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.

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!

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

New Blurbs for the Emily Kane Series--Short and Sweet

Three new blurbs for the titles in the Emily Kane Adventures:

Girl With A Blade

Emily Kane studies martial arts, but she never thought she'd have to use them... until her home is destroyed in a night time attack.

When her family goes into hiding she stays behind, even if it means fighting off the black-ops team who attacked her home.

She's determined to finish high school, but also to find out what her family isn't telling her about why dangerous people are hunting her.

Girl Punches Out

Emily desperately wants to lead the normal life of a teenager. But events are conspiring against her. 

When foreign agents force her to fight it may not be possible to enjoy the innocent pleasures of childhood anymore.

"The angel of death can hardly have friends. And the prom, what about Danny? He can hardly have a Valkyrie for his date."

Girl Takes Up Her Sword

Defending herself against foreign agents is one thing... but when it's family, the violence rises to a new level.

A mysterious "uncle," her father's cousin, shows an interest in Emily and her friends, and it has her family worried.

But for Emily, he may be the only way to connect with the memory of her father. The cost of trusting him may be more than she can afford to pay.

The High Road To The Mountain Gods

With the help of her "Granny," Emily Kane had the strength to fight off the black-ops teams hunting her. 

Now she needs to find some relief from Granny, and to reconcile herself to the violence she had to unleash. 

She hopes to find spiritual renewal in the crowded pantheon of the Hindus and Buddhists of Nepal. But the spirit of violence is not far behind her.

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.

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.

Thanksgiving Dinner at Wendy’s House--From the Cutting Room Floor, a Scene from GO NO SEN

“Is she here yet?”

“No, Mom. That was just Dad on the porch.”

“Has he got the hot tub running? Remind him, Wendy, Okay?”

She slouched off into the backyard. Her parents loved that hot tub. They thought of it as some sort of family ritual. For Wendy it was just one more way for her mom to embarrass her about her body. A sort of belated hippie, she wanted her daughter not to have any hang-ups about sex.

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.

Ch. 1 Girl Punches Out (Sen No Sen)

Chapter 1

Sparring

   

Billy Codrow peered over his gloves at Marty Gibson. He waited for the feint. He thought it would  come from his right hand. Marty’s left foot moved. Billy was all nervous energy. A front kick! He stepped back and blocked the kick across Marty’s body. He moved to follow through with a sweep of the right leg, but the kick was the feint. Marty used the energy of the block to start a spin. As he came around he swung the back of his fist into Billy’s right ear. The force of the blow crumpled him.

“What the hell was that,” Danny Rincon yelled in protest.

“What’s your problem, Marty,” Billy moaned from the floor.

“I want the next match,” Danny said in a vengeful tone. He was a bit bigger than Billy, stronger too. But Marty was much bigger than either of them. They were all on the football team, but he was on the defensive line and they were only backs.

Sensei stepped in and growled. “Sit down.”

Emily was watching from the side through the whole match. Marty and his buddy, Jeff Schenk, joined the dojo last week. It was a special promotion: first two weeks free. They seemed wrong, somehow insincere. They already had some skills, especially Marty. But they had roughed up everyone they were paired with, apologizing each time for their seeming lack of control. It was getting to be quite annoying. The monthly sparring party was supposed to be rather more convivial. But for Danny this was the last straw.

Girl Fights Back (Go No Sen), ch. 4... here at last. Enjoy!

Chapter 4: Back in the Woods

  

By the time Emily got home from school Friday afternoon she had already planned out her weekend. She collected her gear: a change of clothes, a sleeping roll, a bottle, her hunting knife and a few utensils. Also a scope she had borrowed earlier from one of the guard posts. It must have belonged to a rifle at one time. This might come in handy. The weather was getting cooler, so she put on a jacket and headed out the back to the woods. Her father would be back Saturday or Sunday, and she wanted to have plenty of time to get dug in.

Naturally she headed straight for Promontory Rock. Well, not exactly straight. She took the most direct route she could imagine, while at the same time leaving no clues behind her, but as many false trails as she could think of. If it were possible to trace her steps from above, as a bird might see them, that is, if they were visible at all, they might seem to sketch out some sort of rune, or an arabesque. Was the pattern merely ornamental, or did it have some deep meaning? Or was it like a mehndi, with a ritual meaning as part of a wedding, or some sort of seasonal festival. She reveled in the path she was creating and concealing at the same time, using it to misdirect the gaze of her pursuer even as she set her heart on the promontory. Her father would not expect her to go there now that she knew he knew.

