Gates of Okinawa V2 - Now available!

The last two weeks have been tedious work.

Lots of correcting all the things I glossed over in my mad rush to get Gates of Okinawa out before the deadline in the previous month.

But it was worth it.

V2 of the novel is officially out!

What was added?

Ebook

• Cleaner formatting
• Chapter images added

Print book

• Adjusted cover (realized I forgot to put my name on the first one!)
• Major formatting issues fixed
• Chapter images added
• Included 5 bonus short stories in the Gates of Okinawa universe

Audiobook

• Trailer adjusted
• Now available on Spotify and other audiobook distributors worldwide

These might not seem like big upgrades, but they took a significant amount of time to implement.

I'm most proud of the chapter images.

One, because I customized them to fit certain story moments (or give hints of major events in the narrative).

If you're curious, the elements for this one are: Japanese torii gate (main symbol of the novel), sits on an arc representing the island with a palm tree for the many beaches there. I added the shadow for depth.

In the center is a series of escalating concentric circles. This is the official symbol of Okinawa Prefecture. It also stands in for an important item in the novel (you can probably guess what it is).

Finally, there's a silhouette of an F-35 Lightning II fighter jet rising into the skies. This was another common sight above during my time on-island.

There's another reason I'm proud of these little images:

because images can be notoriously frustrating to include in a manuscript.

They throw off the flow of the entire document, leading to a litany of technical issues.

If you want them to come out not looking like a 1990s jpg, you have to put in some work. For the first time, I did that. And it seems like they turned out great - we'll see when I get the final prints in a few weeks.

"Gates of Okinawa" Reception

So far, feedback has been positive.

Gabe liked the intro.

Danny mentioned he appreciated the choice to include real Japanese, while making it optional to read.

I'm very appreciative to them (or anyone else) who's reading and enjoying the story!

Hands down, I know this is the strongest work of fiction I've written up to this point.

If you haven't picked it up, and want to buy yourself - or someone else - an early Christmas gift, then what are you waiting for?

Get it, here.