Tedorigawa Bookmakers

Ep. 344: Will She Like It?

Bookbinding I made the spine different from the front and back covers. Before last week, it had been about five years or more since I did a quarter binding. For some reason, it was quite stressful.   The front cover also has the title. Adjusting the printer, book cloth, and position was an added stress, so the entire book seemed to be a stress-festival. But I accomplished it and felt good about that (finishing it, not the stress). Fiction In fiction, The Madrid Mariposa Murder Mystery continues to be available for your (short) reading pleasure. It comes in at about 60 pages and is full of suspense, conspiracy, and redemption (plus, spoiler alert: some domestic, physical, and fatal violence). Having finished and published The Madrid Mariposa Murder Mystery [https://books2read.com/u/mgX0B0], (available here [https://books2read.com/u/mgX0B0]), I’ve been writing on Dmitry the Scavenger. Avoiding, bribing, and using his charm, he dealt with soldiers on both sides of the war and has arrived in Odessa. He must now seek his ‘friend’ who will arrange a ship to take him to Sicily. He wants to go to a town on the southeast coast of Sicily called Noto [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noto], famous for its baroque architecture and wine. Dmitry wants to work in the wine industry, perhaps starting his own brand (?) Talkies / Flicks This week we have the partial making of the book I mentioned in the Bookbinding section of this blog. It is only partial because, as in last week’s video, I was more nervous and stressed out about making sure the book was cased in properly than filming it.  There’s a full narration about what I’m doing and sometimes why I’m doing it for your listening pleasure. I try to explain the stress of getting the title on the cover. I used about six pages of computer paper adjusting and testing fonts. Fortunately, the printer didn’t eat the book cloth when it printed it out.  Books The newest of my novels available for purchase at Apple, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo is The Madrid Mariposa Murder Mystery. Domestic violence is met with violence, a conspiracy, and escape.  Joe and Carmen Marsh set out to defend one of Carmen’s brother’s employees who is accused of murder. Her defense? Her husband was a domestic abuser, hitting her often, and drinking too much. What Joe and Carmen discover shakes everyone’s lives.   Apple [https://books.apple.com/jp/book/the-madrid-mariposa-murder-mystery/id6775096468?l=en-US] Barnes & Noble [https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-madrid-mariposa-murder-mystery-george-stenson/1150294718?ean=2940196590467] Kobo [https://www.kobo.com/jp/ja/ebook/the-madrid-mariposa-murder-mystery?sId=ec673b46-d30e-4658-9941-a25765436c75&ssId=T-RJ8qiVdO7cwfv-faSUH]

Ep. 343: What is 'Frérot'?

Bookbinding Kanazawa has two rivers. The Saigawa and the Asano-gawa (gawa meaning river). Next to the Saigawa near the Sakura Bridge is a restaurant serving good French-fusion food and wine, whiskey, and beer. It is called Frérot. I fashioned a book for Frérot called Frérot. It is about 120 pages, 7 signatures, and case bound. The right page is lined (faintly) while the left side on alternating pages has small photos of the food found at Frérot.  It was the first time in a very long time that I made a book with the spine different from the front and back covers (which are the same). It took me awhile to balance everything out.  Fiction I’ve been working on The Madrid Marital Murder Mystery because I’ve a self-imposed deadline: sometime in June. I want to finish it, fashion it into a B6-size book, and give it to a beta reader sometime in June. I finished it! And it’s no longer B6 but A6 because at A6 it’s 90 pages and 5 signatures of 5 folios each. At B6 it was 60 pages of 3 signatures; and I didn’t do well in making the B6 version, so I made the A6 version and will deliver it to a customer next week! Let’s hear it for the panic of deadlines. A man is killed. (In the book, not in my life. So far. Fingers crossed.) He’s known to be physically abusive to his wife. The wife is arrested and her lawyer proposes a domestic violence defense. However, Joe and Carmen Marsh discover the wife has also beaten her husband. They also find out something odd in the coroner’s autopsy report. Who was killed? Who killed him? Joe and Carmen want to find out because her brother’s revolver was used in the murder. He’s in legal trouble; a problem that could destroy his business. Talkies / Flicks This week I have a silent – as in me not speaking; there is music – video of the creation of a B6-size, 120ish page, notebook with lines on the right page, photos of food on the left page, and covered in book cloth (not a collage). Yes, it’s the book I made in the Bookbinding section of this podcast. It can be seen here: What is Frérot [https://youtu.be/XoP3v3I3Oro]?  First, I must apologize. I didn’t film the entire construction. I was more worried about casing in the textblock correctly than making sure I filmed it. So, the winner was a proper casing in rather than a viral video. You can still enjoy the music, though. Books Still pushing The Lonely Izakaya Down a Quiet Street. Please check out one of these fine distributors of digital books to learn how Rie and Nagi spent a night together without being sexually or physically abusive.  Apple   [https://books.apple.com/us/book/id6762007154] Barnes & Noble   [https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/x/x?ean=2940183148237] Kobo [https://www.kobo.com/search?query=9798233530197]

