Tales of Yamato: An Author Interview with Odessa Silver
- Swords & Sapphics team
- Aug 8, 2025
- 11 min read
Escape to Japan with indie author Odessa Silver this Friday as we chat about Tales of Yamato, a historical fantasy inspired by mythology, in this brand-new interview.
Thank you for joining us, Odessa! Could you start by introducing yourself?
I’m Odessa Silver, a British fantasy author who is queer, disabled, and neurospicy! Which is why I can only really label myself as a fantasy author, as my brain likes to hop around on all different ideas depending on hyperfixations and interests. I’ve been writing short stories the most over the last few years and it’s only recently I’ve been able to successfully write things longer.
We would love to know more about Tales of Yamato and what inspired you to write it! Did any stories in particular serve as a starting point?
Tales of Yamato has a few inspirations actually, the first of which kicked the whole thing off. So my first written story in the collection was Beneath Tsukuyomi as I was originally writing a short story to a prompt about moons. From that my mind wandered to moon viewing (which is a Japanese custom) and from that I was reminded of a moon viewing scene in a game I’d played (essentially a Japanese romance game called otome - the game itself was Ikemen Sengoku). It was a moment that I really enjoyed and stuck with me, so I wanted to replicate that feeling. Alongside that, I also took some inspiration from another scene in the game set in an onsen and ryokan (Japanese hot spring and inn). From that, magic happened and all of a sudden I had two men laying naked watching the moon and bam, the story continued. For the moon aspect, I also learnt that the moon god was called Tsukuyomi and incorporated him into it.
After that I had the itch. Something deep in me knew I wasn’t done in this world and definitely not with Hotaka, the main character. I also knew I couldn’t rely on an otome game for all my inspiration and it needed to take flight by itself. I worked with the emotional beats I’d placed and did research into other Japanese deities… and then yokai (Japanese supernatural beings to put it simply, they’re complicated)... and then the hyperfixations hit and the rest of the collection happened!
What drew you to the historical fantasy genre in particular?
To begin with, I just used it because it was the same setting as the otome game. But I have toyed with historical fantasy for the longest time too. My second novel I planned while in my teens was a historical fantasy set in Egypt focused around the gods (though that never came into being). I enjoy history but I can never stay in such rigid confines as solid historical fiction. I want to explore the what ifs and also drag in mythology and deities too.
Similarly, what interested you about Japanese mythology?
When I was younger, it was all about Egypt. I never cared for Greek or Roman mythology, and I vaguely remember some Hindu mythology from school. So when I dipped my toe into Japanese mythology as research, it was like when I first got interested in Egyptian mythology. At this point I was only aware of maybe two or three deities (thanks to anime and Stargate SG1!) and as I began to read, I loved it more and more. I am always drawn to myths of the gods getting up to all sorts of very human-like mischief and escapades. With Japanese especially, it felt untapped. We often hear of the three big mythologies I’ve already mentioned (at least here in the UK) but never so much outside of that. So I fell into something I was loving and wanted to share.
And how did you weave the two aspects together? What did the world-building process look like for you?
Weaving them both was so natural, like breathing. I took the myths, the deities, and the yokai and just made them real. So instead of things hypothetically happening, or being hearsay, it happened right there in the stories. We see regular humans interacting with gods and yokai and the different outcomes from it. I decided on what happened depending on what myths say about them, as well as other aspects. For example, Inari is the goddess of many things including sake, but she is also a fox goddess who has kitsune as messengers. She’s generous, she drinks sake, but she’s also unpredictable and as fickly mischievous as a fox. You can never truly trust her… and some have to learn the hard way.
For worldbuilding the landscape, I took as much as I could from real world Japan. A lot of places are real places that I’ve researched into (unfortunately never been there though). It was important to me to keep as many details as real as possible, then filling the gaps with my imagination as logically as I could. Some things were especially hard to research as I was writing 1500s Japan (Muromachi period), and the period after—the Edo period—is the most well known and popular, which is partially why I picked Muromachi over Edo.
Can you tell us a little bit about your characters? Which, if any, do you identify with most and why?
I love my characters. My writing is very character driven and focused, and they are also usually the first to emerge when writing. A lot of writers go plot first, but nope! My characters have to come first and I weave the landscape around them.
