Skip to content
An image of a vintage Japanese print featuring calligraphy. The left panel shows black stylized calligraphic art resembling a tengu face, while the right panel includes vertical text in black ink

A Senjafuda Joke. (I’m a nerd.)

Want to be on the inside of a very inside joke?

I have a talk about senjafuda, paper seals marked with one’s name or pseudonym pasted at shrines and temples, originally as an act of devotion. The pasting later also became an act of self-promotion or as a contest against priests or other pasters (who can get their name to the highest point on the temple ceiling? and so on), and more stylish senjafuda were created specifically for trading and collecting.

A wooden interior featuring a steep staircase leading to a room with a high, textured ceiling. The ceiling and walls are adorned with numerous senjafuda labels, creating a rustic and patterned aesthetic. Rails are installed along the staircase for support.
Senjafuda pasted inside the Sazaedō in Aizuwakamatsu.

In the 1700s, a samurai named Hagino Kinai Nobutoshi went on pilgrimage on behalf of his lord’s brother, stricken with smallpox. He famously pasted many senjafuda at shrines and temples, legitimizing and popularizing the practice as a person of rank doing this in his official capacity.

A Senjafuda Joke. (I’m a nerd.)

The History of Ramen (A Worldbuilding Exercise) (To Write & Have Written)

How did a war for natural resources in Korea lead to a ubiquitous American college food? Let’s talk about how in real life everything is connected, and how we can use that to make our fictional worlds more robust, cohesive, and fascinating.

Video (from Twitch and YouTube):

The History of Ramen (A Worldbuilding Exercise) (To Write & Have Written)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

suffragettes

Grace Julian Clarke & 2020

On Saturday, I went to the unveiling of a new historical marker. (I know, I know, but not everyone can have my thrilling rock star life.)

This nerd event was special, though.

Grace Julian Clark

Grace Julian Clarke was an author, a journalist, a clubwoman, an activist, and a force of nature. She was also my great-great-great-aunt. She was born in 1865, the daughter of the significant-but-mostly-forgotten congressman George Washington Clarke. Growing up in an abolitionist home, she was well-prepared for a career in social reform.

Grace Julian Clarke & 2020

Kuro-Tamago (Black Eggs)

I’ve been thinking a lot about Japan lately. Just over a year ago I was on a dream trip through the country, visiting historic sites both famous and less touristy, and I am anxiously waiting for 2020 to play through to see if I can make my scheduled trip this fall, where I plan to hike the Kumano Kodō (熊野古道), a network of millennium-old pilgrimage trails through the south.

But while I wait, I’ve been reminiscing.

Author and Tōkyō resident Susan Spann was my guide to the best of Hakone, from the hotel where we were personally greeted to the little Italian restaurant where the owner brought in a wood-burning pizza oven. (Fair warning: I’m going to be talking up her books, both her historical mysteries about the murder-solving ninja/Catholic priest duo and her upcoming memoir about climbing 100 Japanese peaks in a year to change her inner and outer life.)

But today, let’s just talk about Ōwakudani.

Kuro-Tamago (Black Eggs)
So To Honor Him

The Face of Herod

“The Face of Herod.” That actually sounds like a title, doesn’t it? But I guess it would have to be a mystery, as we don’t have any idea what King Herod looked like.

The Face of Herod
Grimm, Grit, & Gasoline

Cover Reveal: Grimm, Grit & Gasoline

“Magic mixes with grease and jazz in this fantastic new anthology that brims with strong heroines, diverse settings, and a heaping helping of Nazi-punching.”

—Nebula Award-nominated Beth Cato, author of Breath of Earth

That’s the early word on Grimm, Grit, & Gasoline, a dieselpunk fairy tale collection. And today we get to see the cover!

Cover Reveal: Grimm, Grit & Gasoline

Researching for Writing Fantasy

Today’s post is part of the February is Fantasy blog event, so you might want to look around and see what else is happening! Me, I’m talking about research for writing fantasy.

Yes, research for fantasy. If you want to see me flip out like an emo teen ninja whose parents were murdered by zombie pirates, casually mention how easy fantasy writers have it since they can just, you know, make everything up.

man screaming in rage
Researching for Writing Fantasy