Welcome to sōsei
Rebranding the Substack, weekly schedule, and introducing my novel
To get a bit personal for a bit, this year has been full of changes. I got married, quit my job, and moved to a new city all within the span of three months. I did all of this in a foreign country, in a different language.
Needless to say, it has had a big impact on my outlook and writing.
Initially, I created this Substack as a way to post some fiction and write about my life in Japan. I still have that desire and want to achieve this. However, as I have been thinking about my goals and writing, I wanted to create something that aligned more with my vision of myself as a writer. I felt torn between the desire to write about my life and to write fiction.
So, let me introduce sōsei.
Sōsei is my creative brand and the new name of this Substack. It is a Japanese word that means “the creation of the world.” As my desire when writing about my life or writing fiction has always been to create worlds for readers to get lost in, this felt extremely appropriate.
The content is going to change as well. See below for a more detailed breakdown.
But, there’s one more thing I’d like to introduce first…
My Novel
For the past four years, my main writing project has been my novel. It is called ASLEEP AMONG THE SPIDER LILIES.
The one (two) sentence pitch goes something like this:
Set in the fantasy-Japan inspired land of Gendo, ASLEEP AMONG THE SPIDER LILIES tells the story of Yori Kanbo, a boy from the top of the mountain, where his people live among the Remnants of the spirit of time. Yet, when the warlord Yoshimune attacks, destroying everything and stealing the Remnants, Yori must turn from boy to soldier, commune with gods and spirits, and fight to keep the timelines in place, or risk losing everything to the void.
It is absolutely the project I am most excited about. I hope that you will look forward to reading it, and stay tuned for more news soon!
The Schedule From Here On:
The Chronicles of One Thousand Winters
Travel to the dark, whimsical Japan of One Thousand Winters. Here, you will find stories of characters who are searching for something. This Japan of my imagination looks to be the Japan as we know, but spirits and weird goings-on are abound.
About once a week, I will add to the Chronicles of One Thousand Winters. This is my ongoing, whimsical, dark fantasy modern Japan. The setting is a Japan we might recognize at first glance, but one that hides weird goings-on, spirits, and the occasional time slip. Inspired by writers such as Haruki Murakami and Yasunari Kawabata, this is my homage to the place I call my second home, and my way of making sense of it.
The Gods Wars Saga
The part of Sōsei dedicated to the God Wars Saga - a series of stories focusing on the wars of the gods, spirits, and humans that shaped the land of Gendō. These stories are a prequel to my novel ASLEEP AMONG THE SPIDER LILIES.
The God Wars Saga is my new, ongoing saga set in my world of Gendō, a fantasy-Japan inspired setting. This saga chronicles the beginning of Gendō and the many wars and conflicts that the gods, spirits, and humans faced during this time. It is also a prequel to my debut novel, ASLEEP AMONG THE SPIDER LILIES.
*UPDATE AS of 9/29/24 - The prologue chapters of the God Wars Saga, Era of the Fallen are complete! You can read them at the link above. For now, this serial is going on hiatus. While it is a little disappointing, I want to provide my best, most polished content, and the serial format I was doing didn’t let me do that.
I am going to focus on One Thousand Winters standalone, short stories for now, and come back to the God Wars after I have written more and can provide it at a high level, and on a sustainable schedule. Thanks for understanding!
A few more housekeeping notes:
Lastly, here’s where else you can find me and support my work:
Medium - I mostly crosspost Substack stuff on here, but if you are already a paying member of Medium, then reading my stuff there too helps me out. My Medium posts lean more towards Japan-life related topics, so less fiction.
Ko-fi - A great way to support me if you don’t want to subscribe to Substack. One time donations on Ko-fi are easy and very much appreciated. Plus, Ko-fi takes very minimal fees.
Pinterest - yes, this one might seem odd, but I want to curate more images on Pinterest in the coming months, and if you are into mood boards or vibes, I’ll be making my board here for Asleep Among the Spider Lilies soon.
That’s about all. Thank you for reading and supporting sōsei. Your readership means everything to me.
Let’s create worlds together.
Marco