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!

Reflections on Emily Kane

A few people have mentioned to me that the Emily Kane series has become much darker, and even depressing in Book 6 – especially Timothy Richley, who has sent me some insightful emails on this subject. He suggests that the darkness seems to have entered Emily’s heart right around the time she went to Nepal, and ever since she has been overwhelmed by remorse for all the dead bodies she leaves in her wake, and is even preoccupied by fantasies of her own death.

I think Timothy’s right about this, and I’ve also been feeling a need to turn Emily’s thoughts onto sunnier paths. [A side-note: I’m not entirely in control of this. Emily herself often dictates events as much as I do. If this makes no sense to you, try writing a book; then you’ll see.] In Book 7, I plan on accomplishing exactly this, first by turning the focus back to her little “family” and a reunion of Li Li with her uncle Jiang, but also by giving Hsu Qi’s positive influence a chance to have a greater impact on Emily. In particular, I’d like to have her help Emily find some reassurance from her ghosts.

I think Emily’s development follows an inevitable trajectory, if you consider a couple of recurring motifs in the series. I originally imagined Emily as a remorseful heroine, and wanted to trace the impact of her remorse (and not just her fists) on the people she encounters. Of course, she is saddened by the violence she can’t avoid perpetrating, but she also has an impact on the villains who confront her. In one way or another, she becomes the agent of their redemption. Connie is the most obvious of these, but also Li Li’s father, Tang, from Book 1. The West Virginia bikers are another case, and maybe even Colonel Park, from Book 2. Shinjo is a variant of this from Book 3. Kathy Gunderson plays this role in Book 5, and in Book 6, Lt. Yan and Tsukino, and to a lesser extent Gyoshin Heiji, function in this way.

Girl Rides The Wind, CH. 6 Sneak Preview

Chapter Six

Boarding the Bonhomme Richard

The ride over to Haneda Airport in two buses took just over an hour—luck of the draw, since the other company would leave too late to avoid rush hour traffic—and the charter flights to Nagasaki would occupy another two hours. From there, a short helo-ride would deposit them at the naval base at Sasebo. Seating on the plane sorted itself out in predictable ways, by rank and nation, though nothing required it.

“At least on the bus, we didn’t have to endure the gaijin,” Tsukino muttered, glowering across the aisle to where Emily sat with Durant and Oleschenko. The flight attendant offered him a water bottle and a bag of the orb-like, slightly sweetened cookies called hashimitsu.

“Are you still stewing over the drubbing she gave you?” Ishikawa snorted.

Tsukino growled and turned to Kano for moral support, but none was forthcoming. “You know it’s not right, Captain, not after what she did to us.”

Kano waved him off with an angry glance, and stalked down the aisle to look for an empty seat in the back.

“I could have told you he wouldn’t bite on that one,” Ishikawa said. “But you have definitely got to let it go. So you got your ass kicked… so what? It’s not like you didn’t totally deserve it.”

“Will you ever shut up, Dice?”

“I only wish someone had made a video of it.”

“I’m sure someone did,” Tsukino huffed.

Sneak preview of Ch. 5 of GIRL RIDES THE WIND, Bk 6 of The Emily Kane Adventures

Chapter Five

Shinai

“I challenge,” the voice said, and Emily stopped at the edge of the ring, turning to look over her shoulder. “My choice of weapon is shinai.”

“There is no need,” she said, rushing to the center of the ring to kneel at Kano’s feet.

“Do not insult me,” he growled. “You will accept my challenge… unless you think it is beneath you.”

“I would rather be your student, Sensei, than your opponent.”

A moment later, she stood on the side of the ring, as Ishikawa and Lt Otani helped her strap on protective equipment. Shinai are practice swords, made of bamboo strips bound together in a single shaft, lighter than a bokken, and with no edge. But in the heat of competition, an errant blow can still do some damage… and Kano did not look like he meant to tap her lightly.

“You should never have entered the ring,” Lt Otani said. “This could have been avoided if you had just let Sgt Tsukino have his victory.”

“Nonsense,” Ishikawa roared. “Moon behaved like a donkey. He deserved what he got, and she fought brilliantly.”

“What are they saying?” Durant asked from behind Lt Otani.

“Dice thinks I’m a fool, and so does Kiku-san.”

“No, Durantu-san,” Ishikawa said, in the best English he could muster. “I think Tenno-san is awe-inspiring. But she is probably in for a beating.”

“I’m sorry for getting you in to this pickle, LT,” Durant said, after Emily glowered at him.

“Pic-kel-u?” Ishikawa said, with one raised eyebrow as he tried to fit his mouth around the word.

