Podcast appearances and mentions of naomi hirahara

Foothill Transit's Director of Marketing and Communications joins Streetsblog Editor Damien Newton for an ask-me-anything style interview probing the bus agency's recent trials and successes. Friesema took questions on: how Foothill's bolstered services to Mt. San Antonio College and Cal Poly Pomona will connect with soon to open Metro A Line service in the San Gabriel Valley Foothills, the agency's hopes for a bus rapid transit service contract in the 60 Freeway corridor, what level of challenge is still faced after the initial stage of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the agency's move towards hydrogen fuel cell technology since its battery electric vendor Proterra went bankrupt. Plus, as a bonus we heard about Friesema's favorite local mystery writer, Naomi Hirahara, whose novels are set in the SGV, Chinatown, Japantown, and Manzanar to name a few.  You can read a transcript of the conversation here, or listen to the podcast below. Streetsblog's San Gabriel Valley coverage is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the A Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. “Foothill Transit. Going Good Places.”Sign-up for our SGV Connect Newsletter, coming to your inbox on Fridays! Sign-up for our SGV Connect Newsletter, coming to your inbox on Fridays, and catch past episodes of SGV Connect and #DamienTalks on LibSyn, iTunes, Google Play, or Overcast.

Have we read all of the NBA fiction longlist books? We have not. Do we have thoughts on the ones we have read? We do! Jessica Anthony! Amazing! But we also read a bunch of other books for this episode, even if Sam has trouble remembering which ones (much as he could not remember the word "seersucker"). Here's what's on tap: - All of the National Book Award Longlist for Fiction. Find it here. A lot of great choices; a few headscratchers! - "The Life Impossible," by Matt Haig. It's uplifting! About grief and getting past it.  - More on "The Light Pirate," which starts kind of boring but gets awesome. - "You Are Here," by David Nicholls. Yes, now Sam has read it, too.  - "Brooklyn," by Colm Tóibín. Hannah's not sure why people love it so much. What is she missing? - "Clark and Division," by Naomi Hirahara. Sam doesn't like historical fiction, but he likes this.

Award-winning author Naomi Hirahara joins the podcast to talk about her journey from growing up in the Pasadena area to her career as a reporter and mystery writer. Reflecting on her Japanese American heritage, she shares how her background and rich experiences have shaped her acclaimed works. Naomi discusses her transition from reporting to fiction writing, providing keen insights into her creative process and the significance of her characters. She talks about her numerous novels, which often feature compelling themes of resilience, justice, and multiculturalism, and dive into complex historical contexts, from the internment camps at Manzanar to post-war Japanese American communities. She also opens up about her love for sports, diving into her personal experiences as an athlete and sports enthusiast. Naomi's latest project, a historical mystery set in 1903 Pasadena titled “Crown City,” will be published in 2025. The featured music on the podcast is courtesy of Pasadena's own The Nextdoors. Please visit nextdoorsmusic.com and follow them on social media for more information on their next live shows. The Crown City Podcast is produced in partnership with Pasadena Media. For more information about this incredible non-profit serving the Pasadena community, please visit www.pasadenamedia.org. For more information and to support The Crown City Podcast, please visit us at www.thecrowncitypodcast.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Amber, Robin, and Shannon are discussing historical mysteries. Titles mentioned include: Eleanor Kuhns, A Simple Murder (Will Rees #1) Walter Mosley, Devil In a Blue Dress (Easy Rawlins #1) Louise Hare, Miss Aldridge Regrets (Canary Club Mysteries #1) Nelly H. Steele, Death of a Duchess (Duchess of Blackmoore #1) Lev A. C. Rosen, The Bell In the Fog (Evander Mills #2) Naomi Hirahara, Clark and Division (Japantown Mysteries #1) June Hur, The Silence of Bones Elizabeth Peters, Crocodile on the Sandbank (Amelia Peabody #1) Harini Nagendra, The Bangalore Detectives Club (The Bangalore Detectives Club #1) Amanda Flower, I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died (Emily Dickinson Mysteries #2) K.J. Charles, Death in the Spires Chanel Cleeton, The Cuban Heiress You can always contact the Book Bistro team by searching @BookBistroPodcast on facebook, or visiting: https://www.facebook.com/BookBistroPodcast/ You can also send an email to: TheBookBistroPodcast@gmail.com For more information on the podcast and the team behind it, please visit: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/book-bistro

We're taking a tour through the new releases across many genres from April 2005, nearly 20 (!!!) years ago. Romance has changed a wee little bit.How much cringe shall we find? Plenty!Other oddities? Mainstream includes YA and Chick Lit. Contemporary includes New Reality. Regency in Format includes Corinthians! And we're trying to understand a character who wants to “dim the pain of turning 30.” It's a ride, as usual.Side trips include Sea Breeze, Stridex, and St Ives Medicated Apricot Scrub.TW: for mention of sexual assault, body horror – we do announce it in the audio so you can skip ahead.You can find all the Romantic Times Rewind episodes, visual aids posts, and more in one convenient place!Don't miss the visual aids for this episode!We also mentioned:Regency in format, not genre: This r/HRNovlesDiscussion post shows a treasure trove of Regency/format books. Did you use St. Ives Medicated Scrub? I sure as heck did.RegRom.com answers the question, ‘What is a Corinthian?'Amanda mentioned author Naomi Hirahara in a recent Get Rec'd with Amanda post Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're taking a tour through the new releases across many genres from April 2005, nearly 20 (!!!) years ago. Romance has changed a wee little bit.How much cringe shall we find? Plenty!Other oddities? Mainstream includes YA and Chick Lit. Contemporary includes New Reality. Regency in Format includes Corinthians! And we're trying to understand a character who wants to “dim the pain of turning 30.” It's a ride, as usual.Side trips include Sea Breeze, Stridex, and St Ives Medicated Apricot Scrub.TW: for mention of sexual assault, body horror – we do announce it in the audio so you can skip ahead.You can find all the Romantic Times Rewind episodes, visual aids posts, and more in one convenient place!Don't miss the visual aids for this episode!We also mentioned:Regency in format, not genre: This r/HRNovlesDiscussion post shows a treasure trove of Regency/format books. Did you use St. Ives Medicated Scrub? I sure as heck did.RegRom.com answers the question, ‘What is a Corinthian?'Amanda mentioned author Naomi Hirahara in a recent Get Rec'd with Amanda post Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Barbara Peters in conversation with Naomi Hirahara

Washington Post reporter Laura Meckler tells the story of Shaker Heights, Ohio, a town with high-performing, diverse schools — and also a pronounced achievement gap between white and Black students. Meckler's book is Dream Town.John Powers reviews Naomi Hirahara's mystery novel Evergreen.

Washington Post reporter Laura Meckler tells the story of Shaker Heights, Ohio, a town with high-performing, diverse schools — and also a pronounced achievement gap between white and Black students. Meckler's book is Dream Town.John Powers reviews Naomi Hirahara's mystery novel Evergreen.

