NEW Book: Yin-Yang Code (The Shadow of Tenkai-Bo) by Warren Chaney & Sho Kosugi
Yin Yang Code 2: The Shadow of Tenkai-Bo
By Warren Chaney & Sho Kosugi
#TBHOSTours & Starving Artist are proud to announce our latest book tour, with client(s) who are returning with Yin-Yang Code II: The Shadow of Tenkai Bo. Get the sequel today on amazon.com. This is an amazing foreign fantasy fictional novel with renowned martial artist Sho Kosugi as a co-author!
We've discussed your inspiration for writing about the subject before, but can you tell us about the sequel; Yin-Yang Code: Shadow of Tenkai-Bo (Book 2)?
As we wrote the first book, the novel’s antagonist, Tenkai-Bo became extremely interesting and popular with many readers of the original who were providing us important feedback. They wanted more of the “villain” and some closure to the love-relationship developing between two of the books lead characters. The readers convinced us that a second book should be written but there was also another reason. In the first book, Yin-Yang Code: Drums of Tenkai-Bo, the location settings were in lands foreign to many of our English and Spanish readers. There had also been a matter of the historical context of the novel that began in the early 800s BC, continuing through until the present day. Having established this in the first book, my co-writer, Sho Kosugi and I, wanted to devote more time and space to the evolving adventure which was careening out of control at the end of the first book.
Penning a sequel is often tricky, most fans of the original work want things to go a certain way, and when they don't they tend to get upset. Did you have any reservations about penning a second part to the book?
Sequels often fail, so Sho and I had great trepidation about writing one. Both of us come out of the motion picture industry and so we were aware of the pitfalls. The biggest being that sequels are often a retelling of the original work. We were very determined that this would not happen in our sequel and it didn’t.
I wanted the question raised in book one to be a propellant for book two and I think we have succeeded if our early reviews are accurate. Designing a good protagonist is also tricky sometimes. How did you go about shaping your lead character, and what steps did you take to paint his portrait?
A very good question…The short answer is that I first began with the Yin-Yang Code’s primary antagonist. I’ve always believed that a good hero is shaped by an even greater anti-hero. Jim Hawkins had Long John Silver, David Copperfield had Mr. Murdstone, and Sherlock Holmes had his Professor Moriarty There are numerous instances in literature and film, where the villain becomes as popular as the work itself. William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist, is a case in point. The antagonist was Satan, and Blatty held the books readers and subsequent film-goers in continuing suspense throughout, not to mention dread. Of course, most are familiar with the success of Darth Vader in the multiple Star Wars’ adventures. My personal preference has always been to develop a complicated antagonist first, one who has an even more complex end-goal and then to throw the hero and/or heroine into the midst of the turmoil created by the heavy.
Your books are co-authored by actor Sho Kosugi, correct? Can you tell us a little about how you two teamed up?
Sho was one of the lead actors in an early film of mine, Aloha Summer. We struck up a friendship and have remained close ever since. Over the years we looked for a project that we could work together on but were never able to cement the right one.
The idea for a book based around a young UCLA student and his friends engaging in an adventure on one of Japan’s famous islands, was Sho’s. He flew to Texas, we talked about it, and that was it. I began writing on the novel shortly thereafter.
Kosugi is a renowned martial artist! We'd like to know a little about the art of martial arts?
You are right about Sho. He is extremely well known in the field of martial arts. I used to tease him about making movies by the shelf-foot. Many don’t realize that he is the one who created the image of the Ninja. As for the art of martial arts, this part of the question would be best answered by the “Master” himself.
I didn’t want the book to be about martial arts, per se, but to only use martial arts as a background. To be sure we have some wonderful fight scenes (wonderfully laid out by Sho-Kosugi), but they weren’t the sum of either book.
Will there be a third book?
Well – Sho and I spent more than two years writing the first two and so we’re a little tired. Then of course, we have other commitments. I’m under contract for two new books and have a directing obligation for a film. Sho has television work scheduled (which he’s already on) plus a film our two after that. We have discussed doing a third book, time permitting, but nothing scheduled yet.
If so, what is your creative process for penning the third part in the trilogy?
