Best-selling Australian author Di Morrissey's books are rooted in particular places, from the alluring Great Barrier Reef to exotic Guyana, and the inspiration for her newest novel isn't any different.

"What more beautiful landscape than Hawai'i?" she asked, with a charming Aussie accent.

The former Honolulu resident returned to Hawai'i in September for the first time in 30 years to do research on her latest novel, "The Islands" — and the visit brought back memories of her stint in the public eye as a TV talk-show host and occasional "Hawaii Five-O" walk-on actor.

As for her novel, it's scheduled to be published next fall — though she still doesn't know exactly where the plot will take her.

Her background work has included visiting the Bishop Museum to delve into Hawaiian history and trekking around the Big Island to learn more about Capt. James Cook.

"You can't write about a place if you haven't walked there and talked to people, smelled the air and looked at the colors (of the place)," said Morrissey, who has written 15 best-sellers.

The novel will probably follow an Australian character and his adventures in the Islands in the present day, with some flashbacks to earlier eras.

"I generally manage to weave in my novels threads of historical as well as contemporary (subjects)," Morrissey said. "I take a fictional story and place it against a factual background."

HAWAI'I TIES

For Morrissey, writing comes as naturally as breathing, she said.

Her knack for penning page-turning novels may stem from her own life adventures. Morrissey worked as a newspaper editor in London during the "swinging '60s." She also traveled with her husband, who served in the Foreign Service, between Washington, D.C., and postings in Singapore, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia and Guyana.

She holds close to her heart the four years she lived in Hawai'i in the early 1970s. During that period, her husband earned his master's degree from the University of Hawai'i-Manoa.

"It holds probably my most happy memories," said Morrissey, who came to Hawai'i as a young bride. It was here that she gave birth to her daughter and became a U.S. citizen.

Morrissey worked as a host for KGMB's "Free For All Morning Movie Time," a TV talk show that aired before the station's mid-day movie.

Guests included Christine Jorgensen, one of the first to undergo a sex change, and Col. Harland Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken, a "true Southern gentleman" who wouldn't divulge his secret recipe.

"It was live TV," Morrissey said. "Some guests were unpredictable, to say the least, or I was technically challenged by a microphone dropping into my underwear on camera."

She recalled Jorgensen — the sex-change celebrity — being more frank than Morrissey — or viewers — expected.

As for "Hawaii Five-O," she called it a "terrific experience." She reminisced about the show's star, Jack Lord, being "a very lovely man."

While the Hawai'i that Morrissey remembers has changed drastically, she's grateful for what remains.

"It still retains, which is wonderful, that 'Aloha Spirit,' the softness of the trade winds, and just that very special ambience," she said. "You just breathe the air and you know you're in Hawai'i."

'THE ISLANDS'

Morrisey's books, which have sold millions of copies, often mix adventure, mystery and romance. But don't bother asking her for any juicy details about "The Islands" — yet.

"Oh, I have no idea at this point," she said.

Morrissey is still sorting through research she's done at places such as the University of Hawai'i and Hanauma Bay, covering issues including politics, tourism, surfing, the local film industry and environmental conservation.

Possible ideas for her book come from everywhere, she said.

"While the core of the story comes out of the landscape, if you read the morning paper every morning, there's at least four novels," Morrissey said, laughing. "Life is stranger than fiction, as they say."

And she gets more ideas from just talking to strangers, such as a group of Native Hawaiians she interviewed at Kapi'olani Park and young paniolo she met on the Big Island.

"I talk to people because everybody has got a story," she said. "When people have time to sit down and 'yarn,' as we say in Australia, then they'll probably end up in the book in one form or another."

After returning to Australia to begin writing "The Islands," Morrissey will create a character and follow his lead as he embarks on his journey through paradise.

"My stories are like braiding," Morrissey said. "You have various strands that braid together and seem to tie up towards the end."

Reach Zenaida Serrano at zserrano@honoluluadvertiser.com.