I’m grateful for many things this holiday season, among them, the opportunity to work with the fabulous team at Seventh Street Books on the next Shinobi mystery (#4!), which is scheduled to release in July 2016.
This week, we may have hit on a title, and I love it! Hopefully I’ll be able to share it publicly very soon. This book is my favorite of Hiro and Father Mateo’s adventures to date, and takes them into the fascinating world Kyoto’s theater guilds. That, and the plot, made this novel unusually difficult to title, though, and I’m delighted that we may have found a perfect fit.
Last week, I also finished the first draft of Shinobi mystery #5–series novels have to be completed about a year before the expected release, so even though #4 isn’t due until summer, I’ll be putting the polishing touches on the next one over the holidays.
This winter, I’ve also got another super-secret project in the works (part of the reason I’m only now completing Shinobi #5), which I hope to be able to share in January.
Looking back at this post, I see lots of “secrets”…but I guess that’s in keeping with the holiday spirit, also.
In lieu of more, I’ll leave you with a shot of the Thanksgiving turkey, post-dinner. (I forgot to take one before we carved it, in all the hungry excitement.)
This was the first time I butterflied the turkey prior to cooking it. (By removing the spine and flattening the bird–some people call it “spatchcocking.”) The bird cooks faster, and more evenly, using this technique–our 24-kb bird needed only 2.5 hours, start to finish!
I hope you had a wonderful, happy Thanksgiving, and wish you a bright, blessed, and hopeful holiday season.