In 1901 Seattle, #FrankMatsura is unable to find work as a photographer or even a photographer's assistant, despite his qualifications. #WIPsnips #need #writesky #literaryfiction

I loved Americanah (2013) by Chimamanda Ngosi Adiche. If it weren't over ten years old, I'd use it as a comp title for my WIP, about a boy in Hawaii who idealizes and moves to New York, then returns, transformed by his experiences.

One of the things that fascinated me most about #FrankMatsura is his erudition. He wrote an editorial in the Okanogan newspaper. I depicted his level of education in the novel but couldn't make this editorial fit and feel like an organic part of the narrative. But he wrote this. These are his words.

#Shortcut isn't in my ms. #FrankMatsura did not take shortcuts. He took a long difficult odyssey from Tokyo to Alaska, then to Seattle, then to a frontier town in Washington State, creating and recreating himself as he met new people and experienced new things. #WIPsnips #writesky #literaryfiction

Today's word isn't in my ms, but in 1901, tuberculosis was #rampant. There would be no cure until 1943. 1 out of every 7 people in the US and Europe would die of it, including #FrankMatsura in 1913. This is his gravestone in Okanogan, Washington. #WIPsnips

No rainshowers, but a shower of sparks from New Years' fireworks. #SundaySnips #writesky #shower #literaryfiction

The final ten queries for my Matsura novel are in the wind. If I don't get an agent by summer, I'm self-publishing!

I just rewatched an old video on my mistersato411 YouTube channel. This video, part 1 of a 3-part series about The Winter's Tale, a lesser-known #Shakespeare play, holds up well, I think. It's about obsessive, paranoid jealousy. www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPUK...

It's 1901. #FrankMatsura is a Japanese Christian convert, although his parents were believers in Buddha and Shinto. This casts Obon traditions in a painful light. #WIPsnips #convert #writesky #literaryfiction

Back in 1901, no one was talking about fishing sustainably. #WIPsnips #beach #writesky #literaryfiction

#FrankMatsura recognizes what a fool he was to trust his boss at the salmon cannery. #WIPsnips #fool #writesky #literaryfiction

It is my strong belief that there is a market for novels about Asian immigrant pioneers on the American frontier, like Hirahara's Crown City and Zhang's Four Treasures of the Sky. (I highly recommend both.)

Frank's a photographer, so this was an easy one. #FrankMatsura actually posted this newspaper ad, verbatim. Here, he has retained the second "u" in his surname. #WIPsnips #film #writesky #literaryfiction

For any writer who needs to hear this: You don't have to write a bestselling literary masterpiece 📚💸 Write the book you wish existed 🌸✨

#FrankMatsura becomes friends with the superintendant of the salmon cannery, a man who is similar to him in education and social class. But Alexander is the boss, Frank is his worker, and their goals are not the same, despite what Frank thinks. #Sundaysnips #writesky #literaryfiction

When #FrankMatsura was diagnosed with TB, he could no longer go through with his arranged marriage to Noriko, the daughter of a wealthy silk exporter. In this scene, he breaks his engagement. #writesky #literaryfiction

Seattle, Cal Anderson Park - No Kings.

I'm going to go exercise my first amendment rights now.

For a little while, I'm going to return to posting #WIPsnips from my #FrankMatsura novel. It's 1901 in Alaska. Here, Frank talks to the first Black person he's ever met, a cook in a white household. #writesky #original #literaryfiction

My MC is at a college party. He doesn't drink. #WIPsnips #royal #writesky #literaryfiction

Luke grew up in a family that was only one generation from a Kalihi chicken farm and two generations from the sugar plantations. He has a lot to learn from his more cultured Hawaii girlfriend. #WIPsnips #gentle #writesky #literaryfiction

Stairs of Knowledge at the University of Balamand, Lebanon. Walking up these stairs is literally a step toward higher education. A Tribute To Modern Day Thinkers (10 Photos): streetartutopia.com/2026/01/09/a...

Four #FrankMatsura self-portraits from his stamp-camera. I especially like the one of the back of his head where he's anticipating Magritte.

