Retro Writer
I’m going through a bit of a retro stage. Perhaps my subconscious is gearing up to start working on my Steampunk first draft. I’ve gone on something of a Western splurge, I’m listening to music from my youth (currently Land of Confusion by Genesis) and I’m about to reread an old David Morrell novel. Watching the Westerns and listening to the music brings back all sorts of memories of growing up on the Isle of Man.
My Steampunk novel, so far called Lost Company, is inspired by an old Big Country song Lost Patrol. I loved Big Country when I was a teenager, in the same way I loved David Eddings’s books. I loved all kinds of guitary music - Dire Straits, Gary Moore, Iron Maiden, Def Leppard.
I remember being impressed by Big Country’s latest album, Peace In Our Time, and playing it in a pub on the promenade in Douglas for Simon Rea, now a singer-songwriter. While Big Country clearly weren’t his thing, he said, “It’s good they’re changing, not just staying the same.”
Which is as good a creative philosophy as any I’ve heard. I’m not saying Simon’s words have reverberated through 22 years (God, was it really 1988, when we were in that pub?), driving my writing forwards, but the philosphy behind them encapsulates why I’ve written in so many different genres:
- The Tale of the Birds - Historical fantasy
- The Mask Slips - Contemporary
- The Concubine’s Son - SE Asian fantasy
- Chess Novel - Young Adults
- Lost Company - Steampunk
So while I’m enjoying wallowing in my retro-phase at the moment, I don’t think it will go on for much longer. Different novels require different music playlists, different styles of writing and different ways of thinking. After the Steampunk novel, I’m planning on writing one of two thrillers I’ve mapped out. I already know the music I’ll be listening to then, and it won’t be Dire Staits or Big Country. They’re perfect for Lost Company, though.
Tags: Genres, Isle of Man, Lost Company
This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 4th, 2010 at 9:05 am and is filed under Short Story. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
