I had a fabulous time at the book launch the other night at Weller Book Works in SLC. Thank you, thank you to the family and friends who came and supported me at the event. It was a fun night!
Also, I must say it’s PRETTY AWESOME to hold the hardcover book in my hot little hands and sniff the inky pages. Wow! Thanks a million to Jolly Fish Press for all they’ve done. It’s real. And it’s digital for Kindle and Nook!
While I was taking questions, insightful reader Teri Harman asked me how to pronounce several of the names in the story. (She’s been reading already!) I decided to add a pronunciation guide here and to give it its own link here on my website. To answer her question, the champion’s name, Torakiba, is pronounced “Tor-ah-kee-bah,” and the Japanese girl’s name, Chocho, is pronounced with long o for both o’s.
I’ll post the following, and if anyone has any specific questions about how to pronounce a name or a word, leave a comment and I’ll try to respond with a spelled-out response. Thanks for reading!
Pronunciation Guide
Japanese pronunciation is very simple. Pronounce each vowel syllable separately, even when they are paired. The pair makes the blend. For instance “ai” is pronounced “ah-ee” but when slurred becomes the long I of English. The letter “r” is more of a tongue flap, as in Spanish. Vowels are pronounced as follows:
a – ah
i – ee
u – oo
e – eh
o – oh
The letter g always makes the hard g as in gag. The letter j always sounds like j in jump.