I was greatly disturbed by this book.

You see, according to Rory Miller, author of Violence: A Writer's Guide, I’m a nice guy. Just one of the vast majority of ordinary folk who avoid conflict and know nothing about real violent behaviour. That means that probably I don’t do anything above merely manipulating people to get what I want (according to Rory Miller, indirect violence such as subtle manipulation and coercion, is still violence - just not violence that causes bodily harm). Any level of violence above that, including aggressive, assaultive and murderous behaviour would (and probably should) disturb me.

And that was the author’s point.

I found this book because I am writing wuxia – Chinese martial arts fiction, and I was doing research. Aside from a few schoolyard fights and a few years of Karate, I have very little experience. And aside from a few short chapters in writing books and a few web pages, there is very little solid information out there about writing action scenes*. So when I happened to find this little book at Smashwords, I was intrigued immediately. Now, just by the description I knew this was not going to help me with my martial arts fiction. The author is writing about realistic fights, not stylized, choreographed action sequences. But I needed a baseline for my own writing plus, I have other stories which rely on realism in fight scenes, so I put down the $5.00 for a PDF copy of the book.

I was not disappointed.

The author cuts through the bull**** and tells it like it is in simple, sometimes grammatically incorrect, language. The book looks and reads like it was slammed out in first draft in MS Word. It barely goes over 80 pages. But that is enough for the author to give the reader everything he needs to know about the world (professional and otherwise) of violence and violent behaviour. With his credentials, he does appear to know what he is talking about. Whether he is correct or not remains to be seen (but I wouldn’t suggest trying this stuff at home). He gives the reader a bleak and uncompromising look at the world of violence and even gives readers dire warnings about how real life muggers and crack-addled street thugs think (or don't, depending on your point of view).

The author then goes on to describe various weapons from blunt force weapons and knives to guns. He discusses how each are used and the mindset you have to be in to use such weapons. The book also points to several online resources such as real life videos (The Russian Mugging video is brutal and not for the faint of heart) or extra online material from his own website. It is all there to hammer home the idea that the violence we see on television and the movies and read about in books is vastly different from reality.

And why did he write such a book? In the penultimate chapter of the book, the author goes on a rant and discusses what bugs him about books and movies that "get it wrong". He even describes Hannibal Lechter as a scary bogeyman, but hardly a realistic portrayal of a psychopath. He wants writers to understand what real combat is like and how real fighters and killers think.

After that, it’s up to us as writers to pick up the mantle and write realistic fight sequences in our stories. Should you buy this book? If you are a writer who writes fight scenes, yes, certainly. Writers are immersive. We try very hard to understand the human condition and write about it. So if someone who purports to know what real violence is like, I would certainly give him a try. Just be prepared for some disturbing information. Whether you use these ideas is up to the individual writer.

So now that I know the facts, will I heed his words? For martial arts fiction, not likely. That is the stuff of heroic fantasy and I’ll probably continue the fictional dance. I imagine many other writers will do the same in whatever field they are writing because sometimes realism gets in the way of good storytelling. But in the back of my mind, at least I finally have a baseline of realism to fall back on for my other projects.

And maybe, just maybe, I’ll heed his warnings and understand how a real street thug’s mind works.

*If you can point me to a great resource on writing martial arts or action scenes (online or in a book) please direct me there. I would certainly appreciate it.

Con-Version 26 Retrospective

Conversion 26 has come and gone. I could take the time to dissect it, to let you know what I thought was good and bad about it, but I think I'll take a different approach. Here was what I thought was noteworthy, from my point of view, about the Con. I’ll let others do the autopsy (bones, bugs and all):

• Ethan Phillips and Robert Picardo standup routine with both of them playing their Star Trek: Voyager characters. Wonderful performances.
• Hamburger and hotdogs for a banquet meal.
• A red-faced Ron Friedman and actress/songstress Chase Masterson and no photos.
• Seeing H.A. Hargreaves and family for the first time in 30 years. He received his Aurora Pin for his Aurora nomination in the early 1980’s.
• H.A. Hargreaves accepting Rigor Amortis, the anthology with my first short story publication, 30 years after he signed a copy of his book of collected short stories.
• Literary Panels. Feeling inadequate on those panels.
• Robert J. Sawyer. Surprise, surprise, surprise. He was here and he’s a friends with Chase Masterson.
• Meeting Marina Sirtis and John deLancie in person.
• Hugs from Brian Hades and the rest of the Edge Books group.
• Finding out that Rigor Amortis can go mainstream as an Edge Books imprint for distribution in regular book seller channels. All we have to do is sell 600 copies … soon.
• Getting advice about Worldbuilding from David B. Coe.
• The Dalek. And Dr. Who.
• Reading my story in Rigor Amortis aloud to an audience for the first time.
• Rene Bennett’s flash fiction story that won Writer’s Idol. Wonderful. And she wrote it the night before.
• Weregeek.
• My creative writing teacher, Betty Jane Hegerat, has read my story in Rigor Amortis. And she liked it. What a wonderful feeling.
• IFWA’s Monster Mash.
• Actually getting some much-needed sleep throughout the Con.
• Sentry Box (and all other bookstores in the city) running out of David B. Coe’s first book in his fantasy series Winds of the Forelands.
• Pho. And Denny’s. And Humpty’s.
• Free drinks at the Con Suite.

