Book 8 Underway!

Work has begun on Book 8 of the Emily Kane Adventures. This one takes up Shinjo's story from Book 3 -- the Yakuza who agrees to help Emily in Seoul -- as well as the story of Haru Okamoto, who may be the last living member of the once powerful Heiji daimyo. The working title for this book is Girl Pays A Debt.

For the Connie Savaransky fans among you, I've also begun sketching a book to follow her adventures, and it looks like the first one will also include Ip Mao Bao, the girl Connie and Danko met in Myanmar in Book 7, Girl Goes To Wudang. If all goes well, both books should be complete by the end of the summer -- take that promise for what it's worth.

I'll keep you updated on the progress, and if you're on my mailing list, I'll probably send out a few sample chapters in a few weeks. And look for a sample cover here soon!

GIRL GOES TO WUDANG is out now!

It took a lot longer than I expected -- I almost want to say it nearly killed me -- but the ebook is available at the following stores:

Amazon
iTunes
B&N
Kobo
Smashwords

I know I always say this, but I think it's best book yet in the series. With each new book, the challenges are greater, and I try to write something deeper, more complex, and more compelling than the previous book.

Now, my mind has already turned to the next project... actually two projects. The first is to write the story of Shinjo Ryonosuke, the yakuza Emily met in Seoul, in Book 3. This is a tale of revenge and violent confrontations, of a man on the run who needs the help of the strange girl who charmed him several years earlier. Emily will come to his assistance, finding him wounded in an alley in Osaka. To keep him safe will require spiriting him out of town. But the remaining members of his gang are in hot pursuit, and they'll track him to Nagoya, and the Atsuta shrine -- the very shrine that is now home to Emily's acquaintance, Tsukino, and his new charge, Okamoto Haru, the niece of his lost love, Gyoshin Heiji. Does it sound complicated enough? I can hardly wait to dig into the writing of it.

The second project is the first book focusing on our wandering assassin, and naive moralist, Connie Savaransky, and her new protegé, Ip Mao Bao, a young woman from the Wa homeland in Myanmar. Connie meets her (and so can you) in Book 7, and she has a role to play in the final crisis in that story. I've wanted to devote a book to Connie, maybe more than one, and now I think I've got some suitable story material for her.

Be patient, but know that I am working as hard as I can. In the meantime, enjoy Book 7, and I'll post as soon as there are more developments.

New Cover for Book #1, Girl Fights Back

Some of you may have already noticed, but for the rest of the world, it's official, Girl Fights Back has a new cover.

In case you're wondering, I was fond of the old cover, since it seemed to express at least one dimension of the passions I think Emily Kane experiences in Book #1. But other elements of the cover didn't seem to me to fit as well. She wears too much make-up, and seems too socially self-assured, and mainly displays anger and resentment.

By contrast, the new cover seems to me to express those passions and others better. In particular, beyond merely exhibiting anger, this image shows her insecurities and her resolve. That's how I tend to think of Emily, a girl who wishes for friends, and worries about her identity, traits she shares with just about every teenager who's ever lived. But she's different, too, full of confidence in one aspect of her life, but also worried about the implications of her vast abilities in the martial arts.

One last thing it shows is the depth of the darkness of her eyes, which the old cover lacked.

Sneak Peek at the Cover for Book 6, Girl Rides The Wind

This is only a preliminary version, but my cover artist is ready to polish it up at any moment. I hope you like it!

Girl Fights Back listed on Book Hippo

For UK readers: Girl Fights Back is now listed on Book Hippo. Keep up the great work, PR team!

Sneak Preview, Ch. 2 of GIRL RIDES THE WIND, Book 6 of The Emily Kane Adventures

Chapter Two

Treasonous Whisperings

A Few Weeks Earlier

The drive up from the gate of the Soga estate took a few minutes, giving Gyoshin Heiji time to reflect on the changing nature of fortune. More than a millennium had passed since her ancestors broke the power of Minoru Soga’s ancestors within the imperial court, and now the old man was willing to form an alliance with her family.

“How ironic,” she said, to no one in particular. “The Taika reforms undid them, and now they are much wealthier than us, who were only cheated of our influence during the Meiji reforms, barely yesterday.”

Of course, by that time scale, yesterday amounted to a century and a half. Exquisite gardens slipped by, tended by squads of men in pale green coveralls. The main house resembled a shrine from one point in the curving approach, but looked more like a castle as the car climbed the final slope. A man wearing gray gloves waited at the door, bowed from the waist, and ushered her into a lavishly furnished drawing room. Exquisitely carved wood panels decorated one wall, and a painted screen only partially concealed a small writing table in a far corner. She smoothed out a wrinkle in her skirt, and wondered if her navy blue suit, the standard-issue business attire of a civil servant—albeit a relatively high-level one—really suited the occasion.

