I'll try not to make this a rant...

Well, I've decided to change the name of the village...for now. I've already got the name--surprisingly, took me only five minutes! I mean, if people are going to expect some sort of historical accuracy within Salem Village, I might as well not do them a disappointment by completely fictionalizing it with a real name.

In the first book it won't be obvious though, because I don't say that witch burnings first begin in *insert new village name*. I only make that known in the prequel, and I want readers to understand the connection in the first book so that way they can get: Oh, it's one of those what-if kind of things.

That might not be necessary, though. A ton of people know Salem's history and will make the connection between witch trials and the town; calling your village Salaam might be too obvious.

Well, I talked to someone on another writer's forum, and she said it's the fact that I use Salem Village. She used Gotham City to support her example. It's totally obvious the writer's referencing New York, but to make it a purely fictional world, he had to change the name to Gotham City.

However, it might not be obvious to a lot of people that I'm referencing Salem Village, especially if they don't understand its history. Instead, I'm going to change the spelling of Salem to this: Salaam. Yes, it's word that basically means salutations, but I really want to make its allusion obvious.

I've never been in a situation like this, but I say you're the author, you get to pick how your novel is. After all, you explained yourself that it was fantasy.

Just move on and if you still use this person as a beta reader, keep on pushing the fact it's just fantasy.

...because I do like the person beta reading my novel.

Basically, my beta reader has said some good things so far, such as: "The dialogue can be stitled, don't harp on the Benz Velo so much, Alice has no reason to judge him just yet..."

But he also said something that made me go: "Do you read fantasy, like, at all?"

This is what he said to me:

"You seem to have combined the American Puritan society with the Victorians. The Victorians did not harp on things such as sins, religion or church. It was the beginning of modern culture. Marxism, Sigmund Freud, and Darwin made their appearance during this time. Modern science was born. This was the industrial revolution.

Also, Salem Village was located in America, not Victorian England. Find an actual English town for your main character to be from if you're going to have the setting placed there."

I thought I had made it clear in the Prologue that these characters live in a purely fictional world, what with saying that the MC is from a continent called Maeve and all. Therefore, Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, and Darwin don't even exist in my world! I mean, I make allusions, like King Herod and King Henry the Eighth, but it's fantasy, so I can manipulate history to suit the needs of my novel!

So I replied basically saying that I'll take some of his suggestions, but as for the "historical inaccuracies" he has to keep in mind he's reading fantasy. My book is a more of a: "What if the witch hysteria still continued on into the 19th century." And yes, I added that to my query letter--not in exact words, of course.

I know he has said before he doesn't read much fantasy, but I don't even say or show that this is historical fiction. I make it so obvious it's pure fantasy.

Have you ever manipulated historical details to suit the needs of your novel?