I started writing as a teenager, studied creative writing with Philip Roth and Carlos Fuentes as a college student, and finally got my MFA in creative writing in my early thirties. I'm a late bloomer; my first novel, Mahu, a mystery set in Honolulu, came out in 2005. Since then I'm gathering steam, though. I've published six books in the Mahu series: Mahu, Mahu Surfer, Mahu Fire, Mahu Vice, Mahu Men and Mahu Blood.