
Old Lover, New Enemy
Countdown to publication: 8 days. Here's another excerpt from HAIKU DANCE: Two days later, he still had not devised a method to thwart Kyekito’s plan. In a desperate attempt to learn more information, Shino had only one source he knew might be able to help him. He swallowed his pride and sent a note to Lady Hoshiko requesting an appointment. When he arrived at her home, he was escorted to the veranda where she talked to him from behind her curtain of state. Staying behind her

Who is Lady Hoshiko?
Countdown--13 days to publication Late in the afternoon, Shino traveled home along a hot and dusty road near the river Kamo. After fighting in the employ of a wealthy war landowner in a skirmish in Kawachi Province, he was weary. Increasingly, he’d begun to feel soiled, as if he’d never be clean again after fighting battles for lords who held little honor. They were willing to kill for advantage and power, but less so for what was right. Over the past couple of years, Shino h

Shino
Day 3: Countdown is 17 more days to publication for Haiku Dance. “A man with outward courage dares to die; a man with inner courage dares to live.” Lao Tzu Shino is sent into a trap. His skills included heightened senses allow him to easily detect the plotters: The faint light of a crescent moon lit Shino’s path as he moved through the darkness. A late, warm spring wind hid his movements as it whipped through the bamboo. The rustling leaves sounded like a thousand crickets vy

HAIKU DANCE
Day 1. Countdown 19 days to publication: My main character is Saito no Shino, chief warrior for the house of Fujiwara no Ichiro, Japan. We open with Shino reflecting back to the love of his life while he guards her tent as their travel back to her childhood home to mourn her mother who died there: 980 A.D. Tonight, after years of denying and repressing the urging of my heart, I now admit I love her. It has always been so. But my heart is weary of fighting for lost causes. I