‘Words and Wine Event’ in Kona on April 4

Kona Stories courtesy photo.

Kona Stories Book Store will host their monthly Words and Wine Event on April 4, at 6 p.m., featuring some of Kona’s outstanding authors with complimentary pūpū and wine.

This month’s featured authors are M.W. Lilly, Peter Lester and Patricia Leo.

The event begins at 6 p.m. with an informal meet-and-greet, followed by a more formal book presentation from each author as well as a Q&A session. Attire is casual aloha wear.

For more information, call Brenda or Joy at (808) 324-0350.

Courtesy of Kona Stories Book Store.

M.W. Lilly

M.W. Lilly’s passion for writing began during her youth in California in an attempt to make sense of the turbulent years of counterculture and political strife that plagued the sixties, as well as her family’s alcoholism. After high school, she earned an undergraduate degree and went on to pursue a Master’s in Clinical Psychology at San Francisco State University. She moved to South Kona in 1978 where she has continued to live, pursuing her love of writing and working as a therapist with West Hawaiʻi families.

Her book, Eyes of a Valley Girl, illustrates the fantasy world that sustained M.W. Lilly’s troubled adolescence at home as well as the turbulent society of the 1960s, and her attempts to navigate and make sense of it all.

Courtesy of Kona Stories Book Store.

Peter Lester

Peter Lester is a retired college professor credited with the writing of a number of technical publications, including textbooks. Lester plunged into fiction writing and is quick to admit that storytelling is a whole new challenge that he fully embraces.

His novel, Out of the Shadows and Into the Fire, follows a high school sophomore named Josh Mayer who lives in the shadow of his successful and athletic older brother. Josh’s parents are dissatisfied with his grades, after-school jobs and his interest in cycling instead of team sports. After meeting a fellow student with some troubles of her own, Josh is roused into a summer biking trip to prove that cycling is a challenging sport he is good at. The longer-than-planned journey takes him on a journey he could never imagine, and returns him home to his life where he’ll find his family, friends, school and a few surprises.

Courtesy of Kona Stories Book Store.

Patricia Leo

Patricia Leo is an author and painter who has lived on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi for many years. Her home studio is nestled in a vibrant rainforest where she drew the inspiration for a children’s storybook.

The book is called Little One, and follows a day in the life of a mouse who lives with his family on a country homestead in Hawaiʻi. Readers get a look at the world through his eyes and heart as he makes his way through life. But they also get a reassuring message that everyone is able to find a way to peace.