Sahana Baker,17, the youngest conference attendee,
gets an autograph from John Saul.
Photo by George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin

"(Author) Barbara Kingsolver has said if you're a writer you have a compulsion to write; if someone chops off your hands you'll write in blood," says Chalsa Loo. "Nothing will stop you from putting words on a page."

Loo, 40, a clinical psychologist from Honolulu, is among more than 800 wannabe authors, unpublished writers and the writing-career obsessed at the fourth annual Maui Writers Conference where, through today, such notable authors as John Saul, screenwriters Babaloo Mandel and Lowell Ganz, and director-screenwriter Ron Howard are doling out advice and inspiration in dozens of workshops and seminars.

The simple, clear message throughout the dawn-to-dusk gatherings: Just do it.

"I heard first hand how hard it is to be published and how long it can take," says Honolulu attorney Daphne Barbee Wooten, 41, who had attended a session by author Ann Rule.

"Here's this fabulous crime writer and she explains how it took her several novels before ever getting published."

Wooten doesn't plan to quit her law career. She's at the conference to enhance her lawyer-writing ability. But she smiles widely when asked if she would like to be the female John Grisham.

"Oh, wouldn't that be nice because there aren't too many women lawyers/authors who have reached Grisham's stature," she says. "I'm going to try."

At a nearby table, Peter Anthony of Kauai is thumbing through his three-inch thick, 450-page, red-bound historical novel entitled "Alii" that he says "corrects the misinformation, misrepresentation and over- and under-statements" of James Michener's novel "Hawaii."

Anthony owns a magic shop called Kauai Magic but his real love is writing.

"There's 30 years of research here and this is just volume one," says the chain-smoking Anthony. "I've finished the second one and have three more to go."

He is particularly happy because of a conversation he says he had earlier with director Ron Howard. "He told me to send ("Alii") to him as soon as I can, that he has been looking for something like this for years. And if the Howard thing falls through, I have Kevin Costner and Penny Marshall interested."

Peter Anthony of Kauai has written a historical novel that's 450 pages long and that's just volume one. With him is fellow aspiring author Carolyn Thompson, also of Kauai.
Photo by George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin

"What I have here," says Haupt, 48, slapping his manuscript, "is a 14-year study of the definite correlation between diet and the people who get arthritis. I've been told by a New York publisher that this is a tremendous idea. I'm here to deal."

Upcountry Maui resident Merlyn Hermes, 20, who last May finished her first novel, "Staying Out of the Sun," is near panic.

The Reed College graduate, who describes the novel as "literary women's fiction with a magical realism slant," is here to have her book critiqued by an agent.

But she's misplaced her work and the receipt to show that she's paid for the evaluation.

"Where is it, did you see it, did I have it when I talked to you?" an agitated Hermes says during her search. She finds her stuff in a conference room just in time for the critique session.

This conference is Big Island koa logger Theodore Gomes' third. He took up writing three years ago at age 59.

"It's is the most inspiring gathering I've ever been to," says Gomes who has completed one novel, "The Left Hand of God," yet to be published. "They tell me I need to polish my grammar. See, I'm not real educated, high school graduate but just a little college."

Being around working authors inspires Gomes who writes at night after a long day of logging.

"You know, even if I only write a half hour, I get such a good feeling of accomplishment."

Aiea's Doris Wolfe, a "holistic transpersonal psychotherapist," closed her practice four years ago to write about her family's life in "Elder Story."

"It's a romance between my husband and me and our children with some poetry," she says. "Writing is a compelling passion for me because I must leave a legacy about our family values and love that came from several generations of Okinawans."

Kailua resident Kevin Williams, 19, is a bit star struck by the celebrity writers.

"You see all these people who are like idols in films and books and they're so approachable here. You can talk to them just as people and they talk back to you with respect because they understand what it's like just starting out."

At age 17, Sahana Baker, a senior at Maui High School, is the conference's youngest participant. Her short story, "Just Before Dawn," about the life struggles of a young Indian girl, won her a scholarship to the conference.

"I've been writing ever since I could hold a pen," Baker says. "It's my way of telling people how I feel, maybe how to get through some situations."

She's almost finished a book about a girl who must care for her family after the mother dies.

"I want to find some ways to write more efficiently, be less wordy, get to the point more quickly. I have lots of time because I'm young. But I want to make sure I'm doing things the right way. See this is what I want to do with my life. I want to be a writer."

The winners in the professional/public balloting portion of the 1996 Ka Palapala Po'okela Hawaii Book Awards are:

The 1996 Samuel Kamakau Award for Hawaii Book of the Year: "Kaho'olawe: Na Leo O Kanaloa" compiled by Rowland Reeve (Ai Pohaku Press)

Excellence in Children's Books: "How the B-52 Cockroach Learned to Fly" by Lisa MatsumotoLehua Inc.

Excellence in Illustrative or Photographic Books: "Kaho'olawe: Na Leo O Kanaloa" compiled by Rowland Reeve (Ai Pohaku Press)

Excellence in Literature: "Folktales of Hawai'i, He Mau Ka'ao Hawai'i" by Mary Kawena Pukui and Laura C.S. Green (Bishop Museum Press)

Excellence in Hawaiian Culture: "Kaho'olawe: Na Leo O Kanaloa" compiled by Rowland Reeve (Ai Pohaku Press)

Excellence in Specialty or Guide Editions: "With Sam Choy: Cooking From the Heart" by Sam Choy (Mutual Publishing)