The full name for this book is Hunter's Gambit, Book 1 of the Kitsune-Ken Series. Kitsune-ken is a game they play in Japan and its a lot like Rock, Paper and Scissors over here. There are three positions. If your palms are flat against your legs, you have chosen Lord (more correctly Lord translates to Village Head, but lord is faster for my purposes here). If your hands are up to your temple with your index and middle fingers extended and the rest closed (like fox ears), you have chosen Fox. If you keep your hands up in between (making it look like you're holding a rifle), then you have chosen Hunter. The Lord beats Hunter, because the hunter is the lord's loyal vassal. The Fox beats Lord, because the fox can lock the lord into an illusion that he can't escape from. The Hunter beats Fox, because he has a gun and therefore a way to kill the fox before they can ensnare the hunter. Here is a video of some people teaching the game to a few people. I am none of the people in this video, I simply grabbed it as a fun example of how to play, because sometimes you need to see to understand it.
I chose this as my series name since it seems as though the main characters of my book interact in this way with each other. One always beats the other and some are always coming out on top of certain situations. And while the characters are people, not a game and therefore it doesn't always work, it does make me smile to imagine my characters growling at each other and then frowning and holding their hands out, ready to play their own version of Rock, Paper, Scissors to decide who is right.
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