This Week’s Reason to Read:

Under Heaven: If you haven’t been paying attention to Canadian Spec Fic, then you don’t know that the incomparable Guy Gavriel Kay has published his next novel set in a world inspired by the glory and power of Tang Dynasty China.

In the novel, Shen Tai is the son of a general who led the forces of imperial Kitai in the empire's last great war against its western enemies, twenty years before. Forty thousand men, on both sides, were slain by a remote mountain lake. General Shen Gao himself has died recently, having spoken to his son in later years about his sadness in the matter of this terrible battle.

To honour his father's memory, Tai spends two years in official mourning alone at the battle site by the blue waters of Kuala Nor. Each day he digs graves in hard ground to bury the bones of the dead. At night he can hear the ghosts moan and stir, terrifying voices of anger and lament. Sometimes he realizes that a given voice has ceased its crying, and he knows that is one he has laid to rest.

The dead by the lake are equally Kitan and their Taguran foes; there is no way to tell the bones apart, and he buries them all with honour.

It is during a routine supply visit led by a Taguran officer who has reluctantly come to befriend him that Tai learns that others, much more powerful, have taken note of his vigil...

It's Here, Reanimated and Better with Zombies!!!

Wow, how time flies. Two years since my last post. Lots has changed. Technology has changed (I love my iPad but I'm writing this blog on a netbook - soon to have Scriviner) and the book market has changed (e-books are all the rage). Well, my online sabbatical ends now.

First, the good news. I can now call myself a published writer. My first published short story, "Travelling a Corpse Over a Thousand Li" appears in the zombie romance anthology, Rigor Amortis. The book is published by Absolute Xpress, a small imprint of Edge Books. It was released today and can be purchased at Amazon.com (not Amazon.ca ... yet). The book cover appears at the side. More to come, of course. I've been working on quite a bit over the past two years.

Let's see...I've got a first draft of my novel, "The Last Miko" done. It is currently in re-write. I've got two short stories on the go as well - both for short story anthologies. I hope at least one of them sells.

In the meantime, I am judging for the Robyn Herrington Memorial Short Story Contest (both High School and Adult level) which is being judged at ConVersion 26 (which I have previously placed first and third), critiquing stories for the Conversion 26 workshop and prepping for my first author reading at Pages in Kensington on Wednesday, October 20 at 7:30 p.m. More info to come when I know more.

Whew. And on top of that, I'm going to have more "Reasons to Read" - all Asian fantasy or Asian fiction by other authors. If you've been paying attention, the first fantasy novel will be obvious. If not, well, wait until next week.

Am I the only one who is bothered by this?

Okay, I'm a bit late here. This offer just expired. Still, it is representative of a lot of deals Chapters/Indigo offers to their iReward customers.

Take a look at the coupon on offer here. It allows you to take 10% off any book in the store. That’s good.

But if you are an iReward card holder, you get 20%. That’s even better, right?

It is if you actually GOT 20%. In reality, you get 19%.

To figure out how, you have to look at your bill. The bill takes 10% off the top as you would expect from the deal. No problem there. But then, iReward card members get an additional 10% off the discounted price, not 10% off the original price. The latter would give the iReward card holder 20%. The former nets 19%. Chapters/Indigo saves themselves 1%.

So, if you spend $40.00 on books and you have a iRewards card, you would get 10% off ($4.00 off) for a discounted price of $36.00. With the iRewards card, you get an additional 10% off ($3.60) for a grand discounted total of $32.40 – a difference of 40 cents, which is exactly 19% off the original price – not 20%.

Now, if Chapters/Indigo had hedged their bets and said “iRewards card holders get an additional 10% off”, I probably won’t have much to quibble about. But they don’t. They make a blanket statement that iRewards card holders get 20%. It isn’t even mentioned in the fine print.

