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A Drummer's Beat to Mend
Tetsuro Takamitsu, a Japanese drummer, has devoted his life to taiko drumming, sacrificing family for performing. McKenna Stafford, an African American doctor, has given her life to medicine, abandoning hope of marriage and children. Brought together by a freak accident, McKenna finds her heart repaired as she mends Tetsuro's hand.
297 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2005
2 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
About the author
Kei Swanson
8 books16 followersIt is my hope to share my love for Japan and its warrior class, the Samurai, with you.
I have written many stories with a Japanese hero since I began creating fanfiction for the original STAR TREK series, starring the character Lt. Sulu. This was in high school and as I aged I discovered other avenues to pursue in the world of writing, all involving an Asian hero. Getting them published was another thing.
Struggling to find a publisher, I began a work inspired by Hideo Nomo, the first Japanese National to pitch in the major leagues in 30 years. At the same time, I attended a ROMANTIC TIMES convention in San Antonio and spoke with Will Colom, who had just started his publishing house Genesis Press. He spoke of his desire to publish ethnic romances with an eye to the African-American, Hispanic, and Asian market. Within 18 months I had the work completed and ready for submission.
THE WORDS OF THE PITCHER sold and was on the shelf in 2000. (It’s still available, hint, hint!) The incredible ride of a published author was wonderful. In 2004, I sold my second work, SEABIRD OF SANEMATSU to Zumaya Publications which was released in September 2005. SEABIRD is the first volume of a three volume series set in 15th century Feudal Japan, the second book in the saga, SEASON OF SANEMATSU was released in Spring, 2009.
My goal in writing books with Japanese heroes is to show the erotic side of the samurai. Some say I’ve succeeded with Kentaro Ikuta and Sanematsu Yoshihide. See for yourself!
I also write contemporary romance with the standard non-ethnic hero. Hopefully, they’ll live up to the standards I have set for my Samurai.
Let me know what you think…about anything.
Sayonara,
Kei
I have written many stories with a Japanese hero since I began creating fanfiction for the original STAR TREK series, starring the character Lt. Sulu. This was in high school and as I aged I discovered other avenues to pursue in the world of writing, all involving an Asian hero. Getting them published was another thing.
Struggling to find a publisher, I began a work inspired by Hideo Nomo, the first Japanese National to pitch in the major leagues in 30 years. At the same time, I attended a ROMANTIC TIMES convention in San Antonio and spoke with Will Colom, who had just started his publishing house Genesis Press. He spoke of his desire to publish ethnic romances with an eye to the African-American, Hispanic, and Asian market. Within 18 months I had the work completed and ready for submission.
THE WORDS OF THE PITCHER sold and was on the shelf in 2000. (It’s still available, hint, hint!) The incredible ride of a published author was wonderful. In 2004, I sold my second work, SEABIRD OF SANEMATSU to Zumaya Publications which was released in September 2005. SEABIRD is the first volume of a three volume series set in 15th century Feudal Japan, the second book in the saga, SEASON OF SANEMATSU was released in Spring, 2009.
My goal in writing books with Japanese heroes is to show the erotic side of the samurai. Some say I’ve succeeded with Kentaro Ikuta and Sanematsu Yoshihide. See for yourself!
I also write contemporary romance with the standard non-ethnic hero. Hopefully, they’ll live up to the standards I have set for my Samurai.
Let me know what you think…about anything.
Sayonara,
Kei
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 15, 2008
There's a diet that Karl Lagerfield followed to lose about 5 stone to get into his Heidi Slimane suits. It was as follows; you could eat anything you liked, but you had to chew enough for taste, then spit the rest out. You'd have the taste in your mouth, but not the actual food itself. Worked well in theory, I had the taste of food in my mouth, but was hungry all the time. A great idea in theory, but didn't work for me. This book reminded me of that diet. You could taste the potential, but it was never fulfilled.
It's a pity, because the pairing is different, it's nice to see an Asian romantic lead who is not stereotypical, and an unusual romantic pairing (BW/AM) and I was interested in the background events. However, the writing style was so stilted, so awkward, it was so just hard to get into.
The story: Tetsumo is a taiko drummer who damages his hand in an accident so random, you just couldn't make it up. He's rushed to surgery where he's taken care of by MacKenna, the surgeon on his case. The attraction is instantaneous, and the book follows the characters' manoeuvres in terms of them getting past their initial awkwardness and touching each other.