Naomi Hirahara joins Carol Fitzgerald to talk about her latest mystery, EVERGREEN. The story once again features Aki Ito, who readers met in CLARK AND DIVISION. Aki has now moved back to Los Angeles from Chicago where her family was displaced during World War II. Naomi talks about her research for this book, some of which was drawn from relatives, as well as her work over the past decades. She explains how EVERGREEN works well as a stand-alone novel and what brought her and the publisher to call these books Japantown mysteries. Carol shares how they give an insightful look into this time as historical fiction, as well as a mystery. Book discussed in this episode:  EVERGREEN by Naomi Hirahara https://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/evergreen-a-japantown-mystery Latest “Bookreporter Talks To” Interviews: Liz Nugent: https://youtu.be/pH2HEvvyiAo Alli Frank and Asha Youmans: https://youtu.be/d02mLanJV8g Carolyn Mackler: https://youtu.be/L4M-w9BeaTk Adrienne Brodeur: https://youtu.be/6U7kf2KVtco Lisa See: https://youtu.be/D8XYEYI60Ww Nancy Horan: https://youtu.be/49bdiHbIUmY Linwood Barclay: https://youtu.be/pkDG90y9FN0 Alice Elliott Dark: https://youtu.be/9AAk-lLDRbc Kate Morton: https://youtu.be/LMjdzDRlqrg Susan Patterson and Susan DiLallo: https://youtu.be/ZWDnhSS26KI Lisa Scottoline: https://youtu.be/8F-CDltuc3E Sadeqa Johnson: https://youtu.be/TW01NY0d7CE Check out our past “Bookaccino Live” Book Group events: Nita Prose: https://youtu.be/f_Ev0KN8z2M Chamaine Wilkerson: https://youtu.be/0DluxmfXGoI  Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray: https://youtu.be/rYelwWiTJbE Janet Skeslien Charles: https://youtu.be/47Sx9DtcAkA Miranda Cowley Heller: https://youtu.be/gVlKvApDO8M Sign up for newsletters from Bookreporter and Reading Group Guides here: https://tbrnetwork.com/newsletters/ FOLLOW US on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bookreporter Website: https://www.bookreporter.com Art Credit: Tom Fitzgerald Edited by Jordan Redd Productions

If someone talks to me (Sara) about summer reading, honestly, my brain first goes to fiction novels.  I love them, and I have been noticing that if they're particularly well-written, I end up learning a whole lot about humanity.  And the book we're highlighting for you today is just one of those phenomenal book experiences.     We're excited to bring to you a book set in the era just after World War II and the incarceration of Japanese Americans on American soil.  So many books talk about the experiences IN those camps, but we've seen very few opportunities for us to all learn about what it was like for people to return to society, to be released with very few possessions and no real home to return to.  Naomi Hirahara dives into this period of history in her books Clark and Division, which was set in 1944 Chicago, and its sequel which we'll focus on today, Evergreen, set in postwar Los Angeles. We highly recommend both of these books - please let us know what you think! What to listen for: Why it was important for author Naomi Hirahara - who writes both fiction and nonfiction books - felt like this topic was best suited for a historical fiction novel How her personal experience as a Japanese American played into the storyline When you can find her on her book tour for this brand new novel, Evergreen, in 2023!  About the author: Naomi Hirahara is the Mary Higgins Clark Award–winning author of Clark and Division, and the Edgar Award–winning author of the Mas Arai mystery series, including Summer of the Big Bachi, which was a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year and one of the Chicago Tribune's Ten Best Mysteries and Thrillers; Gasa Gasa Girl; Snakeskin Shamisen; and Hiroshima Boy. She is also the author of the LA-based Ellie Rush mysteries. A former editor of The Rafu Shimpo newspaper, she has co-written non-fiction books like Life after Manzanar and the award-winning Terminal Island: Lost Communities of Los Angeles Harbor.

Barbara Peters in conversation with Michelle Gagnon and Naomi Hirahara

Join us for the first in the Ali Rush mystery series, following the LAPD bike-cop in her first homicide case - Murder on Bamboo Lane by Naomi Hirahara. We don't reveal whodunnit. In Mystery Business, we are joined by special guest, CeeCee (aka the Wine Butler). He debriefs on an immersive murder mystery, Cyanide at the Speakeasy . This is a fabulous theatre piece by Moonstone Murder Mysteries*. We also reflect on the rarity that is a crime-solving trio, or indeed quartet or larger! We challenge listeners to find such a thing. In Purrcule Pawrot, Maddy has a few brief words on our feline friend. We also discuss the use of CI's* and the delights of Snapple and butter ramen. *Apologies for reference to Moonstone Mysteries in the recording. **Confidential Informants for non-sleuths out there. A shout-out also to Backstory bookshop in Balham; an excellent local independent bookshop. It specialises in non-fiction, but also stocks other genres, including murder mysteries. Mystery Mentions Shakespeare and Hathaway Killer Kung Pao - Vivien Chien Shanghai Moon - S.J. Rozan A Spy in the Struggle - Aya de Leon Next book for 10th April: The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd In the mood for more mystery? Check out our review of Killer Kung Pao (which we also discussed this episode - equally vivid references to very delicious food) Follow us on Instagram: @missingsalmoncase Share with a friend: The Unsolved Case of the Missing Salmon Nominate a Queen of Crime: missingsalmoncase@gmail.com This podcast is created, produced and edited by Maddy Berry and Hannah Knight. Our music is sourced from Melody Loops and composed by Geoff Harvey.

Naomi Hirahara is an Edgar Award-winning author of multiple traditional mystery series and noir short stories. Her Mas Arai mysteries, which have been published in Japanese, Korean and French, feature a Los Angeles gardener and Hiroshima survivor who solves crimes. The seventh and final Mas Arai mystery is Hiroshima Boy, which was nominated for an Edgar Award for best paperback original. Her first historical mystery is Clark and Division, which follows a Japanese American family's move to Chicago in 1944 after being released from a California wartime detention center. Her second Leilani Santiago Hawai‘i mystery, An Eternal Lei, is scheduled to be released in 2022. A former journalist with The Rafu Shimpo newspaper, Naomi has also written numerous non-fiction history books and curated exhibitions. She has also written a middle-grade novel, 1001 Cranes.

Naomi Hirahara is an Edgar Award-winning author of multiple traditional mystery series and noir short stories. Her Mas Arai mysteries, which have been published in Japanese, Korean and French, feature a Los Angeles gardener and Hiroshima survivor who solves crimes. The seventh and final Mas Arai mystery is Hiroshima Boy, which was nominated for an Edgar Award for best paperback original. Her first historical mystery is Clark and Division, which follows a Japanese American family's move to Chicago in 1944 after being released from a California wartime detention center. Her second Leilani Santiago Hawai‘i mystery, An Eternal Lei, is scheduled to be released in 2022. A former journalist with The Rafu Shimpo newspaper, Naomi has also written numerous non-fiction history books and curated exhibitions. She has also written a middle-grade novel, 1001 Cranes.

