Welcome to Words and Sounds!
I’m Niccolò and I’m a composer, writer, and lover of all things mythic/epic. I’m also an official Substack meet-up host. This is a space to share my passions and creative projects with you. Here you’ll find a bit of everything: epic orchestral music, assorted short fiction, my comedy/fantasy series Adventure Story, and my upcoming dark fantasy novel The Dreamwalker. I also occasionally blog about writing, music, career development, or whatever happens to be on my mind.
What you can expect to find here:
Adventure Story: A serialized adventure where cliché is the way and absurdity knows no bounds.
Bigheart’s life as a lowly farm boy takes a predictable turn for the heroic when an ancient prophecy reveals him to be the chosen one who will overthrow the tyrannical Lord Gravedeath and restore peace to the realm. His father’s last words, “it’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice,” will have absolutely no bearing on the story, but it seemed like a good thing to say in the moment. With a motley crew that includes a wizard with no powers, identical twins who the author usually forgets to write lines for, and a sarcastic and beautiful female character whose sole purpose is to sexually frustrate him, Bigheart must journey to the outer reaches of the realm to reach the Object of Great Power before Lord Gravedeath does - something that seems unlikely given the stunning incompetence of the latter.
If this sounds like every other adventure story you’ve ever read, then you got the joke and you’re ready to join the adventure. Subscribe to Adventure Story for free to get the next episode sent directly to your inbox.
May The Gods | Cinematic Music
May The Gods is the alias under which I compose and produce epic orchestral music for streaming, trailers, sync licensing and visual media. For more information or to purchase a license send me an email to niccolo.hilgendorf@gmail.com
Find me on your favorite streaming platform by clicking here.
The Dreamwalker
Dreams fascinate me. I’ve often wondered what it would be like to transcend the borders of our own minds and enter the dreams of others, like a subway train navigating the network of a collective subconscious, each station its own world. The Dreamwalker is a story about what happens when you get stuck between stops.
Enter the dreamworld of downtrodden city dweller Klay Williams, where monsters abound and help hides in riddles. After becoming afflicted with a set of violent and invasive nightmares, he is thrust on a journey inward to seek answers, come to terms with his past, and ultimately discover a truth long buried. When he begins surfacing inside the dreams of strangers before meeting them in reality, he must face the evidence that his two worlds are closely connected – and that he may have powers he never imagined. New friends bring inherited demons, but as dream and reality blur together, Klay finds himself on a collision course with a force much more malignant – one that threatens both worlds. An epic departure into the subconscious, The Dreamwalker is an exploration of purpose, transformation, and the power of the human mind.
I’m a film composer by day and a writer by night, which I suppose makes me a full-time storyteller. I studied economics and creative writing as an undergraduate before getting my Masters at Berklee College of Music. I am twenty-nine years old and this is my first novel.
If you are an agent interested in reading more, please send an email to niccolo.hilgendorf@gmail.com
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Thank you and talk soon,
Niccolò