I know what you’re thinking. iRewards members are still getting a substantial discount and in the example above, all I am doing is quibbling over 40 cents. That’s very true. On an individual basis, my complaint is only over small dollar amounts. It’s probably the reason most people just suck it up. Even on a $100 purchase (pretty easy to do these days), you’re still only talking about a loonie.

But, taken at the corporate level, Chapters/Indigo makes an additional $10,000 for every $1,000,000 in books they sell. That’s more than chump change. If we take Indigo’s 2008 second quarter profits (I couldn’t find Chapters) of $191 Million dollars and use that to figure out what they might get, that comes out to be over $600,000.00. Now not all of those sales are from iRewards holders or even books, but if a third of it was, that is $200,000 in extra profit (not revenue) they would not have had if they calculated things properly.

So, is saying you get 20% and then only giving 19% in discounts still not a problem? I would like to hear your comments.

This Week's Reason to Read: Shimura Trouble by Sujata Massey - Alas, this is the 10th and the final book in the long-running mystery series which combines Japanese culture and murder mysteries and spins it with a little romance. I always found the series to be a light entertaining romp. The series took a turn several books ago and has never looked back. Now, the series last book is finally available in trade paperback, which should make it easier on the pocketbook for some. Here is what the publisher says about Shimura Trouble: In Agatha-winner Massey's engaging 10th mystery to feature antiques dealer and part-time spy Rei Shimura (after 2006's Girl in a Box), Rei and her father, who's recovering from a stroke, travel from California to Hawaii for a family celebration with previously unknown Shimura relatives, who turn out to be involved in a legal battle to recover land stolen from them during WWII. An appealing protagonist and memorable supporting characters blend smoothly with lessons in Hawaiian and Japanese history in a tale sure to win new readers for the series.

That's a Rap, Folks - World Fantasy 2008

I just returned from a whirlwind four days meeting and greeting some of the greatest authors and publishers in the industry. These are the people I aspire to be. The guests of honour included David Morrell (the creator of Rambo was Canadian – go figure), Barbara Hambly and Tom Doherty (the big kahuna at Tor Publications). They were all gracious, friendly and warm. I was fortunate enough to meet these and other extraordinary authors and publishers and get to know them as people. Some, like David Morrell, have inspiring life stories that are more fascinating than the stories they tell, and knowing their life stories helps you understand their work in meaningful ways. It makes me wonder how someone like me, who came into this avocation so late in the day, is going to fare with such luminaries gazing down.

IFWA was well represented too. There were two book launches by Calgary ’s own EDGE publications that featured IFWA writers: Gaslight Grimoires (with Jeff Campbell) and Tesseracts 12 (with Randy McCharles). Many IFWits talked up their latest projects to the powers that be and might even miss the Slush Pile when they send out their work.

To give me hope, publishers all seemed to be saying the same thing: they are looking for anything that is different – including fantasy fiction with an Asian edge. They’re looking for what I’m writing and that gives me hope that I will stand out of the slush pile.

Some Highlights:

- David Morrell’s two hour workshop on the Author’s Voice – the golden orbs of wisdom he gave everyone who showed up were priceless. I found my dominant emotion that night and noticed it throughout my work. It isn’t pretty, but it’s the truth. Now I have to re-read his writing book, The Successful Writer.

- I met new friends and got re-acquainted with many others (John Mansfield – my how your beard has grown).

- “When all else fails, if you can’t make the reader turn the page, at least make sure you don’t end a sentence at the bottom of the page.”

- Kij Johnson’s tattoos. She does rock climbing too. The next novel in her Heian series (The Fox Woman and Fudoki are the first two) is still in the works.

- Canadian Fantasy is not much different than other genres of Canadian literature – they are all stories told with an outsider’s point of view and none of that nasty racism and sexism.

- Gayleen Froese was at a panel. Alas, Ryan States did not attend as well and Gayleen was there for only a few hours. Still, it was great seeing her again.

- Jeremy Lassen of Nightshade Books (publishers of the Inspector Chen series and 9-Tail Fox). It would be very cool to be associated with such an eclectic group.

- There was a lot of Adria spotting and some catch and release, but no definite captures.

- Tad Williams’ speech about “American Fantasy under the glorious regime of President-for-Life Bush” at the Closing Banquet was hilarious. I hope someone got it on film and puts it on You Tube.

- I almost caught the cute and fuzzy Black Death, but did not succumb. I thought about getting the Common Cold, HIV or perhaps the Flu but decided to wait to get them after the Con. Apparently, the Clap was very popular. A couple of IFWits got a Brain Cell to prove to their friends and family that they have one.

