Greetings Readers!

In my last post I discussed aspirations for Eroberung and Memoirs of Conquest, so it seems only logical and in keeping with the penchant of many writers, that I discuss inspirations in my next post. It also provides an enjoyable dash of alliteration, which is always welcome…

However, literary whimsy aside, I actually find the subject of inspiration a difficult one to tackle, as I always feel like something of an oddity: Most writers will talk with verbose enthusiasm and sophistication about the books or authors who have inspired them to write, often citing a desire to emulate the great works of their chosen genre, or how they shaped the well-spring from which their own creativity flows, and whilst I could certainly talk about my favourite novels and authors ad nauseum (don’t even get me started on the shifting sands of Frank Herbert’s Dune, the grand scope of Asimov’s interwoven Robot and Foundation series or the genius of Moorcock’s Eternal Champion format), other than engendering in me a love of the written word and its use in the telling of tall and engaging tales, there are none that have inspired me, per se, in the direct and visceral way that seems to be the norm’. I even find it hard to identify a genre and niche for Memoirs of Conquest; I know that, strictly speaking, it falls into the genre of Science Fiction (the literary snob in me wants to say, ‘Speculative Fiction’ but he can be silenced with Earl Grey and biscuits), and owes much to what could perhaps be referred to as ‘Empty Earth’ narratives, but beyond that, I take my literary inspiration where-ever I find it.

You see, if I’m honest, inspiration for me, seems to be more of a Magpie affair.

I collect bits and pieces of ideas, where-ever and however they come to me and from a range of different and dissonant sources. I’m one of those people who can lose hours surfing Wikipedia links hoovering up little bits of esoterica or who sees a particularly well-crafted Youtube advert and shamelessly squirrels away whatever has piqued my interest about it for later use. I also read extensively, across and a range of genres and mediums, and find intrigue in the smallest of phrases and longest of diatribes alike (I have most recently been pouring over Kiplings, Law of the Jungle for instance, which I actually stumbled upon via its use in the MMPORG Destiny). I find, at the risk of raising the spectre of plagiarism, stolen ideas provide a marvellously ramshackle scaffold upon which to build the most intricate and enduring of narratives and am reminded of that fantastic quote from Shakespeare’s Richard III:

“And thus I clothe my naked villany,
With odd old ends stol’n out of holy writ,
And seem a saint, when most I play the devil.”

For me, it’s more about the sentiment evoked (which the above quote does superbly) than the utility of the words.

That being said, for all my literary scavenging in my sentiment-driven search for inspiration, there is one medium which does provide a firmer foundation for my writing and directly shapes the nature of the narrative I am crafting, and that is music. Music is an oft-overlooked companion to writing, and it is no surprise to me that, when literary works make the transition to other mediums, especially film and television, music is used to evoke the sentiment that would otherwise be lost. Whereas I might find it difficult to cite direct literary influences for Memoirs of Conquest, I can quite readily and happily provide a soundtrack to my writing, and tell you exactly what pieces link to which elements of the story, be it characters, settings or plot points.

Memoirs of Conquest‘s earliest iterations were (and continue to be) shaped primarily by the music of the electronic ensemble Ladytron, and in particular the tracks Predict the day and Cease 2 Exist. With its refrain, “Predict the day, the Night’s never-ending, I never thought, I didn’t think twice.”, the former evokes the sentiment I was aiming for in describing the collective aspirations of man cut short by Ubiquity’s final solution, and the latter, with its questioning chorus, “Think, everyone that you kissed, do they cease to exist, when you stop being missed?” provides a beautiful soliloquy to Mark Graf’s mental collapse as he wrestles with the unavoidable fact of his survival and isolation. Similarly, The Lovers, is helping immeasurably in shaping the tone of Mark Graf’s, somewhat subversive, relationship with The Sorrow and The Joy.

Other note-worthy musical inspirations also include the British triumvirate of Nero, whose track Scorpions is the main frame of reference for Mark Graf’s existence as he settles into post-human life prior to the arrival of Servatesh, and Interpol‘s near-funereal orchestral rendition of their song, Pioneer to the Falls (from the album Mammoth) which provided the inspiration for the section in Memoirs where Mark Graf describes the death and burial of his partner, although this was also heavily influenced by Andy Gray’s remix of Gary Numan’s classic anthem for the angry atheist, Prayer for the Unborn (featured on the Exposure album). When we walk with Servatesh through an empty London during the day, it is Pavane, Opus 50 by Gabriel Fauré, as performed by the Orquesta Filarmónica de Requena, which echoes from the façades of the empty buildings, and when he looks out upon it at night, it is Richard Burton’s reading of Under Milkwood set to music in Volkwagen’s Night Driving advert, which stares back from the windows of the desolate and disconsolate capital.

So, it might not be the accepted way of doing things, but it is what gets me writing, helps me to sustain it and will hopefully continue to do so, for a long time to come…