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Episodes
Creating Handmade Books and Writing Fiction in Kanazawa, Japan 金沢市
Episodes
Wednesday Nov 04, 2020
Wednesday Nov 04, 2020
Bookbinder of the Week: (今週の製本者 )
Bookbinding
This week I cased in a book of my fiction (Tristram’s Printer) in A-5 size, 260 pages. I used two different papers for the cover for two reasons: first, I’m cheap and didn’t want to run out and buy more and two, I’m trying to use up the papers I’ve got so I can run out and buy more.
The backboards themselves are thick paper; not as thick as cardboard, more like card stock. I’m experimenting with them because a client wants a thin, flexible cover for their project and I want to make sure this is up to the test and that I am up to the task of using it properly.
Last week, hahahahahaha, I made a B6-sized book of Tristram’s Printer, like I said. This morning I checked how many pages it had and discovered the final page has No Page Number written on it. Odd, methinks. I check a few pages back and the recto page claims to be 263 but Mr Verso says 260. Yes, the final signature was miss-printed. But at least the book looks mostly pretty.
I also discarded my template for book covers idea. Since each book, for me at least, is different, a template didn’t make much sense. I was making two covers instead of one. I did, however, make a spacer. I was bemoaning the fact that I couldn’t find a good spacer for the hinge gap space bit between the spine and the covers. Then it dawned on me, thank’s to the coronavirus pandemic, that I could make my own out of book board. So I did.
Fiction
Writing more on Growing Slurry and The Posthumous Biography of Agnes Grout.
Both seem to be episodic meaning the main characters have adventures that illuminate their characters, histories, and philosophies (except without the philosophical asides – I hope I’m showing and not telling).
In Growing Slurry, Sliven is investigating some wholesale fraud in his past while Gina is starting to – beginning to – trust him. I’m wrapping this novel up within the next 30, 50 pages, I hope.
In The Posthumous Biography of Agnes Grout: Death Weaver, Agnes is forcing one of her adversaries to accept one of her children so she (Agnes) can work in one of the weaving mills of Lowell, Massachusetts. Agnes suspects she may have some scary ability to slip back in time to warn people of their impending demise. She’s not sure she had it or is just losing her mind; time will tell.
As always, if anyone knows of a good (and cheap) cover designer, let me know.
Wednesday Oct 28, 2020
Wednesday Oct 28, 2020
Bookbinder of the Week: （今週の製本者)
Yo Yamazaki (山崎曜)
Mr Yamazaki is a Tokyo bookbinder who has traveled the world teaching book-making and has won prizes, had many exhibitions of his work, displayed in galleries, and worked for a time in advertising. There’s a Vimeo video available to watch his unique work style but, on top of all that, he’s an excellent teacher. Check out his website at yoyamazaki.jp
Bookbinding ( 手作り製本)
This is an A5-size schedule with 100 pages. It contains two yearly calendars for 2021 and 2022; it has 13 monthly calendars from April to April; it has a weekly calendar for the same period.
If requested by the customer, I can insert 13 photos of the customer’s choosing or leave them blank. The endpapers for the one on the right is a map of the city where the customer lives; the endpapers on the right are Colorful! Like this one:
This was the first book I used my template cover builder on. I made a paper replica of an A5 cover for a book with 100 pages. Just like this book. I worked on it until it fit the book nicely. I prayed and then built the real book cover and yes! The cover fit it! I used the same template on the second book and it fit well as well. It relieved me of much stress (and diminished my skill in book cover making, some might say; and probably be right, but I’m all for reducing stress levels in my workshop.)
Fiction (作り話 • フィクション)
I wrote this tale many moons ago but only recently discovered that I don't have what is currently called a Hard Copy, i.e. a Real Book. So I made one. Two. I made two.
It is, depending on the size of the book, about 250 pages of knowledge, sex, drugs, marriage, divorce, and art.
Rie the protagonist gets fired from her waitressing job, marries a guy on the rebound, meets one of his artsy-friends, and starts working for him. Her husband objects, she meets a printer. And falls in love... Oh, ain’t that sweet? Yes, yes, it is.
