Hello from Maryland, USA

[Talaxin]

Greetings from Howard County, Maryland! I am 59 yrs old and writing my first fantasy/horror novel set in Japan around 1200 (that is, some alternate history of Japan in which magic exists and has had an influence on the political and social milieu).

 

[pmmg]

Howdy Talaxin.

I find that the writers from Maryland write the best stuff. Welcome here.

 

[Karlin]

Good luck!

Have you read The Tale of the Heike?

 

[Talaxin]

Thanks! I've read the Tale of the Heike in part. It's on my list of things to read completely at some point, but I have been focusing on other sources. The Tale of the Heike is heavily biased toward the warrior class perspective and the Confucian and androcentric ideals of state Buddhism, while most of my characters are women of low-rank or peasant status. I'm currently writing an arc in which a neurodivergent daughter of rank, a woodcutter's daughter, and a grown woman suffering from severe PTSD are thrown together on a road trip from Kamakura to a Hogwarts-like dojo for women in the mountains near present-day Nagoya. My alt-Japan does include the Jisho-Juei (Genpei) War, but it is a bit different due to the presence of magic. I retain some of the major family lineages (Nakitomi, Fujiwara, Minamoto, Taira) but magic has created a much more federal-style politics, with clan domains exercising a considerable amount of autonomy due to the very powerful nature of magic and its random (so it seems) and rare occurrence in the population.

 

[Talaxin]

Howdy Talaxin.

I find that the writers from Maryland write the best stuff. Welcome here.

That's good to hear. I'll do what I can to keep the reputation untarnished.