Mahina Rises was the winner in the Inspirational/Spiritual (Fiction) category of the 2025 IndieReader Discovery Awards, where undiscovered talent meets people with the power to make a difference.
Following find an interview with author John Blossom.
It is an honor to win this award, but the credit belongs to the many teachers, friends, and colleagues in my life who have encouraged and supported me. The ability to continually learn from art and creativity is a privilege that I hope to have passed along and will never take for granted. Thank you!
What is the name of the book and when was it published?
Mahina Rises published Aug. 28, 2024
What’s the book’s first line?
“Mahina, Daughter, listen carefully. Come to me and learn to fly! Here’s how you do it: Leave doubt and fear outside, even when things seem hopeless.”
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
The shamanistic dreams of Mahina Moemoea, a native Hawaiian teenager living on a ranch in Waimea, were passed down to her on the maternal side of her influential family. Her dreams are compelling but so are the risks of harnessing their energy. The novel explores this spiritual conflict in relationship to Mahina’s tutu, who is symbolic of the older generation’s reluctance to use their power to preserve the environment. As Mahina’s urge to heal the world overcomes her fear of upsetting Tutu, so too does Tutu evolve resulting in a new cooperative energy of optimism and connection with the earth. Much of the novel concerns itself with experiencing and sharing the mana (energy) of the soil and references the haunts and creative spirituality of the Hawaiian goddess, Pele.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
A lucid flying dream I experienced for years as a child. I could dream it any night I wanted until a friend innocently asked me how I did that. After trying to answer him, I couldn’t do it any longer, but I never forgot the dream.
What’s the most distinctive thing about the main character? Who-real or fictional-would you say the character reminds you of?
Kids who grow up on the Island of Hawaii are unusually supportive of each other and their families. They take the concept of aloha to heart and are in tune with the mana of the island. Mahina represents for me all of the children of Hawaii longing for a world that reflects the love and beauty of the island.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
It’s a great adventure story, both in what happens plot-wise and in the journeys of spiritual discovery that all the characters undergo. It will connect you with nature in a manner that is tropical, optimistic, and compelling.
If they made your book into a movie, who would you like to see play the main character(s)?
Someone of Hawaiian descent should play Mahina. My daughter, Lydian Blossom, would do a great job as her teacher, Ms. Reynolds.
When did you first decide to become an author?
I began writing poetry at Carleton College in 1978, but Horse Boys in 2017 was my first novel after a long career as an English and art teacher. I was obsessed with reading and the outdoors from an early age, so writing stories about our relationship with nature comes as naturally to me as digging the soil in my garden.
Is this the first you’ve written?
Since Horse Boys, I have written five young adult novels, a memoir, a how-to book on throwing clay on the potter’s wheel, and a full-length guide for teachers wanting to transition from traditional teaching to project-based learning. I just released To Be, a novel centered around Hamlet, and am currently working on a sequel to Mahina Rises.
What do you do for work when you’re not writing?
I am a retired English and ceramics teacher, but I do manage an organic garden on my property that feeds many in the neighborhood.
How much time do you generally spend on your writing?
I write obsessively when I am hot on a project. Otherwise, I do not set a daily schedule. Instead, I focus on reading as much fiction as I can, not necessarily exclusively in my genre. I typically finish a first draft in three to six months.
What’s the best and the hardest part of being an indie?
The hardest part is realizing that marketing is a skill set that does not develop parallel with the skills of writing. I am fortunate to be able to sell my books at two weekly markets on the Island of Hawaii that reach a large international audience.
Would you go traditional if a publisher came calling? If so, why?
It would have to be a very attractive offer. I am having a blast signing books for dozens of buyers each week at my markets. I am as busy now in my retirement as I was when I was a teacher.
Is there something in particular that motivates you (fame? fortune?)
I write for the excitement of experiencing playful creative ideas that turn into obsession over contributing something worthwhile to the American canon.
Which writer, living or dead, do you most admire?
Presently, Richard Powers. His two recent books, Bewilderment and Playground are important masterpieces. I also admire George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, Haruki Murakami, Anne Patchett, Richard Powers, Madeleine L’Engle, Anne Tyler, Roger Zelazny, many others…
Which book do you wish you could have written?
The above-mentioned Richard Powers books along with The Echo Maker; Brave New World; 1984; A Wrinkle in Time; The Lathe of Heaven; The Patron Saint of Liars; Slade House; Norwegian Wood; and many others…