“Welcome, Heiji-san,” the old man called out from across the room, walking stiffly with a cane. His daughter trailed behind, flowing tall and elegant in a rather non-traditional silk kimono, which, without an obi sash to bind it all together, resembled more a dressing gown than formal attire.

“I am honored by your invitation, Soga-san,” Gyoshin said, with a little bow that extorted more confusion from her than she’d anticipated. Should she bow to a vanquished enemy of her family, and if so, how low? She supposed he affected the cane in order to excuse himself from bowing as low as his ancestors would have been obliged to do a thousand years earlier. With a shiver and a shake of the head, she tried to put her grandfather’s preoccupations out of her mind. The Soga clan now held a controlling interest in one of the largest defense contractors, and was among the wealthiest families in Japan, and in her capacity as Industry Liaison for the Deputy Minister of Defense, she worked closely with Minoru’s daughter, who had assumed the position of Vice President at the Takenouchi Corporation.

“Gyoshin-san,” Jin Soga said. “Thank you for coming. We have much to discuss.”

“I will leave you two to talk,” Minoru said. “You must forgive an old man his hobbies.” With that he turned and hobbled off into another room.

It's finally Out! Girl Takes The Oath is available at the following retailers:

Amazon

B & N

Kobo

iTunes

Smashwords

Here's a link to the email I sent out to all the fans on my mailing list last week. You can find sign-up links to the mailing list at the back of each book, too, as well as right here.

Where to get the Emily Kane Adventures

 Wondering where you can get the Emily Kane Adventures? Here's some links to major retailers who carry them.

#1 Girl Fights Back 

Amazon

iTunes

B&N

Kobo

#2 Girl Punches Out

Amazon

iTunes

B&N

Kobo

#3 Girl Takes Up Her Sword

Amazon

iTunes

B&N

Kobo

#4 Girl Spins A Blade

Amazon

iTunes

B&N

Kobo

#5 Girl Takes The Oath, is available at the following outlets:

Amazon

iTunes

B&N

Kobo

Sneak Peek of the Cover for Girl Takes The Oath

Well, it's here--no not book 5, Girl Takes The Oath, that'll be a few more weeks--but the cover, freshly devised, created, and designed, by Suzie O'Connell of Wellman Creek Books. You can't believe how wonderful it is to work with Suzie, and how amazing a design genius she is.

And so as not to disappoint, here's an excerpt from the book itself (sorry, not an action scene--We've got to save some surprises for the actual release):

“C’mon, hothead,” he heard Emily coo into Padgett’s ear. “You don’t want to give up this easily.”

The monitors beeped and flashed quietly, and something dripped into an IV, and Padgett’s chest rose and fell, but nothing else seemed to have changed. A dog-eared copy of Milton’s Paradise Lost lay on the blanket at the foot of the bed. Other than the monitors, his room was empty—no flowers, no pictures of loved ones, nothing personal.

“The nurses say he should come out of it,” Braswell said. “They just don’t know when.”

“Doesn’t he have anyone?”

“He’s a bachelor, and his parents live in a retirement home in Florida. I don’t think they’re strong enough to make the trip up here. And how’d you get in here anyway?”

“Apparently the nurses think I’m his fiancée.”

She leaned over Padgett, one hand on his cheek and whispered something in his ear, then kissed his forehead. “I’m sorry I couldn’t make it back here until today.”

“Don’t sweat it, sister,” he said, trying to sound gruff. “We’re not your responsibility… but it is sweet of you,” he admitted after a moment.

And before he could prevent it, the girls skidded in to the doorway, Kiki peeking around his bathrobe, Haru standing boldly just inside the room, exceedingly pleased with herself. “Dad, this is my friend, Michiko.”

Tomoko stepped through a second later, and stood staring at an apparition—tall, strong, pretty in an exotic sort of way, with short black hair framing a face not quite fully Japanese in cast and shape, and not quite not; is this how her daughters would turn out?—until it occurred to her to ask the girl’s name: “Hajimemashite. O-namae wa nan desu ka?”

“Watashi wa Tenno Michiko to moshimasu,” Emily replied with a little bow.

“It is very nice to meet you, Tenno-san,” she replied in English, returning the courtesy. “My daughters do not speak Japanese, I am sorry to say. What an interesting name you have.”

