Golden Advice: Ralph Waldo and Self-Reliance

Hi folks, I'm starting my series on Golden Advice. I like to spend the month of February digging into the wisdom that has come my way, and that guides my art, my craft and my life. I find having some wise stuff in the soul helps me write stories with purpose.

One thing that has always dogged me is insecurity as a person and a writer. I struggle to trust myself and believe in my vision as something of worth. Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay Self-Reliance has throttled me, and I really believe has brought me to a better version of myself.

So his advice starts simply. Cultivate awareness of the light within. Stop the inward self talk that dismisses your work as derivative. You blather about the work of others around you and dismiss your own. Stop it now.

Here's the deal. The stuff that will really move others is the stuff that you have thought about but have been too scared, too worried, and/or too fearful "what others might think" to share. The gist of Ralph's advice is this: form your own opinions. YOUR OWN! I find this one of the dang hardest things in the universe to do, but I am trying.

Great art will teach others to trust the light within themselves and to ignore a sea of people who cry false at them. The tricky part is understanding the light within in. This is what I know about it. It doesn't upset you. It doesn't make you do anything stupid. It blesses you with happy accidents and still water in the soul. It is never imposed upon you. It makes you a better person. This is the art I am striving to share.

Ralph goes on to share the heart of the problem: You think you are a mouse and are always apologizing for it. Stop cowering in the corner. And don't be sorry. You are a thinking person. You are, just like the saints and sages of old. What are you going to add to the verses of history? Take a lesson from nature. A rose blooms. It is beautiful and doesn't worry about the roses before or after. It simply takes it moment to bloom, to exist in God today. 

At the end of the day. Stop apologizing. Again freaking hard for me. Be original. Again, makes me want to cry.  Be brave. Share your inner light. And finally, bloom.

I will be back next week with more Golden Advice.

Here is a doodle: Roses.

Here is a quote for your pocket:

Man is his own star; and the soul that can
Render an honest and a perfect man,
Commands all light, all influence, all fate;
Nothing to him falls early or too late.
Our acts our angels are, or good or ill,
Our fatal shadows that walk by us still.
          
Epilogue to Beaumont and Fletcher's Honest Man's Fortune

My Favorite Things -- Cats

Hi folks, last day of November and I am wrapping up my favorite things posts.  This week I'm keeping. I'm speaking at the upcoming Montgomery County Book Festival on February 15, 2014 and an interview question sparked this post. Do I have a pet and do they help me write?

I'm going to put a longer answer here. I have two cats: Mr. Tibbs and Mr. Oreo. I call them the Kings of the Earth.  Both have rags-to-riches stories. They were rescue from horrible circumstances -- one from underneath an abandoned shed and the other from certain death at a shelter. Yes, they are a little damaged because of their journeys. Mr. Tibbs is sort of crazy about killing stuff (starvation at some point in your life does that to you.) Mr. Oreo has to be reminded regularly that he's safe and everybody loves him. That's OK, I'm a little damaged from my journey too. It's nice to have companions who get that.

Cat are fab for the lonely business of writing. I spend tons of time in front of a computer, and it's comforting to have a purring cat in my lap or one bumping its nose against my computer screen.

Mr. Tibbs is the most squishable cat that has ever lived and is fine to hug when the draft is so tangled that I've begun to lose hope. I also like Mr. Oreo for the times when I've got to make a story decision that's freaking me out. He purrs like a motorboat and feels like a hunk of meat. There is something of the ridiculous in him but also solid and comforting. I hug him and put that into my story, and it always works out right.

Who doesn't need help like that? 

Cats are independent souls and the speak to the independence in my soul.  I also like that they love to nap because I am also a big fan of the nap.

Here are is a favorite cat cartoon sites:  Simon's Cat. Enjoy!

