Yamada’s Saga – Timeline

Posted on November 18, 2013 by ogresan

It occurs to me, with the mixing of short fiction and novel-length stories that make up the Yamada timeline, that it might not be a bad idea to set this all out now, at least to the degree I understand it (and if you think the writer knows everything about what they’ve done, think again). Most of the stories occur in the timeline/continuity in the order that they were written, but the novels do throw one or two curves into the mix, so here goes:

“Fox Tails” – First Yamada story written. Knew it was a series then, didn’t know where it was going.

“Moon Viewing at Shijo Bridge” – Second Yamada story. Yamada’s sad history with Princess Teiko is revealed. This was the story where I think I first got a good handle on who Yamada was and what he was about.

YAMADA MONOGATARI: DEMON HUNTER. First Yamada collection. The stories contained therein were usually a reader’s first introduction to the series and were published over a span of years and appear in the order they were written, but the continuity is not complete in them because….

Here’s where it gets a little complicated:

TO BREAK THE DEMON GATE. First actual Yamada novel. TBTDG incorporates “Moon Viewing at Shijo Bridge” which forms the first section of the book, and no, I didn’t know that it was the first section of a novel when I wrote it. I figured that out later. The balance of the novel concerns the events leading up to Yamada’s final confrontation with Lord Sentaro. This was written after several of the stories appearing in YM:DH but before “The Ghost of Shinoda Forest,” which ends the collection, but in the continuity of the series, they all, except “Fox Tails” and “Moon Viewing at Shijo Bridge,” occur after the events of the novel. At the end of TO BREAK THE DEMON GATE, Yamada has still not made peace with the memory of Princess Teiko. That comes later (see “The Ghost of Shinoda Forest.”) I’m not sure when the PS Publishing limited edition is coming out, but Prime Books has the trade reprint scheduled for December 2014.

“The Sorrow of Rain” – If you have no idea what this story is, that is because it hasn’t been published yet. But it falls in the timeline before “The Ghost of Shinoda Forest” but after TO BREAK THE DEMON GATE.(Edited to note: Oops. It falls after “The Ghost of Shinoda Forest.” I misremembered.)

THE WAR GOD’S SON – complete but under revision. The events of this book occur about seven years after “The Ghost of Shinoda Forest,” and take place after all the short stories written to date in the continuity. The novel is set during what is usually referred to as The Nine Years’ War in Japanese history (though, with delays and truces, it was more like twelve). The tearing of the social fabric that will eventually bring about the end of the Heian Period and the rise of the samurai is already evident, but won’t manifest completely for another hundred and twenty years. We also get to meet Yamada’s elder sister. There is no current publication date scheduled.

And that’s where it stands. Confused? I would be. I often am.

The Heavenly Fox – Discarnate Edition

Posted on October 24, 2013 by ogresan

Okay, one more and I promise I’m done, at least for a little bit. To our left is a picture of the ebook edition of The Heavenly Fox, my PS Publishing novella that was a finalist for the Mythopoeic Award in 2012. The unsigned edition is still available from PS, though the signed edition has long since sold out. Regardless, for anyone who’d like a reading copy but don’t want to lay out limited edition hardcover prices, this is the way to go. The Kindle edition is already up. I should have the Nook/Kobo version ready in a few days.

Here’s the synopsis from the hc edition:

“A fox who reaches the age of fifty gains the ability to transform into a human woman. A fox who reaches the age of one hundred can transform into either a beautiful young girl or a handsome young man at will and can sense the world around them to a distance of over four hundred leagues. A fox who reaches the age of one thousand years, however, becomes a Heavenly Fox, an Immortal of great power, able to commune with the gods themselves.”

—From the Hsuan-Chang-Chi of Kuo P’u

The fox vixen Springshadow has reached the age of nine-hundred and ninety-nine by taking the form of a beautiful girl and stealing the chi, the life force, of mortal men. She prides herself on having done so without permanently harming any of them, but when, just before her one-thousandth birthday, her mortal lover, Zou Xiaofan, inadvertently forces her to choose between his life or her immortality, she chooses immortality without a moment’s hesitation. As a fox, and thus completely devoid of a conscience, for Springshadow this was no choice at all.