It’s a typographical love story because the other protagonist, Harvey, is the printer – a fine letterpress printer – who creates one-off books, including one of Laurence Sterne’s Tristram Shandy.
Wednesday Aug 05, 2020
Wednesday Aug 05, 2020
Bookbinder of the Week: （今週の製本者)
Kaija Rantakari, at Paperiaarre, lives in Helsinki, Finland where she is a bookbinder, poet, and mixed media artist. I know nothing about her personally, but her books and art are elegant, unique, and fill one with creative thoughts. Casually exploring her blog might inspire all who do to be more creative! More often!
Bookbinding (手作り製本)
Before I cased in two books (at left; left is Heart of November, right is The Priests of Hiroshima) this last week, I did something I’ve never done before. Last week my envelope-pushing event was learning to use a sewing machine.
This week it was making methyl-cellulose glue using powder I picked up in San Francisco about three years ago. The first bit was way too watery and barely kept two pieces of scrap paper together. Eventually I made it thick enough and used it on the two books I cased in.
A5 in size, 184 (Priests) and 230 (Heart) pages, soft cover, with Japanese-y book cloth. The spine on one is the cover on the other.
I just wish I had printed the titles on the front cover and spine (probably difficult on the spine with the black.) as they seem fairly anonymous as they stand now. I’ve made books with titles on the spine before – sometimes successfully, sometimes not – but from now on novels require a front cover that identifies it.
Fiction (作り話 • フィクション)
(Just as an aside, fiction in Japanese is フィクション - pronounced fikushon - but is also related to lies, fabrication, and falsehoods. Look at the kanji: 作り話. It literally means Making a Story. As a fiction author I am a liar, yes? Of course.)
I wrote a bunch on Growing Slurry, Sister Amelia: Assassin, and another book I haven’t titled yet. It might be called Kanazawa Monogatari which means Kanazawa Story but that’s a pretty presumptuous name so I’m looking for something Better. And, of course, I have to finish The Sound of Fear (Book three in the Fear Trilogy); a trilogy that should have been finished long before the coronavirus urged everyone to stay home.
Wednesday Jul 22, 2020
Wednesday Jul 22, 2020
Bookbinder of the Week:
Matthew Reinhart at matthewreinhart.com is an extraodinary pop-up book artist. He has a dozens of videos up on his site and on youtube. He’s enthusiastic about making pop-up books and exploring the possibilities of pop-up books. His instructions are clear and clearly aimed at novice artist.
Bookbinding
Nothing! Not entirely true, I’ve designed a few covers for novels I’ve completed. I’ve learned how to use a sewing maching — something my mother tried to teach me in the last century, but I wasn’t interested in sewing then. She was a child of the Great Depression where everyone was DIYing what they could in order to save money. I was not. Now, in the post-2008 current Coronavirus Depression of 2020, I am. She’d be proud. (Plus, I can mend my ripped and torn jeans now instead of forking out for a new pair.)
Fiction
I have written on two incomplete novels: Growing Slurry, and Saint Amelia: Assassin; I have also worked on two textbooks. One textbook is for medical students and one is for learning to speak (or read) Japanese.
I plan (famous last words!) to finish Growing Slurry soon so I can start the fourth book in my trilogy Fear the Dead! So I can upload it to Draft2Digital and offer the trilogy (and free introductory novel: Fear Zero) for sale.
It would be fun beach reading material if people were silly enough to go to the beach to read books and share the coronavirus; hopefully they are not and will download the intergalactic war story to read in the comfort of their own homes. With popcorn and the beverage of their choice!
Wednesday Jul 01, 2020
Wednesday Jul 01, 2020
Bookbinder of the Week:
Duncan Birmingham is a paper artist/engineer/pop-up book artist with a large number of very good tutorials on YouTube called the Pop-up Channel. His instructions are clear, repeated, and simple to follow for even the most complex designs. Or dullest students such as myself. After watching some of Colette Fu’s work, I slipped over to Mr Birmingham’s channel to learn how to make pop-ups. He was quite instructive, detailed, and complete. His channel is a good place to start if you find yourself wanting to make pop-up books.
