all of that structural stuff there. And then I changed it in the word because I knew where to find it. That's nice. Really helpful. You know, I'm excited that there's another one.
Starting point is 00:37:06 Do you read a lot? I always ask at the end if there's anything you've read that you loved lately. Oh, yeah. I read all the time. I mean, you know, as a kid, right? I just lived in books. Now I'm always reading one thing and listening to something else. I love audiobooks because I can listen while I'm cooking, while I'm exercising,
Starting point is 00:37:28 you know, everything. Hiking, whatever. A book set in Hawaii that I loved is Hula. from Jasmine Iolani Hake's. So I highly recommend that. If you're into historical, I love Alan Brennard's books as well. So that would be like a Hawaii thing.
Starting point is 00:37:51 If, you know, mystery, you know, I love Lisa Gardner. She's got this new Frankie Elkins series. You know, and the third one is actually set in an atoll of the Hawaiian Islands. And so if you like Lisa Gardner and you like this Frankie Elkins, you know, chances are you're probably going to like Kuwaiti Storm very different, but you'll probably like it.
Starting point is 00:38:17 And I'm reading her fourth book right now. I don't think it's quite been released, but really great. I love J.T. Ellison. Oh, yeah. She's a go-to author for me. She's coming out with a new book, I'm going to read it. You know, so that's just how it is, right? So that's just a few to name.
Starting point is 00:38:36 Yeah, those are some great recommendations. Where can people follow you to stay out to date on everything? Oh, you know, my favorite, I'm on a lot of social media. My favorite is Instagram. And so that is writer. Dot Tori. Writer as an author, not writer as in motorcycle rider. I think he surprised.
Starting point is 00:38:57 You'd be surprised how many people get that one wrong. I'm sure. I'm sure. So I love that, you know. And then I'll post on Facebook. I like my personal profile, better Tori M. Eldridge, but I have an author page to Tori Eldridge author. I'm on TikTok. I'm more so now.
Starting point is 00:39:16 I'm really into these on location Kauai. That's my hashtag on lok Kauawee Storm. On location videos. I've been posting a lot and I'm going to continue to post a lot. And they take you to all the different locations and I'm talking and I'm telling you like behind the scenes. That is so cool. Yeah, it's been super fun. They will all show up on Instagram.
Starting point is 00:39:42 They'll show up on TikTok because they're videos. I'll put them on Facebook. Sometimes I'm on threads, but, you know, not all that much. And I have a YouTube channel. If you just go at Tori Elders, you'll find tons of videos and stuff. But, you know, and if you like book clubs, go to my website because in my four readers section, I have a book club for co-we. you storm that's got all sorts of fun stuff.
Starting point is 00:40:09 Man, you have all the good links. I got all the good links. I got all the fun stuff. You really do. I enjoy it. I know, I can tell. Not everyone does. So it is fun when people like enjoy that part of social media.
Starting point is 00:40:25 So, yeah, I will put all of those links in the show notes. If any of that is interesting to people. And otherwise, thank you so much for talking with me today. Oh, God. This has been a blast. Thanks for making my day.

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