Kizuna: Fiction For Japan is a charity anthology. My short horror story Back Beyond The Hedgerow appears in this book. I published the story with my pen name Elizabeth Black.
Here are links to my Huffington Post article about Kizuna.
This book is now out of print.
BLURB
The earth shook. The waters rose. Japan cried out…
And we listened. After the devastating earthquake, people from all over the world have found ways to help, and Kizuna: Fiction For Japan is one that is new and unique.
Kizuna: Fiction for Japan is a mixed-genre anthology of short fiction, most of it 1000 words or under. It boasts internationally-known authors like Michael Moorcock, Ken Asamatsu, Jon Courtenay Grimwood, John Shirley, Shinya Gaku, Vittorio Catani, Robert M. Price, Joseph S. Pulver, Sr., and Alvin Pang; genre-authors like Bradley Sands, Jason Wuchenich, Andersen Prunty, and Garrett Cook; and independent authors like Trent Zelazny and Glynn Barrass. An astonishing 76 authors answered the call to help and approximately ninety percent of it is original work written specifically for this anthology. 100 percent of the proceeds will go to helping orphans in the disaster-devastated areas of Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima via the NPO, Smile Kids Japan.
Smile Kids Japan
Smile Kids Japan and Living Dreams (NPOs / social benefit organizations) are working together on Smiles and Dreams, a program to help the orphanages in the worst affected prefectures of Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate. From helping with immediate needs, to setting up long term programs to empower the children to dream again and help them realize their goals, Smiles and Dreams is a grassroots project that gets the money directly to those in need.
Smile Kids Japan and Living Dreams (NPOs / social benefit organizations) are working together on Smiles and Dreams, a program to help the orphanages in the worst affected prefectures of Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate. From helping with immediate needs, to setting up long term programs to empower the children to dream again and help them realize their goals, Smiles and Dreams is a grassroots project that gets the money directly to those in need.
From the editor’s introduction:
“I turned to my friends in the writing community. Would they contribute? Sure they would! Soon I had ten authors. Then twenty. Thirty… Author friends of author friends were submitting. Authors from Spain, Singapore, Japan, Italy, New Zealand, Germany, France, America, the UK, Australia and Canada all stepped forward. I was stunned. Even now, as corny as it sounds, the gratitude I feel at their selfless desire to help makes me very misty-eyed.”
“I turned to my friends in the writing community. Would they contribute? Sure they would! Soon I had ten authors. Then twenty. Thirty… Author friends of author friends were submitting. Authors from Spain, Singapore, Japan, Italy, New Zealand, Germany, France, America, the UK, Australia and Canada all stepped forward. I was stunned. Even now, as corny as it sounds, the gratitude I feel at their selfless desire to help makes me very misty-eyed.”
Please help spread the word of Kizuna, a word that means “bond” in Japanese, and create your own bond with the people of Japan.
For more information on the anthology, a list of stories, and ways to help with the disaster in Japan, visit: http://bit.ly/kizunacharity
EXCERPT FROM "BACK BEYOND THE HEDGEROW"
When she lifted her head, I saw a different cat.
Her eyes had darkened from copper-penny bronze to blood orange. With a steely set to her jaw, she raised her snow white body high on her hind legs, and gazed at the occupied cages with an authoritative air.
When she flicked her thumb, I blinked my eyes a few times to make sure I wasn't imagining what I saw. Outstretching one paw, she snapped her claws as if they were fingers. I backed away from her, fear raising the hair on the nape of my neck. Her tail flicked with agitation as she riled up her mates with her fingers snapping like a call to arms.