“I told you she’s way cool,” Haru whispered.

“C’mon everybody,” Ed growled, and tried to usher them out, without letting go of the doorframe. “I need a moment alone with Miss Tenno.” Once Tomoko had managed to direct the girls down the hall, he took an uncertain step into the room. “Help me get into a chair.”

“You look weaker than I expected, Ed,” she said, with one arm around his waist

“It’s just the stitches. I’ll be fine in a day or two. But never mind about that. I wanted to tell you… remember that extradition order?” Emily nodded. “You don’t have to admit anything, but there’s no way it’s not you they’re after, not after this last episode.”

She didn’t say anything, not that anything she said would make a difference.

“It’s just that I’ve been thinking about this past month, and it doesn’t make sense.”

“My life has never made much sense,” she said, “at least, not to me.”

“That’s harsh, but it’s not what I’m thinking. I mean, the Chinese are clearly interested in you, but… you know, first they’re trying to extradite you, then they chase you through town, but no weapons. Next, it’s a gang of thugs who attack you with clubs and knives, and then this, a full-on assault team. Either they can’t make up their minds what they want from you…”

“Or it’s different groups.”

“At least two,” Braswell said. “You know what at least one of them wants, don’t you?” He couldn’t help but see the wheels turning behind her eyes. And yet, the strange thing is that she didn’t seem shaken by the reflection going on in her heart. Her eyes grew hard and dark—could they get any darker than they already were? Too dark for a co-conspirator, much darker than that.

Before Braswell could press his speculations any deeper, a tap at the door got his attention: two NCIS investigators flipping open badges, which they hardly needed, since he recognized them from a meeting in the Commandant’s office at the Naval Academy a few weeks earlier, and she must have, too—agents Graham and Everett.

New Title and Cover for the 4th Emily Kane Adventure

The 4th book in the series has gotten a new title and cover. Girl Spins a Blade clarifies the relationship of this installment to the rest of the series.

It's been a crazy four months since The High Road to the Mountain Gods first hit it big, and in that time many folks have asked me if it's part of the Emily Kane Adventures. Of course, those of you who've read it know it's a vital link in the overall narrative of the series, telling of Emily's trip to Nepal, her encounter with the Tibetan Buddhists of Kathmandu, as well as the gangs of that area. She goes there on a quest for spiritual growth and fulfillment, but the spirit of violence follows her there as well. And she finds spiritual relief and release from the most unexpected of sources.

Find this title here, as well as the rest of The Emily Kane Adventures.

Sneak Peak at a scene from Book #5, Girl Takes The Oath.

Here's an excerpt from the latest installment of the Emily Kane Adventures, entitled Girl Takes The Oath. Enjoy.  And if you haven't started the series yet, you can find it here. In this scene Emily has agreed to give an informal lesson in hand-to-hand combat to a few friends at the Naval Academy.

“Hey, Em,” she heard Zaki’s voice call out. “We’re running out of land.”

Emily shook her head out of the dream and laughed. “Sorry, guys. I got lost in thought for a moment there.”

“What the hell, Em,” CJ moaned. “You didn’t say we were gonna sprint the whole way. I’m like totally winded.”

“It’ll be a better workout this way,” Stacie cried out, huffing as badly as CJ and Zaki.

“Stacie’s right,” Zaki said, “more like battlefield conditions.”

“The only conditions that matter are the ones inside your heart,” Emily said. “Weak, strong, rested or tired, fearful or resolute—those are all just states of mind.”

“Really, Em,” CJ said, one eyebrow arched into a peak of sarcasm. “You’re really gonna go all zen on us?”

“I will if I have to. But, seriously, you can’t waste your time wishing for the perfect conditions. When a fight breaks out, the conditions are always bad. You have to depend on what you find within yourself.”

“And just how do we do that?” Zaki asked. “I was in a couple of fights in high school, and I remember all too well what it’s like, that first time you get hit. When someone hits you, I mean really tags you, it’s like your whole brain goes numb, and you break into a cold sweat and you can’t focus on anything.”

“That’s exactly what happens,” Emily said. “And you want to make sure it happens to the other guy, not you.”

“So you’re saying we should be super aggressive?” CJ asked.

“Because that’s not what you said that day in the advanced hand-to-hand class,” Stacie said.

“It’s not about aggression. It’s about initiative. Stacie, you know what I mean, right?”

“Not exactly,” she said, looking less confident than someone with all those muscles usually does.

