Shinya Shokudo - "Late Night Diner"

A day finishes and people head home…
On some nights, they feel they still have something more to do
and want to stop by somewhere on their way home…

 

Story about a diner which opens from midnight to 7 a.m. with only 4 items on its menu. It shows heart-to-heart exchange between the chief of the diner and his customers. Drama adaptation of manga by Abe Yarou. (10 episodes)

The "Page 99" Test

I read on a Kindleboards post that one reader gives the books that he is interested in purchasing the Page 99 Test. He flips to page 99 of the book and if he is interested enough to flip to page 100, he buys it. Well, it got me thinking how would my books fare under the same test. Well here is page 99 from my book Eden, you be the judge:

     I went home to change after the cartoons winded down after eleven.  I was tempted to take another shower, but fought the urge; the line had to be drawn somewhere.  I changed into jeans and a sweater and hurried downstairs eager to see Eden again.
   “How was your breakfast?” my mother teased.
   “It was awesome,” I told her honestly.
   “You’d better stop that,” she said, “you’re going to give me a complex.  I don’t want to think that some little girl can cook better than me.”
   I wanted to laugh, to tell my mother that although Eden looked like a teenager, she wasn’t; but how could I say anything like that to her without her thinking that I was crazy?  Instead I told her something along the lines of how no one could match the cooking of my mother.  It seemed to appease her and she smiled.
   “Do you need money for the fair?” she asked.
   I had money saved up for this, but who was I to look a gift horse in the mouth?
   “I could use some,” I said hopefully.
   My mother gave me fifty dollars to use for the fair!  I was amazed, never had my mother been so generous.  If I would have known this would happen, I would have started dating years ago.  Then again, maybe it was only because I was dating Eden that my mother was being so benevolent.
   “Make sure Eden has a good time,” my mother pressed.
   “What about me?” I asked.
   “With that beautiful girl on your arm and all the jealous stares you are going to be getting, I’m not at all worried about you having a good time,” she replied with a wink.
   “True dat, mom,” I laughed as I slipped out the door.

   Eden was already dressed and waiting for me on her front porch when I left my house.  She looked more beautiful to me everyday.  What had I done to deserve such a wonderful girlfriend?  I silently prayed that I never screwed this up.  I wanted to spend my short life with this girl.
   “Are you all set?” she asked when I reached her porch.
   “I sure am,” I assured her, “and I’m bankrolling this whole affair.”
   “You are too kind,” she laughed.
   “I’m serious, Eden,” I said, “Today, the world is yours.”
   “But I don’t want the world,” Eden answered, “All I want is you.”
   My heart melted at her reply.  I took her into my arms and kissed her gently on the lips.

And how about we give that same test to my other book, The Abnorms?