Ep. 342 Solaris Libri?

Bookbinding In bookbinding this week we have, for your visual pleasure, a book One Year in the making. Solaris Libri. This is, I’m assuming, Latin for Solar Book. (If Google translate is accurate with dead languages.) It is an A6 blank notebook of five signatures of five folios each for a total of 100 pages. The only printing in the entire book is the title pages: Solaris Libri and under that Exposed April 1, 2025; Re-covered April 30, 2026. It has a built-in bookmark that is a silvery yellow as is the cover, of course, to reflect its connection to the sun. I made it and then taped book board bits to the front and back covers. Then I taped it to my studio window for a year allowing the sun to do its job of fading the uncovered book cloth while keeping the book cloth under the book board bits their original color. After a year of staring at the sun, I was surprised how little it changed. The band of original book cloth yellow on the back didn’t look too bad. It changed, but not by that much. Fiction I’ve been working on two novels. One is quick and short. One is longer and more involved. The first one is The Madrid Marital Murder Mystery. It’s a detective story of a married couple investigating murders in Spain. So far. They might move soon. He’s an American, she’s Spanish. The second one is Dmitry the Scavenger about a man who finds things when no one is looking and sells them to whoever wants them. His dream is to move to Sicily where it’s warmer and more  relaxing than Moscow.  If you listen to the Tedorigawa Podcast you can hear the first chapter of The Madrid Marital Murder Mystery. And, yes, I’m still experimenting with cover designs for both books. Talkies / Flicks / Videos We have no new flicks to push today, but a brand new one is in the editing stage but it’s just not ready yet. You can, of course, check out dozens or more of my other videos at Tedorigawa Bookmakers [https://www.youtube.com/@TedorigawaBookmakers].   Books Rie, the 36-year-old electrical engineer, and Nagi, the about 80-yer-old retired high school kokugo teacher, randomly met in January and develop their friendship over the course of a year.  Other people involved are Harumi, Rie’s free-spirited co-worker who wants to marry someone and can materialize wherever she wants anytime she wants. Tadao is also Nagi’s former student and dated Rie. He’s a manga artist who owns a bar where he does his drawing and writing. His mother, Junko, owns the bar where Rie and Nagi often meet. His manga is about the strangers he meets at his bar. Available at: Apple   [https://books.apple.com/us/book/id6762007154] Barnes & Noble   [https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/x/x?ean=2940183148237] Kobo [https://www.kobo.com/search?query=9798233530197] (and other sites.)