Bookbinding
I managed to sew another book; this time The Priests of Hiroshima. I now have two sewed books. I glued on the spine paper and mull.
I also made two covers for two books but have not yet cased them in. I’m so lazy, eh?
I experimented with the width of the spine piece and the gap between the spine and the book board; always a problem for me.
Fiction
I spent a goodly number of hours doing two things in fiction: Reading Moby Dick and Writing Growing Slurry. The former influences the latter. Obviously, I mean, a book written 170 years ago can hardly be influenced by a book yet to be finished.
Gina & Sliven are the two main characters. They meet in a coffee shop and discover a mutual ‘like’ for Moby Dick.
As they talk about it — and each other — stories emerge from their past.
Sliven is a retired forensic accountant. I’m still working on what Gina might be.
I also discovered a novel I started, thought about but never got past the first two chapters, and forgot.
It’s a violent revenge story titled, so far, Sister Amelia, Assassin. Being a victim herself, Amelia sets out to right wrongs, punish the bad people, and find help for the victims.
She is a character from my just completed and edited novel Heart of November. This is her spin-off novel, her sister novel, her sequel novel. Her chance to grab the spot light!
I hope I finish it.
Wednesday Jun 17, 2020
Wednesday Jun 17, 2020
Bookbinder of the Week:
Colette Fu is a pop-up book artist. She makes incredible pop-up books that an adult can sit in, if you so desire. You can check out her pop-up books and her photos at ColetteFu.com. Watching some of her videos on YouTube inspired me to make my own – very simple – pop-up books. Hers are outta sight mechanically and visually. And big.
Tedorigawa News
Before rushing off to discuss myself, let me talk about myself. The Tedorigawa Bookmakers podcast is on Spotify, if you wish to use that service. I suspect this link links to my podcast. You can search for Tedorigawa or Tedorigawa Bookmakers. Both, hopefully, will get you to the podcast. Tedorigawa Bookmakers will get you there faster.
Bookbinding
This week I sewed Heart of November and The Priests of Hiroshima. This is my first sew-up of Heart of November but not for The Priests of Hiroshima. Heart of November has a lot – I mean A Lot – of graphics, typographical twists & turns, tricks & tumbles. I was hoping they transferred to both the printed page (they did) and the ebook version (they also did, I think.)
I also glued a re-covering attempt on my 30+ year-old Japanese textbook which is less a textbook and more of a detailed explanation of the language. It’s part of the Hodder & Stoughton publishing house’s Teach Yourself Books series; 14th printing in 1978. I probably bought it in 1979 when I first descended on these island shores.
After I upload this episode I will get to work casing in all three books.
Fiction
In moving my workshop/office from Place A to Place F (for free) I accumulated a lot of boxes; boxes for books, supplies, materials, unfinished work, attempts, and templates. Buried deep in these boxes were boxes I hadn’t looked in in several years. We’re talking at least two decades. Maybe more, as we shall see in a moment.
This week I opened them to sort them out in two piles: throw away or store. I found… Fiction. Short stories, plays, a few screenplays (mostly finished), and the scribbled outline of a novel that I never started and probably never will. I read the outline, didn’t like it so much, thought about it, and tossed it. Some of the fiction was typed. As in, typed on a typewriter. Yes, a typewriter. I haven’t used a typewriter since 1989.
I put one of them (There Is No Time in the Land of Nod) on InDesign and will probably upload it in a collection of short stories in the not to distant future — famous last words. I found a screenplay that I might turn into a novel called Sewers. As in people who sew. One character, the female of course, works in a factory making fancy jeans for rich people while the male character works for the department of water and power, ie in the sewers.
