Research and more of a passion, or you could say obsession. Your story shows a profound understanding of Writing the sequel and the prequel, The Harsh Cry of the Heron and Heaven’s Landscape, more of the Otori story came rushing into my head and I ended up Shadows) set in the bakumatsu period but while I was there, back in the I was researching a historical novel ( Blossoms and I went back to the same region in 2002 and lived in an old house in a small I started writing in theĪkiyoshidai International Arts Village, one of the co-sponsors of the grant,Īnd wrote most of the first three books while travelling in Japan in 1999 andĢ000. Was given a grant for three months travel and study. Reading all I could and the idea of setting a fantasy in a Japanese world grewĪpplied for an Asialink fellowship to go to Japan to research this idea and I

Writing it and kept putting it aside, but I started studying Japanese and Nightingale Floor, together with the voice of the protagonist, leapt into Japan in 1993 (my first trip, when I was reeling from all the differentĮxperiences and impressions). What inspired you to write Tales of the Otori? His style merged Japanese and Western styles, but he was also an ultra-nationalist who committed ritual suicide at Tokyo’s Police Headquarters.) ( Interviewer’s Note: Yukio Mishima was a three-time Nobel Prize nominee for literature, as well as a model and actor. The Tale of Genji, Tales of the Heike, and Tale of the Sogaīrothers are works that I return to over and again. Morris’ book led me to the novels of Yukio Mishima. Of us have more knowledge of failure than of winning, and failure is more Ivan Morris’ The Nobility of Failure, which struck a chord with me. Original texts and modern Japanese writers. She was a hugeĪbout Japan I’ve always tried to balance reading Western writers on Japan with Just before I started thinking about writing novels myself, Iįound the novels of Diana Wynne Jones in my local library. The Once and Future King was a favourite when I was a I also read and reread myths and legends, Greek,

Influences were writers who combined fantasy with real worlds, E Nesbitt, Off, I am going to ask the most unoriginal question: Who are your literary And today, we are lucky enough to have an interview with the author! She has two more books in the series coming out soon: Orphan Warriors and Sibling Assassins. On Friday of last week, we reviewed Lian Hearn’s Tales of the Otori series, which begins with Across the Nightingale Floor.

Over the nightingale floor