Ask the Author: Jacques Antoine
Answered Questions (9)
Jacques Antoine
Hi, Greg. Thanks for reading the series, and for your patience. It's been too long, and the current work in progress has been interrupted by too much stuff in the world.
Emily is back in Japan, caught up in a gang war involving Shinjo (from book 3) and staving off the intrusions of the shadowy organization that used Nyquist to force her cooperation at the end of the last book. This encounter introduces her to a surprising discovery in her dream-like meditations that carries her back to a past she never knew. Perhaps it isn't even her past. But 17th century Japan and the end of a century long civil war -- the Sengoku Era -- could unlock more than one secret about who she really is.
On some level, I know the series has to end somewhere. I don't have the end in sight yet, but every narrative has a trajectory. It can't be a story if it doesn't have an end. This is my way of saying there's still several more books to come, some more or less planned, others just an intuition or a gleam in my eye.
But even if Emily's story comes to an end, I'm already working on a sort of continuation involving Connie and Ip. There's a lot to reflect on in Connie's character and I've already sketched a couple of stages on that journey. Connie has old debts to pay and scores to settle, and the Shan Highlands of Myanmar and the Wa people may hold some important revelations for Ip Mao Bao. I'm sure Danko and Hsu Qi will have some role to play in those tales.
A stressful semester has just ended for me, and I will say goodbye to the latest class of college students on Saturday. A difficult and quite draining chapter will be closed. There should be nothing else to distract me this summer from writing the story of Emily's present and what may be her ancient ancestor. I'm already half way there!
Thanks again, and I hope you enjoy #9 as much as the others!
Emily is back in Japan, caught up in a gang war involving Shinjo (from book 3) and staving off the intrusions of the shadowy organization that used Nyquist to force her cooperation at the end of the last book. This encounter introduces her to a surprising discovery in her dream-like meditations that carries her back to a past she never knew. Perhaps it isn't even her past. But 17th century Japan and the end of a century long civil war -- the Sengoku Era -- could unlock more than one secret about who she really is.
On some level, I know the series has to end somewhere. I don't have the end in sight yet, but every narrative has a trajectory. It can't be a story if it doesn't have an end. This is my way of saying there's still several more books to come, some more or less planned, others just an intuition or a gleam in my eye.
But even if Emily's story comes to an end, I'm already working on a sort of continuation involving Connie and Ip. There's a lot to reflect on in Connie's character and I've already sketched a couple of stages on that journey. Connie has old debts to pay and scores to settle, and the Shan Highlands of Myanmar and the Wa people may hold some important revelations for Ip Mao Bao. I'm sure Danko and Hsu Qi will have some role to play in those tales.
A stressful semester has just ended for me, and I will say goodbye to the latest class of college students on Saturday. A difficult and quite draining chapter will be closed. There should be nothing else to distract me this summer from writing the story of Emily's present and what may be her ancient ancestor. I'm already half way there!
Thanks again, and I hope you enjoy #9 as much as the others!
Jacques Antoine
Hi, George. Don't worry -- I don't mind being asked. In fact, it is comforting to know that you haven't forgotten about Emily Kane. It's been way too long since the last one came out, and I am very sorry for this. I owe another book to her readers and fans, and especially to you and anyone else who inquires.
I have been sidetracked the last several weeks, in part because of the struggle of learning a new pedagogy for my classes. And let me tell you, online classes are much harder to teach than in-person classes. It's not the tech that's so difficult, It's the problem of connecting with the students and keeping them motivated through a tiny window on a screen.
I returned midterm papers on Friday, which means I can devote some of my time again to Girl Pays a Debt. I'm about 40% of the way through the draft, and I hope to rediscover the excitement of exploring this material. It's a really complex story, more like Girl Takes Up Her Sword than like Girl Stalks The Ruins.
There's several plot lines that converge at the end, as well as a mysterious, dream-like story motif that sends Emily back four centuries to the Japanese civil war known as the Sengoku period. It's a lot for me to keep track of, but it's also really exciting.
In the dream motifs we encounter another spirit remarkably like the young Emily Kane, a Japanese farm girl who has run away from home and sought refuge at a convent in Kamakura. We watch as she meets a young man who will become the most famous swordsman in history, Musashi Miyamoto, falls in love, and is disgraced by an out-of-wedlock pregnancy. But what becomes of this poor illegitimate child, and how does she end up as a lady-in waiting in the imperial court? And what becomes of her descendants, who will eventually be forgotten in the mists of time?
As you can see, this will be a pivotal story in the series, one in which some mysteries about Emily will be revealed, and others will emerge to take their place. I'm afraid to give an ETA because of the volatility of this moment, but I hope to have it done before the summer.
I have been sidetracked the last several weeks, in part because of the struggle of learning a new pedagogy for my classes. And let me tell you, online classes are much harder to teach than in-person classes. It's not the tech that's so difficult, It's the problem of connecting with the students and keeping them motivated through a tiny window on a screen.
