May 2015 – Page 2 – Sanae Ishida

May 15, 2015

Happy Friday + Randomness

Happy Friday! I’m rapidly approaching the finish line for book #2 on the heels of launching book #1, and I have to confess, I haven’t been exhausted like this in a very, very long time. Luckily, I’m surrounded by energizing forces like the gorgeous blooms above, and I get emails with “poems for book?” in the subject line from my sweet girl:

Mama,

Choose between these.

sewing, the loud rumble rumble it makes that is very distracting

but it’s worth it cause soon,

sitting in your closet or on your bed is a brand knew outfit

or pillow in the shape of a heart or a moon

writing a book is a challenging thing

you don’t now what kind of feelings it will bring

and it might not make any cha ching

but…

it’s a very very happy

and you might start feeling snappy

or even slaphappy or sappy

i hope you put one of these in your book!!!!

p.s. if you don’t like ether one i have more way more!!!!

*******

Yes, email. M set K up with her own email account recently and she uses one of my old laptops to send me short digital missives from her room upstairs while I work in the living room. Heart emoji.

*******

As always, when I push myself a touch too hard, my health starts to get wonky, so I’m going to take Monday off to catch my breath and find my footing. I’ll be back on Wednesday with a giveaway – it’s a good one! Have a lovely weekend, friends!

I like poem 2,

but poem 1 is great too

which one do you like?

May 13, 2015

Little Kunoichi Launch Party Recap

Whoo-boy! I’m still recovering from the excitement of Mother’s Day/Launch party festivities but thought it might be fun to show you some photos from the event (well, that first photo up there was styled in my house post-event because in the flurry of all that was going on, most of my pix were blurry).

Look at all those copies of Little K! We had almost 100 people at the party (though not all at once), and the credit for the success of the launch really goes to my editor and dear friend, Tegan. We had a blast scheming all the details, and she’s a party-planning genius.

We had some fun decor with ninja-themed chopsticks and napkins; origami activities kept quite a few kids busy (Sasquatch Books, my publisher, printed up Little Kunoichi origami paper with the end paper designs! Love!). I made that origami ninja star, and I’m quite proud, even if it is a little smooshed and uneven.

We had lots of goodies, of course. Tegan ordered that amazing sushi spread that was gone in a lickety-split. I provided the Japanese sweet treats and the brownies, along with the little hand-painted toppers.

I received so many lovely flowers and gifts…these beauties were from the fabulous Sasquatch publicist, Haley. I feel like I don’t mention the publisher and staff enough. I am so lucky to have stumbled upon this cozy and welcoming group. They have literally changed my life.

The event included a short reading, and K was a rock star because she helped me by holding up the book while I read and by providing insightful answers during the ensuing Q & A. I signed many, many books and my handwriting became increasingly illegible, but I did my best to include a short message on each copy.

But this! This pink dragon piñata stole the show and was the main attraction. Tegan ordered it online, but alas, it was decidedly not pink so she painstakingly glued crepe paper to transform the entire thing. I love this woman, she is a much-treasured combo of kindness + super smarts + a killer sense of humor.

Here I am, pretending to be licked by la dragon. And last, but not least, Haley sent me this video that she took of K, and it’s all kinds of awesome (note the ninja costume that she’s wearing and that’s Tegan in the purple top):

K-in-action

She’s using a bamboo sword called shinai that martial artists traditionally practice sword-fighting with. We also had cute little plastic samurai swords that kids took home with them. Somehow everyone was unscathed despite the multitudes of weaponry we had up on offer.

I’m still overwhelmed and realize that I’m just listing off things here, quite matter-of-fact. But my brain was exploding from the surreal effect of the whole event with so many family and friends, old and new, and I am filled, as always, with gratitude. Thank you for letting me share this once-in-a-lifetime moment with you.

P.S. I will send out emails for the giveaway winners from last week by the end of this week!

P.P.S. I’m unofficially participating in Me-Made-May — that’s a dress I made that I’ve never posted about.

May 11, 2015

Joie de Vivre

Just a quick “Joie de Vivre” image today. It felt like I was continually on the go this past weekend and haven’t had much time to process Mother’s Day or the launch party or the author signing event I did at K’s school on Friday. I am wiped out, but joyful.

I’ll be back with updates on Wednesday. I hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

May 8, 2015

Happy Friday + Randomness

She asked, “Why do you love me?”

I said, “Because I do.”

She asked, “But why? How can you love me?”

I said, “I just do. I love you because you’re you.”

