[October 11th] What I Listen to When I Write

I haven't talked about music in awhile. It's mainly because I know my tastes don't really match with what people I know listen to. But there has not been anything to get me excited as the following two albums.

Nicola Roberts remains my favorite Girls Aloud* member, mainly because I love gingers, and cause Roberts has been the most underused and underrated band member, while the band pursued the pop commercial vibe. Now, Nicola has set her eyes on a solo career and her début is Cinderella's Eyes:

It's one of strongest pop albums I've listened to through 2011 so far. All the songs, but one, are on a never ending loop on my playlist. Her music is very upbeat and pop on psychedelic synth steroids to augment her pleasantly shrill voice. Roberts offers autobiographical lyrics and believe it or not 'KY' and 'open-open wide' are actually lines from one of her songs. Cinderella's Eyes bubbly and quirky nature serves as a natural energy booster and it's a fresh breath of air on the music scene.

Next comes Tori Amos' Night of Hunters. Tori has been coughing up albums almost every year and although some are instantaneous favourites of mine, she kind of lost me, when she released Abnormally Attracted to Sin to sort of redeem herself with Winter Graces. However, her classical Night of Hunters is stunning:

Paul Jessup has told me multiple times that Tori's best work is when she is alone with the piano and uses simple compositions. This whole album is as acoustic as it can come. It's Tori, her piano and a string quartet on some of the tracks. Further treat is having to listen her 10 year old daughter's voice on some of the tracks, which make the songs all the more haunting. As a concept album, the idea of the world and the story Tori wants to tell is accessible and to base all these songs on already existing classical pieces from the masters, genius. You can't not create to this music.

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* To those who have no idea about British pop, Girls Aloud is an all-female pop quintet, which at the moment is in creative hiatus, though I think it will remain a rather permanent one with Nadine's US solo ambitions.

[September 4th] What the Water Gave Me

I've been in a creative dead zone as of late. I've found myself interested in digesting art in all of its mediums rather than creating, which is always a bad thing, when my goal is complete these final edits before undertaking my trip to the UK. In the mean time, I've found it rather cathartic to add some order to my computer's hundreds of files and burn discs with files and movies. Again, while a fun, control-freakish activity is hurting my productivity.

I'll try to be good, but I can't promise anything.

As a peace treaty, I'm offering my new slice of inspiration "What the Water Gave Me" by Florence + the Machine, whose yet untitled album will be released on November 7th.

Florence +The Machine - "Hurricane Drunk"

While I'm on the wave of sharing my creative process, here is what I'm working with as inspiration.

What Makes a Story Bloody Brilliant

I am utterly amazed how such a big story could be contained in just 64 episodes [something which Bleach seems to be unable to do] without feeling rushed and yet retain it's complexity without the creators dumbing it down for the sake of keeping it short. I do not watch/read/enjoy military [and while I am at it, I also do not enjoy any stories set in prisons and apart from CSI I am also on the fence as far as police work in fiction/entertainment goes] and FMA Brotherhood, although dark and apocalyptic, is a military story at its heart. The characters are soldiers, their trade is war and the story carries the typical tropes: conscience is pitted versus hierarchy and orders; loyalty, bravery and patriotism are tested, defined and validated; humanity is examined. But FMA Brotherhood is so much more than that. It uplifts, despairs, saddens, cheers, admonishes, theorizes, speculates, invents, perseveres, inspires, whisks away and smuggles emotions into the viewer's heart. It does not settle for a genre, it greedily conquers all fronts from fantasy, to science fiction, horror, comedy, romance, action adventure, drama and even a bit noir.

I admit I cried and laughed hard on several occasions during these 64 episodes [I am a big softy, so that may not come as a surprise]. And yes, we are talking about anime [a medium, which still is considered childish and inferior by some]. Forcing a reader/viewer/listener to manifest a physical reaction to a story. Now this is power. This is what separates the good stories from the bloody brilliant ones. The best part is that it doesn't matter what medium carries the story. It just delivers and when it is done, it leaves the person altered.

The Chatty Muse

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Word counts aren’t happening as well as I would like them to, which is a shame in on itself, but the very least my muse has been busy mixing one cauldron after the other and her efforts have given me two new series, which are pretty darn good in my opinion. While the ideas for both series have existed in my subconscious mind for some time, the muse decided to shape the first novels in each with too many details about the plots and the worlds. I rarely get that kind of show in my head, so I am diligently writing all this up, while it’s still fresh, awesome and not puzzling at all.

Both series give me something I love as topics, elemental spirits and superheroes. What’s not to like. While the zeal has been pumping the Muse has been crafting a few new projects that take place in the world of the elemental series as well as “Forged in Blood”, the urban fantasy I plan on revising in the near future. These are mostly standalones, but have a common theme, the characters represent a certain category in the magical society, so I might chain them into a series of standalones with a loose tie in between.

So far the stories range from Australian duo with weird powers on a road trip quest to an outsider being initiated and accepted within the Hawaiian paranormal society. I am in love with mythology, so it would be a blast to cover the myths and legends that makes Hawaii so special, especially Pele the volcano goddess. I am not so sure about the third novel, which is more gothic romance about a mysterious mansion, but the character is quite mystically well endowed and I am a sucker for concept, so I might take a stab at it, but it’s not as pressing as the four mentioned above.

As far as the current WIP, it is suffering in word count growth. The problem with this novel is that I didn’t let it boil and gurgle and mature into a finished concept, at least not seriously and in the details I need even with the outline. SMH is morphing and changing colors chameleon style, which is not bad, because it shows promise, but at the end these new variables setting in well after the middle bother me. I am seriously considering, leaving this novel rest until I am certain what it would look like or if it plans to stick with an identity and have any merit to be completed.

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Once a long time ago, when I didn’t have such a disorderly collection on my computer I had this tradition to post amazing art that has made my day and inspired me to write or the very least envision and I am inclined with this one again. The piece is called “Forgiveness” and is the legend of the kelpie, drowning a girl, which in turn forgives the kelpie and becomes a swan. An interesting look. The talented artist is Jenna Vincent, an Aussie with a flair for dragons, but covers mythology as well.