Critical Death Theory, first draft: 52,300 words
Ridiculously excited to know that Braking Day is now out in Japan, courtesy of the good folks at Hayakawa Publishing (株式会社早川書房). Hayakawa Publishing is the largest science fiction publisher in Japan; almost all winners of the Seiun Award for Best Foreign Novel are published by the company. I still remember when my agent, the estimable Brady, let me know that Hayakawa had agreed to take Braking Day on. If, like me you are a person of a certain age with a certain taste of music, you will understand that it took me days to get Alphaville’s Big in Japan out of my head!
As is the case with most publishers, Hayakawa were kind enough to send me courtesy copies of the Japanese version. Ten, in this case. My son was addicted to Manga when he was younger, so I was prepared for the fact that it has to be read “backwards.” The Japanese read top to bottom and from right to left. What I was not prepared for though, was the size. The book is beautifully built, with a transparent vinyl cover to protect the contents, but it is tiny. A true pocketbook.
I do not, unfortunately, read Japanese, but for a page or two it is fun to pretend. Here is page 326 of the Japanese version:
which overlaps with page 143 of the English version:
Of course, once the pretense is over, reality returns. I still can’t read (or speak) Japanese and I have nine beautifully made books that deserve to be read. I am on the hunt for suitably good homes for them. Some of you will no doubt recall that the publisher sent me ten copies, not nine. But I’m definitely keeping one for myself!