I was talking to someone today and remembered something I forgot long ago.

Before I got married the first time, before I got pregnant with my oldest, I signed up for a college course about the history of the Middle ages. I don’t even remember the name of the class now.

What I do remember is why I took the class.

I had a story in my head that was supposed to occur in the middle ages, and I wanted to make my world building as realistic as I could.

I didn’t realize then that I could simply wing it, and it wouldn’t matter. It’s my world and I can do what I want. If it doesn’t follow real history, so what.

I’ve got stories based on different things that happened in history. It doesn’t have to make sense in a real timeline. I can have the great moon hoax from 1835 in a different story from the beast of Gevaudan from 1764, and the Salem witch trials in 1692. I don’t have to explain why the dates changed or the same characters are alive. If I decide to have a different witch trials from the early 1600s in England, I can do that too.

Who cares if my timeline doesn’t match up, it’s my world and my stories.