Kizuna: Fiction for Japan

Why I launched the Kizuna project.

From the Introduction:

It was March 11, 2011. I was in a meeting with a client when the earthquake struck. It was jarringly long. My client and I entertained the idea of leaving the building, but nixed the idea pretty quickly. The building didn’t come down on top of us, so we figured everything was okay. Much later, we would understand just how lucky we were we were not on the other side of the island.

Earthquakes in Japan are ‘no big deal.’ As you will learn from Mr. Gaku, one of the Japanese authors in this anthology, everyone expects earthquakes in Japan; what they don’t expect is for the earthquake to be so devastating that it claims nearly 20,000 lives when a follow-up tsunami strikes. But this is the reality of the Japan we live in today. It is a lesson I hope none of us soon forgets.

In the days and weeks that followed, overwhelming scenes of complete carnage streamed through the television and into my life, and indeed the lives of the millions (perhaps billions) who watched. I turned to social networking sites to offset the mounting horror and stress of witnessing so much pointless death and destruction. Familiar faces, and new ones too, offered comfort. It helped. And it didn’t. It was hard to watch it all happen, and not be able to do something.

But what? I have a family. (At the time, a pregnant wife and two young sons. At the time of writing, I am blessed with a healthy newborn daughter.) Getting up to go and help was not an option. Yet, I was compelled to do something, even after our family had given to charity numerous times.

Musicians and artists began donating proceeds from their current shows to organizations like Red Cross. Could I write something? Seemed like a good idea. The problem was, would sales of my ebooks increase enough to make it worthwhile just because I was offering to give the money to charity? I thought not. I’m not a well-known author. 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.

Over seventy authors in total have contributed to this anthology. Approximately ninety percent of it is original work written specifically for this anthology. And while you might see it somewhere after, it was here first.

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. One hundred 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.

Please help spread the word of Kizuna, a word that means “bond” in Japanese, and create your own bond with the people of Japan.

Thank you,
Brent Millis, editor/publisher
Niigata Prefecture, Japan
July 20, 2011

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Kizuna: Fiction for Japan — Table of Contents. Everything from bizarro (weird fiction) to the Japanese “I”-novel, horror, science fiction, humor, fantasy and more.

To get your copy:

http://bit.ly/kizunaprint < a link to the direct sales site (CreateSpace, an Amazon company) for the PRINT VERSION - we appreciate sales from this site most of all as the orphans receive more of the royalties.

http://amzn.to/kizunaebook < a link to the ebook/print version on US Amazon

http://amzn.to/kizunaebookuk < a link to the ebook on UK Amazon

Or if you need more information:

http://bit.ly/r5sduv < a link to the press release

Or if you would like to share this site with someone:

http://bit.ly/kizunacharity < a link back to this site

Copy and use these and all information on this site, freely. Also, remember, you can also get banners and icons, and the press release (also updated) information.