Kino no Tabi:Volume14 Author's Notes

「Afterword」 —Preface—

To all of my readers, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting! This is the author, Sigsawa Keiichi, and this was the new volume of Kino, after about a year! The fourteenth volume!

I've been doing my best to ensure I can release a new Kino volume every October, and somehow I managed to deliver another one to you this year as well. I am currently writing this afterword while stroking my chest in relief.

As is tradition, this doesn't contain any spoiler about the main text, so please rest assured and read on.

Now let's start the afterword.

This year marks the ten-year anniversary since Kino's conception. The first volume was released in July of 2000. It was also the first book I published in my life (by the way, this is my 34th paperbook since joining ASCII Media Works).

Ten years since my debut—, I wonder if it's been a been a good ten years.

The things that were harder than I expected, the things that were just as hard as I expected, and the things that were so much more fun than I expected were all mixed together.

Naturally, meeting deadlines is difficult. In the month leading up to a deadline, I have no time to rest. After all, if you break the deadline and slack off on your manuscript, the book won't make its release date.

But even for homework or a graduate thesis, the fact that there's a due date is what pushes people to work their hardest, so in the same way, deadlines are a powerful driving motivator for authors. If the editing department said "Oh, just do it whenever—", I don't think a single writer would get any work done. Deadlines banzai! My battle with deadlines will continue in the future too.

Also, as long as you can stick to your deadlines, you can eat (=make money) by writing out your personal fantasies, which makes the writing industry incredibly fun.

Turning your imagination into a book, having a readership, and receiving their impressions —.

Let me also state that if one of your readers wants to become an author themselves, when they make their dreams come true, that will make you proud too.

And so, after these wonderful, mixed up ten years, I guess all I really have to say now is, "I'll continue to work hard for the next ten years too, so let's enjoy it together".

When I first wrote my application manuscript in 1999, I never could have even dreamt that I would continue writing for more than 11 years. I've said this before, but originally I thought I would finish after two volumes!

I can't help wondering and looking forward to what I'll be writing or what I'll be doing 10 years from now, in 2020 (it feels so far into the future right now, but it will probably feel just as normal then as 2010 feels now).

I'll do my best while watching my health, so I can continue to leave my name in bookstores.

Now for a few words of thanks.

To all of you readers that sent me fan mail, thank you very much.

Whenever I read these handwritten letters, I imagine the person writing them, and my heart grows warm. Sometimes, no, relatively often, I get letters that say "I'm writing this during class"... just make sure you don't get caught!

To my readers in elementary and middle school —, thank you so much for choosing to spend your allowance on "Kino no Tabi".

Now, I wrote this in the afterword for "Gakuen Kino 4" as well, but I've started a Twitter account.

Twitter is like a blog with very short posts. Even if you don't want to register, you can read my tweets at http://twitter.com/sigsawa.

It's summarized at http://twilog.org/sigsawa, so you can also access my tweets from there. The ID I use is "sigsawa".

I tweet out things such as my everyday happenings and thoughts, simple jokes, and my interactions with other authors and people in the industry.

Once in a while, I also reply to the questions I receive there. Of course, it's not a sure thing; I'm sorry if I can't answer your question due to lack of time or due to the content.

However, I do check all of the responses to my tweets. Your candid thoughts make me very happy. Please continue to take care of me from now on as well.

Finally, let me make some acknowledgments befitting an afterword.

To my artist, Kuroboshi Kohaku-sama, you have really done so much for me. I'm filled with excitement like "uwaa" every time I see your illustrations. I'm truly glad to be able to work with you.

To everyone in the editing department, everyone at ASCII Media Works, and everyone else involved in the review, printing, distribution, and marketing, I'm truly indebted to you. Thank you very much.

And so this mixed up tenth-year afterword has come to an end.

Normal afterwords are quite nice, aren't they! Even if I read this again in ten years, it probably won't make me feel ashamed, like "muwaa!" or "nuu!" It's safe and secure.

Well then, let's meet again in the next Kino.
October 10, 2010. Sigsawa Keiichi.