I returned midterm papers on Friday, which means I can devote some of my time again to Girl Pays a Debt. I'm about 40% of the way through the draft, and I hope to rediscover the excitement of exploring this material. It's a really complex story, more like Girl Takes Up Her Sword than like Girl Stalks The Ruins.
There's several plot lines that converge at the end, as well as a mysterious, dream-like story motif that sends Emily back four centuries to the Japanese civil war known as the Sengoku period. It's a lot for me to keep track of, but it's also really exciting.
In the dream motifs we encounter another spirit remarkably like the young Emily Kane, a Japanese farm girl who has run away from home and sought refuge at a convent in Kamakura. We watch as she meets a young man who will become the most famous swordsman in history, Musashi Miyamoto, falls in love, and is disgraced by an out-of-wedlock pregnancy. But what becomes of this poor illegitimate child, and how does she end up as a lady-in waiting in the imperial court? And what becomes of her descendants, who will eventually be forgotten in the mists of time?
As you can see, this will be a pivotal story in the series, one in which some mysteries about Emily will be revealed, and others will emerge to take their place. I'm afraid to give an ETA because of the volatility of this moment, but I hope to have it done before the summer.
Jacques Antoine
Me, too. It's taking much longer than I had expected, but I hope this means it will be even better when it finally emerges.
Thanks for your interest, George, and your patience.
Thanks for your interest, George, and your patience.
Jacques Antoine
Hi, George.
Thanks for asking. I had hoped to have it out by September, as you may already know. But life has a way of spoiling plans... Right now, I'm aiming for mid-December. I apologize for the delay, and am working on it in every spare moment.
Thanks for asking. I had hoped to have it out by September, as you may already know. But life has a way of spoiling plans... Right now, I'm aiming for mid-December. I apologize for the delay, and am working on it in every spare moment.
Jacques Antoine
Mr. D'Arcy and Elizabeth Bennett. Actually, all the central pairings in Jane Austen's novels are favorites of mine. It may be because these romances are based on moral and social obligations each partner recognizes in the other.
Jacques Antoine
Hi, Bobby. I already answered this one when you posted it on my blog, but here goes again:
Thanks for your eagle eyes, Bob! Those sneaky little buggers snuck past my old eyes. As it turns out, I already made corrections to almost all of those -- my editor sent me a list a few weeks ago of stuff she missed. She was quite embarrassed. But there were two on your list that even she missed. I've made the corrections in the file and will upload it tomorrow morning. It's also worth noting that if you have your Kindle set to auto-update, Amazon will send you the latest version.
Thanks again.
Thanks for your eagle eyes, Bob! Those sneaky little buggers snuck past my old eyes. As it turns out, I already made corrections to almost all of those -- my editor sent me a list a few weeks ago of stuff she missed. She was quite embarrassed. But there were two on your list that even she missed. I've made the corrections in the file and will upload it tomorrow morning. It's also worth noting that if you have your Kindle set to auto-update, Amazon will send you the latest version.
Thanks again.
Jacques Antoine
I have three separate projects in the works.
-- Book 7 of the Emily Kane Adventures. I just published Book 6, which almost killed me. But over the holidays I managed to get a bit of rest and relaxation (that hardly ever happens), and I'm ready to begin the next story. This one follows Emily to China, where she's posted as a Military Attaché to the US Embassy. Family entanglements involving Li Li keep her occupied, and maybe even distract her from a deeper conspiracy aimed at Li Li's uncle, Jiang Xi.
-- I am sketching out the first few books of a spin-off series, tracing the back-story of Emily's friend, the assassin Connie Savaransky. She also went to the Naval Academy, a decade or so before Emily, and like her she encountered some very dangerous people before she was prepared to deal with them, but her career took a different turn, and ended up in some very dark corners.
-- I have sketches of the first two books of a post-apocalyptic series, entitled Taking Back Earth. The aliens arrive, and they force us to the brink. We manage to turn the tables... but at what cost?
-- Book 7 of the Emily Kane Adventures. I just published Book 6, which almost killed me. But over the holidays I managed to get a bit of rest and relaxation (that hardly ever happens), and I'm ready to begin the next story. This one follows Emily to China, where she's posted as a Military Attaché to the US Embassy. Family entanglements involving Li Li keep her occupied, and maybe even distract her from a deeper conspiracy aimed at Li Li's uncle, Jiang Xi.
-- I am sketching out the first few books of a spin-off series, tracing the back-story of Emily's friend, the assassin Connie Savaransky. She also went to the Naval Academy, a decade or so before Emily, and like her she encountered some very dangerous people before she was prepared to deal with them, but her career took a different turn, and ended up in some very dark corners.
-- I have sketches of the first two books of a post-apocalyptic series, entitled Taking Back Earth. The aliens arrive, and they force us to the brink. We manage to turn the tables... but at what cost?
Jacques Antoine
My advice is Dorrie's advice (from Finding Nemo): Just keep writing... er, I mean, swimming.
Jacques Antoine
The best thing is getting to know your characters. You end up living with them for quite a while, so you better make them interesting people.
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