Grateful Heart

Rosemary Harris: I first met today's guest blogger at the Edgars banquet a few years back. Against some very stiff competition Naomi Hirahara walked away with the Edgar for best PBO and in the process created a warm and memorable character, Mas Arai. Here's how it started.

Naomi Hirahara:  “I wouldn’t be that interested in reading about an old Japanese gardener,” declared a woman in my writing group, who happened to be Japanese American.

            At that time, I had been working on my novel off and on for several years.  The main character?  A man named Mas Arai, an aging gardener and Hiroshima survivor.

            Her comment didn’t faze me much (well, on second thought, it must have, because years later, it’s still implanted in my mind).  Her comment, at least, didn’t persuade me from abandoning my protagonist.  So year after year, I wrote in early mornings before work and during my vacations.  My husband still hasn’t forgiven me for bringing my manuscript on our honeymoon.  I had forgotten it on the outdoor conveyer belt after going through security check at the Kona airport in Hawaii.  I didn’t realize what I had done until we were on the plane.  Luckily, due to their aloha spirit, Kona airport security called me when I got home to report that they were going mail me my found work-in-progress.  (It was sent cash-on-delivery, but still, what hospitality!)

            Mas Arai officially came into the world in spring 2004.  The third Mas Arai mystery, Snakeskin Shamisen, won the Edgar Award for best paperback original in 2007.

            I do believe that a writer’s experiences and true point-of-view are woven into his or her work.  In my Mas Arai books, especially so, because Mas is modeled after my late father, whose nickname was Sam.  (Spell the name in reverse and what do you get?  It wasn’t intentional, by the way.) 

(JR note : This is Sam Hirahara in front of the house in Watsonville that inspired the fifth Mas Arai mystery, STRAWBERRY YELLOW.)

I’ve always rooted for the underdog. For years, I observed my father toiling out in the hot Southern California sun without getting much respect (especially from his teenage daughter).  As a result, I had to make him the one man who could solve certain crimes that law enforcement could not.

            Of course, although inspired by him, Mas is not my father.  Mas is much more of a curmudgeon and nonconformist.  There is a large communication gap between him and his daughter, Mari, whereas my own father and I could sit and “talk story” for hours.  (Yes, there was still a lot of silence in between the talking, but we still were communicating.)   Imagine my personal distress when my father was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2010 and finally passed away in 2012.  In addition to dealing with everything involved with this kind of loss, would I be able to complete the fifth Mas Arai mystery, which was already in the works?

            Surprisingly, the writing process turned into a healing salve.  I could continue infusing my series with the essence of my father and other men and women like him.  And, let’s face it, whether we are writing thrillers or traditional mysteries like mine, we are engaged in fantasy building.  So while mixing truth with fiction, I was concocting something that I hoped would provide some pleasure for readers both inside and outside of Mas’s world.

            The resulting book is Strawberry Yellow, released this month and set in the strawberries fields of Watsonville, California.  While the writing and publishing community continues buzzing (and I’m part of that buzz, too) about the future of our industry, I can’t help but to exhale deeply.  The mystery genre enabled me to create a sleuth who represents “the least of these.”  And for that I will be forever grateful.

ROSEMARY: If this isn't one of the loveliest guest posts we've ever had, I'll eat my garden hat. Naomi is on her way to left Coast Crime today but she will be checking in when she can - AND she's offering a signed copy of Strawberry Yellow to one lucky commenter.