A man hears a melody in the night and begins a dangerous quest to locate its source. Ghosts of the past haunt the present in hotels, at an office party, and on a date that takes a dark turn. And an elderly woman named Marple sets out to prove she's every bit as capable as Christie's own famous sleuth.This second short story collection from Edgar Award winner Art Taylor spans the spectrum of crime fiction-from light-hearted traditional mystery to noir-tinged tales and even toward speculative fiction-and features two previously unpublished stories and an introduction by Martin Edwards. (Official Pub Date: 2/14/23)"Only the very best succeed in making a career from short stories. Art Taylor stands out for his wit, fine writing and beautifully observed snapshots of modern life." Peter Lovesey, author of the Peter Diamond series and winner of the Gold, Silver, and Cartier Diamond Daggers from the British Crime Writers' Association"You can count on two things with Art Taylor's stories-not only will they be very, very good, they'll also surprise you. I love the way he plays with the short story form, sometimes in diabolical ways, but never at the expense of giving the reader a damned good read." Donna Andrews, NYT-bestselling author of Round Up the Usual Peacocks and Dashing Through the Snowbirds"Art Taylor is our present-day Edgar Allan Poe. His carefully crafted tales dig into the darkness of human desires and loneliness. This short story collection is beautifully arranged, first lulling us into delight and then surging into a madness only seen behind closed bedroom doors. A definite must-read!" Naomi Hirahara, a Mary Higgins Clark Award winner of Clark and DivisionSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/houseofmysteryradio. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/houseofmysteryradio. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Aki Ito und ihre Eltern dürfen 1944 das amerikanische Internierungslager Mazanar verlassen, in das sie in Folge des japanischen Angriffs auf Pearl Harbor gesteckt wurden. In Chicago wollen sie sich mit Akis Schwester Rose treffen. Aber am Abend vor ihrer Ankunft stirbt Rose - angeblich hat sie Selbstmord begangen. Aki glaubt das nicht und forscht nach. Ein thematisch wichtiger Roman mit etwas dünner Krimi-Handlung. Rezension von Sonja Hartl. Aus dem Englischen von Karen Witthuhn Ars Vivendi Verlag, 272 Seiten, 24 Euro ISBN 978-3-7472-0422-1

Yuriko was happy growing up in Hiroshima when it was just her and Papa. But her aunt Kimiko and her cousin Genji are living with them now, and the family is only getting bigger with talk of a double marriage! And while things are changing at home, the world beyond their doors is even more unpredictable. World War II is coming to an end, and since the Japanese newspapers don't report lost battles, the Japanese people are not entirely certain of where Japan stands. Yuriko is used to the sirens and the air-raid drills, but things start to feel more real when the neighbours who have left to fight stop coming home. When the bombs hit Hiroshima, it's through Yuriko's twelve-year-old eyes that we witness the devastation and horror. This is a story that offers young readers insight into how children lived during the war, while also introducing them to Japanese culture. Based loosely on author Kathleen Burkinshaw's mother's first-hand experience surviving the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, The Last Cherry Blossom (Sky Pony Press, 2020) hopes to warn readers of the immense damage nuclear war can bring, while reminding them that the “enemy” in any war is often not so different from ourselves. Kathleen Burkinshaw is a Japanese American author and the daughter of a Hiroshima survivor residing in Charlotte, NC. She's a wife, mom, and owns a dog who thinks she's a kitchen ninja. Writing gives her an outlet for her daily struggle with chronic pain from Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy. In 2019 she spoke about her mother's experience in Hiroshima at the United Nations (NYC). This summer she spoke at UN worldwide virtual events as well as a Japanese American National Museum webinar with author Naomi Hirahara in honor of the 75th anniversary of atomic bombing. Kathleen has been featured on PBS, local NPR stations, Asian American magazines/newspapers, both Japanese and English programs on NHK World Japan, as well as in 2 major Japanese newspapers. She has presented to middle/high schools around the world for the past 10 years. The Last Cherry Blossom, is now a United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs Resource for Teachers and Students. And nominated for NC School Library Media Association YA book award and 2019-2020 VSBA, 2018 & 2016 Scholastic WNDB Reading Club selection, and a Finalist for the NC Sir Walter Raleigh Fiction Award, 2018 Sakura Medal, Japan, and 2016 SCBWI Crystal Kite Award (southeast region).  Bing Wang receives her PhD at the University of Leeds in 2020. Her research interests include the exploration of overseas Chinese cultural identity and critical heritage studies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/east-asian-studies

Patrick Millikin in conversation with Penny Mickelbury, Gary Phillips, Naomi Hirahara, and Gar Anthony Haywood    

Naomi Hirahara is an Edgar Award-winning author of multiple traditional mystery series and noir short stories. Her Mas Arai mysteries feature a Los Angeles gardener and Hiroshima survivor who solves crimes. The Japanese translation of her seventh and final Mas Arai mystery, Hiroshima Boy, is nominated for two awards in Japan. Her first historical mystery is Clark and Division, which follows a Japanese American family's move to Chicago in 1944 after being released from a California wartime detention center. The book recently won a Mary Higgins Clark mystery award and a Lefty historical mystery award. A former journalist with The Rafu Shimpo newspaper, Naomi has also written numerous non-fiction history books and curated exhibitions. She has also written a middle-grade novel, 1001 Cranes.Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/NaomiHiraharaBooksTwitter @gasagasagirlInstagram @gasagasagirlWebsite www.naomihirahara.com*****************Sisters in Crime was founded in 1986 to promote the ongoing advancement, recognition and professional development of women crime writers. Through advocacy, programming and leadership, SinC empowers and supports all crime writers regardless of genre or place on their career trajectory.www.SistersinCrime.orgInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/sincnational/Twitter: https://twitter.com/SINCnationalFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/sistersincrime

Join us for a celebration of the winners of the 91st annual California Book Awards! Since 1931, the California Book Awards have honored the exceptional literary merit of California writers and publishers. Each year a select jury considers hundreds of books from around the state in search of the very best in literary achievement. Over its 90 years, the California Book Awards have honored the writers who have come to define California to the world. Among them are John Steinbeck, Wallace Stegner, MFK Fisher, Thom Gunn, Richard Rodriquez, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Joan Didion, Ishmael Reed, and Amy Tan. Recent award winners include Hector Tobar, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Susan Orlean, Rachel Kushner, Rachel Khong, Tommy Orange, Morgan Parker and Steph Cha. This year's winners include: GOLD MEDALS FICTION The Archer, Shruti Swamy, Algonquin Books, an imprint of Workman Publishing, Hachette Book Group FIRST FICTION Skinship, Yoon Choi, Alfred A. Knopf NONFICTION­ Paradise: One Town's Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire, Lizzie Johnson, Crown JUVENILE Wishes, Mượn Thị Văn and Victo Ngai, Orchard Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc YOUNG ADULT Home Is Not a Country, Safia Elhillo, Make Me a World POETRY Refractive Africa, Will Alexander, New Directions CALIFORNIANA Everything Now: Lessons from the City-State of Los Angeles, Rosecrans Baldwin, MCD, an imprint of Farrer, Straus & Giroux CONTRIBUTION TO PUBLISHING A Rebel's Outcry, Naomi Hirahara, Little Tokyo Historical Society SILVER MEDALS FICTION The Committed, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Grove Atlantic FIRST FICTION City of a Thousand Gates, Rebecca Sacks, Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers NONFICTION Light on Fire: The Art and Life of Sam Francis, Gabrielle Selz, University of California Press SPEAKERS Peter Fish California Book Awards Jury Chair Sarah Rosenthal California Book Awards Juror Rosalind Chang California Book Awards Juror In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on June 6th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An interview with Naomi Hirahara, author of the new novel, Clark and Division. Part crime novel, part poignant historical fiction, the book was recently listed as a New York Times Best Mystery Novel of 2021.