Mackenna as a character left me cold: she tended to be more reactionary than proactive, in the sense that any tangible overtures of interest to Tetsu had to be suggested by someone else, just so she could say, "oh yeah, good idea." This sentiment continued through the entire novel, and I just wanted to poke her in the ribs and say, "C'mon chica, you have to do something". Tetsu was more proactive, but you never really got an insight to his feelings. They were stated, true, but you just couldn't feel for or with him at all.
Of all my grouses with the book, this one is more so the pity, since Tetsu has a life secret and is called upon to answer an obligation- and when he does, I get the fact that I'm supposed to hurt for him, especially since the dictates of his culture doesn't allow him to hurt for himself, but it left me cold.
The book had the bones of a good story, and if the writing had been more lyrical (since the book was about taiko drumming and its beat), it would have made me appreciate why taiko was the lifeblood of Testu, and why it was so special. I only got that it was traditional, but I didn't get why the art was so revered and loved.
There's some japanese in the book, which worked in part, like when Tetsu would teach Mackenna some cursory greetings and idioms, that was cool, always appreciated, but even that became grating after a while, with the breaking down of syllables.
Overall, the book was middling, not fair. I think in large part because I see where it could have been tremendous if the writer had relaxed more during the writing of her story, or if the editor had probably pushed for more heart and less shellac.
Oh, well.
Oh yeah, can we have a moratorium on the words 'passion' and 'exotic', please? Cheers.
It's a pity, because the pairing is different, it's nice to see an Asian romantic lead who is not stereotypical, and an unusual romantic pairing (BW/AM) and I was interested in the background events. However, the writing style was so stilted, so awkward, it was so just hard to get into.
The story: Tetsumo is a taiko drummer who damages his hand in an accident so random, you just couldn't make it up. He's rushed to surgery where he's taken care of by MacKenna, the surgeon on his case. The attraction is instantaneous, and the book follows the characters' manoeuvres in terms of them getting past their initial awkwardness and touching each other.
Mackenna as a character left me cold: she tended to be more reactionary than proactive, in the sense that any tangible overtures of interest to Tetsu had to be suggested by someone else, just so she could say, "oh yeah, good idea." This sentiment continued through the entire novel, and I just wanted to poke her in the ribs and say, "C'mon chica, you have to do something". Tetsu was more proactive, but you never really got an insight to his feelings. They were stated, true, but you just couldn't feel for or with him at all.
Of all my grouses with the book, this one is more so the pity, since Tetsu has a life secret and is called upon to answer an obligation- and when he does, I get the fact that I'm supposed to hurt for him, especially since the dictates of his culture doesn't allow him to hurt for himself, but it left me cold.
The book had the bones of a good story, and if the writing had been more lyrical (since the book was about taiko drumming and its beat), it would have made me appreciate why taiko was the lifeblood of Testu, and why it was so special. I only got that it was traditional, but I didn't get why the art was so revered and loved.
There's some japanese in the book, which worked in part, like when Tetsu would teach Mackenna some cursory greetings and idioms, that was cool, always appreciated, but even that became grating after a while, with the breaking down of syllables.
Overall, the book was middling, not fair. I think in large part because I see where it could have been tremendous if the writer had relaxed more during the writing of her story, or if the editor had probably pushed for more heart and less shellac.
Oh, well.
Oh yeah, can we have a moratorium on the words 'passion' and 'exotic', please? Cheers.
September 3, 2018
NB: This book is only available as a used paperback
This is my second time reading this book, and I'm still moved by it. The black woman is Dr. McKenna Stafford. Tetsuro Takamitsu is from Japan performing with his music ensemble in Cleveland when he suffers a potentially life-threatening injury--the large drum crate becomes unstable due to the carelessness of another and slams Tetsuro's hand to the wall of the truck crushing his hand. This is devastating to him because not only has Tetsuro devoted his life to Taiko drumming, but he could lose the use of his hand. McKenna performs the surgery to repair his hand, hoping that he'll be able to use it after undergoing extensive physical therapy.
