16 May 2006

American Samoan launches first novel in New Zealand

7:22 pm on 16 May 2006

An American Samoan author Mark Kneubuhl is in New Zealand to launch his first novel that draws on his real life experiences on a Pacific island.

Titled "The Smell of the Moon", the book was published by Huia and launched in Auckland this week.

Mark Kneubuhl says it's a story about an American family which decides to give up life in the fast lane to move to a fictional island called Halakula.

"There are so many many similarities with all the Pacific Islands. Yes, everything is a cross between this and that. I even threw in a few words that could've been Tongan or are Samoan in the book and some of our Polynesian readers would pick up on. It's meant to be generic."

Mark Kneubuhl says he is now writing a sequel to the book.