Later, Mr. Talbot's house mysteriously burns down. #Sundaysnips #drink Learn about the real #FrankMatsura by subscribing to my newsletter: dan-sato.kit.com/1053f8236b

From my prequel story about a traumatic and formative event in #FrankMatsura 's past. He is a twenty-one-year-old second lieutenant in the First Sino-Japanese war. Subscribers (free) will receive the serialized story beginning Oct 1. #WIPsnips #attack #indiepublishing dan-sato.kit.com/1053f8236b

#FrankMatsura tells his young Chinese-American friend that he's leaving Seattle. Want to know the historical truth about Frank? Please consider subscribing to the Frank Matsura Historical Dossier: dan-sato.kit.com/1053f8236b

1901. There's friction between college-educated #FrankMatsura and the other Japanese when he befriends the white boss at the salmon cannery. #WIPsnips #keep

"When I was twenty-one, I was a soldier in China. I was a Shoi, a low-ranking officer. My Rikigun Ta-i ordered me to do something I knew was wrong. To my everlasting regret, I did it. It is an act for which I will never be able to atone." (Frank Matsura always speaks in complete sentences.)

For anyone objecting to Lupita Nyong'o as Helen of Troy in #TheOdysseymovie, this is a picture of Andromeda from the classic 1981 Clash of the Titans. Andromeda is the princess of Ethiopia. No one cried foul because Judi Bowker was clearly chosen for her classic Ethiopian beauty.

In Ashland, OR, for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. They did a good job trying to put a feminist spin on the Kate/Petruchio plot in The Taming of the Shrew, but the Bianca plot couldn't be salvaged. It's just unfunny no matter how much clowning they heap on it. Some good performances, though.

It's 1905 or thereabouts. No humidity per se, but a description of Seattle's constant wetness for two-thirds of the year. So, vibes. (And this, from someone who loves #Seattle.) #WIPsnips #humidity #FrankMatsura

#FrankMatsura is shocked to discover how remote and provincial his new frontier town, Conconully, is. To learn more about him, subscribe to my newsletter! dan-sato.kit.com/1053f8236b

Over thirty years ago, I thought of a great title, but never used it. It's all yours if you want it. Some trans writer could hit this for a home run: "This Lady is No Gentleman."

This from the draft of my second WIP. It's 1977, Luke is fifteen and on his first date, the high school football game. Things look like they're going well. #WIPsnips #stadium #Honolulu

The last photograph. #WIPsnips #bench #FrankMatsura Yesterday, I made a text-only cover for my ARCs and uploaded it to IngramSpark, so now, I'm waiting for an eproof. #indiepublishing

#Indiepublishing progress: I finished a 3,660-word prequel short story that I plan to serialize into three parts beginning Sept 24 to promote the Oct 27 launch of my novel. Emailed free to newsletter subscribers. dan-sato.kit.com/1053f8236b

From page one of Imperfect Likeness, about #FrankMatsura. I have a #round word by itself, but this snip is more appropriate for Independence Day, celebrated here in the land made up almost entirely of immigrants full of hope and dreams and with much to offer their new country. #WIPsnips

This is a second snip, this one from the thing I'm actually working on today. It's 1894 and my MC, a low-ranking officer, receives orders that he knows are illegal. #WIPsnips #out

Today, I'm working on a prequel short story to give my subscribers as a thank-you when my novel is closer to launch. It is set during the First Sino-Japan war when my MC is a young man. It depicts a trauma that is only alluded to in the novel. You can subscribe here: dan-sato.kit.com/1053f8236b

Foreshadowing. 1901. The Norwegian cannery boss in Alaska discovers that because #FrankMatsura is educated and bilingual, he can translate for his foreman. #WIPsnips #out #Macbeth #indiepublishing dan-sato.kit.com/1053f8236b

1903. Frank is talking to a Japanese mountain man in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State. A kiseru is a long-stemmed pipe. You can guess what kintama is. My first newsletter went out today! If interested, you can subscribe here: dan-sato.kit.com/1053f8236b #WIPsnips #knock

"I noticed that the young couple were holding hands under the lady’s SCARF and were exchanging surreptitious smiles." Tomorrow morning, newsletter #1 goes out! Subscribe here. dan-sato.kit.com/1053f8236b #WIPsnips #scarf

I retired my YouTube channel last year. It was popular with English teachers. But now I realize I can use those 24K subscribers to promote my upcoming novel! You can check it out here. www.youtube.com/@mistersato411

These aren't my words; they are Frank Matsura's, written in a 1905 newspaper essay. If you want to know about the historical basis of my upcoming novel, Imperfect Likeness, subscribe to The Frank Matsura Historical Dossier. dan-sato.kit.com/1053f8236b First issue is Thursday. #WIPsnips #water

I'm on the road to self-publication! Check out my Kit landing page for the Frank Matsura Historical Dossier. If you subscribe, you'll receive historical brief #1 this Thursday, July 2. dan-sato.kit.com/1053f8236b

It's Juneteenth. Post your favorite Black fictional character. (the unnamed narrator of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man.)