Props: My congratulations and thanks go out to everyone at the Con Committee who spent countless hours and countless dollars over the past few years to make such an event possible in Calgary – Randy McCharles (how many more cons next year?), Kim “Running on Adrenalin” Greyson (get some sleep, okay), Cliff Samuels, Danita Maslankowski, Kim Nagata (oh my gosh, the food, the food) and Eileen Capes and all the tireless Con Committee Members and volunteers who contributed to the smooth running of the Con. My hat is off to you all. You have earned a much needed rest.

And now, I’ve got a massive bag of books to sort through. Where to begin … ?

This weeks reason to read: Along with all the luminaries I met at the conference, I also found (or heard about) a lot of Asian fiction that I had not been acquainted with. You can bet that I picked up as much of it as I could. I’ll have more of my findings in the weeks to come. In the meantime, here is one I never expected to find: Yume no Hon (The Book of Dreams) by Catherynne M. Valente. It is the story of a woman, Ayako, who wanders through dreams and myths, receiving lessons from the mountain and the river. Yume No Hon is an internal landscape painted with thoroughly poetic turns of phrase and a slim volume that packs a great deal of punch.

Note: the list of authors writing about a Fantastic Asia keeps getting longer. Thus, I have adjusted the list to your right with updated links to all those authors and what they write. I try and include everybody, but there is a lot of YA that would also fit into these categories as well and I just don’t have the space.

A Writer's Rededication to the Rules

The Canadian general election is over and the Liberals got the Green Shaft (sorry, couldn't resist). As the Canadian parliament returns to the job of governing, it will have to rejuvenate itself and abide by a new set of rules.

As a writer, now is the best time to rejuvenate myself as well, and abide by the rules of writing. What better place to begin than by looking at William Safire’s Rules. William Safire is the author of the New York Times Magazine column entitled “On Language”. He is also the author of the book “How Not to Write.” In this lighthearted look at grammar and language, William Safire lays out the rules of grammar and then tells us how to break them. I know I’ll be abiding by these rules every day.

If you don’t get what Mr. Safire is trying to accomplish with these rules, you will by the sixth rule.

1. Do not put statements in the negative form.

2. Remember to never split an infinitive.

3. It is incumbent on one to avoid archaisms.

4. The passive voice should never be used.

5. Proofread care- fully to see if you words out.

6. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.

7. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.

8. Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all.

9. A writer must not shift your point of view.

10. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.

11. Don't overuse exclamation marks!!

12. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.

13. Never, ever use repetitive redundancies.

14. Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to their antecedents.

15. Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.

16. Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.

17. Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing.

18. Always pick on the correct idiom.

19. The adverb always follows the verb.

20. Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.

This week’s Reason to Read: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman - Usually, I would recommend the latest Asian fiction novel to introduce to as many people as possible the wide range of Asian-style fiction out there. I had to digress this week because one of my favorite fantasy authors has released a new book in hardcover. Billed as a children’s fantasy, the book is about the graveyard adventures of Nobody Owens, Bod to his friends, who was raised and educated by ghosts and guarded by a being neither living nor dead. There are many dangers in the graveyard, but if Bod ever leaves, he will be attacked by Jack, a man who has already killed Bod’s family. This book sounds like it will be a great addition to any library – great reading before Halloween.

Write Dharma 3 - A Writer Writes, Always

Family and work have overtaken my time this past few weeks. With the end of summer and the passing of Conversion, it is time once again to re-dedicate myself to my writing. This month, IFWA begins a new year. Aside from new membership fees being due, a new Writing Contract will be written by all IFWA members.

My own goal is to finish up Jiang Shi this weekend. Aside from that, I want to write every day ... and when the brags come up next month, I want to be able to say I did just that. I will write even if it is for five minutes a day (fiction and this blog counts - my job is contract writing so that doesn't count - it's much too technical).

I am trying a new technique with Jiang Shi. I want it to read like a movie, so I am doing it as a screenplay first. After that is done, then I will make it into a short story. Wish me luck.

This week's Reason to Read: Heaven’s Net is Wide by Lian Hearn – When I was first introduced to Lian Hearn’s Tales of the Otori, I was quite skeptical. The first tale came across as being wish-fulfillment. But there were aspects of Ms. Hearn’s writing that kept me turning pages, least of which was her detailed descriptions of all things Japanese (even though this is set in a mythical Japan, the influence of Japan is clear).

