Shannon Muir’s story in the Pro Se Press anthology CRIME DOWN ISLAND, entitled “Tropical Terror,” pulls its inspiration from her time her family lived on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu during Thanksgiving week of 1982. That fateful week would bring Hurricane Iwa, still one of the notable hurricanes to hit the islands, to cause devastation mainly on Kauai but its influence impacted Oahu as well. Since her father served in the U.S. Navy, she chose to write about a character with a Marine background to also draw on her exposure to servicemen in Hawaii in that time period.

Learn more about Hurricane Iwa in this YouTube video from KITV on the 30th anniversary (though the focus is largely on Kauai, which was hit hardest), this article from Hawaii News Now  and this article with detailed information on the hurricane’s path (for reference, Shannon lived near Barbers Point which is referenced in the Oahu section of the article).

Find out more about how living through a real life terror gave birth to a fictional, action-filled mystery in the pages of CRIME DOWN ISLAND – featuring Shannon Muir and five other authors – available now for Kindle, Smashwords, and in print.