Q: Your protagonists often struggle with physical difficulties of one nature or another. Tell us a little about that.
A: I’ve often seen the way people ignore disabled people—almost as though they’re nonpersons. Not only do they struggle with their disability, but they fight against preconceived ideas. Sometimes people won’t even look at someone in a wheelchair. I like to be a little light that illuminates their struggles in some way. We have a man in our church, Terry Carpenter, who was paralyzed in a car accident. All Christians should be as sold out for God as he is! He’s often the inspiration for the tenaciousness of my characters who struggle with some kind of problem.
Q: I had no idea who the killer was. I thought I had it figured out several times, but then my idea would dead-end. How do you do it?
A: I figure out who the killer is, then layer in other people who could do it too. I sprinkle red herrings in places and try to lead my reader away from guessing the real killer. I also have some great readers who point out if the killer is too obvious, and they make me fix it. And the final wall of defense against predictability comes with my fabulous editors, Ami McConnell and Erin Healy. Editors are the unsung heroes of the publishing world. A book can only be good with great editing!
Q: How does Kona coffee compare to a run-of-the-mill cup o’ joe? Does it taste better when you drink it in Hawaii?
A: I’m a coffee lover. My husband calls me an addict, and I’m sad to say he’s right. I love trying new coffees, the deeper and richer the better. You haven’t lived until you’ve had pure Kona coffee. Not a blend, but 100 percent Kona. It doesn’t have a hint of acidity. It’s so smooth and wonderful. And everything is better when you’re actually in Hawai’i!
Q: What impressed you most about your visits to Hawaiian coffee plantations and roasters?
A: I love learning about my passions, and coffee definitely qualifies. I visited coffee farms on the Big Island and also one on Kaua’i. I also visited several roasters. The Hawai’ian growers are totally committed to quality. All of the farms offered sample pots of different blends to try. A girl can overdose in places like that! Also, the coffee trees were beautiful. Shiny red berries decorated vibrant green leaves. I could have gawked for hours. But there was coffee to drink inside, so I managed to tear myself away.
Q: So how many cups did you drink while writing Midnight Sea?
A: Um, too many to count. And I tried many different varieties in an attempt to taste the different qualities you’re supposed to taste.
Q: Why was it important to Rina to grow only organic beans?
A: I’m an organic nut myself. Some of my passions always spill over to my books. Rina shares some of my own beliefs about the danger of genetically engineered plants. If you read up on it, some of the facts are scary. You might check out these Web sites for more information: http://www.safe-food.org/ and http://www.holisticmed.com/ge/.http://www.safe-food.org/ and http://www.holisticmed.com/ge/.
Q: How did you dream up the orchid-and-coral concoction that Jerry develops to treat Rina’s lupus?
A: I did some research on medicinal qualities of both. Many of the drugs developed these days have a plant base, and orchids have been used for some time. The dried roots, for example, have been used to treat depression and as a stimulant. Coral has some amazing medicinal properties and is the base of an AIDS drug. AIDS affects the immune system, as does lupus. When I read that the tubers in the center of the orchid could be used to treat rheumatism—which is related to lupus—I was inspired to combine it with the coral for a more powerful treatment. Wouldn’t it be a hoot if scientists actually found it works?
Q: How have you benefited from homeopathic approaches to your personal health habits?
A: I think everyone needs to take charge of her health. Our food is so much more processed today. Much of the nutrition has been lost, with devastating results that we try to treat with synthetic drugs. We need to go back to the basics with our health. I read everything I can on health issues that affect me. I was allergic to everything under the sun until I found a new alternative treatment called NAET that helped tremendously. And I take little homeopathic drops all the time for different things. I’m in good company—even the Queen of England uses homeopathy!
Q:What is it about Harleys that helped Ben to get through his personal crises?
A: As one who’s been a scaredycat about bikes since an accident at sixteen, I’m clueless. But I look at my son, who adores his new Harley, and see his joy in the freedom of the road. Ben could forget his troubles and take in the fragrance of the breeze, the beauty of the day. On a bike, you feel nimble and in control of that big motor throbbing along the highway. You’re not tethered to anything and can go places a car can’t navigate. Hmm, it’s almost enough to make me want to buy one.
Q: So if your temptation ever gives way to reality, which model would you buy?
A: My son has been trying to talk us into a touring bike. It’s bigger and has lots of padding. It’s supposed to be comfortable. (My son knows his mother well.) But I’m holding out for one that’s been modified to be a tricycle. I’d be hardpressed to wreck something like that.
Q: Have you ever ridden a Harley blindfolded? (As a passenger, of course!)
A: Does closing my eyes and screaming at the top of my lungs count? I closed my eyes when my son took me for a ride just to see how it felt. Terrifying! I don’t know why Lani likes it.
Q: How do a blind person’s senses compensate for lack of sight? How long does it take new sensitivities to fully develop?
A: A newly blind person has to learn to get in tune with his other senses. Just as Ben told Lani to reach out and listen to the way the waves hit the shore and the rocks, to feel the direction of the wind, a blind person begins to pay attention to the environment in a way he’s never had to do before. It can begin right away with the person just becoming attuned to what he’s hearing, smelling, and touching, but it develops with practice.
Q: After her injury, Lani must learn her limitations and discover new ways to pursue her dream of being a landscaper.Why did you want Lani’s success to happen before she recovered her sight?
A: It was important to me to have Lani overcome her adversity. We all experience hard things in life. We can choose to let them defeat us, or we can find a way over, under, or around the challenge. Nothing can defeat us if we are determined!
Q: Lani has a terrible time forgiving herself for her past. Why do you think self-forgiveness is so hard for women, even when we know God and our loved ones have forgiven us?
A: We women think we need to be all things to the people we love—superwoman. Society holds us up to high standards too. We have to be beautiful, poised, and strong, and we have to excel at our jobs. Of course we’re going to fail! We need to get past what others expect to what God expects. Inner strength and beauty are much more important in the eternal scheme of things.
Q: As I read the novel, I felt as if I were actually in Hawaii. You must do a great deal of research to immerse readers so in the setting.
A: I do. I could spend months on research if time would permit. And one thing many writers don’t realize is how much research can help you with your plot. I love to find little tidbits of information about history or culture that I can weave into the story. I want the reader to come away feeling like they’ve been on a trip to that location, and even more important, I want that story to work only in that locale. I don’t want to write a book where you could plop that story down somewhere else and it could function just as well. The sights, sounds, and smells of a place are so important to anchor the story.
Q: I loved Fisher, the dog Lani becomes attached to over the course of the novel. I’ll bet you’re a dog person—is that right?
A: Oh, I am. We had wiener dogs when I was growing up, and I love animals. My daughter got a new golden retriever this spring, and for the first time, I realized what wonderful dogs goldens are. I just had to write one into my story! Parker is amazing. Okay, I’m gushi
ng like a grandmother so I’d better stop. But dogs bring so much to our lives. I think of them as a little bit like God in their unconditional love.
Q: Lani struggles hard to change her life. Did this have any personal significance?
A: Grace is a huge theme to me. I’m grateful every day of my life for the grace God gives me, the way he doesn’t hold my past mistakes against me. People usually aren’t that generous. We remember every transgression, every hurt. I wanted to show how important it is for the rest of us to remember that we are all fallen souls in need of support and forgiveness. If we could each extend even a fraction of the grace God gives us, the world would be a better place.
Colleen Coble, Midnight Sea (Aloha Reef Series)
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