“Remember what your sensei told you about sen?”

“Yeah, well, I don’t think I ever really understood what he said about that.”

“Okay,” Emily said as she took a deep breath. “Let’s talk it through. We can start with CJ, but what I have to say will be true for you, too, Stacie, and to a lesser extent for Zaki. What do you do when someone picks a fight with you?” she asked CJ.

“I hope I remember to run,” she said through a nervous giggle.

“But if a man attacks you, he’s likely to be stronger and faster than you. That means you won’t get away by running. And besides, if you run in battle, you’ll let your unit down. So, in the face of superior force, and if you can’t run, obviously you have to stand your ground, right?”

“I guess so,” CJ replied, now beginning to look very put upon by the turn the conversation had just taken.

“So, let’s think of it in terms of an isolated encounter. If a man attacks me, running won’t help, at least not until I’ve disabled him. Zaki, give me a strike.”

He obliged, standing opposite her and extending his arm.

“You can see, can’t you, since his arm is longer than mine, if I step back I place myself in a purely defensive position. If I can’t reach him, he’s got nothing to fear from me. He can attack with impunity.”

“Okay,” CJ said, wary of the conclusion Emily might have in mind.

“That means, not only is it useless to run, but also that I have to step forward, into his attack.”

“Yes,” Stacie cried out. “That’s just like in shotokan. We try to block and then step inside, and nail him with a reverse punch to the center of the chest.”

“Exactly,” Emily said. “And beyond the mechanical advantage of being able to strike with your weight on your back foot, which is the strongest hand-strike you have, there is the hidden advantage that he won’t expect it. Of course, when you step inside, you really have to nail him, and even then, you still can’t run.”

“I’m not sure I can do this, Em,” CJ moaned.

“I hope you never have to, but if you do…”

“Then you better know how,” Stacie crooned.

“One last thing,” Emily continued. “Once you nail him with that strike to the soft spot just below the bottom rib, you have to hit him several more times. You don’t back away, or even think of running, until you’ve hurt him, by which I mean you’ve made it physically impossible for him to pursue.”

“And that means…” CJ cringed to ask.

“It means killing or maiming; a few bruises is not enough. You have to break his knee, or chop his throat, or maybe strike the back of his head just above the neck, gouge out his eyes—you get the picture, I hope—all very nasty stuff. Also, contrary to popular belief, merely kneeing him in the nuts will not really disable him. He’ll be able to run after you within a few seconds. Once you gain the advantage over your opponent, you don’t back off until you’ve settled it. To do anything else is simply to hand the advantage back.”

“Oh, God,” CJ whimpered. “Isn’t there any other way?”

“Of course, there is,” Emily replied, trying to find a reassuring tone of voice. “You always have options. And the more of ‘em you have, the better. Pain compliance is the other main tool in your hand-to-hand arsenal.”

“What about kicking?” Stacie asked.

“CJ doesn’t have any karate training, so I didn’t mention that. But I think of kicks as an adjunct to hand-strikes.”

“What about pain compliance, Em,” CJ chirped. “Let’s do some of that.”

“Okay, but I want to make sure you understand its limits, as a strategy. Unless you intend to snap someone’s neck, or maim them, pain compliance is only useful in cases where you think your opponent can be ‘reasoned’ with, if you catch my drift.”

“Yeah, but I’ve had training in pain compliance.”

“Oh, c’mon, CJ. I want to see how we stand our ground,” Stacie said. “Let’s go over that, Em.”

After some mock bickering between the girls, Emily had Zaki simulate an attack, first with a punch combination, and then with a grab.

“Put on pads, even if we’re only doing half-speed, or you’ll get bruises from the blocks.”

“What about you? Are you just gonna wear grappling gloves?” Zaki asked.

“Don’t worry, you’re not gonna hit me.”

“You mean you want me to pull the punches?”

“I mean you won’t be able to hit me.”

Zaki frowned at her, and then assumed a fighting stance.

“Whatever you say, Em.”

“Don’t be like that, big guy. You know we love you.”

Several attacks later, Zaki found himself lying on the grass contemplating the clouds as they drifted by. One resembled a camel, another an elephant.

“This is so humiliating. How do you keep doing that, Em?” he groaned as he picked himself up.

“Let’s try it at one quarter speed, and we can pause after each move.”

After she leaned away and swatted the first strike across his chest, she said, “See how I haven’t stepped back, and as I block with the right, I’m already striking down here with the left. The bottom rib on the side is a vulnerable spot. If I can crack it, he won’t be able to continue with that arm, and breathing will be difficult. Though with someone as solid as Zaki, it’s gonna take more than one blow.”