A former journalist, Naomi Hirahara is an Edgar Award-winning author of numerous cozy and historical mysteries and was president of the Southern California chapter of Mystery Writers of America. Her Mas Arai series, which includes Summer of the Big Bachi, won the Chicago Tribune's Ten Best Mysteries and Thrillers and Publisher's Weekly's Best Book of the Year. She is an active member of the Japanese-American community in California as well as an active member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, and Crime Writers of Color!

James is back! He and Ashley chat about his recent CIDP relapse and ongoing recovery, and how his perspective on living with chronic illness has shifted. Thankfully, the steroids haven't affected his sense of humour.   Disclaimer: None of the information in this episode is medical advice, and if you're concerned about your own health, you should consult a proper medical professional.  Books and authors discussed in this episode: A Carnival of Snackery by David Sedaris;  The Stand by Stephen King The Joy of Creative Writing: an online workshop with Ashley Thursday 2 December, 6:15-7:30 pm AEDT Online via Zoom Tix $9-14 Whether you haven't written creatively since high school or you're the author of 12 books, this fun class will help you get your creativity flowing. Through a series of short, timed writing exercises, we'll explore different ways to access the creative recesses of our minds and surprise ourselves! You might be a writer working on a specific project, a poet searching for new ideas, or someone who just wants to give creative writing a try for the first time in years – wherever you're at, this is the class for you. Get your ticket here. TAF2021 - CSI: TASMANIA online - November 27 + 28 2021  Tasmania's International Crime and Mystery Literary Festival features more than 35 crime and mystery authors speaking across panels, books clubs and mini-masterclasses. The line-up includes: David Heska Wanbli Weiden (featured in episode 40), Ann Cleeves, Val McDermid, Liz Nugent, Garry Disher, Naomi Hirahara, Abir Mukherjee, Vanda Symon, JP Pomare, Candice Fox, Anita Heiss, RWR McDonald (featured in episode 32).  Early bird tickets are $90 and are available until Sunday 14 November. For more information on the festival and ticket follow this link. Get in touch! Ashley's website: ashleykalagianblunt.com Ashley's Twitter: @AKalagianBlunt Ashley's Instagram: @akalagianblunt James' website: jamesmckenziewatson.com James' Twitter: @JamesMcWatson James' Instagram: @jamesmcwatson

Naomi Hirahara joins Nancy Pearl to discuss "Clark and Division," her new historical mystery that takes place in the 1940s when a Japanese American family is transitioning to city life after mass incarceration during World War II. Naomi is the author of several mystery series as well as non-fiction and she tells Nancy why she decided to write this story inspired by historical events as a stand-alone mystery. Her years working as a journalist and researching Japanese American history add rich historical details to the heartbreaking story of Aki, a young woman who sets off to find out who murdered her older sister.

Naomi Hirahara, the Edgar Award-winning author of the Mas Arai series, talks to Carol Fitzgerald about her latest historical mystery novel, Clark and Division, which is a Bookreporter Bets On selection. Clark and Division tells the story of the Ito family who was detained first at Manzanar in California and then to Chicago in 1944 as Japanese Americans were moved by the government after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The oldest daughter, Rose, had gone on ahead of the family to Chicago, and they were eager to reconnect with her. But the day before the family arrives, Rose is killed in a subway accident, which is ruled a suicide. Aki doesn't believe that about her older sister Rose, and she embarks on a quest to unravel the truth about her death. Naomi talks to Carol about the research she did to tell this story, and how her nonfiction research on Japanese Americans inspires her fiction. She talks about her trip to Chicago, where she walked the streets of Clark and Division to absorb details shared in her writing. Clark and Division is so much different than most World War II historical novels, and they discuss how it would be perfect for book club discussions. Book Discussed in this Episode: Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara https://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/clark-and-division More Bookreporter Talks To: The Paper Palace: https://youtu.be/jYhiuOz7X3Q Lightning Strike: https://youtu.be/Ylo8rzowHzM Damnation Spring: https://youtu.be/QlEcbVNmpCs Check out our Bookaccino Book Club live events! Julie Clark: https://youtu.be/8AjJHRttMpU William Kent Krueger: https://youtu.be/dX-mHWLmv5k Sign up for the weekly Bookreporter.com newsletter here: http://tbrnetwork.com/newsletters/bookreporter-weekly-newsletter-subscribe FOLLOW US Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bookreporter Website: https://www.bookreporter.com Photography Credit: Greg Fitzgerald

Barbara Peters in conversation with Naomi Hirahara

Eric is joined by co-host Naomi Hirahara (Clark and Division) and authors Andrea Bartz (We Were Never Here), SF Kosa (The Night We Burned) and Claire Douglas (Then She Vanishes) all music used by permission under the creative commons license. Music in this episode includes: Blueprint by Jahzzar Warm Up Suit by Broke For Free  Breakfast With Tiffany BY Broke For Free Modulation of the Spirit by Little Glass Men  Something Elated by Broke For Free  Oxygenating Mars by The Polish Ambassador Time Piece by Silent Partner Bring Me The Night by Broke For Free  Ramona by Macchiato Funky  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chicago, 1944. Aki Ito and her parents arrive in town, expecting to be met by Rose, their oldest daughter. But tragedy has struck, and now Aki Ito is determined to discover what happened to her sister in this historical thriller. Naomi Hirahara joins us on the show to discuss sisterhood and coming-of-age, Japanese-American Internment and the 100-442nd Infantry Battalion, and the influence Chester Himes, Walter Mosley and Barbara Neely had on her work — and more. Featured Books: Clark and Division and the Mas Arai series by Naomi Hirahara and Japanese Americans in Chicago, Illinois by Alice Kishiye Murata. Produced/Hosted by Miwa Messer and engineered by Harry Liang.   Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays.

To commemorate the 76th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, Kathleen Burkinshaw and I discuss her novel, THE LAST CHERRY BLOSSOM. This is one of the most important conversations I've ever had and I'll be thinking about it for the rest of my life. Parts of it broke my heart and may break yours as well. You will hear my most awkward, deflecting nervous laughter as this is the first time I've ever been moved to tears on the show. But this talk is also uplifting and will change the way you view writing. And we genuinely laugh a lot and there's an excellent ghost story near the end, so it won't be all solemn. Don't miss this conversation and share it with everyone you know. As promised, here's a link to a YouTube video of “Who's Minding the Nukes” from 60 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJdsIzjzVuA&t=1s Kathleen Burkinshaw is a Japanese American author, the daughter of a Hiroshima survivor and resides in Charlotte, NC. She's a wife, mom, and owns a dog who thinks she's a kitchen ninja. In 2019 she spoke about her mother's experience in Hiroshima at the United Nations (NYC). This summer she spoke at UN worldwide virtual events as well as a Japanese American National Museum webinar with author Naomi Hirahara in honor of the 75th anniversary of atomic bombing. Kathleen has been featured on PBS, local NPR stations, Asian American magazines/newspapers, both Japanese and English programs on NHK World Japan, as well as in 2 major Japanese newspapers. She has presented to middle/high schools around the world for the past 10 years. Writing gives her an outlet for her daily struggle with chronic pain from Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy. Her MG/YA historical fiction, THE LAST CHERRY BLOSSOM, is now a United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs Resource for Teachers and Students and has been used in classrooms around the world. The trade paperback came out in August 2020 (available wherever books are sold and through Scholastic WNDB Reading Club). THE LAST CHERRY BLOSSOM has been nominated for 2019 NC School Library Media Association YA book award,2019-2020 Volunteer State Book Award (Tennessee), 2018& 2016 Scholastic WNDB Reading Club selection, and Finalist for NC Sir Walter Raleigh Fiction Award, the 2018 Sakura Medal, Japan, and the SCBWI Crystal Kite Award(southeast region), Represented by Anna Olswanger, Olswanger Literary.

