Stories from Oceania
I won? That shout you heard last night from my house here in Lotopa, startling all the birds asleep in the mango tree outside - was me. Finding out that my book FIRE'S CARESS was announced in Wellington NZ, as the winner of the BEST YOUTH NOVEL award in the 2022 Sir Julius Vogel Awards.… Continue reading Best Youth Novel – Sir Julius Vogel Awards
When I'm not writing books, I'm running a publishing venture with my friend Sisilia Eteuati, called TATOU PUBLISHING. Together we put out a rather fabulous anthology of stories by women of the Moana called VA. And we are now working on another book called FUA which is stories for children aged 8 to 12 years.… Continue reading Open Call for Stories
ANNOUNCEMENT and Question time. I'm working on a line of kids books 😍. And super excited about them! Would YOU buy #madeInSamoa books for the children in your life? Which age group do YOU want books for most? Under 5's - Bilingual Gagana Samoa & English picture books, basic numbers, colors, shapes, beginner words and… Continue reading Samoan Books for Children
It’s been more than two years since we saw Big Son. He went to New Zealand for a job interview, got a fabulous job and stayed there. He’s living his best life. It’s been more than a year since we saw Big Daughter. She’s in New Zealand too, living her bestest life, working a fab… Continue reading Dogs are Better than Children.
My ongoing #lockdownDiary of random observations and fiapoto thoughts! From my privileged position of being able to lock down with my teenager, both of us working/schooling from home, while Darren goes to work at Young Steel. Samoa locks down for two weeks and goes from one community Covid case to 2000+. Either we are doing… Continue reading Living with Covid in Samoa?
Surprise! I released my new book early. Because I really really wish all my favorite authors and favorite shows would take pity on me and release their next books/seasons early! 😭 (Hello Im looking at you Yellowstone, Bridgerton, Ilona Andrews, Patricia Briggs…) Is anyone else weary sad from pandemic plagues and wars and lockdowns and… Continue reading My New Book is Here
I was an English teacher in Samoa for several years. The challenge was how to help nurture a love for reading in my students – when usually all we had were books written by white people, set in white people places, in a world where white people did all the thinking/talking/acting/feeling, and the rest of… Continue reading Why did I write ‘Afakasi Woman’?
Bella brings me her maths work and reports theres just one problem she cant figure out, can I help her? I look at it, have no clue what's going on, and tell her, dont worry about that one, just leave it. Darren overhears me. Shocked. "Just leave it? What does that teach her? When theres… Continue reading Maths and Me dont Match
When I was a kid growing up in Samoa, there were no Samoan or Oceania fantasy novels, no Young Adult series set in Samoa or anywhere in Pasifika, no Samoan speculative fiction, no Samoa/Pasifika zombie apocalypse stories, no Samoa chick lit /romance. And now there are. 😉😍 I am glad and #blessed to be a… Continue reading Va – Stories by Women of the Moana
3 months ago - I start training to do my first half-marathon. The Ironman in my house points out that I havent done a 5km. Or a 10km race. So maybe I should set smaller goals first? I ignore him. Because pffft those are so LITTLE. And EVERYBODY does those. I wanna do something big.… Continue reading I cried. Died. Then kept going..