“I see,” said Stacie. “And blocking his arm across his chest closes him off from the next attack.”

“Exactly. It takes an extra second to untangle himself. His natural next move is to step back and swing a hook from the other side.”

“That feels about right,” Zaki said, and then stepped back for the hook. Emily stepped forward, but leaned out of the way of his strike.

“You see how I don’t let him get further away. Distance is his friend, so I deny him that. At this point, he’s vulnerable to a knee to the groin. But if I do that, he’s likely to lurch forward on top of me. I might kick through his knee, like this, or slip a right hand over his arm and strike his throat. But I need to keep my left ready to defend against the right that he’s in a good position to deliver.”

“Are those your best options?” CJ asked.

“Well, not exactly, but I don’t think you’re gonna be able to do this,” she replied, leaning over even further to slip a high side-kick under his chin, gently nudging the throat, just as he brought the right arm around.

“Holy crap,” Stacie squealed. “How on earth did you do that?”

“I had no idea you could get a kick like that in from so close,” Zaki said, stumbling back a step or two.

“You see how it let him get some distance. I’d only do that if I meant to finish him with it, you know, crush his windpipe.”

“Oh my God, Em,” CJ said. “There’s no way I’m flexible enough for that.”

“Yeah, that’s why I think the better option for you is the knee to the groin, but be prepared to shoulder him off of you, and strike his throat when he reaches down to check the family jewels.”

“It all seems so nasty. I don’t know if I’m mean enough to do some of this stuff.”

“Fighting is nasty, CJ. I hate it.”

“Is that why you won’t go to competitions with the team?” Stacie asked.

“Sort of. I mean, kumite is good training, but I hate thinking of fighting as if it were a sport.”

“Then why do you train so hard all the time?”

“Because I have to,” Emily replied, beginning to grow weary of the subject. “Look, guys, can we get back to work?”

“Sorry, Em,” Stacie said. “It’s just you’re so good at this. It’s kind of awesome, you know.”

“Yeah, Em,” CJ piped up. “Have you ever been in a tournament?”

Emily sighed at her friends’ persistence. Perhaps she’d have to share something with them, but how much could she afford to reveal about herself? Her high school friends were just the same, especially Wendy… at least until the incident with the West Virginia bikers. Seeing a real fight up close cured them of their fascination with abstract violence.

“Fine. I’ve been in lots of tournaments. When I was a kid I only wanted to compete in kata, but in high school Sensei and my dad made me do kumite, and they insisted I compete in the men’s division.”

“Man, that sounds harsh,” Zaki said.

“My dad used to say: You’re not training to defend yourself against women.”

“I suppose he’s got a point,” CJ said, “but still…”

“How’d you do against the men?” Stacie asked.

“Second place the first time, which showed me that I could take a punch.”

“Was it full contact?” Zaki asked, horrified.

“No, but boys will be boys… or men, in this case.”

“What about the next time?” Stacie asked.

“At the Norfolk invitational…”

“You mean the Leatherneck Brawl?”

“Yeah, that’s the one,” she said, her mind racing back to the scene three years earlier, and especially to the much more violent confrontation with Tang and his operatives in the hotel parking lot later that night.

“I hope you didn’t get too roughed up,” Zaki said.

“No, and more importantly, I didn’t have to hurt anyone else,” she added, with a wistful smile.

“Is that the tournament Coach Parker’s always talking about?” Stacie asked. “Because according to him, you totally dominated.”

“You know, I’m not the same person I was in high school. Back then, I could spar and kid around with my friends afterwards. Now, I don’t spar, because I hate fighting. It’s too nasty, and I’ve just been there too many times. I never want to fight again.”

“Have you ever been in a fight with someone as good as you?” CJ asked.

The expression in her eyes made the girls cringe, until Emily caught herself and made an effort to compose her face. She had fought against several people as good as she was, and even wished at moments that they would take her life away, granting her the serenity she craved. But some tie to the world, to a friend or a loved one, always brought her back to the restless self-assertion necessary to prevail.

“There’s no one as good as me,” she muttered darkly, “because no one is as evil as I am.” She thought, but did not say, “And because I am prepared for death.”

Her lonely, mysterious admission hung in the still, humid air, like a soap bubble drifting tremulously, ready for the lightning to burst it open and consign its meaning to dim memory. No one dared speak for a long moment, but no lightning came.