The trilogy, which began with Across the Nightengale Floor eventually expanded with two more books - a sequel and a prequel. These two novels are bookends to the original trilogy. Now, the last book, Heaven’s Net is Wide, the prequel book, is available in paperback. If you have not yet entered the strange and mythical world of Hearn’s Three Countries, you owe yourself the trip.

How Green is My Grammar?

Even after writing for the last few years, I cannot say I'm an expert at English grammar. I'm not bad and I've internalized most of the rules of grammar. But don't ask me to conjugate verbs. That would be painful. Sometimes, what I need is the grammar police, but aside from an IFWA member, they don't really exist.

Or do they?

Jeff Deck and Ben Herson of the Typo Eradication Advancement League (TEAL) have been travelling throughout the United States stamping out as many types as they can find "in public signage and other venues where innocent eyes may be befouled by vile stains on the delicate fabric of our language." You can see a map of their travels by clicking on the link to their website.

In an interview, Jeff Deck said he has had a passion for eradicating typos since he was young and with this tour hopes to raise awareness of typos. He also said the most frequent typo he finds is the misuse of the apostrophe.

Not everybody values their form of public service. On August 11th, they plead guilty to conspiracy to vandalize government property in Grand Canyon National Park when they used white out and permanent marker to correct a typo on a historical sign that was painted over years ago. They were sentenced to a year's probation and banned from National Parks for the period of one year.

During that year, it would be amusing if the members of TEAL travelled through China correcting the grammar on "Chinglish" signs. Although the Chinese government tried hard to exterminate Chinglish signs for the Olympics, I'm sure a few like the one shown here got missed.

This week's Reason to Read: The Last Concubine by Lesley Downer. The author of Madame Sadayakko: the Geisha that Seduced the West and other non-fiction works about Japan has finally written a novel about Japan. The Last Concubine is an epic novel about Japan in the 19th century. Sachi is only 15 years old when she is given to the Shogun as his concubine. She escapes amidst civil war after the Black Ships arrive and she begins a journey of self-discovery.

Write Dharma 2 – There’s Something About Ami

I just finished the Conversion Writer’s Workshop and had part of the novel I am working on, The Last Miko critiqued. The workshop was a fantastic experience and I got a large number of good crits for my novel. I also have a lot of thinking to do. It was our facilitator who gave me the bombshell.

He said that every writer has two minds: a craft/technique mind and an artistic/muse mind. Writers who are good at craft will write competently and formulaically, whereas writers who are good artistically will surprise. You can’t craft surprise. The best writers, the ones who are recognized for their work, use both minds. He said I am a good craft mind writer (like himself) but I seem to be pulling punches. I had to put a sharp edge into my writing. In other words, I had to let my artistic mind take over once in a while.

I know what he means. I don’t often let my artistic mind take over because I am so focused on craft and I don’t really trust my muse. But when I do, sometimes, I do something right.

Case in point: Ami. More than one person, in fact half of the workshop participants, said they loved Ami. Not liked, loved. Ami had a short, five page appearance in Chapter 2. I didn’t do much with her either. She was a foil for the main point of view character. Yet they loved her? She was amazing. They cared for her. I was quite taken aback by these comments. Then someone asked me how I did it. How did I get everyone to care so deeply about her in so few words?

The answer: I don’t know. Ami came out of nowhere. I originally wrote her in an earlier draft of Chapter 2 but then scrapped the whole thing and started fresh – new setting, new characters, new plot. The draft I submitted to the workshop hadn’t even been polished. I guess I discovered the diamond at the core of Chapter 2 and her name is Ami. And I still don’t know what I did right.

The only thing I can think of is that my muse was kind to me that day.

This Week’s Reason to Read:Shanghai by David Rotenberg

Most noted for his Zhong Fong mysteries (also set in Shanghai), Canadian author David Rotenberg has written a thick, page turner of a book that will remind readers of the Clavell's novels Shogun and Tai Pan. The novel centers around two families, both descendents of Emperor Qin, the first Emperor of China, locked in a multi-generational feud. This is not-to-be-missed reading.

All Eyes Trained On Beijing

The Eye of Jade
by Diane Wei Liang

Rating: ***

Culture Shock: ****

To celebrate Beijing’s 2008 Olympics, for the next two weeks I am going to review novels set in modern day China. This is the first.

Although you may not be aware of this, but there are quite a few English language mystery novels featuring hard-boiled Chinese detectives. Two that come to mind are Zhong Fong by Canadian author David Rotenberg and Inspector Chen by Qiu Xiaolong. Both of these detectives are male and both work, for good or ill, within the confines of the Communist system in Shanghai .

