Tag Archives: ados

Writing the Mendaihu Universe and post-9/11 tunage

Posted on by
Reply

I’m still going through the Legacy Soundtrack list and I’ve reached the autumn and winter months of 2001, and I’ve realized a few interesting things. One is that I can definitely confirm that I was working down in the basement on a daily basis by then and doing most likely around 500 to 800 words a night on A Division of Souls. Another is that I’d made the very smooth transition from sating my music fix at HMV to my weekly stops at the Newbury Comics in downtown Amherst. And a third is that I was definitely reading a hell of a lot more than I ever had, even more than my school days. [I was terrible about it then, most likely due to undiagnosed ADD. It wasn’t until probably the late 90s when that changed, mainly due to voracious comic reading which led to oh hey I’m writing science fiction, maybe I should read some as well, which in turn led to very frequent visits to Barnes & Noble and elsewhere.]

To get through everything — focusing on the writing, immersing myself in the genre and the universe I was creating, and dealing with current events — I did what I always did, and that was listening to music. It was a solace I needed at the time, and it was also a perfect anchor when I needed to narrow my focus. The below albums were those that dropped on or around 9/11 and were constantly on rotation at my desk.

Ben Folds, Rockin’ the Suburbs. The title track became my unofficial personal theme song as well as the title for my LiveJournal when I got one a few years later. It’s a rather somber album compared to his earlier works but still quite enjoyable.

Bis, Return to Central. I’d been familiar with their cutesy-punk ‘teen-c power’ sound but this was a more mature synth-pop sound that worked really well for them. I loved this record and played it a ton during the writing of A Division of Souls.

P.O.D., Satellite. A lot of bands released albums right on 9/11 that sadly fell into obscurity due to terrible timing, but this one survived that, actually becoming a huge success (partly thanks to heavy play on MTV). I’d been a fan already but this is a hell of a great record.

Curve, Gift. I’d been a fan of this band since my college days and though this would end up being their final album release, it was a hell of a great way to go. This was perfect music to listen to during my writing sessions.

The Verve Pipe, Underneath. Their last for RCA before their extended hiatus, this album should have been a much bigger hit because it’s got some absolutely lovely songs on it like “Only Words” and “I Want All of You”.

Ian Brown, Music of the Spheres. This one’s much more musical and pop oriented than his oddball solo debut Unfinished Monkey Business, and with that it’s an easier listen. “F.E.A.R.” is a great opening track and one of my favorites of his.

Lamb, What Sound. They were pretty much already an “I will buy anything from them” band by this point and I nabbed this one quickly. It’s a great moody record, and the track “Small” ended up being an influence in Denni’s opening scene for The Persistence of Memories.

Sloan, Pretty Together. This is probably my favorite of their albums because it’s just so lovely and warm and a joy to listen to. Not to mention “I Love a Long Goodbye” being one of my favorite track of theirs! This was a great album to put on if I wanted music but not necessarily one that related to my working on Division.

It’s that time of year again…plus recent listens

Posted on by
Reply

Believe it or not I did not listen to Revolver this time out while I did our taxes! Just…didn’t feel in the mood, I guess. But yes, everything is done and away until next year. Who knows what they’re going to look like then?

In the meantime, I’ve been revisiting some music from 2001-2002 — the Belfry Years, specifically the albums that were on heavy rotation during the writing of A Division of Souls, which I’m currently ‘remastering’. [Long story short if you don’t follow my writing blog: It’s been ten years this September since I first self-published the book, so I thought I’d do a tenth anniversary special edition. I’m currently doing a bit of revision and clean-up where needed, fixing up the cover a bit, and perhaps adding some extra bonus things. And yes, I will most likely be doing this for The Persistence of Memories and The Balance of Light as well.]

So what’s popped up that I’m enjoying once more?

I’d forgotten how much I loved Zero 7’s Simple Things! It’s a lovely record that feels a bit like Morcheeba with a hint of Air and “Destiny” is just a wonderful track.

The Chameleons UK shows up on my playlists partly because I love the track “Swamp Thing” so much, but this 2001 album was an amazing return to form after a long hiatus for the group. Highly recommended.

Big Wreck has always been one of my unsung favorites. They’re one of those bands that are absolutely amazing yet have never had a huge following. Loud and extremely melodic, they’re definitely not alt-metal, but they’re not just another 90s alt-rock band either. I highly recommend checking out all their work.

I kinda sorta liked Coldplay’s “Yellow” when it came out, but I wasn’t completely sold on their lighter sound. I even passed up picking up their second album A Rush of Blood to the Head until I heard them do “Politik” live on the Grammys in early 2003. That’s when I realized just how amazing “God Put a Smile Upon Your Face” is, and how this band has a lot more going on than just radio friendly fare.

More to come!

Dividing Lines: When the Trilogy Soundtrack Really Started

Posted on by
Reply

I’ve been going through my music library for the year 2000 to revisit what I would be listening to in the Belfry, and I think I’ve figured out the point where I knew the HMV days were truly over and when the Belfry days kicked into high gear. It’s actually a surprisingly stark line that jives with when I was given the quit-or-be-fired ultimatum from my terrible boss. It’s August of 2000, and by the end of the month I’d be gone.

The Dandy Warhols, Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia, 1 August 2000. Although I’m almost certain I bought this in my final days at HMV and listened to it around that time, I want to say this was an album I spent more time listening to in the Belfry. I wasn’t even the biggest DW fan; by this point I’d heard their earlier hit “Not if You Were the Last Junkie On Earth” for the zillionth time on WFNX and did not like it to begin with, hearing “Godless” turned the tables for me. I remember listening to this one a lot during the summer evenings and weekends while figuring out what I wanted to do with The Phoenix Effect.

