“E” could be for English, which is a language of elegance. In one sense, English is my third language, as it was the third language I learned, but it is my primary language now, so it is my first language. Over the years I have come to appreciate the elegance of English–rich in shades of meaning. Roots that draw deep from other languages. A tapestry. The language of Shakespeare. As I write the Yamabuki saga, ~1200 C....
Without realizing it, I had made a big deal out of Yamabuki’s armor.
Introducing the reader to an unfamiliar constructed world takes patience, care, and research.
Historic fiction is a slippery slope. I am currently writing about Japan in the historic period in and around the Gempei War—a war of historic record. My main character is Yamabuki, a female warrior, a person who is recorded in some annals, but whose life is almost unknown. How much can a writer make up while entertaining her audience, while staying more or less faithful to the period? Some writers will go completely around this problem....
“The Pillow Book of a Samurai,” has been long in coming. I have been thinking on the main character, Yamabuki, for some time now. It’s a genre that is narrow and under served, at least in my view – heroic women who are more than superficial characters. I have been working at this, off and on, for a number of years, with my day job usually pushing away writing time....