The above image isYamada Monogatari: Troubled Spirits sitting at #15 in the Fantasy Anthologies & Short Stories category on Azon last night, just behind Brandon Sanderson. It was top 100 in a few other categories at the time. It’s since dropped a few points to #28, but still top 100.
Not too shabby. Thanks to everyone who made it happen!
Today the paperback proof copy of Troubled Spirits arrived, just in time for Halloween. I was fairly certain I’d gotten the book into presentable form as an actual, physical object, and so far I haven’t found any egregious errors. I did have some concerns about the gutter margins, but they look fine.
Frankly, I’m amazed to get it right the first time. Regardless, and unless I stumble upon something awful, the pb should be available within a few hours. I’ll include the link once I have one.
Yesterday First Reader and I went to cast our early votes. It was a Sunday, and according to the poll workers, they had been busy. I’ll take that as a good sign.
And we’re now live! Links below:
While The Seventh Law of Power is still moving along, I took a couple of days to finish editing and arranging the stories for the last(?) Yamada book, Troubled Spirits. The Kindle version is processing as we speak, and I’m nearly done laying out the paperback. The epub version of almost any book is a lot easier, so naturally it got finished first.
This will include all the Yamada stories published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies after the collection Demon Hunter, plus two short originals. I’ve divided the book into two parts: those stories that took place in the timeline before the events in The Emperor in Shadow, and those that followed after. The ToC reads like so:
Part1:
“The Tiger’s Turn”
“The Sorrow of Rain”
“Three Little Foxes”
Part 2:
“Uzumaki of the Lake”
“A Minor Exorcism”
“The Ame Onna”
“The Fox’s Daughter”
“Epilogue-One Rainy Day, With Spirits”
I enjoyed visiting the old guy again. I’m not saying there will never be another Yamada story, but that’s all for now. I’ll put up the link as soon as I have one…:Aannd we’re live. Here is the
Amazon US Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BKDHFJDY
Amazon UK Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BKDHFJDY
Amazon CA Link: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0BKDHFJDY
This is a view across the river and canal back toward town. The trees to the immediate left are on Moss Island, a big rock island created when a land-cut was made around a shallow and rapid section of the Mohawk River. The river flows from the right side of the island, the canal from the lock (out of sight) to the left, as seen from here.
All of which has nothing to do with the following snippet. I’d otherwise refer to this as “Scenes From a Marriage.”
He: “Is powdered sugar the same as confectioners sugar?”
She: “Yes. Are thinking of making frosting?”
He: “Nope. Rocket fuel.”
She: (Long Pause): “Why?”
He: “Because I’m a man, and every now and then we have to do stupid sh!it.”
She: (Longer Pause): “Fine, just do it outside.”
He: “Goes without saying.”
Haven’t done it yet. Probably won’t. Was thinking about it, though. In lieu of disaster, First Reader and I went for a walk along the Canalway Trail. I took some pictures and share a few here.
We live on a game trail. Took me longer than it should have to figure this out. There’s a clear and heavily used path running in from the woods on our right into and across our yard. In the winter it’s even more obvious, with the deer tracks running through our back terrace and up the side of the valley. Not only deer, though they’re the most obvious ones to have created the trail. We’ve seen woodchucks, squirrels, chipmunks, and First Reader thinks she may have seen a Fisher. They’re rare, so maybe, maybe not. We also suspect raccoons, though only by other evidence.
So it’s not so unusual to live by a game trail for people out in the boondocks. Thing is, we live in the middle of town. Not that the deer seem to care. They’ve got their business to deal with and just because we’re here doesn’t change that. So we co-exist just fine, thanks, and we’ve been here long enough to identify our regulars. Take the twin boys in the picture, for ex. They were born last season and their mama used to bring them through to graze on the terrace. Took us a while to realize they were bucks until their first nubs showed through. And they’re not fighting, even though rut should be well under way and the one on the right already has his dueling scars.
I like getting to know the neighbors. Yes, I did lose a tomato plant but no worries. They were here first, after all. Besides, we’re all animals on this rock.
Richard Parks 