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!

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Update on Book of The Emily Kane Adventures

I'm working on Book 5 of the Emily Kane series right now. The working title is Girl Takes The Oath. In this installment, Emily has taken Perry and Theo's advice and enrolled in the US Naval Academy. In her third year, she becomes the target of a conspiracy involving an ultra-rightwing party in Japan and militant nationalists in China. She learns that Princess Toshi--who she met at the end of Book 3--is in danger, and the Crown Princess, Masako, sends one of her samurai retainers to watch Emily's back. 

Emily is in her third year, and of course the usual baddies within the Academy (think Tom Brown's School Days) have decided they don't like her. They think they can torment her, but are caught in the jaws of much nastier folks than themselves. She offers advice and instruction to the Academy karate team, but the fact that she refuses to compete in tournaments with them raises a few hackles, but what else can she do, having encountered the nasty side of fighting too often to treat it as a game.

I'll be previewing the cover soon.

Look for Book 5: Girl Takes The Oath this summer in bookstores online and everywhere. 

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 Short Story--Emily Kane in Nepal, in search of the Mountain Gods

The High Road to the Mountain Gods

I just published a new short story--about 13k words--as a new installment of the Emily Kane Series. It's available now for $0.99.

The story takes place in Kathmandu, where Emily travels after high school graduation. She's looking for some kind of spiritual renewal after the violence she experiences in her senior year. And she's also seeking some respite from the attentions of her "Granny,"Amaterasu, the Goddess of the Sun. Perhaps she can hide out from her in the crowded pantheon of the Hindu gods.

Things start to get sticky when a little orphan boy who idolizes her begins to attract the attention of some not so nice folks. Emily thinks she can protect him, at least for a little while, if it comes down to that. But can she also teach him how to avoid fighting with the bullies at school?

The High Road to the Mountain Gods is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

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. 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.