A few months ago there was buzz on my twitter timeline about Pasifika author, Lani Wendt Young and her YA book series, Telesa Trilogy ('Telesa: The Covenant Keeper', 'When Water Burns', 'The Bone Bearer'). So when it dawned on me 2 weeks ago that I needed to find a new book to read, I decided to look more into Lani's book series and little did I know that I would be heading down the path of becoming a Telesa enthusiast.
The first place I visited was her blog, Sleepless in Samoa, which is a daily chronicle to her life and her journey in writing her series. I was captivated by her posts dedicated to character insights and analysis that before I knew it I was on Amazon.com ordering the 1st and 2nd book of her trilogy. The really comical part was that I was so eager to receive my books that the day I received them I literally walked in the door to my condo, seen they had arrived, opened them up and sat down delved immediately into reading.
Reviewer, Ann Morgan, summarized so perfectly my experience while reading books one and two, "Lani has the knack of weaving traditions into the narrative without making their inclusion and explanation feel worthy or forced. An enjoyable and engrossing book with a gripping story that whips the reader along. The depiction of Leila's struggles with identity, sexuality and society's expectation will resonate with teens and ex-teens all over the world while its warm portrayal of Samoan culture gives it a character all its own."**
While becoming enthralled by Leila's story and her love for her soul mate & all around 'good boy', Daniel while at the same time discovering this new and unfamiliar and unwanted drawn attraction to 'bad boy' Keahi I could not help but do what all of us do when we read. I let my mind wander. I began to create my visions for these characters and how they dressed, what fashions suit them best, and instantly I knew I had to do this post. Not only for the mere fact of introducing to you a FANTASTIC new author that I am now a huge fan of but for the obvious; highlight the various fashions and ensembles I pictured the love triangle wearing.
To help give more of an established "face" to the three main characters Lani and her team have recruited the following models to represent each main character (although I do have to state for the record that they haven't officially "chosen" the Keahi character pictured):
Now having a visual of a face, character background from the books it was almost instantaneous that I put on my "stylist" hat and the following character inspiration boards were curated:
The first place I visited was her blog, Sleepless in Samoa, which is a daily chronicle to her life and her journey in writing her series. I was captivated by her posts dedicated to character insights and analysis that before I knew it I was on Amazon.com ordering the 1st and 2nd book of her trilogy. The really comical part was that I was so eager to receive my books that the day I received them I literally walked in the door to my condo, seen they had arrived, opened them up and sat down delved immediately into reading.
Reviewer, Ann Morgan, summarized so perfectly my experience while reading books one and two, "Lani has the knack of weaving traditions into the narrative without making their inclusion and explanation feel worthy or forced. An enjoyable and engrossing book with a gripping story that whips the reader along. The depiction of Leila's struggles with identity, sexuality and society's expectation will resonate with teens and ex-teens all over the world while its warm portrayal of Samoan culture gives it a character all its own."**
While becoming enthralled by Leila's story and her love for her soul mate & all around 'good boy', Daniel while at the same time discovering this new and unfamiliar and unwanted drawn attraction to 'bad boy' Keahi I could not help but do what all of us do when we read. I let my mind wander. I began to create my visions for these characters and how they dressed, what fashions suit them best, and instantly I knew I had to do this post. Not only for the mere fact of introducing to you a FANTASTIC new author that I am now a huge fan of but for the obvious; highlight the various fashions and ensembles I pictured the love triangle wearing.
To help give more of an established "face" to the three main characters Lani and her team have recruited the following models to represent each main character (although I do have to state for the record that they haven't officially "chosen" the Keahi character pictured):
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Now having a visual of a face, character background from the books it was almost instantaneous that I put on my "stylist" hat and the following character inspiration boards were curated:
Products (Clockwise): Alexis Bittar Earrings/ Mena Strapless Dress/ Alexis Bittar cocktail ring/ Charlotte Olympia Heels/ Current Elliott Shorts/ TopShop Tooth Pendant/ASOS 'Love is the Answer' Tee/ Alaia Leather Cut-out Flat Sandals
I'd love to hear your feedback after reading book one and two as to whether I nailed it with the ensembles. Trust me, you will be finished in less than a matter of a few days because that's just how spell bounding this story is. I'm anxiously awaiting Lani's release of the 'The Bone Bearer' but rumor has it we might have to wait a little while longer because a novella of Daniel's version of the story is soon to be released first...
*Photo Credit of main characters: Sleepless in Samoa
**Reviewer Comments: Text from 'When Water Burns'
Products (Clockwise): Ralph Lauren Polo/ Citizens of Humanity Denim/ Billy Reid for K-Swiss Sneakers/ Rugby by Ralph Lauren Dress shirt/ MOMO by Adi Koila Ganilau Shorts/ J. Crew Flip flops
Products (Clockwise): AllSaints Spitalfields Tee/ Rick Owens Beanie/ YSL Tuxedo Dress shirt/ YSL Classic Tuxedo/ YSL Patent Leather Shoes/ JBrand Denim/ Rick Owens Sneakers
I'd love to hear your feedback after reading book one and two as to whether I nailed it with the ensembles. Trust me, you will be finished in less than a matter of a few days because that's just how spell bounding this story is. I'm anxiously awaiting Lani's release of the 'The Bone Bearer' but rumor has it we might have to wait a little while longer because a novella of Daniel's version of the story is soon to be released first...
*Photo Credit of main characters: Sleepless in Samoa
**Reviewer Comments: Text from 'When Water Burns'
Love this! What a fab idea to put together fashion visions for each character. Can i just say that Im crazy about Keahi's wardrobe here? No fair - he gets WAAAY nicer outfits than Daniel, LOL. But defn true to the book because (poor) Daniel is always wearing "ragged shorts" and shirtless so yeah, hes not known for his fashion sense...
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for reading my post! It means a lot to me that you the author liked my post inspired by your amazing work. I honestly thought about Daniel's board the most, but realized I had to reel my imagination back in because I wanted to stay true to his character :) I seriously can't wait for Daniel's novella and especially for the third book in the trilogy! xo
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