When we have spoken at libraries or schools, we often hear many of the same questions. So to satisfy your curiosity (if you have any), here are some of our answers: 1) How do you pronounce the names of the characters? A. Remember that Japanese does not have diphthongs. Each vowel is pronounced separately (except when there are double vowels of the same kind.) So Seikei is Say-ee-KAY-ee. Judge Ooka does have one of those double vowels (you often see them spelled with a line over the vowel). That means you just draw out the vowel, like this: Oh-OH-ka. 2) Have you ever been to Japan? A. We have not been to present-day Japan. But we are writing about 18th-century Japan, and we have traveled there the only way you can--in books. 3) Where do you get your ideas? First, we decide what the setting of the book will be. The first one was obviously the Tokaido Road. The second was the Yoshiwara section of Tokyo, where geishas entertain far into the night. And then we start to figure out what would bring Seikei there. Once we have a general idea, we start to write. If we are doing well, the characters start to act. Often what happens is a surprise to us. Our daughter likes to recall that one day when she was teaching at Columbia University, she ran into her father (Tom) in the hallway of the library. He likes to go there to write. And he told her that he was going to find out today what was hidden in the storeroom. If you've read all the books, you know that this was the ending to A Samurai Never Fears Death.And yes, Seikei climbed the stairs to the storeroom and found...well, if you haven't read the book, we won't spoil it for you. Have you got any questions? Let us know, and we'll try to answer them.