Our favorite Olympics moments so far, some thank-you's to listeners who are in Japan, some warnings about hiking with Google and an interview with Naomi Hirahara, author of Clark & Division, featured on our Best Beach Bag Books list.Clark & Division is historical fiction meets mystery, available August 3. Here's a great list of Naomi Hirahara's book events. You can order Clark & Division anywhere including here from bookshop.org.Thank you to our sponsors. Please use these special urls to support Satellite Sisters.ThirdLove www.thirdlove.com/sistersRitual www.ritual.com/sistersGreen Chef www.greenchef.com/sisters100Popcorn On Location! Cooking With Liz LIVE in the Satellite Sisters Facebook Group Thursday July 29 at 5 pm Pacific time. Nothing fancy. Just popcorn.For info on The Sweeney Sisters and Lian's online book clubs for The Sweeney Sisters go to www.liandolan.comVisit the website Satellite Sisters: A Pep Talk For Modern WomenSubscribe to our newsletter Pep Talk here.For all of our booklists at Bookshop.org, go to www.bookshop.org/shop/liandolanBuy The Sweeney Sisters here on bookshop.org or here on amazon.Join our community: Facebook Page, Facebook Group and on Instagram and Twitter @satsisters.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Our favorite Olympics moments so far, some thank-you's to listeners who are in Japan, some warnings about hiking with Google and an interview with Naomi Hirahara, author of Clark & Division, featured on our Best Beach Bag Books list. Clark & Division is historical fiction meets mystery, available August 3. Here's a great list of Naomi Hirahara's book events. You can order Clark & Division anywhere including here from bookshop.org. Popcorn On Location! Cooking With Liz LIVE in the Satellite Sisters Facebook Group Thursday July 29 at 5 pm Pacific time. Nothing fancy. Just popcorn. For info on The Sweeney Sisters and Lian's online book clubs for The Sweeney Sisters go to www.liandolan.com Visit the website Satellite Sisters: A Pep Talk For Modern Women Subscribe to our newsletter Pep Talk here. For all of our booklists at Bookshop.org, go to www.bookshop.org/shop/liandolan Buy The Sweeney Sisters here on bookshop.org or here on amazon. Join our community: Facebook Page, Facebook Group and on Instagram and Twitter @satsisters. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Our Satellite Sisters Summer Olympics Special: What we are looking forward to, what we will miss and a special interview with Kat Holmes, member of USA Fencing who is going for the gold and daughter of longtime Satellite Sisters listener Lorrie!Satellite Sister of the Week: Astronaut Wally Funk.Thanks, NBC! We'll be watching ALL the Olympic action, starting with the Opening Ceremonies Friday night.Behind the Scenes at the Game: NPR's Mandalit del Barco's Facebook posts from Tokyo GamesWe will miss Coco Gauff and other athletes who will not compete because of positive COVID tests. Olympic Champion Katie Ledecky swims the first ever women's mile at the Olympics.Olympic newcomer Athing Mu competes on the track in the Women's 800 meters.Equestrian Jessica Springsteen, daughter of you-know-who and Patti Scialfa, competes in show jumping.Basketball star Dawn Staley coaches the US Women's Basketball Team.Entertaining Sisters:Julie recommends Ted Lasso Season 2 and Never Have I Ever Liz is debating about Immersive Van Gogh Lian reminds listeners that there are 3 great cookbooks on the Best Beach Bag Books list including Valerie Rice's Lush Life. Her instagram is @eatdrinkgarden. Find Lush Life recipes at https://www.eatdrinkgarden.comTune in for an interview Naomi Hirahara next week, author of Clark & DivisionThank you for supporting our sponsors and using these special urls: Kiwi Co. www.kiwico.com/sistersBetterHelp www.betterhelp.com/SATSISTERS.Zip Recruiter www.ziprecruiter.com/sistersMeUndies www.meundies.com/sistersCooking With Liz LIVE in the Satellite Sisters Facebook Group Thursday July 22 at 5 pm Pacific time.Recipes for this week: Cacio e Pepe Cheese Puffs and Pomegranate Gimlet, both by Ina Garten.For info on The Sweeney Sisters and Lian's online book clubs for The Sweeney Sisters go to www.liandolan.comVisit the website Satellite Sisters: A Pep Talk For Modern WomenSubscribe to our newsletter Pep Talk here.For all of our booklists at Bookshop.org, go to www.bookshop.org/shop/liandolanBuy The Sweeney Sisters here on bookshop.org or here on amazon.Join our community: Facebook Page, Facebook Group and on Instagram and Twitter @satsisters.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When you think of murder mystery protagonists, you probably picture history’s greats, like the sharp and observant Sherlock Holmes, or the unrelenting Hercule Poirot, but Naomi Hirahara’s Mas Arai is a special case. This elderly Hiroshima survivor is an unlikely hero, but all the stronger for it, and Sayonara Slam, coming in 10th on our list for 2020, is all the stronger for his quirks.

We discuss chapters 12-16 of Naomi Hirahara's Sayonara Slam. After warming our hearts with this personal, cozy tale, how does the mystery of Yuki's death hold up towards the end. Loose evidence, and a police-procedural approach to the narrative have Flex and Herds skeptical of the game, but the narrative keeps it strong. As each of our suspects is resolved and their true motivations revealed, will the lessons push Mas to reach back out to Genessee? We also speak to Eastlake Dojo's Tony Arashiro about his experience bringing Okinawan culture to San Diego through their Ryuei Ryu style.

We discuss chapters 7-11 of Naomi Hirahara's Sayonara Slam. As the stakes continue raising and Mas Arai finds himself deeper and deeper in trouble, Mas' personality shines through confrontation after confrontation. The killer continues to evade Yuki but the veil is beginning to drop as the grim history of the community's experience with World War 2 creeps towards centre stage. Blending the personal and political beautifully, the police-procedural style approach lets the heart of the novel really shine as we approach the unveiling of the truth.

Hear our full chat with Naomi Hirahara about her book Sayonara Slam as well as her upcoming work, Clark and Division. From the importance of journalism to the Japanese American community to the evolution of Mas Arai as a character, we pry into the heart behind Sayonara Slam and the broader Mas Arai series. We're only talking chapters 1-6 of Sayonara Slam so no worries about spoilers, get subscribed to hear the rest of our coverage of Sayonara Slam!

We discuss chapters 1-6 of Naomi Hirahara's Sayonara Slam. As retiree Mas Arai finds himself embroiled in the murder of a young Japanese journalist alongside a show-game between Korea and Japan at Dodger Stadium in his home city of Los Angeles. Another young Japanese journalist approaches Mas to help him investigate the death. This may be Mas' 6th time around the murder mystery block, but will he be able to help Yuki unravel this one? We also speak with Naomi Hirahara herself about the book, her history with Mas and the importance of stories like this to the Japanese American community.

