Anticipation….Wait For It….Part 2

Posted on September 12, 2012 by ogresan

The quest for a cover for Yamada Monogatari: Demon Hunter continues. Publisher, Designer, and I were trading images back and forth in email yesterday. We may have found something that’s going to work. The Designer and I like it, so if the Publisher is agreeable we may have our starting point. I think it would be very difficult not to produce a great looking cover with this particular image, so I’m feeling optimistic. Once I have something “official” to show I’ll put it up here, but that probably won’t be for a little while yet.

In the meantime, and for your amusement, here’s the rough draft of the cover copy. It’ll probably be changed. Or not. Hard to tell with these things:

“In an ancient Japan where the incursions of gods, ghosts, and demons
into the living world is an everyday event, an impoverished nobleman
named Yamada no Goji makes his living as a demon hunter for hire. With
the occasional assistance of the reprobate exorcist Kenji, whatever
the difficulty–ogres, demons, fox-spirits—for a price Yamada will do
what needs to be done, even and especially if the solution to the
problem isn’t as simple as the edge of a sword. Yet no matter how many
monsters he has to face, or how powerful and terrible they may be, the
demons Yamada fears the most are his own.”

And, apropo of nothing, I thought I had a decent grasp of the early years of Rock & Roll. How the hell did I manage to miss Link Wray? Srysly.

Anticipation….

Posted on September 10, 2012 by ogresan

There’s a lot that has to happen before a book is ready for its close-up, Mr. Demille. As I noted earlier, I just turned in the final manuscript for the Lord Yamada collection last month. It has to be reformatted for printing, flap and/or catalog copy written, the cover art chosen and the cover designed….

Speaking of that, we’ve already run into a slight snag. When my publisher and I first talked about doing this particular collection, he already had a piece of cover art in mind, and the assumption was we’d use that when the time came. Well, to cut to the chase, when the time actually did come, it turned out that the cover art was licensed to a gaming company and wasn’t available. So…we have to find another one, and soon, so his designer can get to work on it. Since we’re kind of under a time crunch to get everything ready, I’m also looking. Maybe I’ll find the perfect cover first. Have to say, though, that so far that has not happened. I have no doubt we’ll get everything done in time, and I’m looking forward to seeing the result. There’s a certain mixture of excitement and dread that comes from seeing a book cover for the first time, at least when it’s your own.

It’s your baby. You care what it’s wearing out in public.

Yamada Monogatari: Demon Hunter

Posted on August 22, 2012 by ogresan

Now that everything’s more or less settled, I’m officially announcing—very loudly, in fact—that my fourth print collection will be a compilation of the Lord Yamada series, Yamada Monogatari: Demon Hunter, and is scheduled to be published by Prime Books in February. That’s not too far away. I’ll try to put up a cover image once that’s been sorted, but in the meantime here’s a list of the planned contents along with a reference to the story’s original appearance, if any:

“Sanji’s Demon” Beneath Ceaseless Skies #38-39, © 2010

This material covers the first story arc of Yamada’s career. I’m not done with him yet, but there is a progression and resolution to these stories. What isn’t here will be in the Yamada novel, To Break the Demon Gate, from PS Publishing, also scheduled for February. Next winter promises to be a fairly busy time.

Pay No Attention to That Man Behind the Curtain

Posted on July 9, 2012 by ogresan

As the saying goes, there are some things you’re better off not knowing. Like how sausage is made, if you really like sausage. Still, if anyone’s curious (didn’t say you were. said “if”), here’s where the title of my third story collection came from:

In 1905, Lafcadio Hearn published a collection of pieces on Japanese legend called “The Romance of the Milky Way and Other Stories.” Including therein were several tanka written on the legend of the Weaver and Herdsman (also called the Romance of the Milky Way) from an 8th Century Japanese poetry volume, the Manyoushou. Here’s Hearn’s translation of one:

Amanogawa

Ai-muki tachité,

Waga koïshi

Kimi kimasu nari

Himo-toki makéna!

[He is coming, my long-desired lord, whom I have been waiting to meet here, on the banks of the River of Heaven…. The moment of loosening my girdle is nigh!]

When I decided to do my own take on the Weaver and Herdsman legend, choosing a title was the easy part. So credit where credit’s due: Thanks to Mr. Hearn, and the ancient poets of the Manyoushou.

PSA or Blatant Commercialism — Why Can’t it Be Both?

Posted on June 5, 2012 by ogresan

This is an excerpt from thePublisher’s Weekly review of ON THE BANKS OF THE RIVER OF HEAVEN–“Gods, mortals, and entities somewhere in between provide provocative reflections on human nature in this breezy collection of 14 fantasy stories… The title story is a delightful folktale meditation on the mysteries of love and friendship. Parks (Hereafter, and After) relates these tales in a lyrical style that is sympathetic without being sentimental, straddling the boundary between the realistic and the romantic.”

Never mind all that. The unique thing about this particular collection, my most recent, is that it was my first regular hardcover. The trends and realities of current publishing also dictate that it will be my last. Any other books/stories appearing in hardcover, like the Yamada novel from PS Publishing in the UK, will be strictly limited editions and, to be blunt, a bit pricey. There were only so many of this regular hc printed, and when they’re gone, that is IT. No more. It’s trade paper and ebook from here on out. That’s not a sad thing, it’s just the way things are, but if you’re one of those readers who just like a book in hardcover, now wouldn’t be a bad time to pick it up. End of PSA. Or commercial. Whatever this is.

Available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Prime Books.

Richard Parks

Author, Unrepentant Storyteller, "Relative Anomaly."

Category Archives: Collection