Shaken and Stirred means Bond

Ian Fleming has nothing to do with this.  Nor does Greece.  It’s all about Timothy Hallinan.  I’m talking about OUR (very busy) Tim and his extraordinary achievement at uniting more than twenty “prominent international authors” to contribute “killer” stories to SHAKEN: Stories for Japan in a charitable project sending 100% of all royalties to benefit the victims of Japan’s Great Tohoku earthquake and its devastating, continuing aftermath.

The quoted words are Tim’s, for as one of the contributing authors (along with Cara Black and Tim) I do not want to sound boastful.  Then again, why not?  Just take a look at the company we’re in:  Brett Battles, Vicki Doudera, Dianne Emley, Dale Furutani, Stefan Hammond, Rosemary Harris, Gar Anthony Haywood, Naomi Hirahara, Wendy Hornsby, Ken Kuhlken, Debbi Mack, Adrian McKinty, I.J. Parker, Gary Phillips, Hank Phillippi Ryan, Kelli Stanley, C.J. West, and Jeri Westerson.  It’s a veritable Who’s Who of major mystery award winners and nominees. 

Shaken: Stories for Japan came out Thursday on Amazon’s Kindle platform. Here is the link.  Why Kindle?  Two very practical reasons: one, all royalties pass directly into the 2011 Japan Relief Fund administered by the one hundred year-old Japan America Society of Southern California, and two, a book conceived of less than 90 days ago is now a collector-grade anthology on sale for only $3.99!

Tim’s initial proposal to us was simple: “I just wanted to ask whether any of you would be interested in contributing a short story to an e-book anthology I’m pulling together to benefit survivors of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.”

My first thought—beyond admiration for Tim’s selfless act—was how could I contribute?  I’m not in the habit of writing short stories and my closest tie to Japan is the occasional rescue of lost Japanese tourists wandering aimlessly through the labyrinth of old town Mykonos.  But, I decided to take a shot at it for one simple reason: it seemed the right thing to do.

And from the back and forth run of emails among our colleagues on the project, I think it’s safe to say they felt the same way.  Yes, Tim stirred us to action.

But he also gave us something quite valuable in the process.  In a recent email Tim wrote, “I've been working with the text of your stories 15 hours a day for about 6 days now, and all I can say is that I still love every one of them -- in fact, my admiration for them has grown as I got to know them better and better.  You can all be extremely proud of your contribution to the book.”

We certainly are, and even more so of you, Tim, for bringing all of us together in true camaraderie around a noble purpose.

As for the stories themselves, I leave it to Tim to say what he wants on that subject tomorrow.  All I can say is that $3.99 for what’s in this book is a steal.

At the risk of changing your mind about that, let me share a bit of my contribution to SHAKEN: Stories For Japan.  Here is the opening of “The Missing.”

 

He stood watching the young girl run along the beach.  It was cooler than he would like and the waves were rough.  But she insisted.  She had never played in the sea before and he promised her that she could when they reached the end of their journey.  It took three difficult weeks to make it back to his village, but now they were here and she did not let him forget his promise.  Eleven-year-old daughters could be that way.

Nothing was as he remembered.  Then again, he hadn’t been back in more than twenty years.  Not since 1940.  He smiled as she darted in and out of the waves, challenging them to catch her.  He, too, had not played on a beach in a very long time.

It was getting dark.  They should go back to his cousin’s home.  It would be rude not to be there in time for dinner on this, their first day back in Japan.  He called for her to come but the roar of the sea drowned out his voice.  He would have to walk to her.

As he moved toward his daughter he took no serious notice of the two men sitting by the edge of the shore staring out to sea.  It was only the four of them on the beach.  No one in his right mind went bathing on such a wintry day.  One man got up and walked away from the sea in the direction of the father.  The second man stood and walked toward the water.  The father nodded to the man as he passed him by and the man nodded back—before turning and knocking the father unconscious.  He never saw the second man do the same to his daughter.

Remember, Shaken: Stories for Japan is available on Kindle for $3.99 with all royalties going to benefit those in dire need.

Jeff—Saturday