My most ambitious video so far, where I tried out some new stuff! This one explains (or tries to) some of Horo Taka/Shinotori’s background. It’ll be a scene in the middle of Dreams of Summer, when Horo Taka has been sent to Japan’s “Deep North” and separated from Lady Kiyohara for over a month.
For those of you who and new here and have no clue what I’m talking about… well, I totally suck at these sorts of explanations. I say too much or not enough and usually get people confused either way! So try this:
It’s a Sapphic romance set in an ancient Japan “that never was” but is inspired by Japan during the later part of the Heian era, about 1,000 years ago. The romance is between an exalted lady of the imperial court, Lady Kiyohara, and one of the emperor’s guardians, a lady samurai (they did exist) who goes by the names Horo Taka (which means “wandering hawk” and Shinotori. It’s a forbidden affair because Lady Kiyohara is a high-ranking aristocrat and Shinotori/Horo Taka is a commoner and an orphan.
Their story is being told over four books, one for each season, in a series called The Gem-Bright Year and much of it is told through an exchange of poems (that’s how they did things at the Heian imperial court). I’ve included the work of quite a few women poets of the Heian era (the only truly historical part of the story) combined with original poetry of my own.
If you’re curious and want to know more about the Heian women poets, I have several posts about them here, and this one and this one might be good places to start.
If you want to know how the story starts, you can download my illustrated PDF of the first book, A Spring Night’s Dream.
If you want see more video you’ll have to become a paid subscriber. I’ve already finished the videos for A Spring Night’s Dream and the autumn book, Songs for the Autumn Wind. I working on Dreams of Summer, which is pretty far along, and the last book (Winter Whispers) is still in early stages.
Yes, there’s some heat in both the books and videos (especially the videos).
I want to acknowledge and give a shoutout to Riley Rose! The genuine video wizard! I’ve learning a lot from her so if you like what you see, you can thank her for that!
Ok, now that’s it! Thanks so super-much for dropping by! I hope you like the video! Except that I really, really love comments so if you have any thoughts, I totally want to hear them!