Between then and the end of the month, I did pick up a handful of CDs both from the record store and from Newbury Comics — by then my weekly comic book run had started to include a quick stop there to look for things my own store might not carry (or sell cheaper).

Goldfrapp, Felt Mountain, 11 September 2000. I’d left the record store by this point and was just starting at Yankee Candle — a westerly commute instead of an easterly one, and twenty miles shorter at that — but I really didn’t want to disconnect from my weekly accumulation of music. I could just as easily buy copies of my favorite music magazines, CMJ (College Music Journal) and ICE (an industry magazine featuring news on new releases) at Newbury Comics. I think this was one of the first that I bought there after starting the new job.

VAST, Music for People, 12 September 2000. I know I bought this one the same day as the Goldfrapp album (and the Barenaked Ladies album Maroon as well). I’d been a big fan of Jon Crosby’s first album under the VAST moniker and while this one felt slightly more upbeat and less steeped in Nine Inch Nails-esque gloom, it featured some amazing tracks that got a lot of play in the Belfry.

*

I actually wouldn’t start writing A Division of Souls for another year and a half, maybe early 2002 after the frustrations brought about by The Phoenix Effect and its sequel The Mihari, which I was writing at the time. The two books do have a lot of similarities to A Division of Souls, however, and it was simply a decision to stop work on both TPE and TM and completely start over from scratch. [Very similar to what I’d done recently with Theadia, actually.]

The music that inspired the project, however, started around this time when I switched day jobs. It wasn’t a clean switch of course, as I actually worked second shift for my first couple of months (3 – 11pm or thereabouts) and wouldn’t move to first shift until sometime in November. It would be around that time when my writing sessions would truly become more stable and frequent, as would my weekly trips to Newbury to pick up new music.

Revisiting music from the trilogy

Posted on by
Reply

I said I was going to do it and I’m doing it now: I’m currently going through the albums and singles from 2000 onwards as a soundtrack to the Bridgetown Trilogy Remaster Project. I started the revisit on Monday afternoon on my day off with William Orbit’s remixed take on Barber’s Adagio for Strings, one of my all-time favorite classical pieces.

I know, this is sort of an arbitrary place to start and doesn’t really line up with the writing chronology. I’d started and finished The Phoenix Effect (the early ‘demo’ version, if you want to continue the music analogy) but hadn’t yet started writing its aborted sequel The Mihari (that would take place that summer if I’m not mistaken), but the actual day-one of A Division of Souls wouldn’t take place until late 2001 or early 2002.

So why start the relistening at January 2000? Partly because I knew my days were numbered at the record store by then. I still loved the job and wished I could stay there forever, but a) I could definitely see the downturn of the music industry happening in real time, and b) I wasn’t sure how much longer I could handle the store manager without eventually ragequitting. It was also a bit of a weird time musically; grunge had long given way to adult alternative which had given way to meathead alt-metal, and pop was having a huge resurgence with its sugary overproduced electronica.

A lot of music I listened to at the time felt a bit out of place. I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to listen to, because very little of it was resonating with me at a deep level, as it once had just a few years previous. That could very well be due to personal issues and changes, and at the time I was feeling unmoored.

Still, I was willing to see where it all took me. Life changes and all.

Now we can devise our plan

Posted on by
Reply

So I’ve begun the process of revising A Division of Souls for its tenth anniversary edition later this year, and I’ve been listening to my Songs from the Eden Cycle mixtapes during these sessions, and it suddenly occurs to me:

I am sorely tempted to add that ‘Director’s Cut’ ending that I’d come up with soon after I self-published it that takes place immediately after Poe leaves Christine’s building. At the time I felt it was extraneous, but in retrospect it actually provides a stronger tie with the opening scenes of Book 2, The Persistence of Memories. [Am I thinking of ‘remastering’ that one as well as The Balance of Light? Yes I am!] I’d of course need to change it from its screenplay format to prose, but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

I wasn’t planning on revisiting the mixtapes and the albums and playlists while working on it all, but now that I’m doing it, why the hell not? It’s an incredibly long list that not only includes music from the 1996-2000 HMV/Phoenix Effect era and the 2000-2005 Yankee Candle/Trilogy years, but the 1993-1995 Boston/True Faith years and the 2010-2015 Spare Oom/self-pub era as well. There’s a lot to revisit. Some of my all-time favorite albums have deep connections with the Mendaihu Universe.

I’m kind of playing this out to ensure that newer music gets a decent amount of play here as well, especially since I’m doing this as a lead-in to working on MU4 and perhaps other stories in that universe. I’ve been wanting to return to it for a few years now, and considering I’m nearly done with Theadia, I feel I’m finally ready for it.

Update for Today 1: I have a shiny new book!

Posted on by
Reply

Yes, as a matter of fact I do have a music post coming up later today! Now that things have finally quieted down some for me, it’s time to get started on the weekly music posts again!

But first, check it: I just released my first novel today!

ados 072515 ps template 1 pm02

Smashwords
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
Also available in iBook (through iTunes) and other fine establishments, including your local brick-and-mortar bookstores that carry e-books on their websites!

It’s not available on Amazon just yet (there’s a few hurdles I need to jump over first), but the Smashwords site does offer the mobi format, so Kindle users are not left out. 🙂

It’s also not yet available as a trade paperback, but I will be working towards that within the next month or so.  Stay tuned for details!

***

Heh.  Okay, I promise I’ll try to keep the shameless plugging to a minimum from now on.  I’ve set up a “Buy Stuff” page here at WiS, which I hope to fill up with other lovely novel and nonfic projects I have in store for the future.  And don’t forget to come over and visit my writing blog, Welcome to Bridgetown, if you are so inclined!

Stay tuned for a music post later today!