Hiroshi Sakurazaka

After a career in IT (information technology), he published his first novel, Modern Magic Made Simple (Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mabou) in 2003 with Super Dash Bunko, a popular Young Adult light novel imprint. There are seven volumes in the series, it was adapted as Manga in 2008, and a TV anime series in 2009. He also published All You Need Is Kill with SDB in 2004 and earned his first Seiun Award nomination for Best of the Year honors in Japanese SF. In 2009, it was the launch title for Haikasoru, a unique imprint dedicated to publishing the most compelling contemporary Japanese SF and fantasy for English-speaking audiences; it's one of his most popular novels, and he remains one of Japan's most energetic writers of light novels and adult SF.

[at the end of his novel All You Need Is Kill, the book that inspired Edge of Tomorrow] I like video games. I've been playing them since I was a snot-nosed kid. I've watched them grow up along with me. But even after beating dozens of games on the hardest difficulty mode, I've never been moved to cheer until the walls shake. I've never laughed, cried, or jumped up to strike a victory pose. My excitement drifts like ice on a quiet pond, whirling around somewhere deep inside me. Maybe that's just the reaction I have watching myself from the outside. I look down from above and say, "after all the time I put into the game, of course I was going to beat it". I see myself with a shit-eating grin plastered on my face - a veteran smile only someone who'd been there themselves could appreciate. The ending never changes. The village elder can't come up with anything better than the same, worn-out line he always uses. "Well done, XXXX. I never doubted that the blood of a hero flowed in your veins". Well the joke is on you, Gramps. There's not a drop of hero's blood in my whole body, so spare me the praise. I'm just an ordinary guy, and proud of it. I'm here because I put in the time. I have the blisters on my fingers to prove it. It had nothing to do with coincidence, luck, or the activation of my Wonder Twin powers. I reset the game hundreds of times until my special attack finally went off perfectly. Victory was inevitable. So please, hold off on all the hero talk. This is the sort of thing that went through my head while I was writing. Without the help of a great many people, this novel would never have made it into this world. It's a dark story, with characters dying left and right, but I'm happy with how it turned out. Oh, I nearly forgot. Thanks to all the good little boys and girls out there sending me those jet-black feeds.