Wendy Tokunaga Guest Blog & Giveaway

CONGRATS TO LUCKY WINNER – CARRIE!

The San Francisco Chronicle called her debut novel, Midori by Moonlight 1, a “terrific first novel.” Now Author Wendy Tokunaga is back with her second book, Love in Translation, which again explores the themes of Japan and Japanese culture and being a stranger in a strange land, which have played a major role in her life and writing.

I now turn the stage over to Wendy, who’s here telling us all about: 

Love and Songs in Translation

As someone whose second novel has just come out, it may surprise you that when I was young, my dream wasn’t to be a writer; I wanted to be a rock star. The only writing I did was songwriting for the bands I put together on my quest to become the next Joan Jett, Blondie or Pat Benatar. At the same time I’d become mad for Japan and Japanese culture and was studying the language. When I heard about something called karaoke, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.

The Japanese actually invented karaoke (singing popular songs to pre-recorded backing tracks). The term means “empty orchestra” and is pronounced kah-rah-okay— not karey-okie, which makes my ears hurt when I hear it pronounced that way!

By now I was a frustrated vocalist who had performed for peanuts (and less) with my unsuccessful bands. So I jumped at the chance to learn Japanese pop songs (J-pop) and perform them without the need for backup musicians. No more worrying about drunk guitarists or no-show drummers. Like the protagonist Celeste Duncan in my novel, LOVE IN TRANSLATION, I found singing in Japanese to be easier than speaking it, and it was fun to pretend to be fluent for the duration of a song.

I honed my skills at karaoke bars in San Francisco’s Japantown and even briefly worked at one as a singing bar hostess. Soon I was performing in Japanese karaoke recitals and contests, usually the lone female Caucasian in the group, and racked up a few trophies and prizes. When I ended up moving to Tokyo for a while I appeared on a wacky television show that was a karaoke contest for foreigners (gaijin). I even had my own backup dancers, way before Gwen Stefani and her Harajuku Girls.

At that time I was singing songs by the Japanese pop idols of the day, but I also enjoyed singing enka, a more traditional type of torch song. In LOVE IN TRANSLATION, Celeste has come to Japan to search for a long lost relative who may hold the key to the identity of the father she never knew. It is when she learns to sing a Japanese enka song called The Wishing Star (Nozomi no Hoshi) that everything begins to change for her.

My love of Japan and Japanese culture inspired me to write LOVE IN TRANSLATION, but so has my love of music. And because of this book, I also had the unique opportunity of making this fictional song a reality. Listen to The Wishing Star here! [http://tinyurl.com/yfsuebh](Music and Arrangement by Manabu Tokunaga, Lyrics by Hiro Akashi and Wendy Nelson Tokunaga; Vocal by Wendy Nelson Tokunaga).

Now that sure makes me wish I could go to Japan one day and maybe even sing in a kah-rah-okay bar!

GIVEAWAY

The Prize

A copy of this book will go to one lucky reader.

To Enter
I’d love to get your recommendations of books set in Japan or Asia, in general.

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BONUS – Come back each day with a new recommendation (provided that book’s not been mentioned by anyone else before you). Limit to one recommendation per day.

Deadline   Midnight CST of January 13, 2010.

Eligibility  US only.

Please read the Disclaimer. Good luck!

Note – This book was received for review/feature consideration.

1. Midori in Moonlight Synopsis – Trouble is exactly what Midori finds after following English teacher Kevin Newbury from her native Japan to San Francisco, where Prince Charming quickly becomes Prince Alarming after a nightmarish engagement party.
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