Azabu Getaway received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.
Following find an interview with author Michael Pronko.
What is the name of the book, and when was it published?
Azabu Getaway was published on September 10, 2022, the day of the Full Moon Festival in Asia.
What’s the book’s first line?
“Patrick Walsh waited outside, tired of the cold, of the dark, thinking it through, worried that the key wouldn’t work.”
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch.”
An American wealth manager, Patrick, abducts his daughters without telling his wife and makes his getaway across Tokyo, desperate to keep them safe. Meanwhile, his boss and mother-in-law are found dead, and the babysitter is beaten into a coma. He’s in the sights of the detectives, and of whoever’s wealth he’s been managing, or mismanaging. Oh, and his wife filed for divorce. Detective Hiroshi follows him, both physically and financially, trying to find out how money is connected to murder once again.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
I wanted to write about foreigners living in Tokyo for some time. My other novels have had foreign characters, but I wanted to see more about how the well-off lived. I have also been reading articles about how the wealthy use shell companies to shelter their money. Moving money to Panama, Switzerland, Bermuda, and other tax shelters might seem savvy, but it can also be dangerous.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
The novel is a police procedural, but Hiroshi is a different type of detective. He follows the money, but also the people, with a different way of thinking. This novel is also about how the wealthy in Tokyo live. The setting of Tokyo is also fascinating. I live here and never get tired of it. Alongside the tension of the crime are insights into the culture and city of Tokyo.
What’s the most distinctive thing about the main character? Who-real or fictional-would you say the character reminds you of?
The most distinctive thing about Hiroshi is he hates crime scenes, a liability for someone working in a homicide department. But he manages to use his forensic accounting skills in a way that always puts him back into the center of the action every time. He has great colleagues, all with their own unique approaches, too. Some reviewers have compared Hiroshi to Bosch, but I think they’re quite different in their sleuthing.
When did you first decide to become an author?
I’d always been a writer, from a fifth-grade play that heavily borrowed (OK, stole) from Mark Twain to philosophy papers to years of diaries. Working at a university, I chalked up my publications. And when I started living in Tokyo, I wrote for newspapers and magazines for years, getting used to deadlines. I cut back on those so I could have more time to focus on long-form writing. So, I guess it’s just been a gradual evolution.
Is this the first book you’ve written?
This is the fifth in the Detective Hiroshi novel series. I’ve also written three creative non-fiction books about life in Tokyo. And I’ve created several textbooks for students learning English and literature, too.
What do you do for work when you’re not writing?
I’m a professor of American literature and culture at Meiji Gakuin University. I teach everything from Catch-22 to Emily Dickinson to Coen Brothers’ films and everything in between. It’s really the best day job for a writer, as it’s a constant source of input and daily interaction with various literary forms. Working with students and helping them with metaphoric language really inspires me to think from different points of view. Working with students in their second language also makes me attentive to being clear, organized, direct, and to the point.
How much time do you generally spend on your writing?
As much as I can squeeze in. I teach four days a week, and spend the other three, as much as possible, on writing. But it all gets tangled up as the semester progresses, and I’ll write on the train and grade papers on the weekend. At the end of the semester, it’s all grading and email, but then there’s time between semesters to focus only on writing. It’d be impossible to put it into precise hours, but I write every day without question, carving out chunks of time to focus.
What’s the best and the hardest part of being an indie?
Being on your own is both the best and hardest part. The constant details of publishing, marketing, and promoting can wear you down. Figuring out the details of editing, formatting, designing, advertising, and all the rest is wearying. But it’s great to have a sense of control, to be my own boss, to not have to hassle with someone about small things. When I get discouraged, I open Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self-Reliance and reboot. Being indie is no harder than a lot of things in life.
What’s a great piece of advice that you can share with fellow indie authors?
Read in your genre, but also outside of it. Reading poetry really tunes up your prose. Reading flash fiction or folktales teaches you to be succinct. Analyzing a film lets you focus on the visual side of stories, and on action. I think reading craft books is very helpful. I read those with one eye on what they’re saying and one eye on the next novel. I’m an inveterate note-taker, with a notebook or paper always at hand. I like to use my unconscious mind to do a lot of the work. I drop a writing problem into my brain, and the answer often arrives when riding the train or sleeping. I jot things down immediately.
Would you go traditional if a publisher came calling? If so, why?
I just put in a new doorbell out front of my house. It rings in all the rooms loudly and clearly. Well, I’d have to see what the terms and conditions involved are, but I’m not against traditional publishing, just a little suspicious. I’ve published traditionally before and it always worked out.
Is there something in particular that motivates you (fame? fortune?)
Curiosity, I think. I’m curious about what’s going to happen. I like to set up the start of a novel and follow its unfolding, exploding, zigzagging, or whatever happens. I really like to learn as I write. I’m in love with the words on the page. To some degree, I think everyone is motivated by fame and fortune, and I am, too, but I don’t always trust that motivation and try to saddle it as best I can.
Which writer, living or dead, do you most admire?
I admire anyone who can convey complex feelings and fresh ideas in words. That’s a lot of writers! And a lot of non-writers, too. I have so many writers who I really admire, I wouldn’t know where to begin, but I think I admire them in really different ways.
Which book do you wish you could have written?
Anything by Charles Dickens.