Music
To Write By
“Music
has charms to sooth the savage breast,
To
soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.”
These
words were written by playwright, William Congreve. Born in Yorkshire
in 1670, his family relocated to Youghal, in County Cork, Ireland,
when William was only four years old. He was educated in Dublin and
London and went on to write five plays. The lines above come from his
1697 play, The
Mourning Bride.
They are as true today as they were all that time ago.
To
twist the meaning of Congreave’s lines a little, there can be no
breast more savage, in the screaming tantrum sense, than that of an
author whose words have flown into the darkness of outer space, and
refuse to come back. You can coax, bully, beg , eat chocolate , give
your computer a sneaky little punch , but blank screens stay blank ,
and lost words remain absent without leave . Shutting down your
laptop, and hiding it in the back of the press you are always meaning
to clear out, helps for a little while, but you can still feel the
tyranny of the blank screen and sense the missing words just out of
reach. A meet-up with friends will distract you for a time. A long
trek up- hill, so steep you cannot think beyond your next gasping
breath, is sure to do you good. But sooner or later, you are going to
have to take this problem on. And that is when the wisdom of
Congreave’s words become apparent.
Having
written eight novels, I believe that each has a rhythm of its own. It
can be judged by the pace at which the plot unfolds. This also
involves the style of the writing, how long or short the sentences,
how much of the prose is dedicated to descriptive passages and how
much to moving the action forward. Dialogue too, changes the rhythm,
so that each individual novel contains many distinct tempos. Words
take flight and screens remain blank when you lose the rhythm of your
writing. And this is where I made one of my most comforting
discoveries as an author – there is a world of music waiting to
lift you out of your unproductive phase.
While
writing my first novel, Parting
Company,
I was working full time as a Laboratory Technician, caring for my
family, and also trying to squeeze in some writing time. As anyone
who has tried to juggle work, home and writing will know, one of the
most difficult aspects, aside from trying to carve out some time, is
letting go of all your other responsibilities when you open up your
novel file. The list of ‘to dos’ can keep nagging you for
attention while you are struggling to take your mind into your work
of fiction. It took me some time , and many false starts , before I
found the rhythm of Parting
Company ,
but when I did , I knew my Andrea Bocelli CD,
Romanza,
echoed
all the emotion I was trying to inject into the story. Also the first
track, Con Te Partiró (Time To Say Goodbye), a duet with Sarah
Brightman, evoked all the heartbreak of the goodbye my main character
had to say before the novel end. As soon as I played the music, it
banished the ‘to do’ list and brought me directly to where I
needed to be – in the fictional world of Parting
Company.
My
second novel. As
Easy As That,
was written in a panic. I had signed a three book contract with
Poolbeg Publishing, without having any idea whether I could ever
write another word, let alone a novel. This book involved some dodgy
characters, white collar criminals, who bent, if not broke the law.
Infertility, alcoholism and adultery also featured, so that the
rhythm of this book was fast changing and varied. I found the musical
match in a compilation –The Classical Album 2005 - , with Katherine
Jenkins, Russell Watson, Haley Westenra and others. That CD helped me
keep the rhythm going to the end. I finished that book with a huge
sigh of relief!
And
so it went with my next novels. Each one found its pace and then its
matching piece of music. Time
And Tide,
published in 2012, is about climate change and how it affected a
small community on the West coast of Ireland when hurricane force
winds and swollen seas destroyed their village. Vivaldi’s
Four Seasons
was the only choice of music for that. I loved to play it loudly as I
wrote – provided I was alone in the house. Cymbals clashed in the
music while waves crashed on shore in the story, destroying homes and
lives. There was a symbiosis between words and music. All I had to
do, to be immediately immersed in that fictional, storm battered,
village was to play my Vivaldi CD. The same is still true today.
So
far so good. Seven novels, seven pieces of music and not a writer’s
blank in sight. And so I started my eighth novel. I knew this was
going to be a challenge because it was my first thriller. As usual, I
did not set out to write in a certain category, but because one of my
characters was a serial killer and another, a victim of that killer,
it had to belong in the crime genre. I researched extensively and
then tip-toed into the manuscript. And yes, it did find a rhythm and
pace, but it never found its soulmate music. I tried many different
types, including Tubular
Bells
(Mike Oldfield). My thinking there was that it had been the theme
music for The
Exorcist,
the most terrifying film I have ever seen, so it would suit Thicker
Than Water, which was the most terrifying book I had ever written.
But I was wrong. There was no musical match for Thicker
Than Water, not
even Freddie Mercury. The only sound was the click of the keyboard as
the story rolled out to its conclusion. It seemed to me then that my
music had been another victim of the serial killer
I
am very grateful to wonderful Nikki for hosting me today and thanks
also to Lucy Felthouse for organising my visit here.
Below
is an excerpt in the voice of the killer from Thicker
Than Water
:
Excerpt
Autumn
is my favourite time of year. It’s a deceitful season , on the
surface all red and gold and lush with berries, while underneath its
fetid breath strips trees of leaves, fields of flowers and the skies
of light. And yet I find something comforting about that season’s
gloom. There are autumn days when I imagine I can reach up and draw
the low lying grey clouds around me to protect and strengthen me in
my purpose. And here is the secret autumn and I share. We are both
dedicated to righting the wrongs brought on by fecund spring and
brazen summer. We balance things out – the autumn and me. We lay
things bare and uncover the true nature of what lies in the heart of
a gaudy flower. Or a bejewelled whore.
They
are very active now – the dreams that tell me how much work I have
yet to do, the subconscious scanning of crowds, the laying of a plan
of action, the stirring in my gut of the energy to power my mission,
the voice that tells me to rid this world of tramps, whores,
prostitutes or whatever name you want to give those whose calling it
is to cater to the basest instincts. And, no, I’m not insane. The
voice I listen to is not delusion. It is my own.
Blurb
Blurb
for Thicker
Than Water:
When
local teenager, Keira Shannon and her father, business man Gerard
Shannon, go missing, the town of Ballyderg unites to search for them.
As
the search continues rumours of domestic violence, extramarital
affairs and criminal behaviour are rife. The crisis causes families
and lifelong friends to doubt each other.
The only certainty left is
that the town has been visited by evil. Or has it? Could it be the
evil one has always lived there sharing history, laughter and tears?
And if so, who could it be?
Buy
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Author
Biography:
Mary
worked many years as a Laboratory Technician. Her hobby, her passion,
has always been writing. Busy with family and career, she grabbed
some moments here and there to write poetry and short stories. She
also wrote a general interest column in a local newspaper.
As
the demands on her time became more manageable she joined a local
creative writing class. It was then, with the encouragement of tutor
Vincent McDonald, that the idea of writing a novel took shape. She
began to expand on a short story she had written some years
previously. It was a shock for her to discover that enthusiasm and
imagination are not enough. For the first time she learned that
writing can be very hard work.
Mary
now has six traditionally published novels, nine eBooks and hopefully
more to come, inspiration permitting.
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