“Now can we get back to work?” Emily finally said, looking directly at CJ. “It’s closing in on oh-six-hundred.”

If you enjoyed this, you can find the rest of the series here. And Girl Takes The Oath will be available this summer!

The Emily Kane Adventures, Upcoming releases

The current schedule of releases for the Emily Kane Adventures is as follows:

Book 1: Girl Fights Back, available now.

Book 2: Girl Punches Out, available now.

Book 3: Girl Takes Up Her Sword, available now.

Book 4: Girl Spins a Blade. This short, originally entitled The High Road To The Mountain Gods, covers the summer after high school before Emily resolves to enter the US Naval Academy. It is typically free, or only $0.99, and is included as a free bonus in the paperback version of Book 3.

Book 5: Girl Takes The Oath, due out this summer, follows Emily as she navigates the treacherous waters of social life in the Naval Academy, and finds herself caught up in an international conspiracy targeting the Japanese imperial family.

Book 6: Girl Ships Out, due out next winter. Now a newly minted Marine officer, Emily arranges to be assigned to the Marine Corps Air Station in Futenma, Japan, so she can keep an eye on Princess Toshi from a discreet distance. While the central figures in the conspiracy against the imperial family have been neutralized, new threats emerge from elsewhere in southeast Asia, and Emily must call on new allies from her father's past.

Book 7: Girl Under Fire, follows Li Li and Stone, the children Emily Rescued from the North Korean  prison camp in Kamchatka in Book 2. They're teenagers now, and are starting to attract the unhealthy attention of some mysterious individuals. Stone knows something is very wrong, but he can't seem to get the family to understand--because they are too distracted by other bad news: Emily Kane is missing somewhere in Afghanistan!

Sign up to our mailing list to receive email updates about new releases and special offers. Don't worry, we won't spam you, in fact, we probably won't send out more than a handful of emails in a given year, and we absolutely won't share your information with anyone.

New cover idea and title for the Third Book

Book 3 is almost complete and I've been thinking about the title quite a bit lately. The original idea was to name the book after Emily's sword, Kusanagi. And since the great swords of the classical period in Japan are said to have whistled through grooves cut into the blade, I thought the title should be "Kusanagi: The Song of Death."

But as the story developed, it struck me that the title should not focus so much on the sword. I'd rather have the title refer to the girl holding the sword. So now the title that appeals to me is something like "Girl With a Blade," or "The Girl Takes Up Her Sword." Let me know which of these seems better to you... or if you have something else entirely in mind!

In the meantime, here's what the cover might look like. Let me know what you think.

Fight Scene from Girl Punches Out (Sen No Sen)

They stared at each other for what seemed like hours, but was probably only a few seconds. Emily’s heart was divided. The loudest noise in her head demanded that she kill this woman, tear her life away. The notion that it might be the only way to end the threat she posed to her family and friends was not a part of this calculus, true as it probably was. A single strike to her throat would suffice. She found the prospect repugnant, even viscerally nauseating. Ba We would have struck her down in an instant, without any hesitation. Why couldn’t she?

As her breath moved in the familiar pattern, Emily could feel the hatred in Miss Park’s heart. She tasted her fear, as well as her resentment. But what did Miss Park resent her for? “She sought me out,” Emily thought. “She attacked my family, destroyed my life.” There was nothing to account for it. But deep down, without exactly knowing what it could mean, she felt how her apparent serenity galled this woman. Fear and resentment were not a stable combination. Emily waited for the attack she knew must come. She remembered Connie’s warning about her skills.

Sneak Peak, Ch. 1, Girl With A Blade (Kusanagi)

Here it is, at long last. The first preview from Girl With A Blade, the third book in the Emily Kane Series. It's just a draft, so please forgive any rough bits. Also, here's an early version of the cover. I'm still tinkering with it, but this is getting close to final version. Any feedback on the text or the cover is welcome, as always.

Chapter 1

The Roadhouse

“You sure you want to go through with this?” Connie asked. “I mean, it’s not like you owe these guys anything.”

“I’m not so sure. That night by the lake, they had that coming. But they don’t deserve to die for their mistake.”

“I get that. But is it really your problem?”

Emily said nothing. A glimpse into the darkness swirling at the bottom of her eyes was the only answer she had for her friend.

“Fine. You get three minutes. Then Ethan and I are bringing the cavalry. Now get going. We’ll be right behind you.”