Ep. 341 Sumerian Beatbox Tunes

Bookbinding In bookbinding this week we have, for your visual pleasure, the second barf bag book of the month titled: Sumerian Beat Box Tunes (for those who are without sin). It is seven signatures of four folios each for a total of 112 pages. The right page is lined, the left page is blank. It is B6 in size and link stitched and cased in. However, unlike most cased in books, this one does not have mull or the paper spine piece. This looks like a regular codex book but opens much nicer and flatter.  The cover includes instructions about how to use internet on the plane, my boarding pass with flight number and seat number. Plus, a small photo of the hotel I stayed at. The back has just the vomit bag.  Please note that the interior of the upchuck bag is waterproof so adhering glue to it was not difficult but not as easy as gluing paper. The book also has black endpapers with a pattern that mirrors the pattern of the Waterproof Disposable Bag which for some reason has an International and a Domestic side the only difference being the wifi connection. I suppose if you need to use it as a ‘motion sickness’ bag it doesn’t matter where you’re from. Fiction In fiction we have two works in progress. Well, actually more but two this week. (The perennial Caraculiambro is still on hold but not forgotten.) First, we have Dmitry the Scavenger rolling along quite nicely. He has crossed the Russian and Ukranian borders and veering towards Odessa on his journey to Sicily, or so he thinks. Naturally, I’m looking for a better cover. Second, we have The Madrid Marital Murder Mystery, a Marsh Mystery (the third). Carmen and Joe have questions about Rebeso’s neighbor and why Rebeso ran to Símon’s house. Plus, they’ve both been attacked, Carmen seriously. Will she survive? Talkies / Flicks TDGB 85 Sumerian Beatbox Tunes [https://youtu.be/k3O451QgJBk] is up on YouTube for your listening and viewing pleasure. It covers the creation of the book mentioned in the Bookbinding section of this blog.  With commentary about why I did what I did. And possibly why that was not the best idea. Books The Lonely Izakaya Down a Quiet Street. Rin and Nagi cross paths almost 20 years after Rin graduated from the high school where Nagi tried to teach haiku, tanka, renga, Japanese, and waka.  She’s pushing her company to acknowledge females need more restrooms than males; he’s trying to survive his retirement. As they meet and talk they discover a connection they never thought they would ever have. A beta reader commented that they cried at the end because of the depth of Rin and Nagi’s relationship. Available on: Apple [https://books.apple.com/us/book/id6762007154] Barnes & Noble [https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/x/x?ean=2940183148237] Kobo [https://www.kobo.com/search?query=9798233530197]

Ep. 340: Scavenge & Morph (aka Recycle?)

Bookbinding We are often urged to recycle and reuse. I did just that recently on a quick trip to Hanoi that netted me some Vietnamese paper and three barf bags from the flight over. And back.  Here’s a small tip. Red-eye flights are good when you land in the evening, not so good when you land in the morning. I made one A6, 100-page, blank notebook with one barf bag with the creative title Bee Creative Now and the subtitle of notebook for inspiration. The front page as a small bee. The title page has a large Japanese kanji for bee: 蜂. It was coptic bound for ease of opening and using the entire page. And for me to practice making coptic-bound books; always a plus. The back cover has my boarding pass without my name over the barf bag. The front cover reuses only the barf bag (not used, fortunately).  Fiction Dmitry the Scavenger has stumbled into both a logistics problem and a name change. The novel starts in Chernobyl which I knew as in Ukraine and Dmitry drives his modified rusty camouflaged military truck full of contraband from Chernobyl to Moscow. Problem: crossing borders (Russia and Ukraine) in the middle of a war between those two countries in a MILITARY TRUCK! A Russian Military Truck! I need to find him another way out of Chernobyl or another abandoned village to ransack. I also abandoned the Japanese word for scavenger as it was too obscure for even people who can read Japanese. You may reuse it as you wish. Also in the works: A Marsh Mystery #3 The Madrid Marital Murder Case. Joe and Carmen investigate the murder of an abusive husband whose wife works for Carmen’s brother, Símon, a wealthy owner of a popular Madrid restaurant. Movies/Talkies/Videos TDGB 84 Scavenge & Morph [https://youtu.be/Ci_PsIjM-VY] is available for your visual pleasure. It is the making of the A6 blank notebook discussed in the Bookbinding section of this podcast episode. At 6:20 (minutes, not hours) it is not taxing or tiring; it’s Enjoyable! Books The Lonely Izakaya Down a Quiet Street [https://books.apple.com/jp/book/the-lonely-izakaya-down-a-quiet-street/id6762007154?l=en-US] is eager for your attention, being as it is lonely and on a quiet website (Apple Books is quiet?) A beta reader came back with the following comments: “Wonderful. Great.” and “I cried at the end.” Find out what Rin Okabe (former high school student, current electrical engineer) and Nagi Shimeki (retired high school teacher) are doing.  Available almost everywhere (Apple Books, Kobo) except Amazon.