Monthly Archives: March 2014

One Step Closer

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SigningSheetImage2They have arrived. The signing sheets for the PS Publishing edition of To Break the Demon Gate, that is. There will actually be two PS editions: a 100 copy signed edition, and an unsigned edition of maybe 3-5 hundred. I will have to sign more than 100 copies of the sheet, of course. They always allow a little for spoilage and the fact that people can get really sloppy with their signatures. They’ll pick the 100 best ones and use those for the books. So if you get one and are shocked by my horrible handwriting, just consider–this is the best I could do.

To acknowledge this festive (for me, anyway) occasion, I’ve decided to put a few of my Kindle(r) books on sale. For the time being, All The Gates of Hell, The Heavenly Fox, and The Ghost War are now at $0.99, down from $2.99 and $3.99. I’m not sure how long I’ll keep them there. Probably not long–I feel so cheap when I do this, so if you’re going to take advantage of me, now’s the time.

Edited to add: And I’ve thrown in a few more, what the heck. You can see which ones by going to the Kindle List.

Letting Go

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WRITING 02I’ve written stand-alone books and stories and series books and stories. One advantage I’m finding with the stand-alone books/stories is that it’s easier to move on. Rather like the emotional difference between a brief fling and a long-term relationship. Note that this has nothing to do with either the quality or the emotional impact of a stand-alone book versus a series on the reader. I’m talking more about the length of time one spends in the headspace of a particular character or set of characters, and then one day, poof, you know you’re not going to be going there anymore. That’s the effect on the writer.

Some of you may have read a couple of my Eli Mothersbaugh ghost hunter stories. I wrote the first one, “Wrecks,” back in 1996. I wrote the last one (or rather I finished the last one, since it went through several iterations), “Diva,” in 2006. I’d spent ten years in Eli’s head, and when I finally realized that the story I was revising for the umpteenth time was going to be the last one, it was more than a little depressing. See, I liked Eli, and I liked reading about what he’d been up to, which was why I was writing those stories in the first place. Or to paraphrase The Most Interesting Man in the World (srysly?), “I don’t always write series, but when I do, they are not open-ended.” There’s always an overall story arc, even if I don’t realize what it is from the beginning. I finally realized that “Diva,” had left Eli in a good place, and he wasn’t inclined to budge from it. I haven’t written a new one in five years, so I must have been right.

Knowing where I’ve been, series wise, tells me where I’m going. The Laws of Power series, currently including The Long Look and Black Kath’s Daughter should eventually reach to four books, but that’s it. When I write the last one, Marta’s story will be told. I know I’ll grieve a little when that happens, since I’ve been writing about the character since 1994. The same thing will happen eventually with Lord Yamada. I’ll reach a point when I’ll know I’m done–or that he’s done–and that will be that. And it’s going to hurt a little when that happens. Yes, I know that none of those characters are real, but they were as real as I could make them.

The end has to sting at least a little bit, or I didn’t do my job.

TCB, No Flash

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WRITING 02Last week I signed the official contracts for the first American edition of Yamada Monogatari: To Break the Demon Gate. The title will be shorter in the UK limited edition, since for them it’s a single book, but to Prime it’s the second book in a series. Assuming the stars align and nothing blows up, I should see the contracts for the third book—Yamada Monogatari: The War God’s Son sometime next month. I say “should” advisedly, because nothing IS signed yet and the stars might not align and something may very well blow up. I will point out here that I am not being pessimistic at all, merely realistic. Books may be imagination and dreams given corporeal form (and is that a neat trick or what?) but publishing is a business, and when it comes to business, being realistic is the order of the day.