“Just like tsukemono,” Lt Otani proposed.

Emily offered an alternative translation: “He means this is a difficult situation.” When Ishikawa still didn’t understand, she said, “I’m screwed.”

“Yes, yes,” Ishikawa said with a big grin. “Screwed.”

Sneak Preview of Ch. 4 of GIRL RIDES THE WIND, Bk 6 of The Emily Kane Adventures

Chapter Four

A Distinguished Personage

In the hot and humid season, merely standing in formation while a party of dignitaries made speeches could be torture. Emily managed to peek over at Oleschenko and Durant, both of whom had begun to sweat through their fatigues. A bit further along the line, she caught a glimpse of Ishikawa in similar straits, but Tsukino and Kano managed to put a brave face on the whole situation, even as the beads formed on their faces. She felt one hanging from her own nose.

“Man, this is interminable,” she muttered. “Why can’t a breeze find us on this infernal base? Is that too much to ask?”

Durant couldn’t suppress a snort at her words, and Oleschenko glowered at the two of them. “Shut it, you two,” he hissed.

Eventually, the proceedings on the shaded podium drew to a close, and several well-dressed people made their way across the front of the formation, accompanied by Colonel Kamakura, commander of the first Airborne Brigade, and Admiral Crichton, Commander of Fleet Activities at the naval base in Sasebo, and the officer in charge of the US contingent of the operation. The command to stand “at ease” made its way around and Emily’s platoon assumed a slightly more comfortable posture, feet apart and hands behind their backs.

“The tall one is Mr. Saito,” Oleschenko whispered. “He’s the Deputy Minister of Defense.”

“Who are the other two?” Durant asked.

“I imagine we’ll find out in a moment,” Emily said. She could just make out what they said to Kano’s unit. Praise for their service in the recent evacuations after the typhoon up north, and encouragement for the tournament to be held later that day.

Sneak Preview Ch. 3 of GIRL RIDES THE WIND, Book 6 of The Emily Kane Adventures

Chapter Three

Camp Narashino

“Gaijin kusai,” said Sergeant Hiroki Tsukino, who the rest of the platoon knew as Moon. With a sneer and a snort, he looked across the table for moral support.

Takeishi Kano, who occasionally let his sergeants call him Tak, glanced at Emily sitting a few seats away, hoping she hadn’t heard, since he knew she’d understand. The third time club-hopping with their American guests in the Roppongi neighborhood of Tokyo had taken a toll on him, too. But he had other concerns.

“Shut it, Sergeant,” he growled in Japanese.

“C’mon, Captain. How many more hakujin bars do we have to take these guys to?”

“At least it’s not a karaoke bar this time,” Sgt Daisuke Ishikawa offered.

“Tenno, what are they going on about?” Captain Oleschenko asked.

“And do they have to call her that?” Moon said, loud enough to be heard the length of the table. “I mean, what the hell is she playing at with a name like that anyway?”

“Sergeant Tsukino thinks we smell bad, sir,” Emily said.

“We smell bad?” Sgt Durant chuckled. “What the hell does he think he smells like?”

“It’s an old prejudice, from the second world war,” she said. “Japanese didn’t eat much meat in those days, and they thought the GI’s smelled strange, you know, like old butter.”

Kano glowered at his men as she spoke. As irritating as he found her presence, having to guard against offending her made it so much worse. She wasn’t responsible for his father’s death, but she damn well reminded him of the infernal code of honor that propelled him to his end. His father had sacrificed himself to protect her, and he’d done it at the behest of the Crown Princess, even though it required accepting a pretended disgrace in order to go undercover… and even now, three years later, the Imperial Household still refused to acknowledge his sacrifice, or to restore his good name.

“Moon, you eat enough meat to smell like a slaughterhouse,” Sgt Ishikawa roared.

“What do you know about it, Dice?” Sgt Tsukino replied.

“Only what my nose tells me.”

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.

Sneak Preview: Ch. 1 of GIRL RIDES THE WIND, Bk #6 of the Emily Kane Adventures

Chapter One

How did it come to this?

With the inflatable safely stowed among the rocks, and under the storm-flotsam she’d collected to conceal them from any planes, or satellites, during the two days they were still out on the open ocean, Emily Kane hauled Sergeant Durant across the beach and into the cover of the trees.

“Damn, you’re heavy, Mick. What the hell have you been eating lately?”

He groaned back at her, semi-conscious, and only able to push off one leg. Blood oozed from his hip and shoulder, and a gash along one rib covered by an ill-fitting bandage, and he winced when she adjusted her grip. Once she’d found him a comfortable spot in some brush beneath a eucalyptus tree, she turned back toward the shore.

