Tom’s new novel, Mauna Kea: A Novel of Hawaiʻi will be released on October 10 and is already available at some Hawaiʻi bookstores and on internet booksellers all across the globe.  TOM’S EVENT CALENDAR APPEARS BELOW.

This literary adventure is a gripping tale of clashing passions—science and spirituality, vengeance and compassion, fear and courage—set atop 14,000-foot Mauna Kea, realm of revered goddesses and star-wise explorers. It’s a heart-opening novel that illuminates the power of aloha in an age of polarization and violence.

A young vagabond running from America’s turmoil is forced to confront his own grief and rage on an embattled holy mountain in the Pacific.  There he encounters a mysterious domain of ancient mountain deities and the Native Hawaiians who revere them, including two wise elders who take him under their wings and a young woman with a world-weary heart akin to his own.  Through his startling experiences with them—and a motley cadre of other islanders—he learns the power of aloha and discovers an untapped reservoir of faith and courage that rekindles his hope in himself and in the world we share.

The book includes beautiful pen-and-ink illustrations by renowned nature artist John D. Dawson and evocative cover art by longtime Hawaiʻi Island oil painter Catherine Robbins.

Mauna Kea is available as a trade paperback and in all e-book formats. For more information about the novel, please visit this page on Tom’s website.

Book Tour Events for Mauna Kea: A Novel of Hawaiʻi

Tom has a four-island book tour planned and will be a featured author at this fall’s Hawaiʻi Book and Music Festival (October 20-22) at the UH-Manoa campus, and he already has in-person bookstore events scheduled on the Big Island. He’s also appearing at two Minnesota literary events, including a book signing at the renowned Twin Cities Book Festival (October 14) at the State Fairgrounds.

To schedule a virtual or in-person event, author interview, or podcast, please contact Tom’s Hawaiʻi publicist or his literary agent.

2023 CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Mauna Kea: A Novel of Hawaiʻi

October 8 (2:00 p.m.) –  Reading at Moon Palace Books in Minneapolis *Moon Palace event POSTPONED to early 2024*

October 14 (1:00 p.m – 2:00 p.m.) – Book signing at the Twin Cities Book Festival, at David Unowsky’s Table in the Progress Center, which is located at the northeast corner of the fairgrounds

October 22 (10:00 – 11:00 a.m.) – “New Fiction” panel at the Hawaiʻi Book and Music Festival in the Law School building on the UH-Manoa campus (book signing follows the event)

October 26 (5:30-6:30 p.m.) – Book signing during the Hawaiʻi Book and Music Festival’s gala fundraising celebration in the Orvis Auditorium on the UH-Manoa campus

October 28 (2:00 p.m.) – Reading at Basically Books in Hilo

November 6 (3:00 p.m. HST and now available online) – Tom interviewed by Kainoa Carlson on Hawai’i News Now’s “HI Now Daily” weekday program in Honolulu

November 7 (6:00 p.m.) – Reading for “Wine and Words” at Kona Stories in Keauhou

November 16 (6:00 – 7:30 p.m.) – Reading at the Volcano Art Center on VAC’s Niaulani Campus in Volcano Village (Dietrich Varez Hall)

November 24 (10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m) – Book signing at the Volcano Art Center gallery in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park during the Art Center’s annual Christmas in the Country festivities

November 25 (10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m) – Book signing at the Volcano Art Center gallery in Volcano Village at the Art Center’s Niaulani Campus during their Christmas in the Country festivities and the annual Volcano Village Artists Hui studio sale

January 9 (6:00 p.m.) – Meeting with the Kona Stories Fiction Book Club at the bookstore in Keauhou

Early praise for the novel

“A compelling, entertaining story that encompasses ancient Hawaiian concepts and American thought patterns. The authentic characters are perfect. It’s a Hawaiian cultural primer, a gift that lifts the spirits high! ʻIolanaʻoe! (You soar like a hawk!)” – Kaluna West, Native Hawaiian artist, educator, and former Kahoʻolawe activist

 “An authentic, eye-opening novel that lifts the veil on the ancient traditions and modern political intrigues that underlie the longstanding controversy over telescopes on Mauna Kea.” – Nelson Ho, longtime Sierra Club and Mauna Kea activist

“This is fiction based on fact, about different people’s lives and how the mountain influences them. The authenticity of the tensions in Hawaiʻi—the range from rage to aloha—is spot on. It’s a story that needs to be told.”  – Moses Kealamakia, Native Hawaiian artist with ancient family ties to Mauna Kea

“Peek’s compelling and deftly woven plot lines, keen sense of pacing, and finely-etched, authentic characters combine to bring to life the world of the Mauna Kea Protectors Movement while also offering a particularly intimate perspective on those who trace their ancestry to this sacred mountain. His down-to-earth storytelling voice speaks to a broad audience—national, global, and local—no small feat.” – Susan Najita, University of Michigan Associate Professor of Literature and Asian/Pacific Islander American Studies

“In this age of countless battles, whether over indigenous resources in the Americas or territory in Ukraine, here’s a novel that offers a deeper way to think about conflict, a hopeful book sorely needed in these often-disheartening times.” – Michael Osmera PhD, Retired cultural anthropologist from Linfield University in Oregon

To see additional praise please visit the novel’s praise page of Tom’s website.

About the author

An award-winning novelist and acclaimed writing teacher, Tom Peek lived his early life on Minnesota’s Upper Mississippi River.  After hitchhiking by boat through the South Seas, he settled on Hawaiʻi Island three decades ago.  There he’s been, among other things, an astronomy and mountain guide on Mauna Kea, an eruption ranger and exhibit writer on Kilauea, and an insider participant in the efforts to protect both sacred volcanoes.

The Contemporary Pacific Journal has called Peek “a storyteller extraordinaire, cut from an older cloth seldom seen today.”

Maile Meyer, founder of Native Books/Nā Mea Hawaiʻi, said after reading Tom’s first novel, Daughters of Fire, “Peek’s understanding of place, culture, and current issues is deep and respectful without being heavy-handed.”

Poet Jaime Jacinto, author of Heaven Is Just Another Country, says “Tom Peek is an organic intellectual in the tradition of Mark Twain.”

About the publisher

www.allnightbooks.com

All Night Books is a new fiction imprint of Easton Studio Press, publisher of more than 150 titles of all kinds since 2003. Its aim is to publish novels that will keep you up all night and is committed to well-written books that tell great stories, engage readers deeply on multiple levels, and help us see ourselves in new ways.

David Wilk, longtime publisher, editor, publishing consultant, poet, and podcaster springs from a family of three generations of writers and artists. He describes himself as an optimist and an “advocate for changing our relationships to the natural world and to each other.”