While traveling alone on horseback through a gloomy forest near Lake Biwa, northeast of Kyoto, Justice Ministry official Sugawara Akitada suddenly comes upon a filthy, shivering urchin who appears to be deaf and mute.











In the previous installment of I.J. Parker's ongoing saga, Akitada's young son Yori had perished in an epidemic, and out of a sense of desolation, perhaps coupled with guilt, he pulls the waif onto his horse and takes him to lodgings in nearby… Continue

They have their own problems at the moment, what with riots and debts, but they still want to publish my books. And that's more than I can say for the rest of the world at the moment. Belfond just offered for a mass market version of HELL SCREEN. A nice offer! Mind you, they've also paid some nice royalties recently. I think the point of this is that this particular publisher promoted and marketed my series from the start, something that no other publisher has done. It makes all the difference.

Well, I looked and saw that it is # 24 among all historical mysteries. The release date is Oct. 28., and it has been selling for a while now.

This time, my book is a hardcover, and not particularly cheap, so I'm doubly flattered and encouraged. May it keep going!

I'm normally just quietly grateful for readers who'll post a review on Amazon, but this one pleased me so much that I'm sharing it. As you can see, the reviewer is of Japanese descent. Writing cross-gender has never bothered me a great a deal, but I also write cross-race and cross-nationality (as well as across time). A review like this proves my profound conviction that all people at all times share a common humanity that allows them to understand each…

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