The Eye of Jade by Diane Wei Liang gives us a new protagonist in this otherwise brutal profession: a female private detective living in Beijing. Mei Wang, a former member of the Communist Party’s Ministry for Public Security opens her own private detective agency against the wishes of her sister and her mother, both whom feel she doesn’t have enough guanxi, or contacts, to make it in business. She is far from being a hard-boiled style of detective, though she does ply through the seedy streets of Beijing. Instead, she represents the clash of cultures; the battle which is going on in modern China everyday. She is a modern, female capitalist finding her way through the maze of China’s Communist traditions.

I enjoyed reading this book. It does not read like a conventional mystery novel. After introducing us to Mei, it meanders through her life taking us on a trip into her past and to her sister wedding before plunging us into the main mystery involving her uncle's request to find the Eye of Jade, a jade seal lost during the Cultural Revolution.

When the plots do run into each other, the collision is satisfying and says a lot about life in modern China . Some readers might get frustrated waiting for so long for the author to get to the point, but the details about Chinese society under Communist rule and good character development will keep the astute reader turning the pages.

This book is an easy and breezy read for the summer cottage. I await the second Mei Wang novel, Paper Butterfly, due out in May, 2009.

Rating: ***

Culture Shock: **** Details about guanxi and life in modern China are well detailed and easy to understand.

This Week's Reason to Read: The Ancient Ship by Zhang Wei

Originally published in 1987, two years before the Tiananmen Square protests, Zhang Wei's award-winning novel is the story of three generations of the Sui, Zhao, and Li families following the creation of the People's Republic in 1949. It is a bold examination of a society in turmoil, the struggle of oppressed people to control their own fate, and the clash between tradition and modernization. Translated into English for the very first time, The Ancient Ship is a revolutionary work of Chinese fiction that speaks to people across the globe. It was released to Canadian booksellers on August 8, 2008, just in time for the Beijing Olympics.

I Am Rich...This Icon Tells Me So

Asians have a reputation for loving their cellular phones. You would be hard pressed not to see an Asian texting furiously or talking incessantly for hours on the latest cellular gadget. And the rates for using them in China are among the cheapest I have ever seen (The equivalent of $20.00 a month for 1000 "anytime" hours in Hong Kong - and that was 3 years ago. I am sure prices have changed since).

Blackberries have simply upped the ante. If you use a Blackberry, it tells the world that you must be somebody - a business mogul on the go who is so important that he must be connected to his office at all times.

So, it comes as no surprise that somebody thought of selling this icon (pictured here) as an App (short for Application) for Apple's new iPhone and iPod Touch. It says "I am Rich" below the picture of the glowing red jewel. Created by Armin Heinrich, it is a work of art that costs $999.00.

What does it do? Nothing. He's not trying to scam you either. It does nothing and he tells you up front. It's just a one square centemeter status symbol that reminds you and tells the world that you are rich enough to buy it. Well, at least someone is getting rich from it.

Oh, and if you press the icon, it will show you a secret mantra that will help you stay rich and healthy.

Mine says: "I wasn't born yesterday."

Japanese Shark Tank

Shinjuku Shark by Arimasa Osawa

Rating: ****

Culture Shock: *****

Summary: Jump the shark and discover Japanese noir at its finest in the first of a long-running series of mystery novels to be translated into English.

A few years ago I toured Japan with Intrepid Travel (plug, plug). While in Tokyo, managed to cajole my wife into Kinokuniya, the Japanese equivalent of Chapters/Indigo or Barnes and Noble. This mega-bookstore in Shinjuku was five stories tall with one floor dedicated to manga. When you bought a book, no matter how small, the cashiers took the time to wrap the book in a Kinokuniya book jacket and then wrap it again in tissue paper before handing it to you in a bag. It’s all about the aesthetics I suppose. I still have the book jackets.

As I was staring in awe, I found a small shelf of English language books. On it was a collection of the most popular English language best sellers by the likes Stephen King and JK Rowling and Tom Clancy. There was nothing by such literary luminaries as Margaret Atwood. And it got me to thinking – is this how the Japanese perceive English language books? Are the likes of the most popular writers in the English language world the only window into English literature?

The same could be asked of Japanese literature. What do we get as a window into Japanese society? The most popular books out there are manga. I would dare say that this is not entirely the best way to see what Japan is really like on the literary front. Well, then along comes Vertigo books which publishes translations of Japan ’s most popular novels that were not written by Haruki Murakami. Koji Suzuki (author of Ringu and its sequals), Natsuo Kirino (Out and Real World) and other popular Japanese authors are now gracing American bookstore shelves. They provide at least a peak into what the Japanese literary world is like.

