How to Bring History to Life, with Sharon Curcio

If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to bring a whole historical world to life on the page—without losing your reader in the weeds—this episode is for you.

In today’s conversation on The Resilient Writers Radio Show, I’m joined by author Sharon Curcio, and we’re talking about her indie-published historical novel, Asayi: An Autistic Teen’s Journey to Topola Shogun in Medieval Japan. 

Sharon shares how this book (volume one of a trilogy) has already earned four medallions of excellence and a historical fiction finalist award from the Next Generation Indie Book Awards—and why readers have been responding so strongly to it.

Sharon takes us back to the unexpected origin of this story: her early years in the advertising world in New York, and a deep fascination with sumi-e art—the traditional Japanese black-ink painting practice that demands intense precision and presence. 

That discipline, Sharon explains, was part of what catalyzed her long-term “journey into Japan,” eventually including a visit in 2024.

From there, we dig into one of the most compelling creative choices in Sharon’s novel: writing an autistic teenage heroine. Sharon describes a moment of realization—she could paint Japanese symbols beautifully, but she wasn’t literate in Japanese and didn’t know what the characters meant. 

As she approached retirement, she began to ask: what kind of child might live inside that gap between skill and spoken understanding? Her answer became Asaii—an autistic teen whose strengths, perception, and determination shape the entire story.

We also talk about history. Sharon explains what a shogun actually is (and why it’s more than “a warlord with a gang”), touching on the bakufu, legal structures, and the fierce importance of land in Japan, where only a small percentage is arable. 

Then she shares the real historical anchor point that sparked her plot research: the assassination of Yoshinori Ashikaga in 1441, an event Sharon uses as a fixed historical milestone while weaving fictional characters into the true historical timeline.

One of the craft highlights of our conversation is Sharon’s approach to a mute protagonist. In the novel, Asaii understands language but cannot speak it—and Sharon describes the challenges (and opportunities) of building a character who communicates through expression, action, and rapid sketching. It’s a fascinating look at how story can move powerfully without relying on dialogue.

We also chat indie publishing realities: the cover design process (including the surprising agony of getting sizing right for upload), Sharon’s decision to publish independently to avoid years-long waits, and the marketing maze—what worked, what didn’t (including Amazon Ads), and how podcasts and legitimate book clubs helped her reach real readers.