Or so she thought. Springshadow soon discovers what a trap immortality can be. Even more serious—and very annoying—is her discovery that her new state of being includes a new emotion, one that feels very much like regret. She knows from there it is only one small step to developing an actual conscience. Intolerable! Yet what can she do to prevent this? When the Goddess of Mercy, Guan Shi Yin, brings her a message from the shade of her former lover, Springshadow believes she’s found her answer. Accompanied by a reprobate Daoist immortal named Wildeye, the Heavenly Fox undertakes a quest through the courts of Heaven and the terrors of Hell to redeem the soul of Zou Xiaofan. Maybe then she can get on with the rest of eternity without regret. Or that pesky conscience thing.

Surfing for Survival

Posted on October 21, 2013 by ogresan

Maybe not literally, but as far as visibility and career are concerned. I’ve been thinking about the question of career survival because it finally occurred to me that I’ve been shifting gears a bit lately when it comes to my own writing, in that I’m doing more novels these days, and fewer short stories. Now, for many cases that’s just considered par for the course, and was once considered the only course—you started off writing short stories, with the intention of getting good enough to sell them to the major magazines, of which there were several. If you were planning any sort of career, then part of the plan was to build up your name recognition through short fiction and then use that visibility to transition to novels. Short stories were never considered to be an end in themselves in that scenario. Sure there were probably as many exceptions as not, and writers who started with novels from day one and were either barely or sometimes not at all aware that the magazines even existed. I wasn’t one of those. I discovered the magazines at about the same time that I started to write in the first place, and I began with short stories, and the first novel I ever wrote I thought was going to be another short story, until an editor took pity on me and informed me that what I had submitted was not a short story, but the opening chapter to a novel, and so it later proved. Regardless, the short story was my go-to form. Continue reading →

Occasional Update

Posted on July 9, 2013 by ogresan

Judging from the search engine terms that bring people to this site, at least some of you out there are wondering where I stand on various projects, so it’s probably time for another update. I’ll be as specific as I can be, and if anyone has any questions, I’ll do my best to answer them.

Power’s Shadow (Working title to the sequel to Black Kath’s Daughter, or more accurately, the 3^rd in the Laws of Power series): I was about 17000 words into this when I had to put it on hold, and the reason for that should be clear in a bit. I’m hoping to get back to it sometime after the end of the year, but for now other projects have priority. I had to leave Marta in an interesting situation and I’m eager to get back to it, but that will have to wait.

To Break the Demon Gate (the first Lord Yamada novel): The publication date for this has slipped, but PS Publishing still plans to bring it out this year. The new target date is November, and I’ll make an announcement when I know more. Since this is PS, this will be a limited edition. I’m pleased to say that there will be a trade paper edition as well, but that’s not scheduled until 2014. I’ll give full details once I know what they are.

The War God’s Son (the second Yamada novel): This is the reason that Power’s Shadow is on hold. I’ve got a publisher waiting to see this one, so it has to take precedence, and as of now I’m about a third of the way through the first draft. My plan is to finish this before the end of the year. Right now that target still looks doable, but only if I concentrate on the book to the exclusion of pretty much everything else. So any other writing projects are going to have to wait. Frankly I’m used to working at my own pace, so having something like a deadline is…different. A good thing, but different.

Short Fiction: I have just two stories awaiting publication at the moment, at Weird Tales and Beneath Ceaseless Skies. Not sure if the WT story will see print or not this year, but maybe. There likely won’t be any more until next year because I’m just not that good at multi-tasking. Especially without multi-time to go with it.

This is where the writing stands at the moment. Other non-writing aspects of the business are also in motion, and if anything else happens you’ll read about it here first. But for now, this is all the news that is.

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:

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.

Richard Parks

Author, Unrepentant Storyteller, "Relative Anomaly."

Tag Archives: PS Publishing