It took a long time for me to shape those words to answer those questions. My daughter and I…it has been a season of stilted talks between us, weeks of bickerings and posturings and righteous lectures and easily trampled emotions. Not always, of course, but enough times to make me question my ability to parent. I tend to assume she knows intrinsically that I love her unequivocally and unconditionally, and I forget to say the words out loud and focus too much on being right. My little girl is not so little anymore and I watch as a fledgling woman-to-be unfurls her slender neck, gazing uncertainly from her precarious vantage point, fighting to become who she intuits she ought to be.

I worry that she will think my love is subject to performance because the phrases that spill out of my mouth command action and tangible results: put-away-your-shoes-don’t-eat-with-your-mouth-open-have-you-done-your-homework-and-fed-your-frogs-hurry-hurry-hurry. When she was a baby, it was so easy to wrap her up in my unfettered affections, kissing her toes and fingers and cooing at her because she simply existed. It is a fact: I don’t know what I’m doing with this enormous responsibility I’ve been given to raise a human being and I’m swashbuckling haphazardly…

Being a mother is about having my deepest fears and my severest shortcomings reflected back at me.

It is about heartbreak and helplessness.

It is about trying to find the balance between letting go and holding tight, between trusting and guiding.

It is about hoping the biggest hope that the world will be kind and gentle to my baby, my raw and still unformed child.

Being a mother is about surrendering so fully to joy, my heart composes operatic arias of forgiveness

It is about finding courage and facing truths in my weakest moments of doubts

It is about offering up wisdom I didn’t know I possessed, alerted by unbidden instincts

It is about a love so voluminous and vast and boundless, I might soar out of my skin, crack wide open, only to be enveloped whole again.

I didn’t know any of this until I became a mother.

In gratitude to all mothers, would-be-mothers, surrogate mothers, and everyone in a mothering role.

Happy Mother’s Day.

**********************************************

On a vaguely similar note but not really, I was interviewed by Nick of Picturebooking and you can listen to the podcast here. I must admit that I’ve been too scared to listen to it since I’m sure I said things that will be misconstrued or ridiculed, but it’s always good to do things outside of our comfort zone, right? That’s what I’ve been telling myself at least. I talk about my mom and K, and Little Kunoichi, who I consider my second baby, so it seemed appropriate for a mother’s day post.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

May 5, 2015

Little Kunoichi: LAUNCHED!! + Giveaway [CLOSED]

Taiko drum roll please…..

Little Kunoichi is large and in charge! Today is THE day, and I am doing imaginary backflips and round-offs of excitement!! The build-up has been so long, I thought I would be all blasé and casual and “Oh, is it the launch date today?”, but no no no. It’s a big deal. A huge deal. I am planning on visiting as many bookstores as I can today to surreptitiously snap photos of my book on shelves because this will never, ever, ever happen again: my first published book! (though I hope I will get to work on many, many more books)

I’m jumping up and down and full of nervous energy so I’m keeping this short. I thought I would show you my favorite parts of the book today:

You’ve seen the island map before, but I just love it to pieces.

And then there’s the secret ninja girls’ school, of which Little Kunoichi is a pupil.

And then….my pride and joy, the island festival page. I’ve hidden Little K and her new friend Chibi Samurai and the page is chock-full of Japanese references that are too numerous to list here, but if it’s of interest, I’d be happy to go into it another time.

Oh…this is so unreal. I am counting my blessings and trying to bottle this surreal feeling of a dream come true. Infinite thanks to my amazing editor Tegan and to the whole crew at Sasquatch Books that made this such a lovely expedition. And thank you, for the cheering on, the don’t-give-ups and for welcoming Little Kunoichi into your homes.

I have the impression that many of you have already gotten a copy of the book, but if anyone out there would like to win a copy, I’ve got some to offer up. Or, if you’ve already got Little K in your hands (or a copy is on its way), I would also love to give away prints of my favorite pages that you see above. The island print is 8″ x 8″, and the ninja school and island prints are about 6″ x 11″, all printed on high quality, archival paper. I’ll select five winners and you have the choice of the book or one of the prints.

M made a comment that made me laugh so hard, I have to share: he said that if I made $100,000 with the book, he would immediately go out and get a Little Kunoichi tattoo. This, I have to see. Neither of us has a tattoo so this is a significant thing — we shook on it! So please tell everyone about my book! It might take several decades to get to that amount, but he’ll be a rockin’ senior citizen with a cute ninja tattoo. To enter the giveaway, any comment will do, but maybe you have a suggestion for where the tattoo should go? I’m still trying to decide…

I’ll keep the give away open until this Friday, May 8th. Good luck!

P.S. I’m skipping tomorrow as I prepare for the launch party on Sunday and wrap up some work for book #2. Would love to meet you if you’re local! And see you back here on Friday!

P.P.S. Just in case I confused people, which I am known to do, I’m considering today Little Kunoichi’s official day of birth…hence, she’s saying “it’s my birthday” up there.