M. Harmon Wilkinson 11/30/20 M. Harmon Wilkinson 11/30/20

National Novel Writing Month 2020 III

My NaNoWriMo novel is 91,700 words, quite a bit more than my 75,000-word goal. But there are still places that need filling out and the novel is terribly disjointed. Still, I think I have some solid content to work with.

M. Harmon Wilkinson 11/17/20 M. Harmon Wilkinson 11/17/20

National Novel Writing Month 2020 II

I won National Novel Writing Month for the third year in a row.

M. Harmon Wilkinson 11/5/20 M. Harmon Wilkinson 11/5/20

Cover: Under Shōko's Bed

Under Shōko’s Bed has a cover that’s not homemade anymore.

M. Harmon Wilkinson 11/1/20 M. Harmon Wilkinson 11/1/20

National Novel Writing Month 2020

Six of my novels have a male protagonist, and they are quite similar, all nice guys. I wanted to stretch and write a curmudgeon.

M. Harmon Wilkinson 10/30/20 M. Harmon Wilkinson 10/30/20

Japan Writers Conference 2020

There was one speaker whose presentation was so good that I took notes, Steven Wolfson, a screenwriter and teacher, who talked about Cinematic Storytelling.

M. Harmon Wilkinson 10/16/20 M. Harmon Wilkinson 10/16/20

Editing: Under Shōko's Bed III

I thought I sent Tricia Callahan a clean manuscript, but it turned out I had not learned the meaning of thorough.

M. Harmon Wilkinson 9/20/20 M. Harmon Wilkinson 9/20/20

The idea: The Time Well

What I have written now is too much story for one book, but not enough for three.

M. Harmon Wilkinson 9/14/20 M. Harmon Wilkinson 9/14/20

The idea: The Keeper

A foreigner living in Tokyo does not want his daughters to have to live with the pain of their father’s suicide. So he decides to get himself murdered. That’s not a simple thing to do in Tokyo.

M. Harmon Wilkinson 9/9/20 M. Harmon Wilkinson 9/9/20

The idea: Vision More Glorious

Vision More Glorious follows a young English teacher in Tokyo who takes part in a drug trial for a new antidepressant. To his amazement, it quickly alters the range of light he is able to see, giving him a wonderful, though almost useless, superpower.

M. Harmon Wilkinson 8/29/20 M. Harmon Wilkinson 8/29/20

The idea: Kintsugi

When the fates of two couples intersect, the complications test their characters and relationships. Can they mend them kintsugi-fashion to be better than before, or will they simply have to sweep up the shards and throw them away?

M. Harmon Wilkinson 8/21/20 M. Harmon Wilkinson 8/21/20

The idea: The Man Terror Club

Perhaps the most surprising experience of writing The Man Terror Club was how much I came to like the characters. While all the women have been betrayed, abused, or discarded, they remained kind, giving, and caring. Their love for each other heals them, and that healing is most of the story, not their terrorism as they lash out at the evil men do.

M. Harmon Wilkinson 8/14/20 M. Harmon Wilkinson 8/14/20

The Chicago Manual of Style

Too often websites either disagreed or offered no helpful guidelines and I was having to decide on my own what grammar and punctuation rules to use. In addition, the sites didn’t cover many of the fine points, forcing me to make up too much. I needed a comprehensive style guide. So I adopted The Chicago Manual of Style.

M. Harmon Wilkinson 8/4/20 M. Harmon Wilkinson 8/4/20

A hermit's life

COVID-19 has rendered me a hermit. But the editor, cover artist, book designer, and proofreader I need are likely hermits too. Hermits unite!

M. Harmon Wilkinson 6/11/20 M. Harmon Wilkinson 6/11/20

Editing: Neyuki II

I’m trying to write a whole new opening chapter. But bucolic life in rural Japan does not capture the imagination and refuse to let go. It doesn’t turn pages.

M. Harmon Wilkinson 5/31/20 M. Harmon Wilkinson 5/31/20

More distraction

With all this commotion, I admit I have to push hard to get past the distraction and lose myself in a story.