I have been writing Growing Slurry and reading its inspiration: Moby Dick. I’m a bit surprised at Moby Dick. After several attempts at starting it, I am finally reading it and one observation is the number of people who say they can’t get through it because he talks so much about whales seem to have missed the point; I couldn’t get into it because of his language style; now I can. Melville talks about whales a lot, yes, but as they relate to either the main characters, landlubbers, or a philosophy of life.
Wednesday Jun 10, 2020
Wednesday Jun 10, 2020
Bookbinder of the Week
Keri Schroeder is a very active bookbinder hailing out of San Antonio, Texas. She operates the Coyote Bones Press and curates the Books in the Wild podcast. She has exhibitions in many places and her artist books are in a variety of collections. She got an MFA from Mills College and worked with Julie Chen around that time. And, importantly for learners, she conducts workshops on occasion. She has some very emotional and deep books as well as being artistic and creative. She can be reached on Facebook, Instagram, and, of course, her books can be viewed on her website at KeriSchroeder.com
Bookbinding
I have Incomplete projects. In fact, I have Four Incomplete Projects. To be more specific and honest I have four Unstarted But Supposedly Planned Projects. They are:
- recovering two broken paperbacks one of which is at least forty years old (two projects)
- case in The Priests of Hiroshima
- create an art cover for an as-yet-to-be-determined book.
I looked at the books I have made over the years and noticed some phases I have gone through – I have also noticed my skill level as increased. Fortunately. The phases are:
wooden covers — Japanese style sewing — coptic bindings — small — large — and finally settling on sewing and casing in like a regular book. Along the way I also dabbled in pop-up books and tunnel books, both of which I enjoyed making, enjoyed using, and enjoyed showing off to other people.
Looking at all the books I have is both inspiring – I’m amazed I did what I did – and a little sad – Why do I have them? Why haven’t I sold them? Mostly though I find comfort in my improvement over the years.
Fiction
I have unwittingly and sadly discovered something about my writing style. First, there are two kinds of writers: those who outline –some in great detail – and follow the outline religiously. Many are quite successful. I fall into the second category: writers who sit and let the plot, story, characters et al grow organically, let them flow into the consciousness. Many are quite successful as well.
I have outlined two books in my life. Neither of them did I finish. I usually start books without an outline. Most of them I have finished. I finished them mainly because I wanted to see what happens. Sometimes I have the end and I want to see how I manage to get there. I think I didn't finish the outlined books because I knew what was going to happen, who would do what to who and where et cetera. Tomorrow I’m going to toss out one of the outlines and write my old way; just to see what happens.
Growing Slurry is my latest non-outlined work of fiction. So far, as it is far, far from completed, it is about a mysterious stranger immersed in Moby Dick. His life goal is helping people in trouble. For that role he dons his super-hero costume of red, yellow, green, and blue shirt, pants, and a black basketball cap equipped with a Go-pro camera. He calls himself Slurry Man! Created when his super-hero T-shirt came back with a typo: Slurry instead of Surly.
Don’t forget, the offer of a free short story is still up for grabs. Shoot me an email with the subject line: Free book and I’ll send you Eternal City as my way of celebrating finishing a novel (Heart of November) with absolutely no relation to Eternal City.
Monday Jun 01, 2020
Monday Jun 01, 2020
You may have noticed a new look to this blog. Yes, you are observant, my friend. This has a new look; one that I am still tweaking as you read this.
I uploaded a YouTube video to, uh, I guess YouTube which you can watch by clicking on this: ClickBait. It doesn’t go to click bait so much as a quick tour of my very cozy new studio/office.
Bookbinder of the Week:
Susan Mills makes very unique books covering a unique variety of topics. She teaches in Nova Scotia and other places, plus she hosts the Bookbinding Now podcast (upon which I was honored to be interviewed once) where other hosts interview guests from fields closely related to book arts such as paper making, weaving, and printmaking. You can see many of her books here: Susanmillsartistbooks. And enjoy their structures, design, use of paper, and the thoughts that support them.
Bookbinding
I cased in half a mystery/detective novel today. It has been edited so there is a lot of scribbling on many pages. I didn’t use the best quality material but I practiced quality control. I worked also on getting the cover width correct. I almost managed, too.
