by Rebecca Copeland | Feb 15, 2023 | Mystery Fiction
I continue with the series of scenes that were edited out of The Kimono Tattoo. The edits always improved the narrative flow, dramatically. Narrative timing is a skill I am still learning. In the early stages of writing The Kimono Tattoo, I understood that readers... 
by Rebecca Copeland | Feb 1, 2023 | Mystery Fiction
Here’s another scene from The Kimono Tattoo draft that ended up on the cutting room floor. Again, we have reference to Hiratsuka Raichō, but also to a controversial feminist painter, an ancient Japanese legend, and the politics of protest in postwar Japan. Why... 
by Rebecca Copeland | Jun 22, 2022 | Japanese Culture
In The Kimono Tattoo, main character Ruth Bennett keeps an eye on the Japanese seasons. She knows when it’s appropriate to wear unlined kimonos or to dispense with long sleeves. Knowing of her fastidiousness, I was surprised when she forgot to celebrate the Aoi... 
by Rebecca Copeland | Jun 8, 2022 | Honors & Awards, Mystery Fiction
I’m so happy to have this new review of The Kimono Tattoo in the Kyoto Journal. Many thanks to David Cozy, Kyoto Journal’s Reviews editor, for writing it! —Rebecca David Cozy is a writer and critic who has lived in Japan for several decades. His fiction... 
by Rebecca Copeland | May 26, 2021 | Mystery Fiction
In Japan, many consider birds messengers of the gods. They fly between the world of the living and the heavens, carrying our prayers and dreams on their wings. The entrance to a Shinto shrine is marked by a large gate known as a torii, which literally translates...
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