T-shirts

Another way to publicize the book, beyond the postcards, is through a logo that I had designed last year. My friend Maury hooked me up with an artist, and the three of us brainstormed the book's title and concept to come up with a visual way to represent it.

It was a fascinating process, thinking about iconography-- the science of symbols and their meanings. There are certain symbols that say "gay"-- the rainbow, the pink triangle. Symbols that say "Hawaii"-- palm trees, leis, the hibiscus flower, volcanoes, surfboards. (Of course these symbols can have other meanings too-- other tropical locations, for example.)

John, the artist, came up with a row of surfboards in rainbow of colors, with the title, Mahu across them, and the book's website, www.mahubooks.com, underneath. It's gorgeous and powerful, and you can read that rainbow as gay if you want, or just read it is a bunch of pretty-colored surfboards.

I've started having some merchandise made up with the logo. Golf shirts (which I can wear to work, to writer's groups meetings, conferences, etc.) t-shirts, a sleeveless T I can wear to walk the dog. Labels and boxer shorts & other junk that I can give away as promotions, too. I set up a site at cafepress.com where anyone can buy the stuff, too.