Hau'oli La Helewi!

Happy Halloween!

You may dress up as a surfer or a hula dancer for Halloween, but in Lahaina on the island of Maui, they take their Halloween celebrations and costumes seriously!

If you’re interested in reading more about Lahaina’s celebration or seeing some of the crazy costumes, click on this link.

http://www.lahainahalloween.com/

What are you going to be tonight? Are you taking kids to a Harvest Party, or are you trick-or-treating? Or maybe you’re staying home and handing out candy. We always took our kids to our church Harvest Party and visited family and friends—lots of fun memories.

I’ll be handing out candy to the more than 100 kids who come by our house. 

Mahalo for visiting!

Cheryl

www.cheryllinnmartin.com

cheryllinnmartin@yahoo.com

International Symbol of Hospitality

My Pineapple Necklace!

Any idea?? It’s the PINEAPPLE!!!

Now, before I tell you more, I want to invite you to visit Linda Clare's Blog today (Thursday, October 27.) I am the guest blogger and it's all about my writing journey and being offered a first-time contract! It will for sure be posted on her site sometime today, so I really hope you visit. Just click on her name above to get there.

How cool my first book is all about figuring out who is vandalizing the pineapple fields and why! Leilani, Maile, and Sam are going to save the International Symbol of Hospitality.

So, where did the pineapple as The International Symbol of Hospitality come from? As early as Columbus’s second voyage when he landed on Guadalupe and brought the amazing fruit back to Europe. There is a legend that sea captains spear a pineapple onto a fence post to let people know he had returned safely. It was an invitation to visit.

Through the years in early America, the pineapple became the preferred item served to guests when they arrived at a home. Guests were honored because the host had spared no expense to serve the exotic fruit on their behalf.

The fruit was also often served for dessert, and many bedposts and headboards had pineapples carved in them.

What a welcome! You can read more about the pineapple as a symbol of hospitality by clicking on this link.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_origin_of_the_pineapple_as_a_symbol_of_hospitality

The Educational Institute of the American Hotel and Motel Association has chosen the pineapple as their symbol of hospitality (1999.) They award Gold Pineapple Awards to hotels that achieve measurable goals in customer satisfaction. The awards are national and only a few receive the honor.

I found out about the pineapple being the symbol of hospitality during my conference trip to St. Louis. I was wearing my pineapple necklace—given to me by my daughter and son-in-law—and the young woman at the check-in counter noticed it and commented on it.

Gotta LOVE those pineapples!

Mahalo for visiting!

Cheryl

www.cheryllinnmartin.com

cheryllinnmartin@yahoo.com

Sam Bennett

Book one of The Hawaiian Island Detective Club, Pineapples in Peril, along with books two and three Have Been Contracted! Book one will be published sometime next fall, but in the meantime, I would like to continue to talk about my characters.

Sam Bennett is not Hawaiian, and he doesn’t have a Hawaiian name. But he is the very important third member of The Hawaiian Island Detective Club. Sam loves construction, martial arts, cars, and food of any kind.

Sam is creative, loves to talk, and is an expert at belching. He often times rolls his eyes at Leilani and Maile, but he’s hung out with the girls since their kindergarten days.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this! Join me on Monday to learn about The International Symbol of Hospitality. Also, stay tuned for more fun information about my book and the characters. If you missed one of my posts on my characters’ names, click on the names to take you to the matching post from earlier this month.

Leilani Akamai

Kimo Akamai

Maile Onakea

Kainoa Onakea

Mahalo for visiting!

Cheryl

www.cheryllinnmartin.com

cheryllinnmartin@yahoo.com

Kainoa Onakea

Book one of The Hawaiian Island Detective Club, Pineapples in Peril, along with books two and three Have Been Contracted! Book one will be published sometime next fall, but in the meantime, I would like to continue to talk about my characters.

Today I’m introducing Maile’s older brother, Kainoa Onakea. Kainoa is sixteen years old and loves surfing. He’s been Leilani’s surfing buddy since she was around eight years old. He sometimes enjoys speaking Pidgin English with his friends. Kainoa has never been a part of the Hawaiian Island Detective Club.

Kainoa is pronounced: KA-ee-NO-a (I believe most people will combine the KA and ee sounds. Pronounce his name: Kai (rhymes with bye) Noah

Meaning: The name

Gender: Both Male and Female, but primarily a boy’s name

Onakea is an actual Hawaiian surname, so I couldn’t really find anything about the meaning, gender, or even the pronunciation, so here’s how I would pronounce it according to my understanding of the Hawaiian alphabet:

oh-nah-KAY-ah

Join me on Thursday to learn about the one non-Hawaiian member of The Hawaiian Island Detective Club. He's also the only non-female in the club (even though Kimo really, really wants to be part of the group!)