For Tales of Yamato, I really wanted to explore the world and interactions from many perspectives and ages. I didn’t think twice about having POV characters who were really young (Hirotoshi is around 10) or really old (I have a character in her 50s and another in her 70s). They are more difficult to write, especially for being in another culture and time to myself, but I took the challenge. I always write in first so I have to really get into their heads, understanding wants, desires, but also thought patterns. Hirotoshi for example has moments where he’s more mature, or at least he tries to be, but also slips back into a child-like mind too. I really wanted to show how his thoughts were there, but not quite as mature as an adult.
As many authors do, all my characters have stolen bits of me (I don’t have control of this!). So in a way I identify with all of them, just some more than others. I think of all my characters, I identify with Noemi the most, but she’s from Of Spells and Love, not Tales of Yamato.
And which characters, or stories, do you hope your readers will connect with the most?
I hope readers connect with my characters in the less comedic pieces, especially Hirotoshi, Ryozo, and Hotaka. I also hope certain readers connect with my tale about Rika who struggles with full-term pregnancy, as I feel like it’s a topic that’s not often seen—especially in fantasy.
The story features a diverse range of representation, with queer and disabled characters. Why was it important to you to include this in your books?
I always think it’s important to show a wide range of people to not only reflect true real life, but also to highlight people/stories which are often overlooked or underrepresented. I let my characters create themselves, and from that their story evolves. So, if one character is queer, then there might be an element there to explore further. For Hotaka it was simple, he was in love, but it was a tiny fraction of himself. Whereas for Ryozo (who has a clubbed foot), he slowly showed me his disability and I just knew that needed exploring deeper, and from that, I used my own disabilities to help shape him. One small element to him was giving him a cane/walking stick to help get him around and this was because of a disabled friend of mine saying how she rarely sees characters with canes (and most are aesthetic), so that was just for her. Representation matters 100%.
Are there any additional representations or mythologies that you’d like to see or write more of in the future?
Part of me would love to write more disabled characters or varying types because of representation, but also having my own disabilities to call on for realism. However, it can be really hard. I write to escape my life and I do write a lot of non-disabled people and watch them do so many things I can’t. As for mythologies, child-me would love to return to the Egyptian mythology one day, but I feel like I may have moved on from that—but that’s not to say Egyptian myths won’t influence future stories. I also have started a few stories which have created my own mythologies/deities which may make an appearance some day.
You also have a short story named Of Spells and Love available to buy now. What can readers expect from this?
Of Spells and Love is a strange one. It’s almost a half letter to my younger self, half exploration of my wild thoughts. I knew from the get go it would be a non-binary focused piece but the ideas that stemmed from it could easily inspire so many other stories. This story is a sweet piece of self-exploration and realisation that essentially, just because you’re not like others, doesn’t mean you’re broken. Juuuuust at the bottom of the ocean in an almost neverending ancient library with magic and spells which have a physicality to them, you can touch spells—which is something I desperately want to return to some time, that idea is a goldmine.
What made you decide to pursue indie publishing rather than traditional?
The realisation that I would never be able to be a traditional author, despite it being my dream. Over the years, the general feedback has been similar: it’s difficult to get into trad publishing with no uni degree, that you're practically going to have to do all the marketing anyway, so why not go indie where you have full control? It wasn’t a hard decision in the end, only a heart-breaking one. I write chaotically, I go wherever my mind goes, I can’t write to schedules or to market and get bored if I am forced to do anything. With indie publishing, it’s freer, and less pressure in some areas, just infinitely more difficult. Honestly, I don’t feel like an agent would have ever picked Tales of Yamato and yet I desperately wanted to write it.
Have you come across any challenges in writing or publishing so far? How have you overcome them?
Yes, there are so many challenges to both. With writing, it’s hard because of my method of writing. I’m a discovery writer and I’ve never been much of a plotter, so I just have to follow the process. Because of this, plus not being able to focus, and on top of that my other health issues… getting writing done is very hard. I’ve not yet found a way to overcome it, other than just going with the flow. It’s still something I struggle with often.
With publishing, the biggest challenges are one many authors know and hate. Being seen. It feels impossible to get your name out there, especially if you end up writing niche like me, and then you have to fight social media, which is forever changing, marketing, which everyone and their mum has advice about (and is almost always approached very neurotypically so my neurospicy brain can’t always follow), and everything in between. To overcome this it’s just determination of keeping on trying and trying and hoping one day something works.