I just hired a illustrator/graphic designer from Spain to design my book cover! He's done work for Penguin Random House. I am hopeful and super-excited! He did this cover.

I'm trying to decide which Reedsy graphic artist to hire for my cover. I'm conflicted: I love a certain style of cover, but know my cover should look like my comps.

Wow, pricing my book at IngramSpark is tricky. I basically had to choose between a reasonable price and any chance at all of it being carried in a physical bookstore. When I chose 55% retail discount, I would have lost money on every sale. I went with 40% and a reasonable price. #indiepublishing

Good morning, #WIPsnips community, As of today, June 3, my novel about Frank Matsura has been rejected or ghosted by fifty agents and two small presses. I’ve been querying since May 2025. I now begin the process of self-publishing with a planned launch date of October 27. #indiepublishing

I thought about giving a cooler answer, but if we're talking about whole albums, this is the truth.

The woman #FrankMatsura jilted in Tokyo when he got a fatal diagnosis arrives unexpectedly in his little country town. Noriko is newly wealthy, and is only the second Japanese person any of them have ever met, after Frank. #WIPsnips #ready #writesky #writingcommunity #historicalfiction

Happy Pride Month. Live long and prosper. #pride #startrek

It's 1903 in the Cascade mountain range. #FrankMatsura takes stock of his value to the white people he has met in America. #WIPsnips #loss #writesky #writingcommunity #historicalfiction #literaryfiction

A Norwegian foreman in a #room full of Japanese workers stands out. #WIPsnips #FrankMatsura #writesky #writingcommunity #historicalfiction #literaryfiction

1904, Central Washington State. #FrankMatsura learns that his rigid, proud, unloving uncle-- his adoptive father--was caught embezzling money from his girls' school in Tokyo and has committed suicide. #WIPsnips #lifetime #writingcommunity #writesky #historicalfiction #literaryfiction #amquerying

Seen at Quimby's a bookstore in Chicago a couple of days ago.

A longer #WIPsnip than usual. #FrankMatsura, a Christian convert, considers his place as a dishwasher in a Seattle hotel in 1901. #silent #writingcommunity #literaryfiction #historicalfiction

Member of @authorsabb.bsky.social @jerroldconnors.bsky.social came through in the best way and assembled this for us all! Know thine shitty bills!

Life’s a lot like baseball. You won’t hit every pitch, but if you stay disciplined, trust your swing & keep showing up, the wins will come. In baseball & in life, striking out is part of the game. The difference makers are the ones who step back into the box anyway! #SheShed

This is the kind of thing that makes locals hate tourists. In Hawai'i, native wildlife and the environment it lives in is sacred. This arrogant prick needs to spend some time behind bars. A fine won't mean anything to him. www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Md4...

The only actor I can imagine as Noriko is Rinko Kikuchi. Noriko enters at 29 and ages to 40.

1903, Conconully, Washington State. Frank's friend, Norma, is pregnant and won't name the father. The townsfolk are abuzz with the titillating scandal. #WIPsnips #insect #FrankMatsura #writingcommunity

There's a song, "Mistakes," by Sharon Van Etten, that makes me think of AI and its limitations. "Even when I make a mistake, it's much better than that."

Now that I was here, I could see how ridiculous it was: I had wanted to see wild horses and “The Big Muddy.” I had wanted to own a Ford automobile. I had wanted to meet a real cowboy. Most of all, I had wanted to meet and learn from my hero, Alfred Stieglitz. #WIPsnips #meet #FrankMatsura

1901, Naknek, Alaska. The salmon cannery is shut down for two days and Frank makes himself useful to his fellow Japanese. #WIPsnips #opportunity #writesky #writingcommunity #literaryfiction #historicalfiction #amquerying

This is satire, but I love it. It's like Keegan-Michael Key's "Anger Translator." It's saying the quiet part out loud.

1901, white labor leaders in Alaska condemn immigrant labor. In turn-of-the-century Japan, #FrankMatsura lived a privileged life, supported by the labor of exploited immigrants. He now understands what that means. #WIPsnips #thought #writingcommunity #literaryfiction #historicalfiction

The title of my #FrankMatsura novel used to be This Dark Blue Village, which is clunky, but I thought it might grow on me. This is where I got the title. (The word is Conconully.) The new title is Likeness. #disappoint #WIPsnips #writesky #writingcommunity #historicalfiction #literaryfiction

At the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese war in 1904, #FrankMatsura cautiously asks Salkov, a Russian neighbor in his American frontier town, how he feels about the war. He gets an earful. #WIPsnips #brother #writingcommunity #historicalfiction

1909. #FrankMatsura goes for a solitary hike into the mountains. #WIPsnips #forest #writesky #writingcommunity #literaryfiction #historicalfiction