Back in 7th grade, when I won a short story contest. I actually started a novel back then, a Horatio Hornblower-type sailing ship story, which I still have (and is almost illegible in my school-boy handwritten scrawl). More recently, in the late ‘90s I submitted some material to a Star Trek fanzine, which received a favorable reaction, which prompted me to shoot a little higher and write and submit a Star Trek Voyager screenplay (that being the show that was on at the time). While the screenplay wasn’t purchased by Paramount, I received a positive enough reaction to it from the show’s writing staff that it encouraged me to keep moving forward, so I tackled doing a novel. Eventually The Road to Kotaishi was the result, which was picked up by Windstorm Creative in 2002. It was then followed by The Sands of Sabakushi in 2005 and The Pool of Shikama in 2009.

Different writers approach the issue in different ways; some create an outline of what they want to do and where they want to go, and others simply write organically and let the story come to them. I fall into the former camp. I actually spend several months crafting an outline, which I liken to the storyboards that moviemakers create when they make a film. Before a single set is built or an actor speaks a line, the director has storyboarded out the entire film. In the process all of the emotional highs and lows, the action sequences, the romantic sequences, etc. are all figured out; and then they go and build the film to that “outline.” I do much the same, working out all the characters and their relationships, where they’re going and what they’re doing, before actually trying to write the narrative. The resulting outline usually ends up being about 80% accurate to what the final story turns out to be, as once I actually start writing the characters and scenes things sometimes change, or I come up with better ideas along the way.

I’ve always enjoyed novels set in Asian landscapes and cultures, and it also seemed to me to be an under-utilized setting (at least compared with the many pseudo-European settings that are common in the fantasy genre). I deliberately kept the stories more Asian-themed than fully historically and culturally accurate, since my audience is a Western one rather than an Eastern one. A Western audience is used to seeing certain storytelling motifs and cultural norms. In order to appeal to the broadest group of readers, I therefore made Tonogato look and feel like an Asian world but left out the hardcore history. This also gave me more freedom to construct the world and its characters in a way that best suited the story I wanted to tell.

One hesitates to say ‘never’ to these sorts of things, so I won’t. But – at the moment the plan is to end the series there. I’m presently working on a two-book series in a new ‘world’ that is more Arabian in flavor.

Yes, I did. This was certainly an advantage in working with a smaller press – they had the flexibility to allow me to create the covers. All of the covers were done using computer software. The first two books were created using Bryce, a landscape generation tool. The Pool of Shikama was composed in DAZ Studio, a human figure-posing program. All of my other art on the site was also created in Studio.

When The Road to Kotaishi was released, Windstorm Creative was printing and binding their books in-house. At the time, their binding equipment was unable to handle a book at large as mine, and so the decision was made to split the book into a Part 1 and a Part 2. This had been done on a few other occasions with mass-market paperbacks from larger New York presses. By the time The Sands of Sabakushi came along, Windstorm was using an outside printer who could have bound the book as a single volume. However, it was felt that the books would look a little odd on a shelf, with two small volumes for the first book and one large one for the second book, so it was decided to follow the same pattern and split the book into two parts. The same idea held true for The Pool of Shikama, so the complete set of three books ends up being six similarly sized volumes.

The main composing part is done in DAZ Studio, a human figure-posing program. This works in a 3D space with human figure models that you can pose just like a small mannequin. You can also adjust their physical appearance and add clothes and hair to them. The figures can be posed inside a physical 3D ‘scene’ and then ‘lit’ using simulated lights in the computer. You can also position your ‘camera’ or viewpoint anywhere you want inside the scene. Once you have things the way you like it, you ‘render’ the final picture, which adds in all the shadows that gives the picture dimensionality. I then take the final render into Photoshop and apply various filters to enhance the colors.

Often I get my inspiration from a new model that I’ve purchased, whether it be of a human figure, a set of clothing, or a new hairpiece. I’ll start with that new item and then just start mixing and matching from my library of models, letting my creativity ‘go with the flow,’ as it were, until I come up with an idea that I like. Sometimes I stop at a dead end; other times I may put a scene aside that isn’t working and come back to it later with a fresh approach.

Sorry, but I do retain the copyright to all of my created works, including on the web, printed versions, or any other uses. They are not available as stock artwork. However, I do accept commissions – see the next question!

Why, yes! I have done book covers, trading card sets, and private artwork for clients. If you have a project you’d like me to do, please feel free to send me an email with the particulars and I can provide you a quote.

Yes, yes, and yes. I generally do anywhere from 3 – 4 conventions a year, where I serve on panels and display and sell my artwork in the con’s art show. There is usually an autograph session as part of the cons as well. See my Appearances page for details of where I’ll be in the months ahead. When I have a current book title out, I will usually do a number of readings as well, both at conventions and at local bookstores in the Seattle area. I do not have my art available for sale on the web at the moment; I haven’t found the right place that can keep the quality up. But hopefully I’ll find a good spot for that soon.