SRM: Your latest novel, Clockwork Angels, is a collaboration with Rush’s Neil Peart, and your debut novel, Resurrection Inc., was inspired in part by the Rush album Grace Under Pressure. What role has music played for you in the conceptual process?
KJA: Well, I’ve always listened to music as I write. A lot of times it’ll be movie soundtracks while I’m editing—like Star Wars music when I’m writing Star Wars novels. But the music of Rush in particular seems so full of ideas that it makes stories appear in my head. I wanted to write those stories that I experienced while listening to the music.
While I was writing my first novel, Resurrection Inc., I realized how closely [Grace Under Pressure] was tied to what I was writing—and vice versa. I would listen to a song and think “I can write a chapter about this”, but also certain songs would reflect the story. Of course, that was just on my own. It was only later, after reading [Resurrection Inc.], that Neil got in contact with me, and we’ve been friends for more than twenty years.
I’ve had many scenes I’ve been able to take from music I listen to. And now with Clockwork Angels, I can bring it all together.
SRM: So you’re into high-concept music—prog-rock and so on.
KJA: Yeah, Rush is the ultimate prog-rock band. Other influences were Pink Floyd, Kansas, Styx, the Alan Parsons Project—the good old science fiction music from when I was in high school—and Dream Theater and Tool for more modern bands…
SRM: What form will Clockwork Angels take?
KJA: The album Clockwork Angels came out a few weeks ago and immediately topped the music charts, which is gratifying to hear. The songs tell the story of a young man’s journey though a steampunk world.
But the songs are snapshots, and I took that overall story in close consultation with Neil and we developed it into a fully-fleshed story instead of just, like, a movie trailer.
We wrote the novel, and it turned out extremely well (not that I’m unbiased). The published book (in September) will have all the lyrics as well as illustrations by Hugh Syme, who did the album art. It’s a beautiful book in every way, because it’s beautiful to look at and I think it’s one of my best.