Hello from behind the Great Firewall!As summer winds down and election season begins to heat up, we reflect on the political prospects of Asian America and the mess that is the Democratic Party. We discuss AOC’s speech at the DNC last week as evidence that the party has lost the thread. We then examine Trump’s WeChat ban and the many uses of this Chinese super app. This leads to a concluding conversation about whether first- and second- (and third-...) generation Asian Americans could trend rightward as part of a racial realignment in both parties.0:00 – An update on the start of school, the wildfires in northern California, and failed Covid policies. 10:40 – Who said it best? We debate the messaging of the Democrats during last week’s convention and whether the speech by the party’s rising star (and TTSG favorite), AOC, captured the urgency of the moment. Are accusations of elitism fair? Or just bad faith? Also, debater Jay makes his return and recites his own version of a convention speech in an effort to get AOC’s attention. 26:05 – Why WeChat? The Trump administration’s ban on TikTok may claim, as a collateral casualty, the messaging-payment-social-media super app WeChat. The administration doesn’t seem to understand what the app is used for, but it’s clear that a WeChat ban would hurt hundreds of millions of Chinese in China and abroad—and tank iPhone sales in China.While free-speech concerns are well founded, we consider how WeChat and other Asian apps have been used to organize right-wing diasporic activism, including anti-affirmative-action drives. We revisit Jay’s interview with Viet Thanh Nguyen about first-generation immigrant conservatism—and “Four Prisons,” an essay by Glenn Omatsu, on the rightward turn of earlier Asian activists. (Thanks to listener Naomi Hirahara.) Edit: see also this 2018 article from Alia Wong on WeChat and anti-affirmative action politics: “The App at the Heart of the Movement to End Affirmative Action.”43:20 – Are we gonna go neocon? Jay worries that, on account of the weird politics around standardized testing and affirmative action, Asian Americans will become more conservative and eventually vote Republican. Is the conservative critique of the Democrats correct: that identity politics have superseded a universal economic focus? Have both parties engaged in a Black/white culture war that leaves many Asians and Latinos bereft? (Caveat: not the Bernie-crats!) Tammy argues that the debate over immigration policy will give the Democrats an edge in the foreseeable future.Feel free to contact us with comments and questions at @TTSGPod or timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com, and please share and subscribe! Get on the email list at goodbye.substack.com

I looked over at the white cat, who had finally opened his eyes, and mulled over possible names. His coat was so poofy, it made him shapeless, like a giant marshmallow. Hmm, that wasn’t too bad of a name. I cocked my head at Marshmallow, and he stared back at me with piercing sapphire eyes. We maintained eye contact for so long, it felt like a staring contest. I would show him who was boss. Okay, I blinked first. In the midst of the surreal times we're going through, it was beyond wonderful to sit down and chat with Jennifer J. Chow. I was already a fan of her Winston Wong cozy mysteries and I'd had the pleasure of meeting her at the California Crime Writers Conference last year. Her latest book, Mimi Lee Gets A Clue, is the first in a new cozy series and is out this month -- just in time for the comfort read we all need. A deserving victim. An adorable heroine. A talking cat. What more could you ask for? Whatever it is, Jennifer hits it with the Sassy Cat Mysteries. Mimi Lee is a terrific heroine with strong family ties and a growing relationship with her telepathic cat -- as well as with the cute attorney she met doing laundry. For warmth and humor, this new series hits it out of the park. Jennifer is also the author of the Winston Wong cozy series, starting with Seniors Sleuth, and featuring a male detective steeped in video games, as well as award-winning books for Young Adults and a host of short stories. I particularly want to mention her short story "Moon Girl," which is in the anthology, Brave New Girls: Tales of Heroines Who Hack. Proceeds from this book are donated to a scholarship fund through the Society of Women Engineers, so definitely worth checking out. Jennifer gives a shout out to a thriller she's currently loving, Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel, as well as to mystery writers Dale Furutani and Naomi Hirahara. And to learn more about Jennifer herself, check out her website. And if you have already devoured Mimi Lee Gets A Clue, you can pre-order Book Two in the Sassy Cat mysteries, Mimi Lee Reads Between the Lines, right here. Enjoy our conversation. As always, there is a transcript below if you prefer to read rather than listen. I also want to wish you all well. During these crazy times, I hope you and yours are staying safe and finding comfort in each other and a good book. Take care! Laura Transcript of Interview with Jennifer J. Chow Laura Brennan: Jennifer J. Chow writes multicultural mysteries and fantastical YA. Her Asian American novels include Dragonfly Dreams (a Teen Vogue pick), The 228 Legacy, the Winston Wong cozy mystery series, and a brand-new series called The Sassy Cat Mysteries. The brand-new first book in that series, Mimi Lee Gets A Clue, is just out now. Jennifer, thank you for joining me. Jennifer J. Chow: Thanks for having me, Laura. LB: So how did you get started writing? JC: I think I always liked writing, even as a kid I would make up stories in my head. When I got older and started reading a lot of books, I also thought it was really cool that anyone could be a writer. I remember borrowing my dad's typewriter and typing out my actual first story and then he took it to work with him and showed all his colleagues. So, that's really sweet. LB: Was it a mystery? JC: It wasn't a mystery, but it was one of those "twins switching identities," right? So I guess sort of a mystery in the way that they tried to pretend to be one another. But it was kind of one of those fun romps of mistaken identity. LB: So then when did you decide to turn your eye to mysteries? JC: I guess there are two points. One actually was when I was in elementary school. We had a teacher, I think it was in sixth grade, and she was really into all sorts of creative writing, poetry and short stories. And I do remember that she assigned us a short story. In that short story, I decided to make it a mystery and she really had some positive comments about it.

Tiffany Jenkins, author of "Keeping Their Marbles: How the Treasures of the Past Ended Up in Museums…and Why They Should Stay There," on museums. Naomi Hirahara and Heather C. Lindquist, co-authors of “Life After Manzanar," on WWII internment camps. Cristel Russell, Pepperdine Univ, on alcohol and drinking on TV. Sarah Courchesne of Northern Essex Community College on the positive qualities of seagulls. Andrew Subica, Univ of California, on overweight children.

Naomi Hirahara, born and raised in Southern California, is the author of the Mas Arai mystery series, which features a Japanese American gardener and atomic-bomb survivor who solves crimes. The third book in the series, SNAKESKIN, won the Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original in 2007. Books in this series have also been translated into Japanese, Korean and French. Naomi also has penned a middle-grade novel, 1001 CRANES, which was chosen as an Honor Book for the Youth Literature of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature in 2009. She then created the Ellie Rush mysteries featuring a female twenty-something LAPD bicycle cop. Her latest book is ICED IN PARADISE, which just came out a couple months ago. In addition to her Edgar win, Naomi has been nominated for multiple Anthony and Macavity awards, and the last Mas Arai novel in the series, HIROSHIMA BOY, was nominated for another Edgar. Naomi and her husband Wes make their home in Southern California. Naomi served as chapter president of the Southern California chapter of the Mystery Writers of America in 2010.