This is a remarkable book. I liked the courtship, the progression of the relationship and the sexual tension between Tetsuro and McKenna. There were a few sexual encounters, but nothing that was really explicit. But aside from the relationship aspect, this book was so rich in it's introduction to authentic Japanese culture and customs. The use of tea ceremonies and rituals used to convey myriad feelings and events were extremely informative and quite interesting. I became totally immersed in the ways of the older traditions of Japanese culture. The art of Taiko drumming, an ancient Japanese form of percussion using drums, was utterly fascinating and still astounds me that it takes many years to learn this art form and to become proficient at it.
There were some memorable scenes that were hilarious. In one instance, Tetsuro took McKenna to a sushi restaurant at her suggestion because she had never tried sushi before. Tetsuro asked her if she would allow him to order for her, and she consented. After trying the shrimp and yellow tail fish, McKenna decided that she wanted to try something else. Tetsuro had ordered something different for himself (all in Japanese of course). McKenna asked him why he didn't order the same thing for her. He replied that he did not think she would like the unusual, which she told him he was being presumptuous. She then forked some of Tetsuro's food into her mouth, chewed, and promptly spit it out in her napkin. When asked what that nasty stuff was, Tetsuro said it was cod fish sperm sac!!!!!!!!
I hated McKenna's family, the way her family members treated her and why a grown ass woman would allow herself to be treated badly and why she could not tell her mother, sisters and brothers-in-law to f****off. They also treated Tetsuro abominably, but despite this treatment, he handled things with grace and dignity. It just showed the ugliness, undignified, petty, malicious and manipulative ways some people treat others. With her love for and support of Tetsuro, McKenna finally put on her big girl pants and started asserting her rights as an adult beholden to no one.
I've only skimmed the surface of this fantastic book because there was so much there to savor. This was such a moving story of love and loss; a story which merged the east and west, and Japanese and African American cultures. There were several sections of the book which were quite emotional, but it made the outcomes that much sweeter.
This is my second time reading this book, and I'm still moved by it. The black woman is Dr. McKenna Stafford. Tetsuro Takamitsu is from Japan performing with his music ensemble in Cleveland when he suffers a potentially life-threatening injury--the large drum crate becomes unstable due to the carelessness of another and slams Tetsuro's hand to the wall of the truck crushing his hand. This is devastating to him because not only has Tetsuro devoted his life to Taiko drumming, but he could lose the use of his hand. McKenna performs the surgery to repair his hand, hoping that he'll be able to use it after undergoing extensive physical therapy.
This is a remarkable book. I liked the courtship, the progression of the relationship and the sexual tension between Tetsuro and McKenna. There were a few sexual encounters, but nothing that was really explicit. But aside from the relationship aspect, this book was so rich in it's introduction to authentic Japanese culture and customs. The use of tea ceremonies and rituals used to convey myriad feelings and events were extremely informative and quite interesting. I became totally immersed in the ways of the older traditions of Japanese culture. The art of Taiko drumming, an ancient Japanese form of percussion using drums, was utterly fascinating and still astounds me that it takes many years to learn this art form and to become proficient at it.
There were some memorable scenes that were hilarious. In one instance, Tetsuro took McKenna to a sushi restaurant at her suggestion because she had never tried sushi before. Tetsuro asked her if she would allow him to order for her, and she consented. After trying the shrimp and yellow tail fish, McKenna decided that she wanted to try something else. Tetsuro had ordered something different for himself (all in Japanese of course). McKenna asked him why he didn't order the same thing for her. He replied that he did not think she would like the unusual, which she told him he was being presumptuous. She then forked some of Tetsuro's food into her mouth, chewed, and promptly spit it out in her napkin. When asked what that nasty stuff was, Tetsuro said it was cod fish sperm sac!!!!!!!!
I hated McKenna's family, the way her family members treated her and why a grown ass woman would allow herself to be treated badly and why she could not tell her mother, sisters and brothers-in-law to f****off. They also treated Tetsuro abominably, but despite this treatment, he handled things with grace and dignity. It just showed the ugliness, undignified, petty, malicious and manipulative ways some people treat others. With her love for and support of Tetsuro, McKenna finally put on her big girl pants and started asserting her rights as an adult beholden to no one.
I've only skimmed the surface of this fantastic book because there was so much there to savor. This was such a moving story of love and loss; a story which merged the east and west, and Japanese and African American cultures. There were several sections of the book which were quite emotional, but it made the outcomes that much sweeter.
May 19, 2008
this book was soooo disappointing...
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January 9, 2010Japan,multicultural,Amazon received
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews