Musings from the Muse

Before I start in with my post, I’d like to make an announcement.  We at Turtleduck Press will be releasing a winter-themed anthology on December 1st.  It’s called Winter’s Night, and it has some awesome stories by our members and some awesome poetry that I wrote.  It’s the perfect thing to curl up with on a cold winter day.  Stay tuned for more information.  We’ll be having giveaways as we get closer to release.

 

I’ll be honest.  Something huge and life-altering has happened with my husband.  Don’t worry, we’re not divorcing and he isn’t dying.  But it’s pretty huge and is going to impact our life for the foreseeable future.  I’m scared, but I’m coping.

 

However, I’m still in a very wacked-out headspace, so I decided to give you a peek into a normal weekend day for me (or, what passes for normal) and my muse.

Here we go.

 

10:30am Alarm goes off.  I hit the snooze button.

10:39am Alarm goes off again.  Crap.  I gotta get up.  Go through my get-up routine which isn’t much.  Just need food.  And coherency.

10:45ish am La, la, la.  Eating breakfast.  Muse starts stirring a bit.  She whispers a few things, like, “dude, we need to write today.  Are you game?” and “that article you read yesterday makes me wonder if we could do something with …..”  I mostly ignore her, except for the “we gotta write” part.  Yes.  I am there.

11:00-12noon Shower, get dressed, get down into my office.  Putz awhile online.

12:15ish Muse is awake now.  She starts poking me.  “Hey, let’s work on Darklight today.  Sound good?”

I give her the mental equivelent of a raised eyebrow.  “Um, maybe a bit later?  I’m still sleepy.”

“Party pooper,” she says and flees.  Great.

2:00pm Muse pokes me again.  “Hey, what about that idea from the article?  It would make a sweet horror story and horror is so much fun around Halloween.  We could–“

“No.  Do not want,” I tell her as I continue surfing the net.

She pouts.

2:30pm Go shopping for my husband’s birthday.  Muse likes the idea of an iPad, but I wasn’t having any of it.  She pouts.

3:00pm Reading Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost after banging my head hard trying to fix hubby’s computer.  “Hey, we should do a hunter-type vampire thing.  Cool?”

I roll my eyes.  My head’s throbbing.  I feel a little dizzy.  “No.  That’s been done to death.  Ha,” I say.  “Get it?  Done to death?”

She’s pissed.

4:00pm Dinner.  Hubby and I discuss the life-altering thing that just happened.  Muse starts poking again.  “We should think about selling something.  What about Flamebound?  It’s paranormal and –“

“It needs a complete rewrite.  And I gotta finish the revision stuff,” I tell her patiently.  “That’s on next year’s schedule.”

“Yeah, but it’ll be awesome.  Could be a series.”

She’s bringing out the big guns.  “I can’t.  I have too much I need to finish this year.”

More pouting.

5:00pmish “Don’t you think you could make some time to poke at lesson 8 at least?  Come on, the Flamebound revision has been stalled for over a year.”

“Really?  I hadn’t noticed.”

5:30pm “You know, that psychological horror thing might be good.  It’s dark enough to get all that darkness out of our head and onto the page.  You think that could work?”

Eye roll.  “Too. Many. Unfinished. Projects.”

6pmish “What about the dark fantasy?  You could submit it next year sometime to that new press.”

“Um, that’s next year.”

6:30pm “What about–“

“Just stop, okay?  Everything will get done in due time.  I know you’re rearing to go, but my fingers and brain can only go so fast.  Slow it down.”

She sulks.  “Just trying to help.”

I smile.  “I know.  We’ll get there.  Soon, I promise.”

She slants me a sidelong glance.  “I’ll hang around, you know, in case you need me to poke you.”

“Poke me,” I say.  “I need to know you’re still there.”  A long silence.  “You….there?”

Ten minutes go by.

“Muse, are you around?  Why aren’t you –“

POKE.

“Ha, ha, fooled you!  You thought I’d left.”

“No freaking me out.  I don’t think my heart could take it.”

~Finis~

So that’s a normal day for me and my muse.  She’s a fruitcake, borderline psychotic, and terrifying when she’s in horror mode.  But she’s mine and I love her madly, muhaaaa.