My novel The Shrine of the Siren Stone had its book launch at the Polaris Science Fiction Convention in Richmond Hill, Ontario, on July 17, 2010. The maids of Cafe Delish, Anime North's maid cafe, assisted me in promoting the book (see photo). They performed a song and dance act at the launch.
The Shrine of the Siren Stone is published by Orchard House Press (formerly called Windstorm Creative) of Port Orchard, Washington. Thanks to Cris DiMarco, my editor, for publishing this novel. The Shrine of the Siren Stone takes place in the same universe as The Moon Under Her Feet, but you don't have to read The Moon Under Her Feet to understand The Shrine of the Siren Stone.
Description:
Ishiro is an otaku, an anime-obsessed geek without a decent job or loving parents. His only friends are Mr. Endo, owner of a maid cafe in Akihabara, and Yuko, a waitress in a French maid uniform. Ishiro falls in love with Yuko, a but she turns out to be an android using him to learn about human love. Does she have real feelings for him or is she just programmed to act like a girlfriend? When Mr. Endo splits the couple apart, Ishiro joins the Japanese Navy and goes to war, and Yuko's behavior becomes increasingly human and rebellious. Their paths cross again at the mysterious Shrine of the Siren Stone, where a telepathic meteorite holds the secret of the human spirit...
"It's Romeo and Juliet meets Benny and Joon in a futuristic Japan. Then stuff blows up! The Shrine of the Siren Stone is a wonderful, female-friendly story and a welcome departure from the stereotypes of the science fiction genre. The plot twists surprised me, I got teary-eyed in a few places, and I laughed out loud in others. What's not to love?"
- Liana K., host of Ed and Red's Night Party on G4
"Derwin Mak creates a dazzling mix of artificial intelligence, future warfare, otaku romance, and Japanese religion. His characters are comic, then heroic, and finally self-sacrificing. He achieves something of great rarity in science fiction: a novel of heartfelt poignancy."
- John-Allen Price, author of The Mutant Chronicles
