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

Before the song was over, Noriko asked me, “Do you have a clean handkerchief?”

For the entire novel, Frank, an orphan, has sought a male role model, a mentor. But when he falls in love, he finds the mentor he's been looking for in a woman. #SundaySnips #FrankMatsura

The more I write, the more I think I'm a socialist.

Before hiring an editor, I wrote out my thoughts about why the #FrankMatsura novel should exist. It includes the word #three under the heading "who will read it." #WIPsnips #writingcommunity

#FrankMatsura meets an Italian at the Alaskan salmon cannery. #WIPsnips #three #historicalfiction #literaryfiction #writingcommunity #writesky

1901. #FrankMatsura arrives in Seattle and is approached by a Japanese cart-driver. The obsequious form of Japanese he's speaking is called keigo. #WIPsnips #hoarse #writesky #writingcommunity #historicalfiction #literaryfiction

It's 1901. Over dinner, #FrankMatsura tells his boss and his wife about his admiration for Alfred Stieglitz's photos. #WIPsnips #title #writesky #writingcommunity #historicalfiction #literaryfiction

TW: racial epithets. It's 1901, in Alaska. This device really had this name. Today, it can be seen in a museum in Seattle. #WIPsnips #hour #writesky #writingcommunity #historicalfiction #literaryfiction #amquerying

This Asian American and Pacific Islander Month, we're celebrating the amazing diversity, culture, and successes the AAPI community brings to the Golden State.

Taku, the labor-agitating friend of #FrankMatsura, reportedly fell off a Russian fishing boat and drowned. Taku's Dena'ina girlfriend has doubts, and now Frank does too. (Today's #WIPsnips helped me catch a typo!) #believe #writesky #writingcommunity #historicalfiction #literaryfiction #amquerying

As a YouTuber since 2011, I want to say that AI is destroying #YouTube. That and intrusive advertising.

In 1901, #FrankMatsura agrees to teach English to a Japanese teen at the salmon cannery. #WIPsnips #nothing #historicalfiction #literaryfiction #writesky #writingcommunity #historicalfiction #literaryfiction #amquerying

It's 1901. Frank's new (Norwegian) boss at the salmon cannery discovers that Frank is university-educated. #Sundaysnips #scholar #writingcommunity #writesky #FrankMatsura #amquerying

It's 1901. Frank's new (Norwegian) boss at the salmon cannery discovers that Frank is university-educated. #Sundaysnips #scholar #writingcommunity #writesky #FrankMatsura #amquerying

#FrankMatsura finds that turn-of-the-century America has not lived up to his expectations, but he hasn't given up on it. There's a little frontier town calling him. #WIPsnips #fate #writesky #writingcommunity #historicalfiction #literaryfiction #pacificnorthwest #amquerying

When I was a teen in the 70s, it never occurred to me that Paul Lynde and Liberace might be gay. It just didn't exist in my consciousness. Similarly, #FrankMatsura encounters LGBTQ people in 1901 and it doesn't register. But I'm confident my readers will recognize those relationships.

"Struck" is the closest I have to "smack." Back in 1900 Japan, Frank tells the woman he's supposed to marry that he has TB and cannot go through with the marriage. (Don't worry, Noriko will be back.) #WIPsnips #smack #FrankMatsura #writesky #writingcommunity #literaryfiction #historicalfiction

#FrankMatsura's farmer friend from Seattle has risen in the world. Could it be that America really is the land of opportunity? #WIPsnips #north #writingcommunity #writesky #literaryfiction #historicalfiction

This is one of my favorite #FrankMatsura photographs. He is discovering his gift as a photographer: portraiture. #WIPsnips #wing #writesky #writingcommunity #historicalfiction #literaryfiction #amquerying

My WIP opens August 1980 with this song. www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4QS...

