Monsters & Music

Do you know (in response to a couple of posits last post on the titular notion above), my firsts thoughts about the monsters is that musically they are largely quiet. They sing softly to themselves, to Providence, in sympathy with the cosmos, in sorrow; perhaps some of the more feral might gather together to spontaneously hoot and jabber at Phoebe, while others might chortle off some rhyme or ditty they heard once when secretly watching children at play or people at a dance or stalking some unwary band of happy, vigil-day picnickers.

Monsters' own music will be impromptu, vocal, rolling, raw yet often oddly complex, wild and disconcertingly alien unless informed by everyman tunes previously encountered.

My sense of it is that the making of structured musics is the domain of everymen, based on the notion - the historied order of things - that monsters make life, everymen make things.

IMHO.

Europe and Sebastipole fall in love?

Well, that was a (tongue in cheek) offering last post. Could it be possible? Would it be probable? If ever they married I would expect Sebastipole to get eaten at the end of the wedding night like some poor male praying mantis.

Monday had a question (similar to one I received via email from Nick Nitsch of Nashville):

"What kinds of music are most prevalent on the h-c?"

Such a topic is indeed not distracting but fundamental to my conception of the H-c - there is a beautiful piece by Strauss (the younger I think) Invitation to a Dance which though actually truly too new, has been an abiding inspiration to me. Monday rightly deduces that there are regional and social differences, but in the main when I think music for the Half-Continent I think late Baroque (as it is called in our world) and early Classical - Handel, Vivaldi, Bach, counterpoint and the private chamber ensembles merging with and developing into Boccherini, Mozart, Haydn - essentially what is sometimes called a Rococo style. (I have as yet to come up with the H-c names for some of these music styles - an interesting and I hope rewarding diversion!) This of course would be the more citified musics, out in the parishes it would more strident, the instruments more antiquated, the pieces more folk style or popular balladry. Hero of Clunes for example, in her tour of Sulk End and the Idlewild (as seen in MBT Book 1 & 2) would be doing a combination of popular shanty (albeit taking it to a more sophisticated and sonorous level) and high-brow choral numbers written by the current and more popular/fashionable composers (such as Stumphelhose of Witzingerod, Cappelluto of Seville, or Attic Nehme or Brandenbrass).

Oh, and as requested, for breakfast I had Vita Brits with sultanas and a cup of tea sweetened with honey.

Shouldn't I be Writing?

Two possible thoughts for further Half-Continent stories:

- roving the vinegar seas hunting pirates and kraulschwimmen and any other tasks required in the Emperor's service = sea battles, vinegaroon life, wider politics;

- some kind of expedition (ala. King Solomon's Mines H. Rider Haggard - a most excellent book!) for lost and longed-for secrets in monstrous places = monsters, history, more monsters.

Should I be telling you all this?

Given certain revelations of admiration for a certain leer and lamplighters' agent, should he have a story of his own, too?

Maybe I should just get on with finishing Book 3 of MBT - enough with this presumptuous whimsical dayfancying! Back to ADWC (see previous post)...

Average Daily Word Count

... or AWDC - as I have just cunningly coined it.

I am going to reveal this knowing full well there are many authors out there who do a goodly bit more in a day - and my publishers will be crying "Write faster, dang it!", yet since fellow word-wrestler R.J. Anderson has asked I shall dare to admit:

1000 words/day

*wince*

I have had brilliant days of 1500+ (even 2700 one day) but when all is averaged, time searching through all my notebooks for the right snippets of information and periods a.f.k. (away from keyboard) are included (including several trips interstate) it works out to the above.

If you want to go on the usual word count I achieve on the days I actually write it creeps up a little to about:

1300 words/day or so.

I feel a bit better about that.

I hope this helps Ms Anderson - how does it compare?

Dare I ask what ADWCs do you other writers achieve?

Still here...

... writing... writing... writing... writing... writing...

Young Writer braves germ-warfare to offer a solution to my problem

I was at the Young Writers' Night last night (with my ragging lurgy and all - doing my best for germ warfare by spreading it around). It is an event where authors sit with a group of 10 children or so from around the state (that being South Australia for all you out-of-towners) and listen to them read out their prose or poetry then give encouragement - I am not sure how much use I am to the brave souls who expose their souls through there writing so, I always feel like my comments are a tad thin.

Anyway, one of young lady wrote a fine piece about a magical quill that when the character picked it up amazing ideas filled their head and stories wrote themselves. I am thinking this would be an excellent solution to Sam Hranac's proposition, "Crank yourself up out of your deathbed and put quill to parchment." If it could just be that magical quill we'd be set.

So a shout out to all the children who took part last night, I am sorry if I gave you my cold... :(

Get out your violins...

Just letting you all know that I am still here folks... I have a bad head cold, am madly writing and trying not to feel sorry for myself. As femina recently admitted, I cannot decide whether to wear my cranky pants or my grumpy trousers.

I hope you all are doing well, though - sunshine and cheer will return soon enough, Lord willing.

Anyone else out there got the dreaded lurgy?

L'édition en Français

I very excited - nay! I am le plus merveilleusement excité!! - to see a sneak preview of the French cover of Foundling over at Monsieur Benjamin Lacombe's excellent site (English translation version here).

As you will see, Mr Lacombe has illustrated so much more than just a gorgeously maudlin Rossamünd, but Europe, Licurius (ahhh, old Boxface!) and a rather serious looking chap who I cannot decide is Sebastipole or Gosling (apologies Benjamin - I am not very bright but I can lift heavy things...)

As if i was not before I now am trés, trés! excited about getting my copy of the French edition now - from Mr Lacombe's comments it is a very beautifully produced edition indeed!

Merci, Monsiuer Lacombe! Merci, Milan! (my French publisher)

Hippo Birdy Two Ewes!

Today in the Queen's Birthday Holiday and I would like to say Happy Birthday! to our dear Queen, bless her and the fact we get a day off here Oz.

On a lighter note ;) I found this review thingy over at OF Blog of the Fallen the other day and just wanted to share because I so love it when a fellow soul is on the same wavelength - don't we all...

Oh, and I am as yet to have breakfast.

The day after...

So the Official Launch [TM] happened last night, and I believe it went rather well - public appearances are difficult things but deeply rewarding at the same time (which is a tad frustrating when all you want to do his hide away and write... or procrastinate). I was very gratified (happy in fact - even delighted) to meet MadBomber - one of "the gang" here at Monster Blog Tattoo (if I may use that term), a fine fellow - thank you for making yourself known Mr Bomber, a face to the name and better sense of the goodly soul you have already shown yourself to be here at MBT.

Thank you to all who could be there at the short notice I ended up giving you.

Looking back to the Sydney Writers' Festival I must say what an excellent thing it was to be on the panel with David Kowalski, Stuart Mayne and Judith Ridge and wax as clever as we knew how on genre and truth and editing and all that. Thank you to the three of you for an excellent evening. A shout out too to everyone I talked with afterwards, including Jeremy Gordon - fellow writer/illustrator/dreamer - with whom I had a good though too brief chat afterwards about possibilities and keeping true. He has put something of the night up here - including an odd little image of me, for those of you who want to spoil the visions you might have of the "dashing young author" ;)

Another part of the Syd. Writs'. Fest. 2008 was a couple of workshops with students where we tried our hand together at world building. I would ask folks for a few of their favourite things and from that we began to build our own distinct world settings. What was astounding is just how different the ideas and directions each group took - I had a great time and I hope the others there did too!

So joy and thankfulness all round.