Here’s the official excerpt for Blues, now available at Ellora’s Cave!

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Ready for adventure in the crowded clubs of futuristic Tokyo? How about an advanced office building 300 stories tall? Or a car chase on an “automatic” highway where the cars zip by at fantastic speeds yet only have a car length’s space in between? That’s what you’ll get with Blues, a futuristic novel that follows a woman living in Tokyo and working for Nippon Tobacco as a translator. Her boss sells the hottest item on the market, Blues, the cigarette that burns blue, contains no tar or carcinogens, and even smells like mint when smoked. It seems almost too good to be true.

At a hot club in Roppongi on a Saturday night, Hannah is drowning her bitter cynicism after being stood up for a date. Not even her friend seems capable of chasing away her blues, and when she spots the most gorgeous man in the room, she’s certain that someone like him is out of her league. Until he asks her to dance. Her cynicism melts in the heat between them as they dance and it’s not long before they decide to continue the fireworks somewhere private.

Ryo is stunned when the sexy woman he slept with the night before is gone the next morning. He decides to track her down. The mystery about his profession gets complicated when it turns out that they both work for the same company…and when Hannah comes across an internal memo that could get her killed.

I’m happy to share with you all the cover for my April release, Blues. Read more

Well, Oblivion has been out for over a week, nearly two. Though Blues is coming in mid-April, my editor and I have already finished edits on it, so all that’s left is the cover and one final edit confirmation. I’m both excited and anxious about the cover for Blues. I had this super sexy cover image in mind, one that really pops out to the eye, but I’m not the cover artist, who might decide to do something entirely different than what I suggested (though I tried to be humble while flailing with giddy glee at the idea).

Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

As for Oblivion, I honestly have no idea how many people (real people and not bots) keep track of this blog, despite the stats page (which sometimes makes no sense to me), but if you are keeping track and if you did read Oblivion, I hope you enjoyed it. Of course, as I was glancing through the digital author copy a few days ago, I found a word that I really wish I could’ve changed before final edits and was kicking myself for how silly it sounded (since it was pretty repetitive), but I guess them’s the breaks.

I hope you’re having a wonderful 2008!

Whew… the JLPT is over–has been for a couple of weeks. The relief is immense, but please allow me a quick rant (see “read the rest” at the bottom).

As for book stuff, I’m excited about Oblivion’s release in only two and a half weeks–am slightly concerned that it is not on EC’s site yet, but only slightly. My editor and I have pretty much finished up the edits for Blues as well. Writing will of course be a little slow over the holidays, but still, the fourth book (still with no title) is coming along nicely.

And now, rant on! Read more

Halloween is coming up very soon. The Japanese have an odd way of celebrating the holiday, and I have the feeling that most Japanese do not actually understand Halloween (its history and traditions). Many do nothing to celebrate, and the rest celebrate by putting up some decorations they bought at Tokyu Hands because they think a string of paper pumpkins with “Happy Halloween” written in English is “cool”. None of them understand why a jack-o-lantern is part of Halloween, nor do they really care to know. Halloween parties are generally thrown by foreigners. Anyone in costume is either a foreigner or the typical Japanese crowd that dresses in costume on the weekends anyway. And don’t get me started on their fascination with The Nightmare Before Christmas, a fascination that only exists because it’s “gothic-looking”.

Suffice it to say, I’m looking forward to celebrating Halloween next year in the States.

The paperwork for Blues has been processed. Still no word on a release date for Oblivion, but I think I’ll find out within the next month.

I sent off the paperwork for Blues today. I have absolutely no idea when it might come out (and still have no release date for Oblivion), but I’m gearing up for a couple rounds of edits with my editor. Perhaps those will be done in a couple of weeks.

Book #4 is coming along pretty well. It’s a little more frustrating than any of the previous books because I’m shooting for “fairly decent” historical accuracy. Of course, I need to take a couple of literary licenses, but it’d be nice for the book to feel realistic even though it’s definitely fiction. Though I like the time period I chose, my only regret is that the clothing style I was hoping to explore actually wasn’t around quite yet as of the time period in the book. :( Oh well…

Well, summer was fun (and way too hot). The weather has been a little cooler lately, though I’m sure those stifling temperatures will come back for a few more days before autumn officially arrives. Tomorrow starts another segment of work, but I’m super excited (not about my day job, though). Read more

Whew… Wow, it’s been an odd summer vacation. I’ve been productive and yet haven’t been working my “day job”. Read more

It’s been insanely hot recently. I went out to meet a friend for lunch yesterday and came home a couple hours later with a bright red face and covered in perspiration (coz women don’t sweat–they perspire).

The third book is coming along well. I’ve decided to give it a title, too! Blues is set in futuristic Tokyo and covers events over only a few days (about two and a half, actually). It’s fairly fast-paced, so I hope everyone who decides to read it, when it’s done, finds it exciting.