Geri o Shimasu: 17 Years in the Making, 24 Days to Go!

In the Beginning…

It feels so surreal that Geri o Shimasu: Adventures of a Baka Gaijin is less than a month from launch. This book will always be something extra special for me. Even before I wrote the first story in 2020 during COVID, it was a project I had always thought about. I spent almost six months in Tokyo absorbing everything I could like a sponge. Mere days after getting back to the states, David Sedaris released his book When You Are Engulfed in Flames. I remember listening to his book about his 90-day stay in Tokyo on an adventure to quit smoking and wishing I could write something like that. There was jealousy sure, but mostly l lacked confidence. Would I ever have the talent or gravitas to pull off those types of incisive essays? I wasn’t sure, and it would be a long time before I established my own personal voice.

Even before Sedaris released his essay collection about Japan, I always admired his ability to draw the exceptional, awkward and hilarious from the mundane. I don’t remember which of his books it’s from, but his story about a family of spiders living in the corner of his window in a cottage in France will always stick with me as an example of that. I still may never achieve his mastery of the craft, but even getting the few comparisons to him that I have gotten so far in my early reviews is a huge boon to my confidence.

For me, my process was quite a bit different. I didn’t go to Japan with the purpose of writing a memoir. In fact, the hard drive that stored all my photos from that six months (as well as earlier photos of a trip to India) died not long after I got back. Then, the blog that I kept during my time there was obliterated by a virus that at through my server and took over my textpattern installation. I didn’t notice until after all my backups were corrupted. If I hadn’t uploaded thousands of photos to Flickr during the trip as a way to share them with my family, I would have had no record at all of my time in Japan.

So, in some ways, it’s amazing to me that I was able to go back and reconstruct these experiences; also, thank you Google for names of places, public events, and other general knowledge. But writing Geri o Shimasu taught me something special about my own voice. The big lesson for me was that if the story, the feeling, the lesson, is still with me a decade on, maybe it’s something worth sharing. I originally kept these stories alive in my mind by recounting them to friends and family, reminiscing, and sharpening their impact through the lessons they taught me and how I’ve continued to approach them. I think the fact that they still resonated with me as much if not more now than they did when they happened was the motivation I needed to bring this collection into the world. Now, I have finally memorialized a least a portion of the experience others to laugh at, learn from, and hopefully cherish the way I do.

Right About Now…

With that, I am beyond excited to share Geri o Shimasu with all of you. If you haven’t pre-ordered a copy, there is still time. I will post links to the major retailers below. If you plan to read it and can make room on your shelf and in your budget for the paperback, preorders are critically important for indie authors. They help us make lists, help us get reviews so that libraries and local bookstores will carry our books, and they support a series of small businesses trying to survive in the publishing industry. Unsolicited Press has been an amazing and supportive publisher through this process, and I urge you to purchase the paperback not just to support me but to support a press that prioritizes marginalized voices, authors that may not have a huge platform but have plenty to offer readers, and literature, like mine, that doesn’t fit in a tidy, on-trend genre.

If you are clamoring for an ebook or audiobook, both of those versions are coming as well. I will be recording the audio with my cousin Mark as soon as we can get our act together, and that will be released by Unsolicited Press later this year. The ebook should be available shortly after launch.

I’ve been overwhelmed with all of the positive book reviews and accolades, including winning an International Impact Book Award, Independent Author Awards, the London Book Festival Nonfiction Award, and others. To read early reviews and see a full list of Geri o Shimasu’s accomplishments, check out this page.

Preorder at Unsolicited Press (the publisher - 20% off until July 31st).
Preorder at Asterism (the distributor).
Preorder at Bookshop.org (an indie bookstore marketplace - my affiliate link).
Preorder at Tertulia (an indie book co-op - sorry, my discount code is expired here)
Preorder at Powell’s.
Preorder at Barnes & Noble.
Preorder at Amazon (my affiliate link).

Over the Next Few Months…

Finally, I have some events coming up that I hope you will consider attending, whether in person or virtually. Firstly, this book isn’t just stories. It’s poetry and art. I’m going to be holding a publicly available event called The Art of Geri o Shimasu where I discuss my inspiration and creation process for the paintings included in the book as well as how my cross-disciplinary love of fiber arts, visual arts, and haiku enrich my process and a vial part of my generative cycle. I don’t know the date yet, but that will be this fall.

Some other events coming up include:

Literary Nights with Rosalia Scalia - August 20, 2025, 5:30 pacific / 8:30 eastern (virtual event)
Private Launch Party - August 23, 2025, 6 pm eastern (in person)
Book Launch with Unsolicited Press - August 27, 2025, 5 pacific / 3 eastern (virtual event)
Miami Book Fair - November 21 - 23, 2025 (in person)

If you would like to get notifications and links to these events, including my art event, please sign up here: https://alialuria.kit.com/miamibookfair

If you’ve read this far, thank you for sticking with me! I’m so grateful for every person in my life who’s supported me as an author, a friend, a family member, or a colleague. Hugs!