Guest post by A. G. Bellamy

Music and Fantasy: Why Music is the Greatest Influence

Lately I’ve been a little sloppy in my writing, mostly because I’m at university and my life now revolves around reaching coursework deadlines. Last night I finished my latest – and last – essay about Peter the Great and his palace at Peterhof (it’s a beautiful place – check it out some time!), and as a reward I went onto YouTube. I figured “I may as well watch a few videos, cool my brain a bit”, and under the “related videos” to one of the videos I watched, was “Storytime” by my favourite band, Nightwish. Quickly I clicked on it, curious because I’d never heard it before. Oh how I’d forgotten how much I loved Tuomas Holopainen! With every song from the new album, “Imaginaerum”, that I listened to, the more and more I felt inspired to write… and that is how I wrote the synopsis for the second book in The Noble Angels.

It was something I hadn’t experienced in ages: that ultimate inspiration, the Holy Grail of the imagination. That moment when you realise that this is how you want the story to play out, who the characters are going to be. As I listened to “Turn Loose the Mermaids”, I wrote a short scene wherein my newest character, Caleb, begins to unravel the greatest mystery of his life: his parents, for he never knew his father. That moment when he discovers the truth about his heritage explains everything about himself, and as the song changed to “I Want My Tears Back”, I realised that he could not handle it, so he runs away. During this same song, memories came flooding back and I managed to write a romance scene. Perhaps one day in the future, I’ll offer this as a sneak peek into the second book 

Rediscovering Nightwish has been the best experience I’ve ever had in my career as a writer. At the moment, I’m listening to “I Want My Tears Back” on repeat, planning out an exciting dance scene between two of my main characters: Matthew and Ryan. This is where they will realise how they truly feel, and I can guarantee that this will not end happily. That’s a recurring theme Nightwish seem to have, now that I think about it…

It’s an exciting moment when you get that rush of adrenaline that just makes you want to write, because you know that no matter what you’re going to write what you need. Music has a set tempo, a specific tune, perfect timing for the genre; it’s these things which can inspire, and since Nightwish tend to have a darker sound they are exactly what I personally need to write.

“Where is the wonder where's the awe?
Where's dear Alice knocking on the door?
Where's the trapdoor that takes me there?
Where the real is shattered by a Mad March Hare?”