Are you a plotter or pantser, and did any additional research go into any of your books? Anything you might have learned along the way?
I’m mostly a pantser. I’ve tried many times to plot but as soon as I do, I either struggle or find it boring. There’s something about discovering where the story goes as I write it which is exciting and fun. It makes it hell to edit later, but I never make any of this easier for myself… However, every blue moon, I do end up plotting—like for my second novel I’m currently writing, Unbound by the Sea—and it works a little. For that, I have plotted some general things and yet I still have ended up tangenting away and my inner pantser has taken over again.
For research I end up down all sorts of rabbit holes. Tales of Yamato was most intense, and I felt like I was researching something new every few sentences. I had to look into very specific honorifics, clothing, shrine parts and names, rituals, deity history, even when certain items were around to try and keep everything consistent. It’s actually been fun having to not research as much for my other stories so that my writing flows a bit faster. It has meant I have learnt a lot though, and I do enjoy knowing things as small facts tend to be needed somewhere in the future or can crop up in the weirdest places—this is why I like to read all manners of articles too, cause who knows when you’ll need stuff? (and it did come in handy during a pub quiz one time when I was the only person in the room to know how many shapes of McNuggets there are [despite not eating them]!)
We’d love a hint about what readers can expect from you next! What are you currently working on?
I’ve tried hard to work on only one project at a time and it lasted for a while… but now it’s out of hand. I’m working on my romantasy Unbound by the Sea, a 20k queer romantasy called The Silver Mer of Silvermere, plus I wrote the start of a full blown fantasy-something (but that might have just needed me to write a chapter and then leave me be for a while). If things go right, The Silver Mer of Silvermere will be the next out to read as Unbound by the Sea is going to need a ton of editing when complete.
You mention fandoms in your author bio - which are you most active in, and have any of them inspired your writing?
The biggest fandom that people will have heard of I’m in is Genshin Impact. That’s my latest hyperfixation and I love it a lot (for those who understand, I’m a Lyney main). So far it has inspired Unbound by the Sea slightly, but nothing more than that atm. However, music is another matter. I got dragged into k-pop (after being a fan of j-music for many many years) and that really does inspire my writing (music in general does). I have a character who has been heavily inspired by my favourite singer, Yonghoon from Onewe. This isn’t something that happens very often (but Yonghoon is a very inspirational person) but I knew I had to do it. The character in question is called Kyung and he sings just as magically as Yonghoon does—pause while I melt into an appreciative puddle a moment—and I just love it. That’s just one aspect of him though, the rest of him is quite different and he’s very much his own person. Characters are very special to me and they need to be fully them, not a copy of a real person.
You also share a lot of proverbs on your social media. Do you have one that you carry closest?
Japan loves their proverbs and sharing them on social media is lots of fun as I get to learn a lot of them as I do. I really like “to an ant, a few drops of rain are a flood” and feel it highlights something I strive to show in my writing—that everyone is different and we all have different experiences of the same thing.
I don’t carry any proverbs close myself, but I can share a random Japanese saying which I do love.
Kanji: 猫の額
Hiragana: ねこのひたい
Romaji: Neko no hitai
It means “a cat’s forehead” and is used to refer to things which are extremely small, such as the size of a garden.
Our podcast focuses on media we’re currently loving. Are there any books, shows, movies, or games you’re enjoying at the moment? Any recommendations for our audience? Bonus points if it includes sapphics!
I’m in a slump right now, I’m not reading or watching anything new. I have been playing Hotel Architect which is a recently released game on Steam which is something quite simple and fun.
For something sapphic I’d recommend the program Killing Eve. It’s been out a while now, but I really loved it when it came out (except the ending, they butchered that).
About the Author
Odessa has been stuck in her imagination since a child creating strange ideas and weaving them into stories. She follows wherever her mind takes her, although almost always staying under the genre of fantasy somewhere. A lover of character driven narratives, each story is woven with emotion and human nature. Odessa lives in the UK alongside her very helpful ‘editor’ cat, Phoebe.
Keep up with her:
website: www.odessasilver.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/odessa_silver
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