   Forgotten Treasures was like a cross between the Salvation Army and TJ Maxx.  It carried second hands clothes but tried its hardest to look like a fashionable clothing store; it didn’t succeed but at least there were no sensors.
Entering the store we all immediately split up, searching for our own sizes and styles of clothing.  I quickly found myself in the women’s jean section scoping out the selection of jeans in my size.  I was looking for pairs that looked sort of new, I wasn’t into the whole ripped-jeans scene.  I soon noticed one of the other customers staring at me.  I did my best to ignore her.
“Do I know you?” the woman asked walking over to me.
“I don’t think so,” I replied uncomfortably.
“I must be mistaken,” she muttered, still looking at me like she was trying to place my face.
I didn’t wait for her to come to any conclusions, I took the jeans I had picked out and made my way over to the blouses.  I wanted to get out of here ASAP.  I quickly picked out some shirts and underwear and made my way over to the others.
“What’s up?” Kurt asked detecting the anxiety in my face.
“Some lady recognized me,” I told him, “I think our breakout made the news or something.”
 “Seriously?” he asked with surprise.
“We better finish up quick and get out of here,” I ordered, “I don’t want us to be anywhere near here when her memory kicks in.”
“I’ll go get Creepy,” he said, “meet you at the register.”
“Ok,” I agreed turning to look for Abby.
Scanning the store, I quickly located the young girl.  She was picking out some cute shirts.
“Abby,” I whispered as I approached her, “we have to finish up quick.  I think someone recognizes us.  We have to get out before they call the police.”
Fear registered in her face.  I immediately regretted informing her of our predicament, but it was too late now and we really did have to get a move on.
“I’m done,” she told me, “I was just browsing.”
We made our way to the register.  Kurt and Leslie were already there waiting for us.
“Check it,” Kurt whispered laughing, “Jennie picked out a bunch of cartoon t-shirts.”
“They’re not cartoons,” he argued, “they’re anime t-shirts.”
“Who cares?” Kurt continued, still laughing, “Dude has a frog on his shirt with an army helmet.  I mean what the hell?”
“And my name is not Jennie,” Leslie added as if it had just occurred to him that Kurt keeps calling him by the wrong name.
“Can I help you?” the cashier broke in.
“Yeah, we’re all set,” I told her, “could you ring everything together?”
“Sure,” she said looking at us strangely as she slowly rang up our purchases.
I didn’t like it.  It seemed like she was taking extra long to ring us up on purpose; I was getting a bad vibe from this place.  We had to get out of here.
The cashier threw everything into a big bag and handed it to Kurt and I was about to hand her the money when all of a sudden I saw a police car pull up in front of the store.

Now keep in mind that these samples are taken from the Word.doc I originally wrote the books from, so I'm not sure how the actual page count breaks down on the nook or Kindle, but you get the general idea.

Please let me know if the Page 99 Test convinced you to purchase either book, I'm sure the author of that Kindleboards thread would be interested and so would I.

The Abnorms is up for sale!

My second novel The Abnorms is up for sale right now on Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com. Here is a brief synopsis of the story:

The world thinks they are useless.

Society thinks they are freaks.

They are Abnorms, people born with special powers that set them apart from normal humans.  Abnorms with useful or dangerous powers are snatched up by the government and never seen again, those with powers deemed useless are set free, back into a population that hates and shuns them. This is a story about a group of so-called useless Abnorms, they are:

Lindsay – with the power to float

Kurt – with the power to spontaneously drop dead

Leslie – with the power to change the color of objects

Abby – with the power to create flashes of light

But these teens must do their best to make their useless powers useful as they try to rescue Lindsay’s twin brother from the clutches of the government, and maybe fall in love along the way.

Does it sound good to you? Well, how about all that adventure, romance and hilarity (yes, hilarity) for the low, low price of only $0.99? Come on, what are you waiting for?

New Cover Art for Eden

Check out the new cover for my book Eden! I hope that you like it. It's still only $0.99! So if you haven't already, give it a try! What have you got to lose?

Still putting the final polishes on The Abnorms and adding a preview to the end for my third book, Return to Eden (Book Two in the Deva Chronicles)!

New cover art for Eden in the works!

I've heard that the present cover art for my first book, "Eden", while being cool, doesn't really reflect the contents of the story. No offense, Andy. Anyway I'm planning on changing that so be on the lookout for some dazzling new cover art coming your way at the same time as the release of "The Abnorms", which by the way, will have some awesome cover art of its own!

The Abnorms is complete!

My second book, "The Abnorms" is all done. I just have to send it off for editing and get the cover art done and it will soon be available for purchase I am hoping by August or September the latest.  I hope everyone enjoys this story.  I'll let everyone know once it is available.

It will also be available for the low low price of $0.99!

New sneak peek

I've just attached a new sneak peak of my next book called "The Abnorms" at the end of "Eden."  The Abnorms is going to be a super hero story like you've never seen.  It's a team of not-so-super super heroes, mainly heroes with useless powers.  It reads more like a comedy than anything else, but it is about how a group of super teen-agers have to find a way to make their useless power useful in a fight against those who want to imprison them simply because they are different.

I'm about 1/3 of the way done with the story, so hopefully it will be out soon.  I'll keep you updated on my progress.