Front Cover: The worst luck

If you’ve seen the cover, you already know the first metaphorical reference in a A Bad Hand. I’m sure many literary agents or publishers representing book club fiction or YA fiction authors have already noted that the cover doesn’t look like other popular titles today. I knew at the start of this project that story would be different from anything on the market today—an under-served audience, no wizards or magic, no science fiction. I also knew it wouldn’t be an easy sell for any literary agent that wanted to take a risk. Suffice it to say, the cover was as intentional as the content of the book.

The three cards on the cover of the novel are gambling cards from Edo Japan. Those three cards are make up the unluckiest hand one can have a game of chance called Oicho-kabu (おいちょかぶ). The cards are a 8 (ya), 9 (kyu), and 3 (za). In Oichu-kabu this unlucky combination scores zero points—quite literally a bad hand.

The cards above are taken from a traditional kabufuda deck. More common today are the cards that look less abstract like the hanafuda deck (also known as “flower cards”) shown below:

Those who enjoy Mario Cart or Super Smash Bros. might be interested to know that the Nintendo company got its start printing cards like this many years before Donkey Kong or the Nintendo Entertainment System.

UCL Tear: A Common Baseball Injury

When my son was twelve, he developed Little League Elbow—a condition that affects about 25% of all youth baseball players. The condition results from repeated strain on the Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) that stabilizes the elbow during normal throwing motion. Thankfully, he was back on the dirt after a few weeks of rest. I recall seeing other kids his age at tournaments who wore braces on their elbows signaling that they had undergone Tommy John surgery to reconstruct their UCL using tissue donated from their leg. It’s quite common for professional and college pitchers to have this procedure done during their career.

A Yakuza Tradition

Some members of the Yakuza voluntarily dismember their little finger as a gesture of atonement to their brethren in the Japanese underworld in a ritual called Yubitsume. It’s said that this practice is rooted in the tradition of the samurai and weakens one’s grip on the sword. It was interesting to discover a cottage industry of prosthetic fingers has emerged to help reformed Yakuza members rehabilitate back into society.

More Than a Title

A Bad Hand is an over-arching theme throughout the book that touches on more than just the metaphors above. You’ll read about characters who have been dealt a bad hand in life. Some show resilience. Others succumb to the challenges that life throws at them. I hope A Bad Hand is an inspiration to keep grinding forward regardless of the challenging circumstances life might be throwing at you.

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Baseball Fiction

Physically disabled but highly intelligent bat boy solves a mystery tied to a minor league baseball team. There seems to be a preponderance of modern fiction that young women love. I also see a lot of fantasy and science fiction in the marketplace. Nonetheless, I don’t see young men reading new fiction these days. I want to write something inspiring to a younger male audience, one that touches on some of the difficulties and insecurities young men face in adolescence. Aspects to include in the story:

• An awkward meeting in a colonoscopy waiting room (after all, who wants to see someone in this setting)
• A Player who is fickle about his walk up songs and changes them every week, only to have mix-ups
• A bunt that puts the team into the playoffs
• Pitcher who really wants a pitch named after him.

As I read the list to the other members of my family, they unanimously selected the same topic. I succeeded in writing about much of the above (although, success is still dependent on what you think of the story) as my debut novel. Some items are barely touched upon in the book. Other items feature rather prominently. In my house, we watch a lot of baseball, so that might’ve had something to do with their choices. In fact, my daughter even selected the above topic. She has probably watched (endured?) more baseball than many of the men her age (now 24 years old). She showed an generous amount of support for her younger brother throughout his Little League summers.

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