Cover for Cold Trail

Books

My historical fiction about a woman samurai who lived in ancient Japan and fought in the Genpei War.

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Cold Saké – Inspired by a dark New England afternoon as night falls

House of the Seven Gables. Library of Congress image. Cold Saké The novella that became Cold Saké is rooted in a dark November evening in New England as the sun was setting—a scene out of Washington Irving. I had taken on the project of writing a short story for a contest and Yamabuki, who turned out to be the story’s protagonist, was still forming in my consciousness. It was especially dark, a night of the new moon, as I headed out of the office and, on what turned out to be a particularly lonely evening, drove down the two lane tree lined road toward Boston....

29 December 2014 · Katherine M. Lawrence
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Who is the woman hero?

The Yamabuki series is inspired by a 12th-century woman chronicled in historic writings of the times. It is said Yamabuki was beautiful and that she accompanied Yoshinaka, The Rising Sun General, and Tomoe Gozen, a more famous woman warrior on their adventures and into battle. Some accounts even say she was a general who led troops into ferocious battles. In writing I hoped as much as possible to avoid setting the action in Tokugawa era, which is familiar to many fans of historic Japan....

27 November 2014 · Katherine M. Lawrence
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Judging Books and Covers

Without realizing it, I had made a big deal out of Yamabuki’s armor.

19 January 2014 · Katherine M. Lawrence
NAMAHAGE—Fire Rash Peeling

Constructing Medieval Japan for a Novel

Introducing the reader to an unfamiliar constructed world takes patience, care, and research.

15 January 2014 · Katherine M. Lawrence