Centipedes. Not Cute.
I always thought centipedes were on the cute end of the buggy spectrum. Okay, not butterflies, not ladybugs, but kind of sweet, with all those little wiggly legs.
That was before I met Japanese centipedes.
They are not just terrifying; they are poisonous. No wonder they feature widely in the folklore. There’s one giant centipede from Japanese mythology who ate baby dragons for lunch. And of course there’s the one I put in Deadly Flowers, who tries to eat my heroine.
Read MoreLitPick Interview
“Where do you get your ideas?” “Who’s your favorite character?” “What advice would you give aspiring writers?” LitPick has an interview with me up on their webpage today!
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Things Ninjas Didn’t Do (That You Think They Did)
This is not an accurate ninja outfit (although it does make a super cool nesting doll).
1) Wear all black.
It’s so easy to think of a ninja all in black, hood over face, that even books and other resources who get other historical details right usually fall for this one. The truth is, in pre-modern times, black clothing was both rare and expensive. (It takes a lot of dye to get cloth really black, so it costs a lot.) Even if a ninja could afford an all-black outfit, he or she wouldn’t be likely to wear it on a mission.
This might be a samurai (the two swords are kind of a giveaway) or ti might be a ninja pretending to be a samurai. Hard to tell.
In feudal times, the Japanese did have access to indigo as a dye, so dark blue would not have been uncommon or rare. For a night mission, that might have worked well. But most of the time, a ninja would probably have been wearing clothes that let him or her fit in–looking like a farmer, a peasant, a beggar, a monk, a nun, or whatever else would be inconspicuous. A successful ninja = someone who doesn’t look like a ninja. That means dressing like everybody else.
Read MoreSecret Ninja Tools
Deadly fingernail weapons, known as neko-te. (A more modern and fashionable version than a 16th century ninja would have had accessed to.)
If you’re a ninja, you might need to blind an enemy (at least temporarily), cross a swamp, or turn your hairpin into a deadly weapon. Check out this website to discover some of the tools you might have used! I haven’t encountered all of these in my research, but they sound at least plausible. And I might have to use the thing about the crickets in a book someday….
Read MoreTengu
Statue of a tengu from the late Edo period. Photo by WolfgangMichel.
With the launch of Deadly Flowers, my girl-ninja-Japanese-folklore-adventure-fantasy novel coming up (on sale in April, y’all!) and a sequel at 249 handwritten pages as of this morning (take that, writer’s block), all of the creatures and ghosts and monsters of Japanese folklore have been haunting my mind. So I thought I’d introduce you to a few of them. Today’s special guest: the tengu.
Half-crow, half human, tengu tend to inhabit dense forests and remote mountains. They’re fierce but not evil, mischievous but not cruel. If they decide that they like you (which doesn’t happen very often) they may be induced to teach you martial arts. Some of Japans’ greatest heroes got their skills this way. If they don’t like you…well, best to stay out of their way.
Read More“Edge-of-your-seat action!”
Here’s what Kirkus Reviews says about Deadly Flowers:
Read MoreA girl’s first mission as a ninja is complicated by a pair of young siblings and dangerous Japanese spirits. Orphaned at a young age, Kata has been trained to be a “deadly flower”—a female ninja in feudal Japan. She is the best trainee at Madame Chiyome’s secret school. Kata is eager to prove herself on her first mission, only to realize that she must assassinate Ichiro, a little boy and heir of a powerful lord. His 15-year-old sister, Saiko, initially Kata’s accomplice, surprises her by thwarting the mission. Having failed her first mission, Kata’s honor forces her to help the siblings find their uncle. The plot is dense with detail and events. Ichiro hands Kata a small pearl for safekeeping but neglects to disclose its supernatural powers. Kata initially looks down on Saiko’s noble coyness but finds that Saiko’s skills have their uses on their journey. The three fight off demons, Madame’s ninjas, and a samurai’s legions. In Kata and Saiko, Thomson has created heroines who are opposites yet manage to use their strengths to take control of their lives under the social restraints of their time. Plot-driven moments feel like pauses in between the book’s heavy action scenes. Japanese spirits are described in frightfully vivid detail, along with the ninjas’ death-defying exploits. Edge-of-your-seat action that will have both girls and boys rooting for the girl ninjas. (Historical fantasy. 10-14)
New Reviews for QUICK, LITTLE MONKEY!
Quick, Little Monkey! (on shelves in March 2016) got two lovely reviews last week!
Kirkus Reviews says:
Clinging to her father’s back, Little Monkey travels safely across jungle treetops until one day she’s distracted and tumbles downward to the dark forest floor, where hungry predators lurk. Rhythmic text describes how Little Monkey loves “to fly” from “vine to vine” and “branch to branch,” holding tightly to her Papa’s fur as he carries her “high and safe and quick in the bright, loud, green world.” When Papa warns Little Monkey to hide on a tree branch and stay still, she can’t resist reaching out for a butterfly and slips “down into a quiet dark.” Remembering Papa’s advice to hide, keep still, and hold tight, Little Monkey barely escapes a menacing ocelot by climbing up to a “coiled and curved” vine that turns out to be a sinister boa. Fortunately, Papa arrives in the nick of time. Bold pencil lines, atmospheric watercolor washes in bright greens, browns, and yellows, and double-page spreads of Little Monkey’s vertical descent and Papa’s horizontal flights perfectly convey the drama and energy of jungle life. Exaggerated close-ups of Little Monkey’s face capture her range of emotions, from exuberant joy as she rides on Papa’s back to paralyzing terror as she faces the unknown. Exciting jungle high jinks starring one adorable little monkey and her protective Papa.
And Publishers Weekly says:
As a baby pygmy marmoset rides on her father’s back, he shows her how to “read” the jungle landscape for predators—the shadow of wings above, the sound of “soft footsteps” on the ground below—and to stay safe. “Hide here” Papa tells her. “Keep still.” When Little Monkey can’t resist reaching for a butterfly, she tumbles away from Papa, “down into a quiet dark of slow roots and still earth and cold shadow,” and into some very dangerous territory. But Little Monkey remembers her lessons and manages to make her way back to Papa. The wide-eyed primate heroine is cute and plucky, and Judge’s ( Good Morning to Me! ) woodsy-toned watercolors create moments of high drama by playing up the difference in scale between the tiny marmoset and the rest of the world (in one scene, she’s dwarfed by the huge eyes of a hungry ocelot)…. It’s an evocative story of survival of the itty-bittiest. Ages 3–7.
An early Christmas present to a happy author!
Read MoreSarah L. Thomson
A children’s book author publishing award-winning nonfiction, poetry, picture books and novels including…
“Thomson focuses on newfound connection, magic, and suspense to conjure a fast-paced, heartwarming mystery. Thomson’s world is populated by resourceful protagonists, fanciful creatures, and quirky supporting characters.”
—Publishers Weekly