Tag Archives: Yamada Monogatari

Thing One and Thing Two

Posted on by

Step4-YamadaYamada_BTG_cover-V06b-Prime

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time for another update, since things have happened. Things don’t always happen, you know. It’s that whole “Feast or Famine” situation I’ve mentioned before. Most days the only update would be, “Wrote XXXX number of words today. Can’t think straight. It all looks like garbage right now.” I mean, can you imagine 360 blog posts exactly like that, with maybe five about something else? No one would read that. Heck, *I* wouldn’t read that.

Ahem. Getting off course a little bit. The things: First of all Rich Horton has picked up “The Manor of Lost Time” from Beneath Ceaseless Skies #150 for his Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2015. This will be the first time I’ve had work in one of Rich’s YBs, so I’m pleased.

The other thing goes a little beyond a reprint fee and an ego boost: Both books in the Yamada Monogatari series, Demon Hunter and To Break the Demon Gate are “Out of Stock.” Now, this does not mean that there are none left. Amazon and B&N still have a few of Demon Hunter and a few more of To Break the Demon Gate, but the book’s distributor does not have any more. Which means that the distributor cannot fulfill new orders and there is a backlog of orders waiting, especially with the second book. As a result, TBTDG is going back to press for an extra 1500 copies, which brings the total run up to 4500. Bear in mind, Prime Books is a relatively small publisher, so this is a big deal. It’s even possible that DH will get a reprint as well, though that has not been determined.

Now it’s likely that the next in the series, The War God’s Son, will get a larger initial run. I’m happy, the publisher is happy (astonished, but happy), though with larger runs comes larger expectations. We’ll see how it goes, but for now at least it’s a Good Thing.

Publisher’s Weekly Comes Through

Posted on by

Yamada_BTG_cover-V06b-PrimeOne problem with the writer existence is that it’s feast or famine, and there is an awful lot of famine. But, now and then, a feast. Last night I got an IM from my publisher telling me to check my email, and sitting there was a link to a Star Review in Publisher’s Weekly for Yamada Monogatari: To Break the Demon Gate. I’ve only gotten one of those before. You can read the entire review here, but one takeaway is in the final line.

“Playing with Japanese demonology and political scandal, Parks creates an absorbing and original tale.”

I’d only quibble with the first line of the review, wherein I am proclamined to be “prolific,” which I know I am not, or at least not nearly enough. As for the rest, you can’t beat that, not even with a really big stick.

If This is a Race, My Lead is Dwindling

Posted on by

WRITING 02Odds and ends and a few points of information that may or may not be of interest. First of all, I’ve been doing pretty well keeping ahead of the posts on Power’s Shadow, but Real Life (tm, pat. pending) has intervened and there is now what is technically known as a snag. (colloquial, (n)– An obstacle or impediment). Circumstances have persuaded me that it would be to my advantage to acquire a certain technical certification in my (other) chosen field. I won’t bore you with the details, but the reality is that I need time to study, and when I’m studying, I’m not writing. I will continue to put up installments of Power’s Shadow as long as that’s possible, but there may be a hiatus if I can’t keep up. If there is a disruption, I’ll try to keep it as short as possible, but the possibility exists, and so–fair warning. Continue reading →

Yamada Monogatari: To Break the Demon Gate – Audiobook Release

Posted on by

Yamada_BTG_cover-V06b-PrimeNow that the paper edition of Yamada Monogatari: To Break the Demon Gate is in the wild, the Audible.com edition narrated by the incredible Brian Nishii will be relased on December 3rd, so for those of you who like listening to books when you’re busy with activities that don’t leave your hands free (Like driving. What did you think I meant?), this is for you.

Yamada Monogatari: To Break the Demon Gate -Addendum

Posted on by

Break The Demon Gates endpapers

 

The lovely dancer above is Ben Baldwin’s illustration of Lady Snow, from the endpapers for the PS Publishing edition of  To Break the Demon Gate. You haven’t met Lady Snow yet, but if you’re a reader of the series you’ll see a few familiar faces. In fact, some of it will be very familiar, since Part 1 of the novel is a revised version of “Moon Viewing at Shijo Bridge.”

I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating as the book is practically published even as I speak–I didn’t know that “Moon Viewing at Shijo Bridge” was the opening to a novel when I wrote it, at least partly because it is a self-contained story arc all to itself. It wasn’t the whole story, and I did know that at the time, but I assumed it was because later stories in the series would expand and resolve it the unresolved issues. I was wrong about that. The stories do not, for the most part, directly address the events from “Moon Viewing,” nor do they ignore it, and some of the closure, as long-time readers know, comes from “The Ghost of Shinoda Forest.” However, that still leaves one heck of a lot of story. Continue reading →