One hopes that Arimasa Osawa is a name that will also stay on North American books shelves (I got my copy on Amazon though).

Shinjuku Shark is Arimasa Osawa’s first book in a series of noir detective novels. Published in English by Vertical Books, this series of best-selling crime fiction has won numerous awards including Japan’s Naoki Prize and has been made into films – all Japanese of course. After a decade and a half of acclaim in Japan , this series has finally made it to North American shelves. I had to get it on Amazon, but at least I got it and now that I know the second one (Poison Ape) is coming in October, I will look out for it.

Samejima is the quintessential noir detective – tough as nails with a strict, uncompromising moral code and living in a corrupt system that wants him dead, or at least silenced, for what he knows. Samejima (whose name loosely translates into ‘shark’) must find out who is killing cops and his investigation will lead him through the seedy streets of Shinjuku home to criminals, corrupt cops, streetwalkers and Yakuza. Samejima grabs you by the throat from the first page and doesn’t let go until the last. His character and his relationship with the young pop singer Sho will keep you turning pages.

And that was enough for me to recommend this book. However, there were parts of the novel that did not engage me. Some parts might work for a Japanese audience, but did not work for me and may not work for a North American audience. For instance, there are several short chapters seen from the point of view of the unnamed killer. The reader gets insight into what is going on in the killer’s mind. But for me, it wasn’t engaging enough. There was little or no interplay between Samejima and the killer nor was there enough information to get insight into the killer’s motivation (at least not until the last couple of chapters) so as a study in the criminal mind, I found it lacking.

Also, there was a lot of backstory regarding Samejima and the secrets he knows near the beginning of the book. This extended infodump slowed the pace of the book considerably and may turn some readers off. Much of the information imparted to the reader did not have any bearing on the current mystery. It did reveal a lot about the character of Samejima and where he comes from, but did not add to the air of mystery surrounding the cop killings. I imagine a lot of this is set up for the inevitable translations of the sequals, the first (Poison Ape) which is due this December.

So my recommendation is to jump the shark and discover Japanese noir at its finest in this, the first of a long-running series of mystery novels to be translated into English.

Culture Shock: ***** Arimasa describes Shinjuku and Tokyo in very sparse terms. This is probably because it was written for a Japanese audience who would be familiar with the locations mentioned in this book. Intimate knowledge of these places and terms is not necessary but trying to figure them all out might cause vertigo.

Write Dharma 1

These are comments and updates on projects I am currently working on:

Snow on Red Leaves: my latest try at a samurai short story was not accepted into the final five of the Robyn Herrington Memorial Short Story Contest this year. I made it into the contest for the past two years and won last year with Happy Valley. But my “no hat trick” rule still seems to be in effect (I can’t seem to three-peat anything. Two in a row is my upper limit it seems. Such is my karma). To be fair, there were over 30 entries this year and I was very close according to the pre-judges. However, there were still issues regarding character motivation which I have yet to work out. I received similar crits shortly before Christmas and I thought I added just enough to it, but obviously not enough. A few more tweaks and I’ll start sending it out to markets.

Current Short Projects include Jiang Shi, a story with Chinese vampires. Yes, Hopping Vampires. I plan to have this finished up this week and start editing this month. I want to send it in to Tesseracts 13 for the October 31st deadline. I need at least a crit or two before doing so, so I have a tight deadline. I am also working on Sorcerazzi, another modern day fantasy.

This Week’s Reason to Read: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami was released in hard cover last week. It is a memoir about writing and running by Japan ’s award winning author. Murakami’s other books include The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, After Dark and Kafka on the Shore.

An Asian in America

American Born Chinese

by Gene Luen Yang

Rating: ****

Culture Shock: *** There are references to the Monkey King and Journey to the West.

Summary: A masterfully written tale told with humour about what it was like growing up Chinese in America.

In an early scene in Gene Luen Yang's graphic novel, young Jin Wang waits patiently for his mother while watching his aunt do accounting on an abacus. They strike up a conversation and she asks what he would like to be when he grows up. Jin answers “a Transformer” and holds up his toy robot as illustration. His aunt ominously tells him that he could become anything he wanted as long as he sold his soul.