Luke ponders the economics of Hawaiian tourism. In this passage, I like those Wisconsin retirees . #WIPsnips #offer #writesky #literaryfiction

I've been trying to snag an agent for my Matsura novel for over a year now. On April 2, I will send out queries #41-50. If I don't get one after 50 queries, I'm moving forward with self-publishing. My novel WILL see the light of day one way or another.

I didn't have "lily," so working today, I added one. Luke dates a fellow Japanese-American for the first time. Evie grew up in New Jersey and has a lot of anger. She's one of my favorite characters. #WIPsnips #lily #writesky #literaryfiction

Luke considers a trail on Oahu that leads to Kaena Point, the sacred spot where Native Hawaiians believe the souls of the dead depart from the world of the living for the afterworld. #SundaySnips #emerge

Luke finds his purpose. #WIPsnips #library #writesky #literaryfiction

#authorsky #writerscommunity #amwriting #writersky #bookmarketing

This is from the novel I'm querying, not my WIP. #FrankMatsura injured himself slipping on a wet floor. #WIPsnips #wake #writesky #literaryfiction

I don't have "dart" but I have an arrow. My MC graduates with his BA and begins working a series of crappy jobs. #WIPsnips #dart #writesky #literaryfiction

Call me old-fashioned, but I'm a writer because I want to write things.

Be careful of the free synonym buns at the bakery today. I ate one and got thesaurus throat I've ever had.

Luke gets to see how the other half lives. #WIPsnips #addition #writesky #literaryfiction

I was flabbergasted last night to read an unmistakeable description of #FrankMatsura in Crown City, a new mystery novel by #NaomiHirahara! Sometimes, I feel like the only person in the world who knows of him. My first (unpublished) novel is about Matsura.

Luke has been dumped by his girlfriend on Christmas Eve. I've posted this scene before, but it's the only "marathon" I have, so I included a few more lines this time. #WIPsnips #marathon #writesky #literaryfiction

One of Luke's NY roommates gives him something better to eat than the chili he made from a Schilling mix. #WIPsnips #green #writesky #literaryfiction

I'm struggling with this one. Can you understand what this guy is saying? I need to capture the flavor of his Hawaiian Pidgin English, but make it intelligible to people not from #Hawaii. (Kanaka means Native Hawaiian. Kuleana is a patch of land.) #WIPsnips #repeat #writesky #literaryfiction

I went to high school in the 70s and majored in English in college in the 80s. I didn't read a single #Asian-American author until my senior year of college: Woman Warrior. I didn't think of the American frontier as a place where Asians worked, dreamed, and sometimes thrived. We're progressing!

Luke is eating the blue-plate special at Ellen's Café, a diner in lower Manhattan, and looking out its window. I wrote this one just a few days ago. #WIPsnips #dreary #writesky #literaryfiction

I may have shared this snip before. My MC is at the college radio station learning about music from the disc jockeys there. #WIPsnips #recommend #writesky #literaryfiction #KTUH

I can hardly believe that Gov. George Ariyoshi is still around. He was governor of HI when I was a teenager. #Hawaiinews www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2026/03/13/f...

This is the origin of the ethnic epithet, "kotonk." This snip is longer than my usual, but it's important to get the whole picture. It the title of my WIP. #WIPsnips #fight #writesky #literaryfiction

In the 1940s, Japan was at war with the US. Japanese-Americans were not to blame, but racist idiots threw them into prisons in deserts and swamps. The government of Israel is doing terrible things today. Jewish people at large are not to blame. Anti-Semitic idiots today are attacking synagogues.

In tomorrow's WIPsnip, I will give the definition of the word, "Kotonk," the title of my novel.

I want to binge #StarfleetAcademy without giving a penny to #Paramount, which is turning into a real monster. They don't offer free week-long free trials anymore, but it's attached to the month-long free trial at #Walmart+ . I don't have to give them a penny either.

Luke comes to understand that his reporting may be harming the people on whom he's reporting. #WIPsnips #resident #writesky #literaryfiction