The rock projected from a cliff at least two hundred feet above the ravine below. A stream meandered among the maples and elms at the bottom. The trees gave way to smaller oaks and mountain mahogany further up until it finally thinned out to grass and a few shrubs around the rock itself. One large clump of shrubs several yards away from the precipice was dense enough to hide a small hollow within. There was just enough foliage to conceal her without the need for a lean-to or any other sort of covering. She could see out in three directions without much difficulty. The fourth direction was covered by a large rock and some thick brambles. No silent approach from there.

Girl Fights Back (Go No Sen), ch. 2... Enjoy!

Chapter 2: Camping

That day, her father picked her up from the dojo in the family car. That was their little joke. It was a black limousine, not huge or stretched out. But it was obviously solid. It belonged to the family her father worked for. He was their driver, though it was not clear exactly where his duties ended, or what he might be asked to do, or when.

He was not a physically imposing man. He was only a couple of inches taller than her and maybe thirty pounds heavier. He was wiry and strong, but deceptively so. He did not train extensively, just a few push-ups, a few sit-ups, a few pull-ups, a few laps around the estate where they lived. But she sensed that, like Sensei, he was much stronger than he had any right to be, than anyone might suspect. Of course, he hardly ate at all, seemed not even to like food. A few vegetables, maybe some beans, some fruit, a bowl of rice. That was his diet. They ate dinner together most nights. She wasn’t sure he ate any other meals. He was in his early forties, though most people on first meeting him would probably assume that he was ten years younger than that.

Emily knew that he remained young because he was essentially young at heart. She saw his playful side, she basked in his love. But to everyone else he seemed to be made of stone. A cool customer. He hardly spoke, never laughed. Just listened with an immovable expression on his face. When his employer, Mr. Cardano, asked him to do something, he did it, quickly, efficiently, without comment. Cardano had come to rely on his impassivity. It was as secure as the Catholic confessional. Sometimes, he was gone from the estate for a few days, never more than a week. He never told her what he did on these trips. She didn’t ask anymore. For the most part, however, he drove the family car.

Girl Fights Back (Go No Sen), ch. 1... as promised!

Here it is. Enjoy! Check back soon for the next installment.

Chapter 1

Kung Fu

It’s like a kid swinging a bat in his first little league baseball game. He has no idea what to expect, when to begin his swing, when to commit to it completely, not to mention where to swing the bat. Sure, he’s probably already practiced swinging at balls with his dad out on the local ball field or at a batting cage. He knows how to hold the bat--dominant hand on top, knuckles of both hands lined up, bat off his shoulder--maybe even how to step slightly into his swing, shift his weight to his back foot, swivel his hips and then his shoulders.

But facing the opposing pitcher in a real, live game; now that’s something completely different. That kid on the mound is not trying to teach him how to hit the ball. He’s throwing as hard as he can, trying to get him out. His throwing motion is different from his dad’s. It’s really hard to see the ball until it’s almost too late. His eyes don’t focus on the right things; they don’t look in the right directions. He doesn’t know what to look for. He closes his eyes and swings. Here’s what it sounds like in sequence: thud... swish. Thud (the ball hits the catcher’s mitt), then swish (the bat cuts the empty air). Later, after a lot more experience in game conditions, he learns how to train his eyes to look and his mind to attend to the right things.

That’s how sparring always seemed to her. It was just a matter of seeing, of knowing where to look and what to look for. She saw the telltale signs of her opponent’s intentions almost as soon as he had formed them, certainly as soon as he was committed to them. This was her third martial art. First was aikido, a beautiful, meditative discipline. All round, soft movements, deflecting the opponent, but also absorbing him, enfolding him in the subtle folds of her own movements, a caress, a rebuff. It was almost a kindness. Soothing the opponent, allowing him to expend his energy fruitlessly, turning him around, twisting him in an unexpected way. Perhaps he sees that his effort is going awry even as it’s happening to him, but there’s nothing he can do about it. The surprise she saw written across his face was a supreme satisfaction, better than victory and his admission of defeat. Tap.