Half an hour later, she tapped on a metal door with one knuckle of her left hand. The ride through the West Virginia countryside to get there had been breezy, buggy and exhilarating. Now she stood next to one of those steel frame structures with corrugated siding, probably a warehouse originally, then a machine shop or some sort of mechanic’s lair. The greasy dirt in the yard suggested as much. These days it contained a roadhouse, really an enormous bar, big enough to accommodate dozens of motorcycles out front in one long row, like tilted metal dominos. Her dirt bike held down the end of the line, upright and incongruous in that company.

The office abutted the main building on the far end, little more than a metal shed added on as an afterthought. Some loud grunting presaged the grizzled and quite large, paunchy fellow who eventually opened the door. He squinted at her in the afternoon light.

“Whaddya want?” he snarled. “The front door’s that way.”

“I’m here to see you,” she said, pressing lightly on his chest.

Tiny as she was in comparison, it should have been easy to keep her out. But, for whatever reason, he stepped aside and followed her in.

“Would you turn off the security cameras for me?”

“Get outta here,” he said, and reached out to grab her.

She parried and twisted his wrist until she could enforce compliance with a light thumb pressure applied to the back of his hand. His forehead hit the concrete floor. A slight, further twist brought tears to his eyes.

“I’d rather not have any record of what might happen in there. Shall we smash your equipment?” she asked, tipping her head toward the computer terminal on the desk. “Or just unplug it?”

One more twist and he nodded compliance. She released him and watched as he dusted himself off. As she expected, he lunged at her again, apparently thinking to pin her against the wall. Connie’s words echoed in her head: was it really worth this much trouble to help these guys? Another parry and twist, she controlled his wrist much more aggressively this time, and he found himself tumbling head over heels. After an awkward landing on the edge of the desk, he fell to the floor with a thud. As if through a dense fog, he looked up at her, until she struck him sharply across the nose with the heel of her palm. With blood oozing from his nose and mouth, he subsided into a heap and troubled her no more.

At the desk, she brought up the program to disable the security cameras. Another one sent a short web video, which was the whole reason she had come here in the first place, to the TV screens in the main room, set to repeat. When she entered through the door behind the bar, the video was already playing. All heads were turned to watch it as she made her way through the middle of the room.

On the screen, they saw a young woman fight off about a dozen of their number in a dimly lit parking lot. The violence was intense, even gruesome. Some of them cringed at what they saw. Broken limbs and joints, the girl left a bloody wake behind her as she spun through the crowd. The gang finally capitulated, limping off carrying their maimed, though that was not entirely captured on the video. The final image showed the girl glowering, an unholy fire in her eyes. Whoever held the camera must have flinched at the sight and stopped recording. A caption appeared under her face: “Do you know this bitch?”

She stood directly in front of three men at a table off to one side, a smaller man with a bandaged throat and an arm in a cast, and two large, muscular men. These must be the leaders of the gang, she was pretty sure.

“I got your message,” she said in a loud voice, pointing a thumb at the large screen on the wall behind her. “I’m here. What do you want?”

The room came to a hush as people gradually recognized her. Hard looking men moved toward her from all directions. A female voice cried out from across the room.

“It’s her, that bitch! There she is.”

The crowd in the bar was rather larger than what she faced that night by the lake, perhaps forty or more people. But they seemed perplexed by what they saw on the big screen. Some must have been there, and hung back this time. Others stood staring at the images on the nearest screen. Among the rest, a delicate suspense hung in the air, an inability to act against her. It surely wouldn’t last long.

“Don’t just stand there,” shrieked one of the women who kept company with the gang. “Do something! Grab her!”

Two men stepped forward, one reached for her tentatively.

“Last time you made me fight, it didn’t turn out so well for you,” she snarled at the three men still seated at the table. “And it could have been much uglier, if you’d made me fight to the end.” The bandaged man winced as she said this. The large man seated next to him raised his hand to the men gathering around her, as if to forestall any new violence. Not everyone was appeased by this gesture.

“What’s wrong with all of you?” the same woman cried. “You saw what she did.”

She charged at her brandishing a knife. Emily stepped to the side, controlled the wrist and the knife, twisting down and around, sending her sprawling head over heels onto a nearby table. Ordinarily, faced with such an attack, she would have broken the wrist, or the elbow, maybe dislocated the shoulder as well, and forced the hand holding the knife to slash through the hip or stab her attacker in the ass. She let the woman off easy, merely treating her to a hard, awkward landing.

By the time she turned to confront the men crowding toward her, her eyes were on fire with a hideous fury. The similarity to the final image of the video was unmistakable, though experiencing it in person could bear no finite relation to watching pixels on a screen. No one moved.

