The Inspiration

Some of you may wonder what inspired me to write the historical novel, Native Hope, that takes place in Polynesia. About 10 years ago, I coached a U. S. tennis team that trained in Sigatoka, Fiji and competed in Brisbane, Australia. While training in Fiji, I met a Fijian native, who found me when I became lost in the jungle during a hiking excursion to some caves in the interior of the island of Viti Levu. We walked together for about 45 minutes discussing each other's cultures as best we could, given some difficult language barriers. What transpired after that first initial meeting will be contained in the third book in the trilogy, Native Hope - Modern.

Below are some pictures I took of some native Fijians with whom I associated as I traveled the Fijian Islands. The last is a picture of the Rewa River, I believe. I traveled down this river on a concave boat made of bamboo poles bound together with fiber roping. The boat seemed to be upside down! Boat riders sat on the apex of the curvature of the boat secured only by frictional forces, while natives on each end pushed the boat downstream with long bamboo poles stuck into the mud of the river's bottom.  As we slowly cruised down the river, a young male boy about the age of 10 swam up to boat next to me and flashed me a grin that contained the whitest teeth I've ever seen. We disembarked at a village where I would meet the village chief and share a bowl of kava, Fiji's ceremonial drink.