I have some favorite cat books.  For the picture books set, I love: Koko's Kitten, Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons, SkippyJon Jones, Bad Kitty, and Hondo and Fabian. For middle graders, I love the Cat Who Went To Heaven by Elizabeth Coatsworth,  Time Cat by Lloyd Alexander and The Underneath by Kathi Appelt.  I've written two unpublished middle grade novels, TORNADO ALLIE, with a pretty awesome bestie cat called Jacksboro, and another WIP book, THE BIG THICKET, with a mysterious cat named El Gato. I hope these books reach kids everywhere someday.

I will see you next month with some inspiration!  Keep creating master works!

Pics instead of doodles this week!

Here I am with Mr. Tibbs. He likes to snuggle while I'm hard at work.

Mr. Oreo is more of a cat TVguy.  He's always staring out the window. Very good writing advice BTW.

Here is a quote for your pocket:

Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. Robert A. Heinlein.

April Showers: Creative Exposure

Hi, folks, this is the last in my series, April Showers. This week I'm going to dip into creative exposure. This is way I jump start my imagination.  It's all about feeding your artistic soul.

Here is an example: I just road-tripped to Austin last night to see an early screening of Iron Man 3 hosted by Ain't It Cool News.  I met a group of engineers who work on luxury airplanes and an artist from England who comminserated with me about the deep truth that the process of creating art is what interest artists and not selling their art. For me, I feel excited about what I am working on right now -- I remember with fondness the incredible journey of my completed works. We nodded at each other, sharing the weirdnness of this situation.

Then I watched a nicely crafted movie written by Shane Black with Robert Downey Jr., Ben Kingsley and others, having gleeful fun. Why some of these Marvel movies don't win a few more shiny statues is a mystery to me. Fun isn't worthy I guess. At a movie like this, it is all about the spectacle. Spectacle isn't lauded as art in exalted communites. I hope I never reach such heights of snobbery. After the movie I was struck with the most creative piece of the journey -- a misty moon in the sky.  I imagined witches, dragons, and monsters in that full moon wreathed in clouds.  I call the moon my lagniappe of the journey. What's a lagniappe?  Like the thirteenth donut in a dozen, it's that that little something extra. 

I think following your curiosity is the best bet when it comes to creative exposure. I search for what challenges me. I try to read impossibly difficult books or stuff that everyone is reading, just to see what that is all about. I search out the weird and the wonderful and make sure I get a chance to revel in it. I also hunger for the divine and search for sacred spaces and holy connections. I'm a self-proclaimed geek and also try to wedge in some geekdom fun whenever I can. I'm a lover of art and good music, and tasty food and chunk out time for that too. Of course, I love writing conferences, open reads, and critique groups, but, oh, I like the opera, a good dance troupe and will stop to watch skaters at the local skate park when I have time. 

Here's the deal, not everything speaks to me, but I am very aware of what does. I energize my creative self and make sure that I receive exposure. Not getting enough exposure is like not getting enough sun; your bones start to wither.

I hope that you spend some time seeking creative exposure this week. I will be back next week with a series called Blooming, all about pre-writing activities that help me produce the fruit of writing--manuscripts. 

Here is my doodle: "Iron Man Chicken."

Quote for the week:

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

April Showers: Marvel

Water your soul by pouring the best of art into your soul.  Part of the reason for why we create is a response to the world around us. You need to take time to marvel at the natural world around you. Your books will be infused with the wonder of the world as you take the time to admire the astonishing details that surround you.

It's cool to travel to exotic places with breath-taking vistas but I've found that these places aren't always the ones that speak to me the most. In fact, I've found it's difficult to predict which places will speak to me the most. I've come to the conclusion that you must trust your instincts when it comes to connection. The natural landscape that you gravitate toward will sometimes surprise you. Search for the spots that squeeze emotion out of your pores.

I have a little ritual that I perform in new places. I go very still and let the place speak to me. Thousands of detail begin to bombard me. I could never verbalize what I am taking in. But I have noticed that allowing space to take in the details will energize my storytelling. It's almost like taking a memory photograph or movie. I can easily return to these memories and recall every sense. I can also pull in every nuance of emotion I felt. I'm convinced these tiny details are what make your work rise above the rest. You must have the information within you to put it on the page.

Finally, you don't have to go on a far flung trip across the globe to find what you are looking for. Your bluebird of happiness might be in your backyard. You might string a hammock between two trees and just marvel at the sound of the wind and birds. You might stare at the whorls formed by the leaves of a succulent. You might break off sprigs in your herb garden and let the aromas swirl in your mind. Search for what speaks to you. Watch a spider build a web. Listen to bird song and bubbling brooks. Pile sun warmed rocks on your belly. Marvel in the world around you.

All these glorious details will set your mind on fire. Take time to marvel. I will be back next week the the conclusion of April Showers. Meanwhile seize the day.

No doodle this week. Here is a photo of my hammock, but my son Jack is marveling at the moment. 

Here is a quote for your pocket:

The landscape belongs to the person who looks at it...  -Ralph Waldo Emerson

April Showers: Small Steps

Hi folks, brilliant sunshine, perfect warmth, and blue skies -- not exactly writing weather, but perhaps I can grab a notebook and find a sweet spot under a tree.  I'm continuing my series about what waters our creative soul. I think one important piece to thrive as as a writer is to take small steady steps.  So many want to leap, and leap right now. I think there is some deep truth in that story of the tortoise and the hare.

One way to make serious forward  leaps  is to make a list of small steps you can complete over time. As you complete each small step you feel deep satisfaction that you are drawing closer to your goal. You build confidence layer upon layer. Small steps help you avoid becoming stuck. You have a plan and the next thing to do isn't that big.

For example, a problem I'm facing right now is a main character who needs to shift her goal. I'm going over two or three pages a day and underlining anywhere in the manuscript she thinks about this goal  Then I journal little paragraphs about various ways her new goal might work in the underlined sections. I've made a chart of chapters vs. goal change. I'm writing an overall plan about how I will achieve the change. Next, I plan to  underline sections and then make my planned revisions. I will highlight each revision and let the manuscript rest for a few days.. I think you get the idea. Small steps. I find puddle jumping is the way to go.

I hope that you water your work with some small steps this week. I hope that you make progress and celebrate that progress. Be kind to yourself. Think happy thoughts. Seek the best of everything, the best in everyone, and the best in you.

I will be back with more showers next week!  Meanwhile seize the day!


Here is the doodle:PINK BLOBBY. 

It is better to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward only to stumble backward. Chinese Proverb. 

Golden Advice: The Mystery of Omar Khayyam

Hi folks, this is the last in golden advice series. I've been keeping to the ancient paths this year. I'm trying to stick to thoughts that have stirred me up as a writer. This week I will dip into the poetry of Omar Khayyam. I'm not calling his genius, wisdom, but instead, mystery.  He saw how  unknowable the world is and celebrated it.

Omar was a Persian astronomer, philosopher, mathematician and a poet.  It always astonishes me the kinship I feel with him. A Texas Writer Mom is about as far as you can get from Persian Poet Philosopher, and yet I feel we are as close as friends who can always pick up a conversation even if they have not seen each other in years. How startling it is to open the pages of poems written a thousand years ago and find someone who sees what I see and knows what I know.

I first read Khayyam's Rubaiyat (trans. Edward FitzGerald) back in junior high, and it has stayed with me. The listed stanzas below all come from the Rubaiyat. I'm going to chat about each plays into my writing life.

XIII
Some for the glories of this world; and some
Sigh for The Prophet's Paradise to come;
Ah, take the cash and let the credit go,
Nor heed the rumble of a distant drum.

People have a ton of reasons to do what they do.  Many want the fame, the acolades, the money, whatever. Others look to the holy and sigh for the unseen. The next line makes me laugh every time. Take the cash and let the credit go.  This is such a simple, true thought to me.  Don't disparge who you are right now, what you do right now, what you have done up to this moment.  No one may have ever noticed what you have written up to this point, but cling to the cash value of saying something and saying it well. Let go of all those glories and sighs.  Don't march out to that far off drumming but dig into the here and now and live it fully. Live. Write.

XXIX
Into this Universe, and Why not knowing
Nor Whence, like Water willy-nilly flowing;
And out of it, as Wind along the Waste,
I know not Whither, willy-nilly blowing.

Yes, I'm here. A tiny dot in an expansive place. I don't know why I love stories. Water bubbles up and flows to the sea. Stories bubble up and flow out to myriad minds. There is no way to predict the journey stories will take. They come and flow and go. I feel like shouting, "Go! Go! Go!" Write like that. Write like your stories will reach the ends of the universe.

LXXIV
Yesterday This Day's Madness did prepare;
To-morrow's Silence, Triumph, or Despair:
Drink! for you know not whence you came, nor why:
Drink! for you know not why you go, nor where.

Each time there is another Madness -- murders of the innocent, 9-11, Sandy Hook, the drug war in Mexico, I could list a thousand things for this week -- I remember that yesterday was setting us up for today. What will happen tomorrow is all about yesterday. A storyteller sees what leads to the next thing.

You must practice being aware.  In that awarness, don't freeze up, but drink!  Don't curl up and say it's too hard to unravel, it's too difficult share.  Dig into the whence, the why and the where. Dig into the passion and reveal this mad journey that always leads to silence, triumph, or despair. Be fearless as you create -- line on line, bird by bird, brick by brick -- however you roll.

Revel in the mysteries. I hope you have enjoyed this series and will come back next week!  Seize the day!

Here is the doodle for the week: "Direction".

One last quote to keep in your pocket.

A hair divides what is false and true.  Omar Khayyam

Golden Advice: Wisdom from Socrates

Hi folks, I'm continuing my series on the ancient paths to see what I can glean for us. Socrates was one bold-thinking dude, and I have been a major fan since I was in high school.  I can see him, sort of a lazy bum, moving from one group to another in ancient Athens. It's a place of beauty and he's an ugly guy. I believe he gets the irony. He dresses like a homeless person. He won't take money for his philosophical teaching, because he feels that the second you take a red cent for what you think then, blah, they own you and every thought you share.

Instead he's a blue collar guy, and makes his cash as a stone mason (I like to think this is true but it's not verified) when he needs to eat. He's the gadfly of Athenian society, a biting fly that can direct a horse. He doesn't go with popular opinion and always sticks with his own opinion. His whole attitude finally causes the leaders of the city to put him on trial. They ask him what should be his punishment and he has the cheek to say a pension and free food for the rest of his life. He's convicted of the terrible crimes of "corrupting the minds of the youth" and "causing those kids to question their current gods and their government." Huzzah! Of course, he's given hemlock to drink and put to death for his heresy.

So what, writerly stuff do I take from the original "marching-to-my-own-drum" guy?  Well, yeah, let's corrupt young minds!  And add this on, let's do our part to cause kids to question their current gods and their government. Add that into your writer's toolbox and I'm pretty sure the content of your writing is going to get interesting.  You may spend some time out in the cold in terms of publishing though because you don't jump on vampire-fantasy-dystopian-suspense-thriller bandwagons. You will see lots of notes that say, wish there was room for your original stuff in this tight market. When your books come out, finally, the storm stirred up by people who find you subversive won't be pretty. But don't let that stop you.

I'm going to wrap this up with a favorite Socrates idea. Don't just believe stuff. Turn over every stone. Don't live an unexamined life, not just for your writing but for yourself too.

Hope this little story lights a fire under you.  You go ahead and stand up for what you believe, even if its not politically-correct or popular.  Seize the day, creative folk.

This week's doodle is called: "Tangled Hearts."

This quote is Plato's account (old Soc knew how to pick friends) of how Socrates felt about being put to death because he was willing to think his own thoughts. I hope we will all be swans.