I could be wrong, and often am—but I think it was Mike Resnick who first said “Writing is art until the piece is finished. Then it’s a business.” Selling a piece—short story, poem, novel, whatever—is just the first step in that business. It’s a tricky first step for a lot of people, which in part explains why so many go to self-publishing from the start. That works for some people, and there’s no denying it. Good for them. For most, however, it just means that it’s not the editors who are rejecting them now, but rather the readers who get to do it later. I can’t imagine that delayed anguish feels any better than the more immediate sort. And it lasts longer. Regardless, for the traditional route, it’s the initial acceptance that brings the stardust and trumpets. Contract time, on the other paw, is proper and necessary but one thing it isn’t is exciting. It almost feels like homework, or doing taxes. Read each clause, be sure you understand it. You do that whether or not you have an agent, because no one—no one—is looking out for you the same way you yourself are, or darn well better be. It’s your career, if you want to have one.

Important, yes, even crucial, but anti-climactic too. I always feel just a little bit depressed after I sign a contract. Maybe it’s the feeling that “It all comes down to this?” That feeling starts to pass by the time the check arrives. But when I see my book in my hands? That’s the excitement part again, and then the book is off to the readers for final judgment. And what it’s really all about.

Review — Dororo, 2007

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Director:  Akihiko Shiota

From an Original Manga by Osamu Tezuka

Cast: Satoshi Tsumabuki, Ko Shibasaki, Kiichi Nakai, Yoshio Harada, Eita

Here’s our nutshell premise—in a fantasy version of Japan, the warlord Kagemitsu Daigo is on the losing, soon to be annihilated side of a clan war. To save his clan and gain revenge, he makes a deal with 48 trapped demons—he will let each one claim a part of his infant son in return for the power to defeat his enemies. The part could be an arm, a leg, a liver, a heart, whatever. Possession of this bit of humanity will allow them to free themselves from the temple where they are trapped. They agree and do, the Daimyo does, and from there embarks on a campaign of conquest to bring the rest of the country under his twisted, evil rule, setting free the 48 demons in the process.

Now, here’s where it gets weird–the child doesn’t die. After the demons get through with it, what’s left of the child is merely placed in a basket like Moses and sent down a river. Continue reading →

Nice Surprises and Not Surprises

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Taylor312e-caseIn general I’m not a big fan of surprises, as they’re more likely to be nasty than nice in my experience. But every now and then…. On Saturday I was doing some of the finishing work on our hall bath (long story, and even longer process). Carol had gotten out of the house rather than strangle a contractor, and when she returned that afternoon she had a surprise for me.

That’s it in the picture. A Taylor 312e Grand Concert. I did have a decent acoustic but I’d realized the size wasn’t a good fit for me and I was looking with lustful eyes at a used Martin Custom and a Taylor Mini GS, but the Martin had sold and it was out of my price range anyway. The Taylors I’d tried had a bright, chiming tone that appealed to me as much or more than the warmer Martins. I had some writing money coming so I was thinking of the Mini GS, but then my darling wife beat me to the punch with this beauty, which is a few steps further up the line and cost over twice what the Mini GS would have. I had to ask her why, and she just said, paraphrase, “You settle too often. You deserve a good guitar.” Not really, not yet. I don’t deserve her, either. Life isn’t fair, and as often as not that’s a good thing.

In the category of Not a Surprise, To Break the Demon Gate has been pushed back to May. Of course, I only know this because of the Forthcoming  Books section of Locus Magazine. What? You don’t think they tell the writers these things, do you? Silly people.

Also in the NAS (not a surprise, or at least not to me) category, I’ve sold another—and at the moment, only—Yamada story to Beneath Ceaseless Skies. The only odd thing about that was this story had already sold to Weird Tales for their fairy-tale issue a couple of years ago, then became unsold. This doesn’t happen very often, and usually because the venue in question has died (lost one, for example, when Realms of Fantasy ended). Not this time, and in a circumstance I hope never repeats. Regardless, I’m glad I found a new home for it. It’ll probably be published this year, but maybe not until fall.

I need to write a movie review of a very odd Japanese fantasy flick. Maybe next time. If my fingers ever recover from practicing barre chords.