I finished annotating my Matsura novel, which meant re-reading it from start to finish. It was fun explaining terms and archaic references that some readers, like the teens I taught for over thirty years, won't know. It's for a possible deluxe annotated edition with deleted chapters. #FrankMatsura

I have "empire" but "emperor" gets me a more interesting quote. It's 1895. Kusu is a socialist friend at Keio University in Tokyo. He tells classmates it would be wrong for Japan to colonize Korea. #WIPsnips #empire #FrankMatsura #writesky #writingcommunity #literaryfiction #historicalfiction

I am certain there are readers who will want to read my Matsura novel. I am sure there are publishers who would want to sell my book to them. So, aren't there agents who want to sell it to publishers? I have a quote on the wall of the room where I write. "What you seek is seeking you." - Rumi

1901, Matsura's first day at the salmon cannery. The superintendent of the cannery sees him as a fellow educated man and an asset to the company, a translator for his Japanese countrymen. #WIPsnips #brass #FrankMatsura #writesky #writingcommunity #literaryfiction #historicalfiction #amquerying

From my actual WIP, not my Matsura novel. 1990, Queens, NYC. A Chinese-American teen tells a reporter about being a hate crime victim. 911 told the victims to drive themselves to the hospital. Based on an actual event. #WIPsnips #reset #writingcommunity #writesky #Asian-American #literaryfiction

I'm still hoping to hear back from lit agents, but I'm moving towards self-publishing. Not committing, but laying the foundation. I have an LLC now.

international worker's day

Seattle, 1901. Sakae chooses the name by which he will be known in America. He'll drop the glottal stop in his surname soon. #WIPsnips #chosen #FrankMatsura #writesky #writingcommunity #historicalfiction #literaryfiction

I came up with a better title for the novel I'm querying. The first two titles I used were both awkward and clunky. Also too long.

Due to sabotage, the 1901 salmon cannery is shut down for two days. The Japanese workers enjoy a rare respite from their grueling labor. #FrankMatsura #WIPsnips #write #writesky #writingcommunity #historicalfiction #literaryfiction

#FrankMatsura, a Japanese Christian convert in 1901, arrives safely in Seattle and he gives thanks to his maker. #WIPsnips #immediate #writesky #writingcommunity #amquerying #historicalfiction #literaryfiction

It's 1901. Japanese workers in an Alaskan salmon cannery are complaining about the food. #FrankMatsura #WIPsnips #chicken #amquerying #literaryfiction #historicalfiction #writesky #writingcommunity.

Omigoodness, #FrankMatsura is a photographer, so today's word appears 182 times in my ms. Here, over dinner, he tells his new boss and his (racist) wife why he came to America. #WIPsnips #photograph #writesky #writingcommunity #literaryfiction #historicalfiction

CW: racist epithet. Labor is an important theme in my novel, so "work" appears more than 200 times. Here, #FrankMatsura discovers xenophobic hatred of immigrant labor in Alaska. (Times don't change much, do they?) #WIPsnips #work #writingcommunity #literaryfiction #historicalfiction #amquerying

#FrankMatsura talks his suicidal friend down. Step one: take away the booze. #Sundaysnips #quench

Not in my query: I'm ready to revise my work under an editor's guidance. I'm open to suggestions regarding the title. And Frank's photographs are in the public domain, so they'd add value to the book for free!

#FrankMatsura rhapsodizes about one of Steiglitz's best photographs, "The Terminal." #WIPsnips #signature #writesky #writingcommunity #literaryfiction #historicalfiction

Frank's fatal diagnosis is a blessing and a curse. #WIPsnips #fantasy #FrankMatsura #writesky #writingcommunity #literaryfiction #historicalfiction

It's 1903. After his friend is destroyed by racist land laws, #FrankMatsura is disillusioned with Seattle, and by extension with America. #WIPsnips #wheel #writesky #writingcommunity #literaryfiction #historicalfiction #seattle

Taku, Frank's friend at the salmon cannery, tries to get his co-worker's to see the inequities in their workplace. The "hell" he's referring to is the China Hold. (Look it up.) #WIPsnips #topic #writesky #writingcommunity #literaryfiction #historicalfiction

April, 1904. #FrankMatsura has been away from Japan only three years when he is drafted and called back. He fought in the First Sino-Japan War and has traumatic memories (one involving rats inside a corpse.) #WIPsnips #heat #writesky #writingcommunity #historicalfiction #literaryfiction