If you’re in the Northern California/Sacramento area, I hope you’ll join me tonight at 6:30pm at Face in a Book Bookstore in El Dorado Hills, California as we officially launch my ninja detective series! There’s a signing and reading from CLAWS OF THE CAT, and I’ll also be answering questions about the book. This is my very first signing, and I’m as excited as can be. I hope you can join me there! If not, please check my events page for a signing near you or a blog tour stop (which, fortunately, is close to everyone!). And don’t forget, the
Read moreMonth: July 2013
Tracking the Ninja…on Blog Tour!
We interrupt our normal Wednesday for this CLAWS OF THE CAT launch week blog tour news! (Publishing law wednesdays will return next week, on its regularly scheduled day and time.) You can find me today at Once in A Blue Muse, where I’m talking with LJ Cohen about the importance of book covers – and why mine made me cry. I’m also at Janice Hardy’s The Other Side of the Story, where I’m talking about ninjas – fact vs. fiction, and how I culled the history from the myth when creating my ninja detective Hiro Hattori. And last, but CERTAINLY not
Read moreHAPPY RELEASE DAY, CLAWS OF THE CAT!
TODAY is the official release day for the first Shinobi Mystery, Claws of the Cat (Minotaur Books, 2013)! May 1564: When a samurai is brutally murdered in a Kyoto teahouse, master ninja Hiro has no desire to get involved. But the beautiful entertainer accused of the crime enlists the help of Father Mateo, the Portuguese Jesuit Hiro is sworn to protect, leaving the master shinobi with just three days to find the killer in order to save the girl and the priest from execution. The investigation plunges Hiro and Father Mateo into the dangerous waters of Kyoto’s floating world, where
Read moreI’ve Been Kidnapped!
I should have known better than to trust a woman with a gun and a van…. I’VE BEEN KIDNAPPED! On this, the final day before the release of CLAWS OF THE CAT, I find myself trapped in a secret location and interrogated by an armed woman and a very large dog whose sense of humor doesn’t run to books with kittens in them. Clearly, I have some explaining to do. If you think I’m kidding, follow this link to the secret underground lair of Bayard & Holmes. What you find there may surprise you…
Read moreShinobi News – and a Contest! July 13, 2013
This weekend, the Criminal Element blog is hosting a sneak peek of CLAWS OF THE CAT as well as a giveaway! You can read the first two chapters of the novel here, and leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of the book! The contest runs through July 19, so there’s plenty of time to enter! RELEASE WEEK! CLAWS OF THE CAT releases this coming Tuesday (July 16), and my book tour starts this week! I’ll be in El Dorado Hills (near Sacramento), CA on Thursday July 18 for the official launch party and signing: YOU’RE INVITED!
Read moreCover Reveal: BECOMING JOSEPHINE!
I’m delighted to take part in today’s cover reveal for Heather Webb’s upcoming historical novel, BECOMING JOSEPHINE! Take a look at this gorgeous cover: BECOMING JOSEPHINE is Heather Webb’s debut historical about Napoleon’s empress, a woman in search of eternal love and stability, and ultimately her search for self. It releases December 31, 2013 from Plume/Penguin. Stop by her blog Between the Sheets and leave a comment for a chance to win a $20 gift card to Barnes & Noble or a $20 gift card to Amazon. Pre-order her novel (present a receipt) and you could win a Josephine hand
Read moreThe Mysteries of Miso
Many Westerners consider “miso” synonymous with “soup,” primarily because many of us had our first introduction to this Japanese specialty in that form. But miso isn’t just for soup. Miso is actually a traditional form of seasoning made by fermenting grain or soybeans with a specific fungus (Aspergillus oryzae, or, in Japanese, kojikin). Kojikin is a filamentous fungus … essentially, a mold … which humans first turned to domestic use over 2,000 years ago. In its newly-fermented form, miso is a thick paste which can be used to season various kinds of food. When mixed with soup stock (usually a fish-based
Read moreSummer Scams, Part 2: Scams in Writing Contests
Today we’re continuing our summer series on writing-related scams and how to avoid them with another re-post from early 2012. Remember: a refresher course in scam avoidance keeps your instincts sharp and your writing secure! Last week we talked about unscrupulous agents and publishers. Today we’ll discuss a scam that hides among legitimate opportunities, making itself more difficult to spot. Scam #2: Overreaching in Writing and Poetry Contests. Legitimate writing contests represent valuable opportunities for authors to obtain review and critique of their work. These contests are a real asset to the writing community, and in particular to pre-published authors.
Read moreStarfish on the Reef
Ever since my childhood visits to my great-grandmother’s house on Balboa island, I’ve loved starfish. As a child, I walked the beach on sunny mornings, bucket in hand, collecting the starfish stuck on the sand and returning them to the water. I used a bucket in order to return them all to the water directly in front of my grandmother’s home–on the theory that they would be easier to find and protect the next day if I kept them all together and nearby. (It seemed logical at the time. And no, I never did wonder why they scattered out again
Read moreHow an Author Becomes an Astronaut
Nine years; 500,000 words; one dream; one week to go. The eighteen months since my agent, Sandra, sold my debut novel have passed much faster … and much more slowly … than I imagined. At times the days dragged out with unreal slowness. The time between the sale and publication seemed never-ending. Weeks passed without any word from my editor, and even though those weeks were a normal part of the publishing process, the stretches of silence weighed on my mind like the world on Atlas’s shoulders. At other times, I marveled at how fast the time flew by. I’d
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