Jasmin Hakes asked Kawai Strong Washburn:

Wow, just ordered - so excited to read this, and congratulations! Similarly, I was born and raised in Hilo, and have a book coming out next spring that's based there. I'm curious about so many things about your book and your journey, would love to talk story. For now, how deeply did you go into researching the myths you incorporated into the story (assuming you did, since I haven't gotten ahold of my copy)?

Kawai Strong Washburn It's interesting, because during some of the early drafts, I wanted to let myself be free to create new mythology as necessary, so I didn't rely much on research. But as I entered later drafts, I wanted to validate those mythologies against the historical record; in most cases, what I'd written lined up very closely. I assume that was just an indication that I was drawing largely on things I'd internalized during my childhood, but it lent a sense of serendipity and resonance to the creative process. It made me feel like bigger things were at work in the creative process.

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