Author's Bio

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Moani Lewis, aka Ruby Moani Goonetilleke, was born and raised in Hawaii, sixth born child, fifth in rank of six living girls. She was raised inside of the 2x2 cult, called ‘The Truth’ by insiders. Her sisters and mother are all still currently inside, despite the fact that the cult is under ongoing FBI investigation regarding money laundering, child sex assault and child trafficking among other allegations.

Moani was raised in extreme poverty and faced brutal abuse of all kinds. She has also proudly survived starvation, being unhoused for extended periods, drug and alcohol addiction, domestic violence, eating disorders, several car accidents, and many random accidents including falling off a roof and being electrocuted by a high voltage electric fence. It's been an interesting life, and yes those stories are being published soon.

Moani worked as a ginger picker, babysitter, housecleaner, exotic dancer, server, prep cook, caregiver and bartender prior to graduating college. She put herself through school at UCSB and earned her degree in Psychology while a working single mom.

After graduating college she began her occupation as Executive Director of a small local non-profit senior center, then moved on as Director of a Specialty Secured Dementia Care Unit, then as Community Relations Director at an Assisted Living Facility. It is now time to begin her journey as author, the occupation that has called her since words first enchanted her.

She turned her focus back to love and family in her mid thirties, reuniting with her husband and combining his family and hers through the birth of their shared youngest child.

The next ten years were perhaps her hardest, facing marriage issues, leaving the cult for good, facing shunning and separation from her entire family including her eldest child, all while the covid pandemic happened and the world shut down, leaving her with next to no resources to navigate her shattering world.

Things have started looking brighter in patches, but the bright bits are always there, in even the darkest of moments, if we just look in the right direction with the right perspective.

On September 7th of 2025, her husband was swiped off Hwy 154 by a negligent driver who entered the lane he was occupying, nearly amputating his leg and almost killing him. While she sat at his bedside, afraid for his life, she was faced with the reality that he would not be able to provide for their little family for quite some time, if ever again. The team of specialists first doubted he would live, then doubted he would keep the leg.

He continues to recover, and though there is still three and half inches of bone missing from his tight tibia, his leg is healing and his team of specialists expect him to make a full recovery after an approximately year long journey of healing.

This has spurred her on to finally publish her first book, ‘Tukican Learns How to Fly,’ a whimsical, lyrical children's book with calming tropical drawings. It is about an awkward little bird who thinks he cannot fly until he learns that he can, which is how the author happened to feel about publishing this book.