When Hurricane Katrina drove me and my husband out of New Orleans, we took it as a sign to move back to Hawaii. We've been traveling together for the better part of 15 years - Australia, New Zealand, Central and South America, Taiwan, Canada, Mexico, the Phillipines and Southeast Asia. My background is in journalism and I've written many travel articles, but Adventure Guide: Hawaii the Big Island is my first book. Bryan and I spent seven months researching it for Hunter Publishing, who told us to include "twice the detail of competing guides." To that end, we covered "adventures" ranging from golf, helicopter rides and beaches to SCUBA, hiking, and swimming with dolphins. We also reviewed many restaurants, hotels, and shops. We include a great deal of cultural and environmental information, and pepper the copy with inspirational or humorous quotes, as well as personal anecdotes. We've had great feedback from locals, and I'm proud of the book - it was a labor of love.