From Plato's Phaedo: Socrates said and smiled. . .
I am not very likely to persuade other men that I do not regard my present situation as a misfortune, if I am unable to persuade you, and you will keep fancying that I am at all more troubled now than at any other time. Will you not allow that I have as much of the spirit of prophecy in me as the swans?

For they, when they perceive that they must die, having sung all their life long, do then sing more than ever, rejoicing in the thought that they are about to go away to the god whose ministers they are.

But men, because they are themselves afraid of death, slanderously affirm of the swans that they sing a lament at the last, not considering that no bird sings when cold, or hungry, or in pain, not even the nightingale, nor the swallow, nor yet the hoopoe; which are said indeed to tune a lay of sorrow, although I do not believe this to be true of them any more than of the swans.

Golden Advice: Wisdom of Solomon

Hi, folks, I'm continuing my golden advice series. This is an exciting time for me as a writer. After several years  of working on my current book, I'm about to send it out to agents.  I'm seesawing between manic joy and and quaking fear. 

It's hard to put yourself out there. I leave a lot of myself on the page and who wants to find out that their ms doesn't suit needs, doesn't connect, or the worst, there's no room for your brand of storytelling in the market right now.

A person needs a serious anchor to  stay steady in the storms.  I like ancient paths. It's just hardwired in me. This week I'm turning to the wisdom of Solomon to face the road ahead.

I like the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible. (I'm no scholar and many feel that Solomon didn't write this book, but the folk way is he did and I'm a folk.)  Anyway, ever since I heard "Turn! Turn! Turn!" by Pete Seeger back in my munchkin days, it's stayed with me and kept me on task.  So this week I'm sharing the writerly version of "to everything there is a season, and time to every purpose under heaven. " 

There is a time to write, and a time stop writing; a time to start a new manuscript, a time to send it out and snag an agent, an editor and an audience.  There is a time to throw a manuscript in the circular file; there is time to pull out a manuscript and finally, finally fix it; there is a time to delete whole chapters from your WIP; there is a time to add a stack of new chapters. 

There is a time to weep when you think you won't succeed. There is a time to laugh when a new idea comes. There is a time when you get really close to succeeding but it doesn't work out. There is a time when you finally succeed and, yes, you put on some disco and dance. 

There is a time to start sending out a new manuscript. There is a time to start writing a new manuscript. There is a time keep working hard even though you feel you are not making progress. There is a time to put a WIP up on a shelf for a while.  There is a time to get an agent and a publishing contract. There is a time to lose both.

There is a time to rip up a book and donate it to other stories; there is a time to let a good story idea percolate.  There is a time to plan what you will write; there is a time to say the things you've never been brave enough to say. There is a time to love what you have written and fight for it.  There is time to really hate your book.  

There is time when you must fight to find time write.  There is a time when it all comes together.

I hope you understand the times and the seasons this week and that this golden advice stays with you.

This week's doodle is called "Happy Blue Blobby."

 

And a quote for your pocket. I know I keep this one in my pocket. 

 



Every great and commanding movement in the annals of the world is due to the triumph of enthusiasm. Nothing great was ever achieved without it. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Golden Advice: Wisdom from Delphi

Hi folks, I've been sick with a virus so this week is going to be short. I like to seek the desirable in the middling area. I find the golden in the place between the left and the right, not the dead center between these two places but with a leaning one way or the other. I'm find the golden in a place of unending tension. I find the golden is the heart of balance, beauty and grandeur in writing.

How does my thinking play out in my everyday writing? Think about the balance within your writing. I talked about the golden ratio in terms of pacing a couple of years back and that may be of some interest to you. Now I will think of the golden in terms of philosophy. I've read if you enter the temple at Delphi, there are two sayings on the Doric columns: "Know thyself" and "Nothing in excess." Well, that is some fab writerly advice. Know what you are good at.  Be aware of your weaknesses. With that knowledge in hand, now dip into Shakespeare: to thyself be true.  Next, look for excesses in your writing and round the corners. Is you main charater too extreme of a character, have you gone crazy with too much description, do your actions scenes just go on and on? Cut every excess in your book. Don't forget to look at each word and ask yourself, does my story need this word? 

