Authors Interviewing Characters: Tori Eldridge Interviews Ranger Makalani Pahukula

Kaua‘i Storm

Returning to Kaua‘i, park ranger Makalani finds her family divided and their way of life at risk in this culturally-rich and emotional adventure by the bestselling author of the Lily Wong series.

After ten years away as a national park ranger in Oregon, Makalani Pahukula has come back to Kaua‘i for her grandmother’s birthday celebration. But she struggles to connect with her people and feels detached from their values, simpler way of life and slower pace. And she’s worried by the news that her cousins—a failed college football player and a rebellious teenage girl—have gone missing.

Makalani hopes they just ran off for fun, but when hunters find a dead body in the Keālia Forest Reserve, she fears something ominous is at play. Making use of her ranger tracking and survival skills, she embarks on a search, although facing resistance from the locals and her own family. Makalani discovers that in her pursuit of the truth, the investigation opens her heart, reawakens her love for the land she calls home, and strengthens her bond with her family. Because no matter how long she’s been away, for Makalani, Hawai‘i is in her blood.

Author Tori Eldridge interviews Ranger Makalani Pahukula:

TE: Aloha mai, Makalani. Mahalo for inviting me to kayak with you.

MP: Na‘u ka hau‘oli. You know what that means?

TE: (I nod.) The pleasure is mine.

Ranger Makalani Pahukula smiles as she digs her kayak paddle between the orange hibiscus floating in Wailua River’s green water. She’s nearly six feet tall so her reach and the power in her stroke is farther and stronger than mine. At five foot three with several more decades in age, I have to paddle more frequently to keep up with her pace.

MP: My tūtū would be so happy to know you speak ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i in your daily life.

TE: Only a little, I’m afraid. But more since I have met you and your grandmother.

MP: Isn’t she amazing? Tūtū is the keeper of our traditions, not only for our ‘ohana, but for our Anahola community as well. She’s been my cultural touchstone all my life, even when I lived in Colorado for college and ranger training.

TE: Why did you want to become a ranger?

Makalani rests her paddle across her legs and opens her arms to the river, mountains, and the tangled mangrove trees overflowing from the bank.

MP: Mālama i ka ‘āina. Mālama ka ‘āina iā kākou.

TE: (I smile.) Care for the land. The land cares for us.

MP: Exactly! This is where I am happiest, not only in the forests on Kaua‘i, but in all forests, including the ones in Crater Lake National Park where I work.

TE: But you’re also a Federal law enforcement officer.

MP: Yeah. It gives me more options than just visitor interface.

TE: (I raise a brow.) You didn’t want to give tours?

MP: (Laughs.) I’m a little more adventurous than that. (She paddles again.) Law enforcement rangers are also tasked with keeping visitors and the inhabitants—human and animal—safe. I do search and rescue and make arrests. I’ve even participated in manhunts and drug busts on Federal land. What I enjoy most is working outside.

TE: Have you thought of moving home?

MP: Wait, did Māmā put you up to this interview?

TE: What? No. I mean, she may have mentioned something about Hawai‘i’s beautiful national parks.

Makalani splashes my kayak with her paddle and laughs. Birds fly from the trees.

MP: Something, huh? Like how much closer I would be to her, Pāpā, and everyone else on Tūtū’s homestead?

TE: She may have also mentioned how much you like to harvest kalo and help her pound poi.

MP: And?

TE: And how she could keep tabs on you so you would never, ever risk your life again.

MP: (Shakes her head.) That’s not who I am. Family means everything to me. If my ‘ohana is in danger, I will always put them first.

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Tori Eldridge is the bestselling author of the newly re-released Lily Wong mystery thriller series—The Ninja Daughter, The Ninja’s Blade, The Ninja Betrayed, and The Ninja’s Oath—as well as a two-time Anthony Award nominee, Lefty and Macavity Awards finalist, and winner of the 2021 Crimson Scribe Award for Best Book of the Year. In addition to novels, Tori’s short stories have been featured in numerous anthologies, including the Anthony Award winning MWA anthology Crime Hits Home. Born and raised in Honolulu—of Hawaiian, Chinese, and Norwegian descent—she lived in New York and Los Angeles before settling in Portland, Oregon, where her mo‘opuna (grandchildren) live. Kaua‘i Storm is the first of her new Ranger Makalani Pahukula Mysteries.

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: Interviews, On Writing