Folks, I have a blog up on Suzanne Adair's site (http://www.suzanneadair.net/2013/11/21/japan-before-shogun/) where I talk about writing the Akitada series. You'll find a nice discussion there, and a book giveaway, and the announcement that DEATH ON AN AUTUMN RIVER will be free for Kindle November 23-26.

I.J.Parker

 www.ijparker.com

An Eighteenth Century Thriller Anyone?

If you are not exclusively interested in Japanese history, here’s a book that has something for everyone: duels, romance, murder, intrigue, battles, irritating relatives, and eccentric elderly gentlemen.

On Kindle:          THE LEFT-HANDED…

AKITADA # 11 IS HERE

DEATH OF A DOLL MAKER

Now on Kindle

An unexpected and dubious promotion sends Akitada to Kyushu, an outpost where illegal trade with China breeds treason and murder. Leaving behind his family, he faces obstruction and hostility at his new post and…

Much to my surprise, my web site has won an award.  Thanks to the kind people at PWA, we can now claim another success.  "We" refers to my webmaster, Bob Stein, and myself, because the site is a co-production.  He handles the technical stuff and I supply the images and text.

The site has worked well from me.  It has an e-mail address where readers can reach me, and I answer all my e-mail.  Apart from losses after a computer crash several years ago, I've kept their addresses…

I have just uploaded it to Kindle.  It will stay there for 90 days so that I can do a small amount of promotion. Later I'll also put it on Nook for a while.  Nook hasn't performed well for me, but some of my fans own Nooks.

The cover is my own, and the formatting was done by Guido Henkel at G3 Studios.  He is reasonable, good,…

I've just changed the original price (6.99) for THE SWORD MASTER  to 99 cents on Kindle and Nook.  I'll leave it there through Monday, July 9.

The purpose is to see if I can get more of a response on my latest, a swash-buckling, violent, sexy story of a twelfth century shwordfighter, than I have so far.

It's all experimentation.  When this trial is over, I'll take the book down on B&N and do a Kindle exclusive with Prime.

I hope to learn…

If you've wanted to sample the Akitada series, here's your chance:

Today, Saturday,  THE FIRES OF THE GODS is free on Kindle.

Tomorrow, Sunday, RASHOMON GATE is free.

Happy reading.

I.J.Parker

www.ijparker.com

Mystery, history and excitement in old Japan

By MARK…

I suppose it falls under BSP, as I have a story in it.  It's a collection of "America's Best Private Eye Stories."  Mine is in Volume II, along with Loren D. Estleman, Brendan Dubois, Jeremiah Healy, and our own O"Neil De Noux, along with a whole lot of other wonderful stories.  Trust me, you'll love this book!

(Made my day)

I found it this morning.  On Valentine's Day!  :)

Part of it reads:

"I just wanted to tell you that I was disappointed (after the initial surprise wore off) that you were unable to find a printer for your latest mystery and short stories.  Solely because of this, I’ve just purchased a Kindle and naturally, all of the e-books and stories from Amazon that I didn’t already own of yours on paper.   I bet I’m not the only one who has done so out of love for your…

Guest Blogger: I.J. Parker on Pirates and Loose Women

The ninth novel in the series, DEATH ON AN AUTUMN RIVER, is now available as a Kindle exclusive.

The short story collection AKITADA AND THE WAY OF JUSTICE: Tales of Crime in Imperial Japan, is now available for Kindle, Nook, and all other devices.

The book contains eleven Akitada stories that have previously appeared in ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S  MYSTERY  MAGAZINE, including the Shamus Award winner “Akitada’s First Case.”  They were not…

If you follow Joe Konrath's blog, you may have noticed increased discussion about proper pricing of e-books and e-stories.  Lately, opinion has swung away from $ 0.99, because buyer reaction seems to be that the price denotes crappy writing.  That makes pricing short stories difficult.  I decided that I'd see what would happen if I asked $ 2.99 for this one.  At 0.99, the…

I continue to put past fiction up on Kindle and Nook from time to time.  This partially because Joe Konrath advises putting material up to spark new sales interest.  This story appeared years ago in ALFRED HITCHCOCK'S MYSTERY MAGAZINE.  I added something else:  a thrilling swordfight in a snowy temple yard, entitled "Incident at Enshoji".  It comes from the…

Here's a blog I wrote to announce the release of the HOLLOW REED trilogy.  I'm happy to say that the books, gradually released between Aug. 1. and Sept. 1., are doing very well.  I wrote HOLLOW REED as a one-volume work about five years ago, thinking to say something about history as well as about the resilience of women in times of extreme oppression.  It was turned down by 5 of the six big houses and I took it back into my care.  You may recall several blogs over the past year that dealt…

Here is the first novel.  Introductory price 2.99.  Straight historical set in twelfth century Japan on the cusp of the Heike wars.

(My cover)

Peter Rozowsky's blog is one of the most popular and most intelligent blogs on the web.  As the name suggests, Peter discusses/reviews crime novels set in countries across the globe.  As the numerous comments he gets show, he attracts some very smart people, as well as some authors.

On this occasion, Peter decided that the past is also a foreign country.  Quite right, I think, and he asks me to answer some questions about writing historical crime novels.  He also asked…

Amazon.com announced today that it will donate its percentage of the $3.99 sales price of the fund-raising Kindle e-book SHAKEN: STORIES FOR JAPAN to the 2011 Japan Relief Fund, administered by Japan America Society of Southern California.



SHAKEN: STORIES FOR JAPAN is a collection of new and original stories donated by twenty highly-regarded mystery and thriller writers who were inspired by the desire to contribute something to the recovery effort from the Great Tohuku…