Category Archives: Folklore

History Lesson

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Library

Library

Believe it or not, that mess on the left actually represents progress. There hasn’t been a lot of that, at least in the library. I can see about a third of the bare floor now. I also know that, judging the remaining books with the remaining shelf space, the numbers just don’t work, and I can’t add more shelves…well, maybe one.

That’s for later. Part of the point of at least attempting to get organized is that I have a book to finish, a book set in a specific historical period and at a very important historical crisis point. In short, my references—and one specifically—were packed up, and I needed them. Not to get into many details, but there was a particular point in the story where Imperial and clan politics interacted in a very specific way, and in order to understand how that all fit into the narrative, I needed a specific book. That is, I thought I did. Until I was able to unpack said book.

Funny thing about that—what one person considers important, another just skims past. In other words, the book I was depending on was no help at all. I shouldn’t have been too surprised. What I was looking for was a fairly obscure series of events that happened over nine hundred years ago. Unless you happen to have a large university reference library at your disposal, you’re probably not going to find what you’re looking for. I don’t happen to have that. Nor do I have the shelf space to stock every reference I might possibly need, even if they did exist in translation, and usually the ebook edition in any language simply doesn’t exist.

What I do have is Google. I’m almost embarrassed to admit it, but online it took me maybe twenty minutes, tops, to track down what I was looking for, thanks to a Japanese site pulling from primary sources, with English translation provided. The internet does make some things more difficult with its constant distractions. But it also makes a lot of things possible. The information I needed simply wouldn’t have been available to me without it. Fortunately, I am not without it, so no problem.

Also no excuses. Funny how that works.

Ebook Giveaway — Hereafter, and After

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Hereafter, and After2Starting Wednesday, November 4th and ending on Friday, November 6th, the Kindle ebook edition of my novella, Hereafter, and After, normally $2.99, will be available for the special price of nothing, nada, & bupkis. My warped view of what allegedly comes after the mortal coil thing. Heaven, Hell, plus the Twilight of the Gods, all in one story. Introduction by the esteemed Andy Duncan. Seriously, you’d pass that up?

Announcing a Contest

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WarGod-600

I received the official word from Audible.com that Yamada Monogatari: The War God’s Son is available in audiobook format (I know some of you were already aware of this fact). What you didn’t know is that they also just sent me some one-time codes for a free copy of the audio version. More than I can use, actually, so rather than let them go to waste, I thought I’d try to give some of those who read this blog a shot at one.

I haven’t done many of these, but a contest seemed the fairest way, so if any of you are interested, let’s have one. Below the next paragraph is the “official” description of the book at Amazon, or B&N, etc. Some of you may have even seen it, but what you might not know is that the listing contains a typographical error. That is, a rather important word is spelled wrong. I’ve been assured that it will be corrected, but you know how these things work—once it’s on the internet, the genie is out of the bottle. Chances are it’ll always be there, somewhere.

So here’s what I’ll do—to the first person who spots the mistake and sends me an email (you know how to translate this: ogresan(at)gmaildotcom )correctly identifying the error, I will send a free coupon code good for one copy of the audiobook version of Yamada Monogatari: The War God’s Son, marvelously narrated by Brian Nishii, along with instructions for using that coupon (not complicated, but for those who aren’t familiar with Audible.com, probably helpful). I’m not going to claim that there is ONLY one mistake in the listing, but keep in mind that I am looking for a very specific one, and the decision of the judge–me–is final:

“The Abe clan and its allies are in full rebellion. When the Emperor’s greatest military leader, Yoshii, is targeted for assassination by magic, it is up to the newly sober Lord Yamada and his exorcist associate Kenji to keep the young man alive long enough to put down the uprising before the entire country is consumed by war. Yamada knows how to deal with demons, monsters, and angry ghosts, but the greatest threat of all is one final assassin, hidden in a place where no one—especially Lord Yamada—would ever think to look.”

There and Back Again

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IMG_0402I apologize for missing last Monday’s post, but I was on the road to our new home to take care of some prep before we take full possession. The house itself is that white edifice to the left of your screen, After thirty-three years the place where I made my living (and enabled my writing) closed down, putting me “quite at my leisure,” as Mr. Bennet might say,

So here’s the thing–we decided to leave. Most of my immediate family had moved out of state already, and with few ties to hold us, we decided to do the same, on the theory that I can be unemployed anywhere, so we might as well be somewhere we want to be. We chose upstate New York, trading brutal summers for brutal winters. I never said it was the smart thing to do. It probably wasn’t. It was, however, the necessary thing to do for reasons I won’t bore you with. We’re going to make it work.

View from Rte 167

View from Rte 167

IMG_0393

View from our back patio.

View of the Mohawk From Downtown.

View of the Mohawk From Downtown.

I did manage to get a little writing done on the new book. All this has been quite a disruption, as you can imagine, but I’ll get it done. In the meantime, here’s some comment from Publisher’s Weekly on The War God’s Son:

“… With a refreshingly conversational narrative, Parks captures the different facets of Japanese mythology and visions of the supernatural. Lord Yamada is a complex and entertaining protagonist, and his personal battles, whether with demons or his relationships with women, are compelling. Parks creates a rich world, further proving that in this series, nothing is as it seems. Suspenseful and often thought-provoking, Parks’s work is a delight to read. (Oct.)”

Stalking the Wilds with Cameraphone, No Gun

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The War Gods Son-BNSpotted for the first time this Saturday in the wild (meaning the new books section of our local Barnes & Noble) Yamada Monogatari: The War God’s Son. I’m not sure if seeing a book you’ve written appear on the shelves of an actual bookstore will ever get old. Libraries and Bookstores were my temples, my sacred places all through childhood and youth. To have my own place there, right between Peter Orullian and Sarah Pinborough, makes me feel like maybe, you know, I belong there. Or rather my work does. It’s the work that counts. Besides, I’d feel awfully cramped on that shelf.