On this episode, we discuss our Books and Boba October 2019 book club pick, Summer of the Big Bachi by Naomi Hirahara, a story about an elderly and jaded Japanese-American gardener named Mas Arai who also happens to be a competent (though reluctant) sleuth. Against his wishes, Mas is drawn into a series of unfortunate events that force him to re-confront his experiences as a survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima as he braces himself for the big bachi.For additional thoughts and discussion, visit the Books & Boba Goodreads forums on Goodreads.Follow our hosts:Reera Yoo (@reeraboo)Marvin Yueh (@marvinyueh)Follow us:FacebookTwitterGoodreads GroupThe Books & Boba November 2019 pick is Steel Crow Saga by Paul KruegerThis podcast is part of Potluck: An Asian American Podcast Collective

Our last long form episode features Kellye Garrett, Alex Segura and Naomi Hirahara. The Unpanel features comedic crime writers Bill Fitzhugh, Ellen Byron, Mike McCrary and Alex Shaffer. Plus an excerpt from "May" by Marietta Miles. All music used by permission under the creative commons license. Music in this episode includes: Real Swing Shet by Menage Quad Swing 39 by Latche Swing Ground Cayenne by The Good Lawdz I Found a New Baby by Underscore Orkestra Bonbon by Hicham Chahidi Super Bubbly by Jesse Spillane Hungaria by Latche Swing Lostfrevr by Ars Sonor Smooth Actor by Podington Bear Violet by Podington Bear All Hot Lights by Podington Bear

Chris Karpowitz and Grant Madsen of BYU weigh in on whether President Trump is succeeding. Steve Melnyk of Michigan Univ explains how millennials are changing shopping. BYU's Scott Steffensen studies treating addiction with acupuncture. Sam Payne of The Apple Seed shares a Donald Davis story. National Parks Traveler's Kurt Repanshek talks about the backlog of maintenance needed in national parks. Naomi Hirahara and Heather Lindquist share their book, "Life After Manzanar."

This episode is sponsored by Brash Books and their new release, Dead Man’s Badge by Robert E. Dunn. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dead-Mans-Badge-Robert-Dunn-ebook/dp/B075DJVB1D/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1520557041&sr=8-1&keywords=dead+man%27s+badge This week we're joined by Naomi Hirahara. http://www.naomihirahara.com Naomi has a tour to promote her new book OUT THIS FLIPPIN’ WEEK. Saturday, March 10
Signing Hiroshima Boy
Mystery Ink
Huntington Beach, CA 
11 AM Sunday, March 11
Signing Hiroshima Boy
Mysterious Galaxy
San Diego, CA
2 PM Saturday, March 17
Signing Hiroshima Boy
Japanese American National Museum
1 PM: Meet and Greet for Members Only; register here
2 PM: Book Presentation; RSVP recommended
National Center for the Preservation of Democracy
Los Angeles, CA We also see the return of SAM (and Todd Robinson) who join us to talk about The Bad Guys by Aaron Blabey https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bad-Guys-Aaron-Blabey/dp/0545912407/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= https://www.facebook.com/Todd-Robinson-A-VERY-Serious-Writer-112338762752334/ Jay’s article on hosting Bouchercon: http://thrillbegins.com/2018/01/29/bouchercon-2/ Theme to “Todd and Sam’s Very Important Opinions” is “Heart Quake” by Dan-O http://www.danosongs.com The Crime Friction Official Theme is “Book ‘Em” by Karl Ove Sneezegård, Commander of the Dark Hordes, Herald of the Red Wolf, wielder of the axe of Hrim. Contact us on Twitter @DefectivesPod or via e-mail at CrimeFriction@gmail.com No Sasquatch were harmed in the making of this episode.

  Naomi Hirahara  turned to the mystery genre to tell the story of a grumpy old LA gardener and reluctant sleuth who is also a Hiroshima survivor. It's a story that is central to her life, because it is also her Father's  story. And as Naomi explains, mystery enabled her to tell the closely personal story of the atomic bomb survivors who were  American citizens, without the danger of polarising views. Six things you'll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode: How a grumpy Japanese gardener became a voice for his time The secret of "telling lies to tell the truth" Why she speaks for people who found they belonged nowhere How a 20 year old woman writer got inside an old man's head The downtown LA 'renaissance' that's transforming her 'burb' The exciting new Chicago series that's her next big project Naomi  can be found at www.naomihirahara.com On Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/NaomiHiraharaBooks For more details, a full transcript follows:  Note - this is a "close as" rendering of our full conversation with links to key points. (Not word for word) Jenny:  Hello there Naomi, and Welcome to the show. It's great to have you with us. Naomi: Thank you for having me Jenny, and my dog Tulo is here, so just ignore him if he gets excited! Naomi Hirahara with Tulo and the last Mas Arai book, Hiroshima Boy Jenny: Of yes I have seen pictures of him on line he is very much part of the family isn't he? Naomi: Yes he gets in on most things. Jenny:   So, Naomi, before you wrote the first book in your award winning mystery series centered on Mas Arai, an elderly Japanese gardener, you were a journalist for 15 years and published a number of  more academic works - Japanese American social and business histories. What was the"Once Upon a Time” process that led you to turn to fiction as a better way to tell your story? Naomi: Well actually, always in my mind I wanted to write fiction.  The way I say it, is " I tell lies to tell the truth." Even when I was working as a journalist during the day I was writing fiction at night or early in the morning. I had one of those old fashioned Toshiba laptops with a dot matrix printer? And then after work I would go to UCLA to workshops to hone my craft. I just think there is much more freedom to write about what people are really going through in fiction, Those two worlds, journalism and fiction - well some people think journalism is fiction, but no, if you are a very committed practitioner of that you want to get the facts in, you want to get it right, and sometimes it's very hard to write from a very committed point of view, with a subjective voice. Many journalists have problems in capturing that in writing a novel, writing a mystery, writing fiction. That's a process. Jenny: And you have been praised for the wonderful intimacy of Mas Arai's voice. We really do feel you know  this elderly, slightly curmudgeonly, widowed Japanese gardener working in LA;  we understand the feelings and experiences he is going through. That's a real tribute to you.  I gather he may have been based on your own Dad.  Can you tell us a little about that? Naomi: Definitely in terms of his chronology, it is very like much my father. He was born in California, raised on a farm and then because of circumstances in the family they had to return to Hiroshima and that became by father's new home. He was relatively young during World War II and so he was in Hiroshima when the bomb went off and he was a bomb survivor. As soon as he could - as soon as he turned 18, he got on a boat and came back to his birthplace and he returned to the US. Archival image of the damage in Hiroshima, March, 1946 When you talk about the bomb it is so polarising and people take sides politically but I think for myself I wanted to write something very personal and I thought an atomic bomb survivor who was an American citizen would tear through the polarising elem...

