Hi!
I should be writing the sequel to The Musomancer right now, but instead, I'm going to write about some of the books that inspired me to write The Musomancer. Don't question my methods.
When I was young, I read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I loved the absurdity, the adventure, the stupid names for things (Vogons, Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster, etc.) The fact it was a trilogy in three parts delighted me to a ridiculous degree. Along with The Lord of the Rings (you've probably heard of that one, it's like a Peter Jackson movie but with 50% fewer battle scenes), this is probably what made me want to be a writer. Unfortunately, it wasn't until a good 30 years later that I realised to be a writer you have to actually write something.
Books like Stephen King's On Writing and Steven Pressfield's The War Of Art helped me start off. (What is it about Stephens or Stevens that's so inspirational?)
I also like Pressfield's Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t.
Victor Wooten's The Music Lesson and Peter Bebergal's Season of the Witch showed me that, no matter how crazy an idea about music I thought up, other people had probably already gone further out into the deep end.
I like Ben Aaronovitch's Peter Grant series (starts with Rivers of London) because they're kinda like Jim Butcher's Dresden Files (starts with Storm Front) but less, well, you know... blokey American stuff. Drink lots of Coca-Cola, get beaten really badly but then have some pizza and jump back into the action, gosh that lady has a nice arse, kind of thing. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy the Dresden Files series. I just need to be in a certain mood, and for me, Aaronovitch combines a modicum of Pratchettian humour with the supernatural stuff. Oh yeah - Terry Pratchett's Discworld series (The Colour of Magic, book 1). And I just re-read Good Omens so I'd be ready for the TV series that's coming soon.
In my twenties I discovered Robert Rankin (The Antipope, book 1 of The Brentford Trilogy), and thought his stuff was like Douglas Adams on psilocybin. (OK, I've never taken drugs, but I'm taking a stab in the dark with that comment.)
Joe Abercrombie writes fantasy that's as gritty as a tomato sauce sandwich at the beach. I recommend starting with Half a King if you want slightly (slightly) less gore and sweariness. Hmmm.. his stuff didn't really inspire The Musomancer, but his name popped into my head as I was writing, so here he is.
Nicholas Eames' Kings of the Wyld takes a mercenary band on a standard fantasy quest, but gives each member the personality traits of a member of a real-life music band. (You have to guess who is what: the guy who keeps to himself and isn't showy, but keeps things grounded - he must be the bass player, right? The guy always pushing himself to the front and shows off - is he the singer or the lead guitarist?)
But what really got me started with The Musomancer was the day when I flicked through yet another American thriller novel where the author spends a page and half describing a gun. I thought "what if, instead of a gun, you described a guitar?" That was it - I'd found my niche: a book for people who would happily read something where guitars, effect pedals and amplifiers were described in excruciating detail, with a bit of a plot and some action wrapped around it. I hoped I could inject some of the thrill and puzzle-solving of The Da Vinci Code, with references to bands I like rather than references to famous artworks.
Look at all those books listed above. They're pretty bloke-centric, right? I got tired of that, so, next time: Other books I've been reading. (Featuring Ann Leckie, Holly Bourne, Katherine Arden, etc.)
I should be writing the sequel to The Musomancer right now, but instead, I'm going to write about some of the books that inspired me to write The Musomancer. Don't question my methods.
Books like Stephen King's On Writing and Steven Pressfield's The War Of Art helped me start off. (What is it about Stephens or Stevens that's so inspirational?)
I also like Pressfield's Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t.
Victor Wooten's The Music Lesson and Peter Bebergal's Season of the Witch showed me that, no matter how crazy an idea about music I thought up, other people had probably already gone further out into the deep end.
I like Ben Aaronovitch's Peter Grant series (starts with Rivers of London) because they're kinda like Jim Butcher's Dresden Files (starts with Storm Front) but less, well, you know... blokey American stuff. Drink lots of Coca-Cola, get beaten really badly but then have some pizza and jump back into the action, gosh that lady has a nice arse, kind of thing. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy the Dresden Files series. I just need to be in a certain mood, and for me, Aaronovitch combines a modicum of Pratchettian humour with the supernatural stuff. Oh yeah - Terry Pratchett's Discworld series (The Colour of Magic, book 1). And I just re-read Good Omens so I'd be ready for the TV series that's coming soon.
In my twenties I discovered Robert Rankin (The Antipope, book 1 of The Brentford Trilogy), and thought his stuff was like Douglas Adams on psilocybin. (OK, I've never taken drugs, but I'm taking a stab in the dark with that comment.)
Joe Abercrombie writes fantasy that's as gritty as a tomato sauce sandwich at the beach. I recommend starting with Half a King if you want slightly (slightly) less gore and sweariness. Hmmm.. his stuff didn't really inspire The Musomancer, but his name popped into my head as I was writing, so here he is.
Nicholas Eames' Kings of the Wyld takes a mercenary band on a standard fantasy quest, but gives each member the personality traits of a member of a real-life music band. (You have to guess who is what: the guy who keeps to himself and isn't showy, but keeps things grounded - he must be the bass player, right? The guy always pushing himself to the front and shows off - is he the singer or the lead guitarist?)
But what really got me started with The Musomancer was the day when I flicked through yet another American thriller novel where the author spends a page and half describing a gun. I thought "what if, instead of a gun, you described a guitar?" That was it - I'd found my niche: a book for people who would happily read something where guitars, effect pedals and amplifiers were described in excruciating detail, with a bit of a plot and some action wrapped around it. I hoped I could inject some of the thrill and puzzle-solving of The Da Vinci Code, with references to bands I like rather than references to famous artworks.
Look at all those books listed above. They're pretty bloke-centric, right? I got tired of that, so, next time: Other books I've been reading. (Featuring Ann Leckie, Holly Bourne, Katherine Arden, etc.)
