Hawaiian Vacation

I wanted to go to Hawaii. So I did. It cost me about $15. Here's how you do it.


Go to the Deseret Book site and order a copy of Bumpy Landings by Don Carey. Make yourself some sort of pink frothy fruity blender concoction, and curl up with both of these items for a few hours. This book will totally whisk you away to the island of Oahu, balmy breezes, tropical flowers, and all. It's a seriously relaxing read. What I found to be Don's greatest strength as a writer is that If he writes about Laie, you're right there, seeing and smelling it. If he describes photography, you're convinced he's a world class photographer. After reading about the main character Jordan's obsession with learning to fly an airplane, I was convinced Don-the-author must be an experienced pilot. He's not. But he's an imaginative dreamer and it's plain in his writing through the level of detail he reaches without ever boring the reader. It just makes the whole story feel more realistic.

I'm the kind of author that tends to have my lead male characters a little on the alpha male side, so it was interesting to read about a nice guy who didn't feel the need to play top dog. The main character, college student Jordan, is the guy we all knew in college and thought, "Why aren't any girls smart enough to snap him up?" without thinking to do it ourselves. But as the story unfolds and his confidence increases, the girls begin to take notice and things are looking good for Jordan. Um, except for the part about how his mom is going to kill him when she finds out he's taking flying lessons. Oh, and the part where the girl he really digs is into someone else. Uh, who happens to be his archnemesis. So . . . that's awkward.


Don has no problem with his book being classified in the "romance" category, but he calls it a coming-of-age story. It's really both, because I think it's becoming who you're meant to be that allows you to experience true love.


This warm weather, sweet romance, tropical-island-hop is a great read for those of you stuck in this crazy storm going on. (Well, not here. But I'm not going to laugh too loudly at the rest of you in case karma decides to pay me a visit. Not that I believe in that stuff. But I am knocking on wood right now.) Oooh, and you can check out the contest Don is running right here. It's very easy to win!


Oh, and sort of on the subject of writing, if you're going to the LDS Storymakers conference in May and you want to, check out this contest. You can win a seat at the Friday night dinner table of some illustrious writers and agents. But don't feel pressured to. In fact, don't go check it out. Better chances for me. (Okay. Fine. Go. It's a dang good prize.)