I thought about a third book and Sho and I gave some thought to it on several occasions. In books one and two, we intentionally created several very strong characters in the book that could stand on their own. There are of course, the UCLA students whose lives are upturned by events beyond their control and there is Tenkai-Bo, the books’ anti-hero. Either could have their own sequel. The same is true for Captain Sato, a Japanese detective from both novels who is quite clever and who could also stand on his own. Also, I don’t want to neglect the hero’s grandfather.
We have many sequel directions that Sho and I can go it, if we decide to do a third book. It’s just that we haven’t made that decision, yet.
What tips would you give to a team planning to pen a novel, such as you and Kosugi did? Is it difficult to co-author a book? What challenges did you face/overcome?
I had never co-authored a book in my career I had written twenty-five before these two. When Sho first discussed co-writing with me, I declined but Sho (who can be very convincing) never gave up or took no for an answer. He was one of my best friends and we had worked very successfully together decades ago, I eventually agreed. I’m glad that I did because working with Sho Kosugi was a real pleasure.
Yes – we did have challenges. The first was language, culture, and history. Fortunately, I lived on Okinawa and in Japan for three years when I was much younger. My Japanese had deteriorated over time, but I could still remember enough of it and the Japanese culture that a difficult task was made easier. Having Sho, who knows the culture of current and ancient Japan, was a real help. He also knew the topography of our location in Japan and that was essential as well.
Early on, Sho and I knew that illustrations would help bridge the gap between our English-Spanish and Japanese readers. I did not intend to be a “co-illustrator” at first, but since Mrs. Shinobu Ohno could not read or write English and my Japanese did little to help, we ran into help up early in the writing. I quickly
discovered however, that we had a medium that permitted the two of us to communicate and that was art. I can draw, paint, etc., so I started etching out prospective drawings and continued doing that throughout both books. Eventually, I found it easier to draw the illustrations myself. So, she and I basically split up the work about evenly and on some fifteen or more of the illustrations, we drew them together. She lived in Japan and I lived in Texas. Neither spoke or wrote the other person’s language, yet we could communicate the create what I feel are wonderful graphics for the books.
Neither book as a graphic novel and they are not meant to be. The graphics are there to further help the reader more firmly create a mental picture of what we are writing about.
Sho Kosugi and I had zero problems communicating. I had ideas, he had ideas, and we had ideas. It all worked out.
The only problem that Sho and I encountered occurred early on. The genesis for the 1 came from an old screenplay that Sho had and we both thought this might be used as a guide to ease our way through the plotlines. It wasn’t and after Chapter 2 or 3 of the first book, we scrapped it and went our own way. We had to later go back and rewrite those chapters so that they flowed smoothly into the rest of the book. If we had it to do over, we would never have gone that route.
Do you have creative hobbies, and if so which ones?
As I mentioned earlier, I’m an artist and love to draw, oil paint, and the like. The Yin-Yang Code: Shadow of Tenkai-Bo was the 5th novel that I’ve illustrated. The trouble with that is that I draw and art very slowly.
I started as a magician and ventriloquist as a youngster and always enjoyed performing. During my service years, I produced an hour-long sit-com titled Magic Mansion for the AFRTS Network which centered around magic and ventriloquism. The shows were produced live early on because these were the days prior to video tape. But, I was fortunate in that this gave me immense writing experience as well as valuable knowledge working around cameras, lighting, and crew. It allowed me years later to get to know some of the more famous magicians and ventriloquists in the country. My friends included Harry Blackstone, Jr. Tony Slydini, Jimmy Nelson (NESTLES – Nestles’ makes the very best…), and Max Terhune. For many years, I was on the Board of Advisors of the Vent Haven Museum, and some years ago received the “Order of Merlin” investiture, in the International Brotherhood of Magicians.
I like music very much and play the banjo, but never for anyone. Hmmm, I reckon I should say that I play at it. Over the years, I’ve written several songs and music used in film and theatrics and I found that to be very satisfying.
What is your favorite thing about the sequel of this book?
Both Sho Kosugi and I feel that the sequel is even better than the original. That’s always hard to do, but yeah, we think that it’s more enjoyable, fast moving, and exciting. It also turned out to be longer than the original, more than 400 pages, but that’s what it took to tell the story.
Thank you so much for joining us, we look forward to more from you soon! [ ]
Please Note: Warren Chaney & Sho Kosugi also have an article and interview coming up in our print magazine, this Spring. Stay tuned for more from the talented duo! You can also view an interview by Chaney, on the sequel, through partnered paper--VA Digital Tribune here.
