IT’S COMING. FOR REAL. I AIN’T PULLING YER LEG! Yet.

 

Behold, a novel nearly a year in the making… which is a very long time for me. “LOVE, YUMI” tackles a forbidden romance in the ruthless world of Japanese pop culture. Check it out, and mark your calendars!

NOTE: Join my mailing list for an exclusive excerpt on Christmas Day!

 

“If you don’t know me, that’s okay. There were many days I didn’t know who I was either…”

My name is Chiharu Morita. Of course, that is the name on this blog, so that is who I am. To hear Chi-chan makes me happy.

The Chiharu you know is only a shadow. Yes, I was in a group called Butterfly Tops. Now I am a composer, the person responsible for some of the pop songs you hear on the radio.

Those aren’t the reasons you know me, though. You know me because of YUMI.

Yes, that YUMI. The eponymous one. I don’t need to tell you who she is. She’s the woman who comes into your living room every night on dramas, music shows, and radio request lines.

Yumi, as you may know, is my childhood friend. We grew up together in a little town called Seki in the middle of Japan. We graduated high school and went to audition for a new girl group they were creating. The rest is history.

For you, anyway. For me, I still breathe this every day. Because I love Yumi. I have since I was a young girl too stupid to know the words for what I felt.

This is my confession. This is the story of not only me, but Yumi too. Of how we left our town and became household names. Of how I fell in love with her and did everything in my power to protect her from the evil in this world. I did not always succeed.
I will not rest until you know the truth. All the lies the agencies and labels tried to make us spew will be known.

Maybe this will mean the end of what career I have left. But I don’t care. If I don’t tell this story, I won’t know who I am anymore. I want to be more than “the girl who loved Yumi,” and yet it’s the only identity I can ever remember having.

For better or worse, let us begin.