Mahalo for visiting!

Cheryl

www.cheryllinnmartin.com

cheryllinnmartin@yahoo.com

Maile Onakea

Book one of The Hawaiian Island Detective Club, Pineapples in Peril, along with books two and three Have Been Contracted! Book one will be published sometime next fall, but in the meantime, I would like to continue to talk about my characters.

Today I’m introducing Leilani’s best friend, Maile Onakea. Maile is thirteen years old and loves all clothes, make-up, and helping Leilani solve mysteries. Unlike her best friend, Maile is not a surfer-girl.

Maile is pronounced: MY-lee

Meaning: Vine

Gender: Female

Onakea is an actual Hawaiian surname, so I couldn’t really find anything about the meaning, gender, or even the pronunciation, so here’s how I would pronounce it according to my understanding of the Hawaiian alphabet:

oh-nah-KAY-ah

Hope you’re enjoying this! Join me again on Monday for another character!

Mahalo for visiting!

Cheryl

www.cheryllinnmartin.com

cheryllinnmartin@yahoo.com

Kimo Akamai

My Middle Grade (ages 8-12) series is entitled The Hawaiian Island Detective Club. Book one is Pineapples in Peril. Books two and three are Menehunes Missing and Ukuleles Undercover.

These books Have Been Contracted!!! I will let you know when they will be published and available to you, but in the meantime, it might be fun during this month to talk about my characters.

I want to share a little about my character’s names. You may wonder what they mean and how they’re pronounced, so I plan to address these questions.

Today I’m introducing Leilani’s brother, Kimo Akamai. Kimo is ten years old and loves art. He also loves to bother his older sister, spy on her, and mostly just irritate her however he can. He thinks he should be part of the detective club, so constantly tries to prove his worth to his less-than-enthusiastic big sister.

Kimo is pronounced: KEE-moh

Meaning: Kimo is Hawaiian for James: He Who Supplants

Gender: Male

Akamai is pronounced:  ah-kah-MY

Meaning:  Smart, Intelligent, Wisdom

Gender: Female

Hope you’re enjoying this! Join me on Thursday for another character!

Mahalo for visiting!

Cheryl

www.cheryllinnmartin.com

cheryllinnmartin@yahoo.com

Leilani Akamai

My Middle Grade (ages 8-12) series is entitled The Hawaiian Island Detective Club. Book one is Pineapples in Peril. Books two and three are Menehunes Missing and Ukuleles Undercover.

These books Have Been Contracted!!! I will let you know when they will be published and available to you, but in the meantime, it might be fun during this month to talk about my characters.

I want to share a little about my character’s names. You may wonder what they mean and how they’re pronounced, so I plan to address these questions.

Today I’m introducing my main character, Leilani Akamai. Leilani is thirteen years old and loves mysteries. She’s pretended to solve mysteries for a number of years, but now she and her friends are ready to solve something real, like the vandalism occurring in the pineapple fields near her home.

Leilani is pronounced: lay-LAH-nee

Meaning:  Heavenly Blossoms

Gender: Female

Akamai is pronounced:  ah-kah-MY

Meaning:  Smart, Intelligent, Wisdom

Gender: Female

Isn’t this fun?? Join me on Monday for another character!

Mahalo for visiting!

Cheryl

www.cheryllinnmartin.com

cheryllinnmartin@yahoo.com

Three Book Contract!!!!

So, it has finally happened!! I had TWO publishers offer me a three-book deal for my Hawaiian Island Detective Club series (ages 8-12.) I had to choose one, and finally, after several days of considering and waffling, I decided on Comfort Publishing.

The three books in the series include Pineapples in Peril, Menehunes Missing, and Ukuleles Undercover.

I don’t have a release date yet, but hopefully I should know something soon.

PINEAPPLES IN PERIL!

I’ll keep everyone posted through my blog, my website, and Facebook. In the meantime, please celebrate with me and keep me in your prayers. It’s going to be an amazing journey!

My blogs about the Brown Snake and Extreme Hawaii will most likely be posted in November rather than October. Beginning this Thursday, I will be running several fun posts on the meanings of my character’s names. See you then!

Mahalo for visiting!

Cheryl

www.cheryllinnmartin.com

cheryllinnmartin@yahoo.com