Category Archives: Books

Interested in more information about the Seven Gods of Luck?

Netsuke (carved ivory belt ties) of the Seven Gods of Luck
Netsuke (carved ivory belt ties) of the Seven Gods of Luck (© 2012, David Kudler)

Do you want to know more about the tradition of the Seven Gods of Luck? Here’s a great page rom the online A to Z Photo Dictionary of Japanese Buddhist Statuary:

    The Shichifukujin 七福神 are an eclectic group of deities from Japan, India, and China. Only one is native to Japan (Ebisu) and Japan’s indigenous Shintō tradition. Three are from the Hindu-Buddhist pantheon of India (Daikokuten, Bishamonten, & Benzaiten) and three from Chinese Taoist-Buddhist traditions (Hotei, Jurōjin, & Fukurokuju). In Japan, they travel together on their treasure ship (Takarabune) and visit human ports on New Year’s Eve to dispense happiness to believers. Each deity existed independently before Japan’s “artificial” creation of the group. The origin of the group is unclear, although most scholars point to the Muromachi Era (1392-1568) and the 15th century. Today, images of the seven appear with great frequency in Japan. By the 19th century, most major cities had developed special pilgrimage circuits for the seven. These pilgrimages remain well trodden today, but many people now use cars, buses, and trains to move between the sites.
    >>READ MORE

Click the link to read more of an excellent discussion of the history and traditions related to the Shichi Fukujin, with lots of wonderful pictures!
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Seven Gods of Luck Available Now!

The Seven Gods of Luck – Now Available!

Limited-Time Special Offer:
Print, Ebook and Audiobook for $23.95 $9.99!

Stillpoint Releases Classic Folktale

November 1, 2012 – Stillpoint Digital Press announces the release of the fifteenth anniversary edition of the picturebook retelling of the classic Japanese folktale, The Seven Gods of Luck by David Kudler with illustrations by Linda Finch. Set during O-Shogatsu, the Japanese New Year festival, The Seven Gods of Luck is a magical holiday tale of generosity rewarded.
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Thanks for helping us choose our cover!

Thanks to all of you who voted and who shared your wonderful insights regarding the cover for The Seven Gods of Luck! Here’s the final design (which has been uploaded to the printer–we’re waiting, again likely children before the holidays, for what we hope and trust are the final proofs):
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Seven Gods Cover Art – A Poll

I need your help!

So I’ve been working away to prepare The Seven Gods of Luck for simultaneous release as an ebook, a paperback, and an audiobook. Great fun! It’s almost ready…

Except for one thing — the cover.

I’ve been assuming that we’d be using a cover very similar to the one designed for the original edition:
Continue reading Seven Gods Cover Art – A Poll

Sail Away Signing a Huge Success

Author Jack Beritzhoff reads from his newly published memoir Sail Away: Journeys of a Merchant Seaman
Author Jack Beritzhoff reads from his newly published memoir Sail Away: Journeys of a Merchant Seaman

August 5, Larkspur, CA. Jack Beritzhoff (93) didn’t start writing until he was ninety. Today, a packed house at Folio 949 listened to him read from his newly-published memoir, Sail Away: Journeys of a Merchant Seaman and then lined up to have the “young. aspiring author” (as he described himself) read from his book of memories about the time that he served as a member of the US Merchant Marine from early in World War II through the Korean War. Continue reading Sail Away Signing a Huge Success

Stillpoint author Kate Moore talks Romance and the RITA® Awards

To Seduce an Angel

When Kate Moore heads south to Anaheim this weekend to attend the Romance Writers of America’s RITA® Awards, it will be for more than a chance to connect with her fans and fellow romance novelists. Her historical novel To Seduce an Angel is up for the Best Regency Historical Romance award.

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Writing the Inevitable but Unexpected

A novel never sleeps.

We’re on vacation. As my family plays, I’m working on yet another round of rewrites for a young-adult novel, trying to add a scene about half of the way through.

This has had me thinking quite a bit about the idea of justification—not as in left, right, and center, but as in setting up a scene properly so that a reader neither feels as if it came out of nowhere nor as if it was far too long in coming. Getting it just right is obviously every storyteller’s goal, and one of the more challenging aspects of storytelling. Aristotle said that the end of an effective plot must be “unexpected but inevitable.” I’d say, though, that the same can be true of any good scene, and it doesn’t take a whole lot to mess it up in one direction or the other.

The reason that I’ve had this on my mind, other than my on-going story addiction/obsession, is that the last two books I’ve emerged myself in were Victoria Roth’s Divergent and George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones.

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Last Day of the Kickstarter Drive!

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Today is the final day to help launch Stillpoint Digital Press’s first original title by contributing to the Kickstarter drive for Sail Away: Journeys of a Merchant Seaman! We’ve already achieved our minimum funding goal thanks to the support of a wonderful group of backers. This guarantees that we’ll be able to get the book completed as envisioned and on schedule. Any additional pledges will ensure that this nautical memoir will reach the audience that it deserves.

If you’ve already pledged, your support is gratefully appreciated! If you’ve been waiting, pledge now and reserve one of the very first copies of the print and/or ebook edition. The link is: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/334886999/sail-away-first-title-in-stillpoint-memory-memoir

Let the Wild Rumpus Start

Maurice Sendak, Author of Where the Wild Things Are, Dies at 83


Image © copyright 1963, Maurice Sendak

If you were to ask me what piece of literature has had the most profound impact on me, I wouldn’t have to think at all. It was Maurice Sendak’s picture-book masterpiece, Where the Wild Things Are.

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Stillpoint Digital Press:

So, remember the news I’ve been hinting at?

Here it is:

The Human Face of Digital Publishing

The ebook explosion has promised a new relationship between authors and their readers—one that is more immediate and personal. And yet writers looking to take advantage of this new medium find themselves in a familiar bind: either seek to publish through a traditional publisher and receive pennies on the dollar, self-publish, or use a service that is happy to publish your book for you (for either a fee or a percentage of sales)–but without providing any editorial services.

Stillpoint Digital Press is an ebook publisher that provides a human touch. We are an experienced publisher of electronic and print books, ready to help you convert your manuscript or your print volume (whether in- or out-of-print) into a vibrant, exciting digital book. We will help you edit, create a cover, design, and sell your book.

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