“An enjoyable and believable work of alternative historical fiction,” is our Toru: Wayfarer Returns, according to Foreword Reviews’ editorial reviewer Felicia Seeburger. You can find the full review here, as well as below on this page. As you know, we are as curious as you about what genre Toru is. Market and editorial feedback is nudging… Read more »

Thank you, Dag Rambraut of Science Fiction and Fantasy World, for this thoughtful interview. We’ve posted the full interview below for those of you who don’t like clicking away!   Toru: Wayfarer Returns is an alternate history steampunk novel set in 1850s Japan on the eve of Commodore Perry and his Black Ships arrival to… Read more »

Well, a few posts ago, we were excited because we had figured out our genre. Fantasy! Not so fast. It turns out “Toru: Wayfarer Returns” is actually something called “Multicultural Fiction.” Or at least the nice folks over at the eLit Awards think so, for they have bestowed upon “Toru” the 2016 Bronze Medal in Multicultural… Read more »

Thank you, Tommy Turner at @profusionnerdiot, for the fun author interview ! We admit we love words like “this absolutely riveting novel.” Plus it was fun to explain our sewing machine issues (oft commented upon…) and why Toru and Jiro and Saigo never get to drink beer but must always content themselves with sake. So, dear readers, now… Read more »

Congratulations to Biserka Design, the awesome team behind this cover. They’ve been awarded a gold star, one of four runners up to the April winner out of 96 entries, by Joel Friedlander of The Book Designer. I would also like to give a shout out to the photographer and model who posed for the figure of… Read more »

So..kind of a fun weekend on the editorial review and awards front. First we got word that the 2016 Next Generation Indie Book Awards had awarded Toru: Wayfarer Returns a Finalist award in their Fantasy category. We’re not certain ourselves what genre Toru is,  although we had not seriously suspected Fantasy was an option. No elves, no wizards, no dragons,… Read more »

“Cool alternative-history yarn of yester-century Nippon, a promising steampunk-energized start.” — Kirkus Reviews Very exciting. I’ll pretend to being jaded and blasé about surviving the Kirkus gauntlet on some later book. For now, let’s celebrate! And read the review! Help a budding author out by sharing the review on Facebook or Twitter from the Kirkus page. Get inspired… Read more »

A good friend warned me not to make my recent Meet the Author Talk a history lesson, or a geography lesson. “They want to hear about the story, the characters.” Fair enough. And but… Tōru: Wayfarer Returns, is very much a story based in the history and culture of Japan. And the geography of Japan. Where… Read more »

With publication less than two weeks away, and the final battle raging to get all the behind the scenes distribution details worked out so you can purchase “Toru: Wayfarer Returns” anytime, anywhere and in any format, I realized I never shared with you my other cover, which will adorn the hardcover version of the book…. Read more »

Stephanie R. Sorensen is a pseudonym. If you made it all the way here to my author site, you now know the truth. Due to the magic of image matching on Google search, my secret identity will not remain secret long, so why not share a little local news!? Here’s a fun article in my hometown… Read more »