Deceit and Other Possibilities (Willow Books) In this powerful debut collection, Vanessa Hua gives voice to immigrant families navigating a new America. Tied to their ancestral and adopted homelands in ways unimaginable in generations past, these memorable characters straddle both worlds but belong to none. From a Hong Kong movie idol fleeing a sex scandal, to an obedient daughter turned Stanford imposter, to a Chinatown elder summoned to his village, to a Korean-American pastor with a secret agenda, the characters in these ten stories vividly illustrate the conflict between self and society, tradition and change. In “What We Have is What We Need,” winner of The Atlantic student fiction prize, a boy from Mexico reunites with his parents in San Francisco. When he suspects his mother has found love elsewhere, he fights to keep his family together. With insight and wit, she writes about what wounds us and what we must survive. Her searing stories explore the clash of cultures and the complex, always shifting allegiances that we carry in ourselves, our family, and our community. Deceit and Other Possibilities marks the emergence of a remarkable new writer. Praise for Deceit and Other Possibilities "Vanessa Hua inhabits in graceful and heartbreaking detail the people of her stories: strivers and betrayers, lovers and the landless, all of them on their way to transcendence in her hands. – Susan Straight, author of Between Heaven and Here and Highwire Moon    "Fast-paced, dazzling, smart, and fun, Vanessa Hua's debut collection illustrates the insanities and heartbreaks on both sides of the Pacific." – Gary Shteyngart, author of  Little Failure and  Super Sad True Love Story "Deceit and Other Possibilities gives us characters whose lives are constrained and yet also enriched by different borders, cultures, and traditions. A bracing and beautiful debut, full of fire and light."–Laila Lalami, author of The Moor's Account "Complicated, cosmopolitan and utterly contemporary, Deceit and Other Possibilities is a richly enjoyable collection.  Hua is expert at creating both empathy and suspense whether it's in the emptiness of a national park or the crowded space of an international flight.  These stories will jump right off the page into the reader's imagination."–Margot Livesey, author of The Flight of Gemma Hardy For nearly two decades, Vanessa Hua has covered Asia and the diaspora in journalism and in fiction, writing about the ways immigrants bring their traditions, their histories, and their ambitions to America. She received a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award, the San Francisco Foundation’s James D. Phelan Award for Fiction, and is a past Steinbeck Fellow in Creative Writing at San Jose State University. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic, FRONTLINE/World, Washington Post, Guernica, ZYZZYVA, and elsewhere. A former staff writer at the San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times, she has filed stories from China, South Korea, Panama, Burma and Ecuador. She is a graduate of Stanford University and UC Riverside's MFA program. She lives in the Bay Area with her family. Naomi Hirahara is an award-winning novelist and nonfiction writer. Her Mas Arai mystery series, which features a Southern California-based gardener and Hiroshima survivor, has been published in Japanese, Korean and French. The sixth in the series, Sayonara Slam, was released in May of this year. Her short stories have been included in Los Angeles Noir, Asian Pulp and Hanzai Japan. A former editor of The Rafu Shimpo, she also is involved in the preservation of Japanese American and regional history in the form of books and exhibitions.  

  This month, on THE CRIME SCENE, we are privileged to have S.W. Lauden guest host the show. S.W. Lauden's short fiction has been published by Out of the Gutter, Criminal Element, Shotgun Honey and Crimespree Magazine—among many others. His short story, … Continue reading →

Episode 3 is an interview with author  Désirée Zamorano. We talk about her masterful PI novel, Human Cargo; her short story, "Quickie;" Akashic Books' Mondays Are Murder flash fiction series (hers will go live on August 1st!); and we briefly touch on her literary novel, The Amado Women. Désirée isn't just a writer, she is a fellow mystery lover, and she gives a shout-out to a number of fabulous writers and books. I've linked to the websites of these contemporary writers: Edgar winner Naomi Hirahara, Ausma Zehanat Khan, Sara Gran, best-selling author Kate Atkinson, James Sallis (who has won the lifetime achievement award from Bouchercon, among many other mystery awards), Rachel Howzell Hall, Sue Ann Jaffarian, and the wonderful Steph Cha, whom I interviewed in Episode 2. Classic mystery writers include Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, John D. MacDonald (the Travis McGee novels) and Patricia Highsmith. One last influential writer mentioned, although not in the field of mystery, is Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz. We talk about books and writing, but we also discussed the need for women to be financially savvy and have an "escape fund" -- not necessarily to escape a dangerous relationship (although obviously that can help), but also so you're not stuck in a bad work situation. Money is freedom.  The most important links, however, are the ones Désirée sent me on human trafficking: Fighting Human Trafficking, and 20 Ways You Can Help If you'd rather read than listen, here is the transcript. Enjoy! Transcript of interview with Désirée Zamorano Welcome to Destination Mystery: A Podcast for Readers who Love a Good Mystery. I’m Laura Brennan. A Pushcart Prize nominee and award-winning short story author, Desiree Zamorano has wrestled with culture, identity, and the invisibility of Latinas from early on and addressed that in her commentaries which have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, NPR’s Latino USA, and Publisher’s Weekly. She is also proud of having co-authored with her sister two plays commissioned by Southern California's Bilingual Foundation for the Arts. "Reina" and "Bell Gardens 90201" received Equity productions and toured for a total of eight years. She delights in the exploration of contemporary issues of injustice and inequality, via her mystery series featuring private investigator, Inez Leon, published by Lucky Bat Books. Human Cargo was Latinidad's Mystery Pick of the Year. Her novel, Modern Cons is a story of psychological suspense where she explores the reverberations of being raised by a con artist. Laura Brennan: Thank you for being here. I'm so excited. Désirée Zamorano: Whoo-hoo! LB: How are you, Désirée? DZ: Me, too. I'm excited, too. LB: Tell me a little bit about yourself. How did you get started writing? DZ: We writers are all a crazy bunch and we probably as kids said, Oh, I want to create something so wonderful, because as kids we have fallen into this world. And as kids we have this naïve perception that writers just magically put those words on the page. Well, I wanted to magically put those words on the page! But as I got older I realized it took a lot of work to make the work look seamless. So you asked how I got into it. I always wanted to be a writer and I started sending off my short stories -- those were a big deal as I was my twenties, short stories were the thing -- and after about 100 rejections, two acceptances and $50, I thought wow, that's a lot of heartache! I mean, if I'm going to deal with rejection, I might as well go big time. So I sat down to write a novel. I'm going okay, I'm going to write the Great American novel. And I sat down to write a novel and I thought, I have no idea what I'm doing. And I thought about all the books I loved to read and I love classics, I love contemporary modern fiction, but have a real soft spot for mysteries. And what I love about mysteries, and what I loved as I sat down to write mysteries,

Naomi Hirahara is the author of the Mas Arai and Ellie Rush mystery series', and co-writer of a new nonfiction book, "Terminal Island: Lost Communities of Los Angeles Harbor". Other topics on this week's show include the usefulness of critical theory's role in literature, and how to deal with article pitches from publishers and writers seeking press for their new books. *NOTE for our podcast listeners, the LARB Radio Hour can now be downloaded as a separate podcast (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/larb-radio-hour/id998390884?mt=2). After a few weeks the the LARB Radio Hour will no longer appear on this LA Review of Books podcast*

On the eve of Los Angeles Pride, Skylight Books presents its third annual celebration of LGBT writing.  The work of James Baldwin, Eloise Klein Healy, Oscar Wilde, Lidia Yuknavitch, and Jerome Stueart will be explored by some of our favorite writers including Jervey Tervalon, Naomi Hirahara, Ali Liebegott and Wendy Ortiz.  Curated by Noel Alumit

Youth voices/youth outlook are on air to talk about a special summer camp that trains South East Asian youth in leadership skills. Also, Asian American mysteries are a mysterious rarity, except in the case of writer Naomi Hirahara. Apex host and producer Rainjita talks with Hirahara about her new book the Summer of the Big Bachi that combines a dose of fiction and Japanese American reality. The post APEX Express – July 8, 2004 appeared first on KPFA.