Yes, I'm a fan of the ancient pathways. I hope you are too.  Bring the old and the new to your writing this week. See you next week.

Today's doodle is "Green and pink."

In many things the middle have the best / Be mine a middle station. Phocylies

Soul Inspiration: Madeleine L'Engle

Howdy, folks. This is the last in the series, and the last for the year. I dug into what really moves me about books in this series, but I can't write about what inspires my soul in books without taking some time to talk about Madeleine L'Engle. Madeleine is my guiding star when it comes to book inspiration. Her books have had a profound affect on my life. She was one author who understood that which I feel so deeply: we are people who have a profound need for that which we cannot see -- that which we cannot explain -- that which we cannot hold onto. We have an innate ability to see what cannot be seen.

We're full of the spiritual. Madeleine understood what I instinctively understand -- that love must be at the center of the universe, or I'm not sure I can live in this universe. Are we men or are we monsters?  This is something we all wrestle with at times. Will love somehow rise over every tragedy? Will it swallow up darkness with light. It will if we are willing to fight.  Her books were full of great battles that acknowledged that the small stuff going on in our corner of the universe was a thread in the giant tapestry of history, and if you pull one thread in a tapestry you might ruin the whole cloth.  Everything is precious. Everything has purpose. Everything has a season.

Life and death are great mysteries. Love is mysterious too. Hate is also just as mysterious. Madeleine introduced me to the great mysteries. She saw all these connections. She lifted them from the world around her. A mighty chorus reverberated within her. She firmly believed that all the flaming darts that struck through the hearts of men were akin to tossing a live coal into the sea.  Ah, this is an on fire thought -- good wins!  But, but, but -- the wars, the fires, the guns, the suffering... All this mystery is wrapped up in faith and art. My favorite books step out with bravery, offering the substance and evidence of  things hoped for and things unseen.

Be brave as you move forward with your stories in the new year. Say what you believe. Serve your art. Don't be afraid.  If you have not read Madeleine L'Engle's book: Walking on Water: Reflections of Faith and Art, consider giving it a look.

See you next year!

Here is an oldie but goodie doodle: "Girl with trumpet!"

Here is a quote for your pocket.

When we were children, we used to think that when we were grown-up we would no longer be vulnerable. But to grow up is to accept vulnerability... To be alive is to be vulnerable. Madeleine L'Engle 

Sorry, about the garbage you might have found at the bottom of this post!  New software, buggy...

Imaginary Friends

Hi, folks, I've been a big fan of imaginary friends my whole life. I believed stuffed animals were real as child. I had a little elephant - Pinky, who was seriously one of my best friends. After I'd given Pinky the Velveteen Rabbit treatment, I moved on to Buddy Bear. Me and my sisters had George and Susie and their parents and one of my favorites -- Hound Dog Bert. We wrote some stories of a superhero cat too. I was a rather dreamy child. I try to stay close to that child. I think that to create stories you need to be in touch with the child you were.

Think back to childhood and let yourself inhabit those memories. I think it's especially important to journal the events that you have an emotional connection with. To what end? To what purpose? For me, the way art works is I stir up my imagination with sights and experiences. I follow my muse and read stacks. I wake up my memories by thinking about them, I daydream about stuff, I chat with friends about my ideas and watch for their eyes to light up, and then I know I'm onto something. That's basically the genesis of creative process for me.

I hope this peek at my process helps jog loose something in you and you find deeper creative vision. Come back next week!

This week, I give you the doodle "Imaginary Neil." 'cause in the right universe we are good friends. ;)






Anyway, here is a quote for the day:

In the final analysis, a drawing simply is no longer a drawing, no matter how self-sufficient its execution may be. It is a symbol, and the more profoundly the imaginary lines of projection meet higher dimensions, the better. Paul Klee

Favorite Things

I'm a rolling stone this month. I'm moving on to Texas. My books are all packed up, so we will have to get back to my stacks of books another time. Oh, my gosh, I have way too many things to box!

