M for Mele

Ronin Blue was raised as somewhat of a mama’s boy and had only left his state of California one time. Thus, inspired by the adventure writers of the early 20th century, he embarked on a two-year volunteer mission teaching reading to children in a Samoan village soon after he graduated college. Blue was a very good piano player and often played with his cello-playing prodigy best friend throughout his youth. When she passed away, Blue is haunted by her apparent suicide that follows him to Samoa. Blue’s naivety of village life also leads the young man into several adventures. These includes life-threatening events such as a shark attack, fish poisoning, and natural disasters. Perhaps the biggest undertaking was that he unexpectedly fathered a daughter with a village woman. Blue and his daughter’s unusual relationship becomes the impetus of the story as he brings her to the United States and tries to raise her on his own. The story heartwarmingly examines the themes of guilt, love, cultural differences, father and daughter relationship and the controversy pursuit of success.

Author Biography

Brandon Oswald is a native Southern Californian who has never lived far from the ocean. He became fascinated with stories of adventure in the South Seas at an early age. His interest in the culture and history of the Pacific Islands was heightened by a volunteer trip to Rarotonga, Cook Islands in 2002. There he had the privilege of organizing and cataloging the material of several different kinds of libraries throughout the island. In 2008 he founded and became the Executive Director/Archivist of the non-profit organization Island Culture Archival Support (ICAS). This organization provides voluntary archival assistance to cultural heritage organizations throughout the Pacific Islands. Brandon currently lives in the mountains of Southern California with his wife.