“I don’t like the look of those clouds,” she said over one shoulder, not expecting a response. “This may not be good enough shelter. I’m going back for the water and bandages, and then we can try to move again.”

It didn’t take long to gather what she needed, scowling at the horizon the whole time, and when the inflatable bobbed loose from its makeshift mooring, she hauled it higher up onto the rocks, trading concealment for security “A lot of trouble for a raft we may never need again,” she muttered.

“You should’ve left me back there,” he croaked as she came within earshot again. “I’m just slowing you down. We both know what they’re after.”

“Are you questioning my command judgment, Sergeant… again?”

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.

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.

Kusanagi, Sword of the Goddess of the Sun

The Shinto story goes that Susanoo, the god of sea and storm, wanted to make up with his sister, Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun. They had been bickering for ages and she hardly trusted him at all. He presented her with a gift to win her over: a magnificent sword he found in the tail of a dragon he had slain. She named the sword Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi (which means "sword of the cloudy heavens)

Later she gave the sword to her son, Ninigi, who was lord of the earth, which consisted at the time of an archipelago in what is now called the Sea of Japan. The sword was handed down in his family through the generations until it came to his great great grandson, Jimmu Tenno, who is usually thought of as the first emperor of Japan.

Centuries later, during the reign of the twelfth emperor, Keiko Tenno, Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi was given to the warrior Yamato Takeru when he was sent to pacify treacherous warlords. In a famous incident, the warrior is trapped in dried grassland ignited by flaming arrows. He uses the sword to cut a fire break in the grass, but discovers the power to control the wind. He uses the sword's magic to drive the fire onto his enemies and destroy them. The sword was renamed Kusanagi no Tsurugi (or "grasscutter sword) to commemorate this event.

Kusanagi became one of the official symbols of the Japanese imperial family, along with the sacred jewel and the Yata no Kagami (or "eight-hands mirror"). Kusanagi is kept at the Astuta shrine, but is not available for public display, and its very existence is impossible to confirm. It is not even known what the sword would look like if it were to be displayed. It could be an enormous Nodaichi (or long sword), or a double-edged broadsword, or even something quite different. It may seem anachronistic to imagine it as a Katana, a sword style of the late middle ages, though this is a common representation. But since it is really a magical sword, we might as well say it can have any appearance.

Emily's Dream, from Girl Punches Out (Sen No Sen)

That night she brought the dingy old family sword to bed with her. It’s not that she feared losing it or having it stolen. She wanted to make up for lost time. It had been there, with her for so long, and she’d never paid it any attention. It needed to become a bigger part of who she is, that much was clear. She slept heavily, blankly, probably for several hours, until a dream of great intensity seized hold of her. She walked through the glade and the meadow, the familiar sound of the stream burbling. Two shapes awaited her in the distance, one warm and bright, the other barely a shadow. As she approached, the light grew brighter, shockingly bright, but didn’t seem to hurt her eyes. The shadow grew dark and huge, like a hole in the world. She wasn’t afraid.

She turned to the shadow and began to speak. She heard herself say: “You love my mother, so I must love you. You will show me who you are.”

She turned to the light and said: “You love my father, so I must love you. I know who you are. You are Amaterasu Omikami, and you love me. I’ll call you Granny. Thank you, both of you, for sending Kusunagi to me. Show me what to do with him.”

In a voice sweet as fire, the light shrilled at her: “The true master takes life when necessary, but gives life when it is good. You will walk on water as if it were land, and on land as if it were water. No one will be able to trick you.”

She knew how the saying ended and cried out: “Am I to be without friends forever?” Tears streamed down her face and on to her arms. She was holding a sword in one hand and a mirror in the other. Her tears rolled down the sword, and where three drops landed in the grass three luminescent women sprang up. Her tears rolled down the mirror, and where five drops landed in the grass, five luminescent men sprang up. They clasped hands in a circle around her, dancing and chanting her name:

Michiko, Michi-san, Michi-sama, Michi-kami,

Michiko, Michi-san, Michi-sama, Michi-kami,

Michiko, Michi-san, Michi-sama, Michi-kami…

She looked up to see the light and the shadow towering above her at opposite ends of the sky. She saw her place in the world now with more clarity than ever before and whispered: “Thank you, Granny.”

She woke with a start, drenched in sweat, tears streaming down her face. Sitting upright in the dark room she ruminated on what she had just seen. It was just a dream. The dingy old family sword glowed like fire next to her as she drifted off to sleep.