The rumble of several large vehicles was audible in the quiet. A moment later, the double doors burst open and a team of heavily armed men in body armor rushed in, as if on cue, followed by Ethan and Connie. They stood silently at one end of the bar, gun barrels leveled against the crowd. Everyone in the room backed away, anxious to appear less than usually threatening. The girl addressed the main table again.

“I’m not here to fight,” she said darkly. “I’m here to give you some friendly advice. Take that video down before it brings you real trouble.” No one said anything. After a moment, she continued. “There are people looking for me, nasty people, much nastier than you, who will trace that website back here. And when they come, they will rain destruction down upon you.”

Still silence. She turned to the large man who had forestalled any fighting with his hand. After a long, cool stare she asked his name.

“Luther,” he replied in a little voice.

She leaned over to touch his hand and surreptitiously slipped him a card.

“Here’s how you can get a message to me,” she said in a much softer tone just for him. His face relaxed noticeably as he looked into her eyes.

“What’s your name?”

“Emily,” she whispered. “Emily Kane. My friends call me Em.”

She turned and walked directly to her companions by the front door. The crowd parted, apparently eager to avoid touching her or impeding her progress. She smiled at Connie. A finger snap, a sharp gesture from Ethan and the armed men followed her outside. A moment later they were gone.

The mood in the roadhouse could not easily find a suitable register after she left. No one quite knew what to say. Most eyes looked to Luther for some sort of guidance. Prior to this moment he had not been the leader of the gang. But Emily’s attentions practically anointed him, against his will and much to the consternation of his bandaged chief. Later, in private, he burned the card after committing the information to memory.

Chapter 6, Girl Punches Out (Sen No Sen)

Chapter 6

Popularity

It had been a mere two weeks since the tournament in Norfolk. Emily won the black belt kumite, fighting in the men’s division since there were no other women competing at her level. Her victory, her total mastery of her opponents, had been little short of amazing to everyone there. Of course there were videos of her matches, lots of them, circulating on the web. They would go viral soon enough. A few kids in school had already seen them. Eventually everyone would see them.

Chapter 5, Girl Punches Out (Sen No Sen)

Chapter 5

Bows and Arrows

The ceiling of Emily’s studio was only partially finished. The area over the kitchen, bathroom, walk-in closet and dining table was overhung with standard acoustic tile under joists covered in turn by a rough plywood floor. It was just exposed rafters over the sofa, coffee table and the sleeping area. There were a few recessed lights here and there along the walls, but most of the floor above the ceiling was clear. She had often mused about moving the bed, or at least the mattress, to the attic and creating a sort of loft. The area under the peaked roof was barely high enough to stand up in near the center. But for a bedroom it would be high enough. On the downside, there was only one small window at one end which was shaded by a large magnolia tree. No direct light ever entered there, and very little air either. In the end, this reflection always ended with Emily deciding it wasn’t worth the trouble to move the bed, even if it would have added to her usable floor space.

Chapter 4, Girl Punches Out (Sen No Sen)

Chapter 4

Tea in the Kitchen

She sat in her pickup truck in the driveway musing about the doctor. She was so nosy, so insistent on tests. What was she not saying? Maybe that’s just how doctors always behave. What would those tests show? Could they provide answers to her own questions? It probably hadn’t occurred to her beforehand that a routine doctor’s appointment might become an existential inquiry.

Ch. 3, Girl Punches Out (Sen No Sen)

Chapter 3

The Doctor’s Office

Emily couldn’t remember ever seeing a doctor before. She had always been healthy as a child, so perhaps there was never a need. She telephoned her mother who couldn’t remember the name of the family doctor. The connection wasn’t very good. She thought about it for a moment, and then tried to change the subject.

“Are you not feeling well, Chi-chan?”

“I’m fine, mom. I just think I should have a checkup every once in a while. Don’t you?”

“Of course you should, sweetheart. But is this really the time?”

“Well, I’ll need to have a physical if I decide to go to the Academy.”

Ch. 2, Girl Punches Out (Sen No Sen)

Chapter 2

Coming Home

“What’s the source?”

“The Aussie’s man in the Sixth Bureau. This is eyes only, understood?”

Don’t worry. I’ve got nothing in the works. Has Burzynski seen it?”

“No, and let’s keep it that way for as long as possible. If their contact gets burned it’ll come right back to us.”

“And Meacham?”

“He hasn’t seen it yet, but he will soon. We can’t keep it buried indefinitely.”

“Let me know when he finds it.” The line went dead.