Today I'm excited to be hosting Thomas Randall on his virtual booktour. THE WAKING: DREAMS OF THE DEAD is one scary good tale. My review is up on YA Books Central. Here's a little teaser:
What started off as a dream of going to a private school in Japan quickly turns to a nightmare. Kara Foster is an American who finds that her dreams are turning into nightmares and even more scary is that other kids at her school are having them too. Plus, students are showing up dead. Another student Sakura, claims it's the ghost of her dead sister. She thinks her sister is demanding payback from those who are responsible for her death. Add a lush Japanese countryside and a Japanese urban legend. The Waking: Dreams of the Dead is sure to keep readers turning the pages. Check out more of my review at YA Books Central.
Thomas Randall also answered some questions for us.
1. As a graduate student, I often heard other students
> comparing American education to the Japanese model. I
> found it interesting that you have Kara's dad mentioning how
> bad bullying is in Japan. What sources did you find
> that show this?
TR: In researching Japanese education in articles and online, I ran across a number of references and studies that indicate bullying as a major issue in Japanese schools. Ijime, the Japanese word for bullying, is often named as the cause of suicide in students. I'm not a sociologist and don't have data to compare the incidence of bullying in Japan vs. what goes on in the U.S., but a simple google search will offer plenty of resources on the subject.
> 2. Ooh, love the whole ketsuki legend! Are there any
> other Japanese urban legends? Also are there any that
> involve demons invading dreams?
TR: I wish I could claim to be an expert, but I'm certainly not. There are tons of evil spirits, demons, and monsters in Japanese legend and folklore and in Noh plays and other Japanese story and art forms. I've read only a fraction of what's out there. One of the things I liked most about this particular legend is the combination of randomness--a cat walking over the grave of someone who died violently--and vengeance, where the demon punishes the person responsible. Japanese legends often have a combination of ordinary people and grand, almost operatic tragedy that I love. I tried to infuse that combination of elements into THE WAKING as much as possible.
>
> 3. Why did you chose to have story setting in Japan?
> Did you live there?
TR: No, but much like Kara--the main character in THE WAKING--I've always been intrigued by the country. I've never even been there, but I'm wishing for the opportunity. Maybe writing this trilogy will help make that a reality.
> What inspired this book?
TR: Possibly the coolest thing about vampires is that they can be adapted to tell almost any kind of story. There are terrifying vampires and beautiful vampires, brooding vampires and funny vampires. But most of the vampires we see in books and movies and on TV these days all spring from the same European origins. I've always been fascinated by the other variations. Japan has no vampire myth as we know it, but a number of the evil spirits and demons in their folklore are vampiric in nature, and I wanted to explore that. I also wanted to do something that would be very creepy, with a classic horror style isolation. I hope I've achieved that, and I've certainly enjoyed exploring these Japanese spins of the vampire tale.
> How did you come up with the title?
TR: DREAMS OF THE DEAD was always the subtitle of the first book. It's creepy and also accurate, which I like. The title of the trilogy went through many changes. Originally I called it CHERRY BLOSSOMS, because cherry trees are very much associated with Japan and because for some reason that makes me think of spots of blood on flowers. But the publisher grew concerned that some people might think we were engaging in some kind of inappropriate sexual innuendo and that scared them off the title. Then, for a while, we had all agreed on GAIJIN GIRL as the trilogy title, but when the designers took a very manga approach to the cover they got some negative feedback and decided to pull back and retool. The final title, THE WAKING, was the suggestion of my editor, Margaret Miller, and I'm actually really pleased with it. It's much creepier than the two earlier titles and that led to the creation of the current cover, which I think is a home run. Love
it.
> Which character gave you the toughest time to write in the book?
TR: It took me a while to figure out Hachiro. You'll see more of him in the subsequent books because I started to get to know and understand him better. I was very comfortable writing Miho and Sakura, the two Japanese girls who become fast friends with Kara, but I struggled a little with Hachiro because he seemed too American to me. But then I realized that the whole point of the character is that he is very different from the other guys in his school and that's one of the reasons Kara likes him, so I found it easier to accept him as different and not to see his more Western attitude as a problem. And, of course, the second I decided it was okay, he starts to behave less and less like an American (in the second and third books).
> Hardest scene to write?
TR: The prologue, no question. It's violent and mysterious and really tragic. I think it came out well, but it's sometimes not easy going into ugly places as a writer. You can read it for yourself as part of the excerpt at www.thomasrandall.net
> Favorite scene in the book?
TR: Another from early in the book...when Kara first meets Sakura, the rapport they develop instantly. I have a lot of favorite scenes in this one, actually, but to talk too much about them would be to give things away that I don't want to spoil. I love the cats. I love the discovery of the corpse of one of the girls in the dorm and the aftermath of that. But I'll shut up now, because I hate spoilers.
> Who would your ideal cast be if a movie was made?
TR: I've said this already, and I'm surprised no one has yelled at me yet, but I honestly think Miley Cyrus would be great as Kara. You're probably rolling your eyes, but I took my seven year old daughter to see The Hannah Montana Movie and was pleasantly surprised at how natural Miley was on camera. The TV show is very different. It's all about mugging and that over the top goofiness. But I'm very curious to see how this new movie she's making now will turn out, because I think there's more to her than Hannah Montana. I also love Amanda Seyfriend from Jennifer's Body and Mamma Mia, but I'm not sure how long she'll still be able to play sixteen year olds.
> This is suppose to be book one in a trilogy. Will the
> other books follow other Japanese urban legends?
TR: They're my variations on those legends, but yes. Kara and her friends end up with a curse on them, which carries over to the subsequent books, causing them to encounter other supernatural entities that have been weakened by the lack of modern belief in them but that still exist. In THE WAKING: SPIRITS OF THE NOH, we'll meet the Hannya, and in THE WAKING: A WINTER OF GHOSTS, we'll encounter Yuki-Onna, among other things. The three books can stand on their own, but they also tell one larger story, and I'm really pleased with the way it all came together, how much it's about these girls and their hopes and fears and their courage, and how creepy the whole thing turned out.
Find out more at
http://www.thomasrandall.net/Better yet, grab a copy and read it for yourselves! You won't be disappointed!
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