I thought I would throw out some memorable stuff that has flitted around the edges of my mind for decades.

From art: Andy Warhol. He surprised me BIG TIME. The photos of his work never interested me. I thought, Campbell soup cans? Weird and not for me. Then I went to the MOMA in New York. I came around a corner and saw that massive wall of Campbell soup cans. This is a big piece of art. It was like being physically struck with some sort of lighting bolt. I laughed out loud and felt like crying at the same time. This sense of a world that doesn't see the beauty in the mundane and a world that at the same time is a bit ridiculous and out of control, nearly knocked me over; that all happened in a second. I loved that surprise.

From music: Oh, Brendan James, my life is so much better because you are writing songs. I love ALL I CAN SEE. How could I face my life without this kind of stuff? The revolution of the Earth around the sun is teaching me too; let me learn the lessons all around me.

From the final frontier: I love the astronauts. They are just the most awesome ones. I've met a few space travelers (though technically we are all traveling through space), and the thing that sets these modern day explorers apart is they always seem to be Renaissance people with interests in multiple disciplines whose curosity leads to some wild risks. I'm so glad that we have a contingent on our planet who wants to see what is out there, who wants to boldly go, who is willing to risk life and limb to achieve their goals.

So this week, ask yourself what surprises you. Listen to some inspiring tunes. And boldly go. Yes. Go!

Doodle of the week: "Astronaut."



I don't know what you could say about a day in which you have seen four beautiful sunsets. John Glenn

Muses

Oh, yay, for summer days. I went on a thirty mile bike ride today, and I am full of amazing snapshots: the little tiny white dog that was sure it could take on a bike, the woman riding her bike with her parrot, and the man who said he knew the secret formula for time travel. I'm always collecting images -- the time travel thing, that's a whole novel.

My friend Katherine Bond has been chatting with me about her need to feed her muse. This is the kind of muse that is the source of an artist's inspiration. I'm going toss out some quotes here because back in the day everyone was into their muse.

Dante Alighieri, in Canto II of The Inferno:
O Muses, O high genius, aid me now!
O memory that engraved the things I saw,
Here shall your worth be manifest to all!
(Anthony Esolen translation, 2002)

John Milton, opening of Book 1 of Paradise Lost:
Of Man’s first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste
Brought death into the World, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
Restore us, and regain the blissful Seat,
Sing, Heavenly Muse, [...]

William Shakespeare, Act 1, Prologue of Henry V:
Chorus: O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend
The brightest heaven of invention,
A kingdom for a stage, princes to act
And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!

Yep, having a muse is something to think about.

My inspiration comes from several things. I like to do something sort of crazy beyond my skill set and experience. My 30+ miles bike ride was just that sort of thing. I've walked on erupting volcanos, jumped out of third story windows (there was a net!), and learned how to throw a set of dishes on a pottery wheel. This sort of buzzing activity jazzes my creative self.

Another big infuser of muse power into my universe is to chat. Oh, how I love a good conversation. I live to hear others tell me their story. I also love a good book or a fine movie -- not as good as a conversation, but pretty good. Yes, surprising really, I'm a writer, but I love a good conversation more.

Yet another muse connection is to play certain kinds of thinking games. I do not know how to explain this but it is true. I especially like Scrabble, Boggle, Settlers of Catan, Backgammon, and Risk. A good game will make me want to stay up all night writing. I'm not sure what games are firing up in my brain, but they are.

I have other muses, but hey, folks, I've got to sleep sometimes.

I talked about a tangential subject to MUSES in a blog entry back in March, Pure Genius. Please check it out if you need more inspiration.

I hope that you take some time this week and follow your muses. See where they take you.



My doodle for the week is "Up in the Sky".







Today's playlist hit is musical madness: "Lonesome Polecat" from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Singing and dancing!











Health is the first muse, and sleep is the condition to produce it. Ralph Waldo Emerson