A5 in size, incomplete it is 180 pages, about 10 or 11 signatures, and two different colored endpapers. A simple brown paper cover and very thin book boards.
New Video: I posted a YouTube video of the casing in of Caraculiambro here.
Fiction
I completed Heart of November. Finished. Crossed the finish line. The final words are spoken by the main character: “What’s it about?”
A teenager goes the the Democratic Republic of the Congo, meets with sex traffickers, drug dealers, and antique booksellers. Violence ensues. Based very loosely on Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness but with many obvious allusions to it. The main bad guy’s name, a false one as it turns out, is Kurtz. When the teenager gets back to his high school his English literature assignment is to read Heart of Darkness so he asks the question above.
If you desire, I will send you – Free! – a short estory “Eternal City” in celebration of me finishing Heart of November. “Eternal City” involves a female executive who is harassed by a senior executive and kills a vampire.
All you do is email me Here!
Yet to be finished: The Sound of Fear and the above mentioned Caraculaimbro.
Communication
Sunday May 17, 2020
Sunday May 17, 2020
Bookbinder of the Week
Siuyuett (aka Teresa Tsang) is a Hong Kong-based bookbinder active on many media sites including twitter (@siuyuett). She has photos of her creation posted by others on Pinterest.She is also the subject of a YouTube video which can be found at this YouTube Video.
She is creative, imaginative, and inspiring. At least she inspires me. I’m sure she’ll be an inspiration to you all, too.
Bookbinding
In the final few hours I edited a short movie about my new studio space. In order to have content, I made a perfect binding book. A perfect binding is glue on the edges of the pages. Most paperback books are perfect binding. Next week I hope to finish both the perfect binding and the video. The perfect binding is a blank notebook of many, many pages. I have no idea how many. Nor do I know the size as they were cut from US letter sized paper. From the US IRS thanking me for my many contributions; they were kind enough to add blank pages and it is these that I am using for this Perfect Binding experiment.
Fiction
I am still, yes, still both writing & editing Heart of November (and Priests of Hiroshima). I decided yesterday that I should write first and edit later. This resulted in me writing about two chapters in the early morning hours. I think it is a successful venture.
Heart of November: A teenage high school students spends a month (November) in the Congo. He meets and gets involved with violent sex slavers. He and a Congolese friend save a group of women, including an Australian woman. While in the Congo, he discovers he has an interest in ancient books.
There are three sections in this novel: 1. He becomes interested in the Congo, 2. He goes to the Congo, 3. He becomes a literature teacher but wants to find old manuscripts and books. Naturally, these are not presented in order. They progress at different speeds and in different orders.
Communication
A New! Exciting! YouTube video is on the way!
When? Soon, I hope.
Tuesday May 05, 2020
Tuesday May 05, 2020
Bookbinder of the Week:
Mark Cockram is a very skilled bookbinder out of England. He bound Salman Rushdie’s Quichotte for the Booker Prize. He has a bookbinding course which is probably very intense and valuable. Take a gander at his blog, YouTube channel, and Facebook page.
Bookbinding
Nothing! I have, however, organized, re-organized, and moved bone folders from the right side of my work bench to the left. Progress is slowly being made on the Bookbinding front. I do have two books that need casing in. Hopefully, I will get to them soon. As soon as I get re-re-organized, of course.
Fiction
Two items are being worked on this week: The Priests of Hiroshima and Heart of November. The first is a time-traveling piece of fiction that deals with antique books, Gutenberg, a priest in love with a nun and vice versa, a young craftsman in love with the boss’s daughter and vice versa, and Calvado roaming the time tunnels of an antique bookshop which also houses a talking cat.
The second is about a man - as of yet unnamed - who, as a high school student, travels to the Congo, gets involved in sex trafficking, drugs, and violence, and returns home to become an English literature teacher in a third-rate university. He also becomes an antique book buyer and seller. It is as a bookseller that he becomes involved in a murder while seeking a specific book for a client. The murder is related to the Congo and sex trafficking.
Communication