How the High Concept Light Bulb Lit Up My Pillow

When I tell people about the concept behind the Sound and the Echoes, almost everyone responds with the same word: "Intriguing".

And that, of course, makes me smile.

The next question they ask is, "How on earth did you come up with that?" (Some people just jump to the conclusion that I'm so creative, which shows some creativity on their part).

But, actually, this wasn't really about being creative but about insomnia. Yes, lying awake in bed with your mind wondering in bizarre ways all through the night.

So, this is the story of how the idea behind The Sound and the Echoes germinated (oddly) one fateful night.

Unable to sleep, I tried to think of something somber. Perhaps I'd bore myself to sleep. I started thinking about the Greek philosopher, Plato. I wondered about his Realm of the Forms, a place where the true essence of things existed. You see, we are just reflections of that perfect place, or so Plato thought (which is forgivable, given that he was only a Sound).

Very soon, I started wondering about the implications of denigrating one world above another. And that's how the idea of a reflection world was born, one in which Echoes have to die when their Sound dies (as if they are inferior).

So what would that world be like, I asked myself (forgetting all about trying to sleep). Well, see-through, of course. And cold, because we're warm blooded up here. And glittering and beautiful, because it would be fun to visit.

And so I kept on imagining through the night....