Unbeknownst to young Jin, this innocent conversation would be pivotal to his understanding of himself and his place in Middle America. It also reminded me a lot of my own childhood which is why this simple and well-crafted graphic novel affected me so much. When I was a lot younger, I often wished to be like Jin’s toy robot – able to change myself at a moment’s notice and become someone else, anyone else, but who I was. And I was a skinny Asian kid most often the target of bullies. Being me was not a lot of fun most of the time. But this book isn't just about Asians. It is about any person who feels different or alienated. That experience crosses many bounderies of race and culture.

American Born Chinese tells three interlocking tales which initially look like they don't belong together. There is the folk tale of the legendary Monkey King and his battle to be accepted as an equal among gods. Then, there is the tale of Jin Wang, an ordinary Chinese kid in junior high school who is alienated for being Asian. Finally, there is the tale of Danny and his cousin Chin-Kee, the over the top Chinese stereotype who comes complete with his own sitcom laugh track. These tales eventually converge in ways you would never expect. The artwork is colourful but sparse and reminded me a bit of of Dilbert or Bone.

It is a masterfully written tale which, through lots of good natured humour (although much of the humour in Chin-Kee’s tale is cringe-worthy), comments on what it was like to grow up as a Chinese kid in white, suburban America (and Canada for that matter). For me, it almost felt like my inner-most thoughts come to life in comic-book imagery.

You can find out more about this and other of the author's graphic novels at Gene Yang's Blog.

Crouching Keeper, Hidden Dragon

Dragonkeeper Series
By Carole Wilkinson

Dragonkeeper *** (YA ****)

Garden of the Purple Dragon ** (YA ***)

Dragon Moon *** (YA ****)

Culture Shock ***½

Summary: As a YA series, these books are quick and breezy reads that will entertain the young reader. For adults, the bits of Chinese culture and history should keep interest just long enough to get through the improbable storylines.

Not often do I find books by western authors whose protagonists are Chinese or Japanese. And more often, if they touch on Asia at all, the characters are Japanese. Perhaps this is because it is the easiest of all Asian countries for a westerner to identify with since it is the most western of all the Asian countries. So these books captured my attention immediately because they are set in ancient China. What also surprised me was that it is a Young Adult (YA) series.

The Dragonkeeper series by Australian writer Carole Wilkinson follows the adventures of Ping, a young slave girl who helps an ancient dragon escape from the clutches of an abusive Imperial Dragonkeeper. In the first book, Ping helps Danzi the dragon travel to the land beyond while being pursued by a ruthless dragon hunter. The second and third books relate Ping’s journeys with another dragon, Kai, and their troubles trying to find their place in China.

The first and third books are the strongest of the series. The first provides the reader with vivid details about life in Han Dynasty China and also gives us a great set of characters in Ping and Danzi. The third book is also strong because the story centers on the relationship between the dragons and their keepers. We finally discover more about the complex relationship between dragon and man and the events that lead to catastrophe. Dragon Moon is a good story about man’s stewardship (or lack thereof) of the creatures on earth and the environmental message will resonate well with some readers.

However, the second book, Garden of the Purple Dragon, is the weakest of the three. It has Ping and Kai navigating the maze of the Imperial Bureaucracy. Ping makes friends with the young Emperor of China Liu Che who appoints her as Imperial Dragonkeeper. This relationship feels contrived and did not ring true to this reader. Ping is a peasant girl. Despite this fact, she is befriended by the Emperor and given an Imperial title. I know Ping is the protagonist, but the events surrounding her ascendance in the Imperial Court seemed highly improbable to me and will likely feel off even for YA readers.

Finally, since this is a YA series, the modern sounding dialogue and writing style were clearly chosen to engage its target audience. If you are searching for high prose reminiscent of Lian Hearn's Tales of the Otori, you will not find it here. The language is simple, straightforward and clean making the reading light and breezy.

Overall, if you want a quick and easy read that takes place in ancient China, you could do worse than take these books to the beach this summer. Just remember that the target audience is Young Adults (which is why I gave each book two ratings)

Culture Shock: Yes, I gave it ***½ and not *** or ****. Why? It deserves a **** because of all the Asian content. There are a lot of Chinese words and the author includes a glossary. The author also gives the reader a lot of cultural information and history to go along with the language. The reason for the half is because as a YA series, the author manages to simplify things for the younger reader. Although I would not recommend using this book as a history text, it does impart quite a bit between its covers.

Nit Pick: the number eight is frowned upon in Dragon Moon since it is “double 4” and 4 sounds like the word “death”. It is the number nine that is revered. The number eight in modern Chinese culture is definitely a good luck number but so is the number 9. I do not know if this is a modern sensibility was the same in Han Dynasty China. I would be curious to find out.

For more information, go to Carole Wilkinson's website.