Thursday, November 13, 2014

Melodramatic Musings: My Muse & Other Disasters

How many of you out there have a muse controlling your creative output?

Another November has rolled around and with it another NaNoWriMo. I'm not participating this year since I'll be spending a week in Orlando. But truth be told, I've never been very successful when it comes to NaNoWriMo. You see, I have a muse inside me, and she doesn't particularly like to be told what to do. Sometimes I feel like my rational mind has very little control over my creative output. I always have several projects going at once because she is flighty and tends to flit from one project to the next.

Telling my muse that she must work on the same manuscript for one month is like telling my dog not to bark at the UPS truck.


My muse hiding after I tell her to do something.

In August I was going full-steam ahead on Crimson Reflections, book two in The Orion Circle series. It was going so well that I ordered my cover with the intention to publish by October 31. Needless to say, my muse was distracted by something rather vile on the internet-- well three vile somethings. In fact she went on strike for the entire months of September and October. It's a rather long story dealing with online trolls and a writer's inherent sensitivity. There is no rationale for overcoming matters of the heart. In her devastation, my muse took an extended vacation. I suppose it happens to all writers at one point or another. We all wonder if it's worth the heartache and pain when nameless, spineless trolls can attack so viciously, without any regard for the individual.

Yes, my muse can be rather melodramatic.

Now it's November. I haven't heard from my trolls in a couple months. With any luck they've moved on to more fertile pastures. But best of all, my muse has come out of her slumber and wants to write again. Yay! Only she doesn't want to work on the same thing I do. She has soared from her hiding place like Tinkerbell on steroids, pushing to write a novel that I had no intention of starting until next year. So here I am, trying to corral my muse like she's an unruly toddler, while begging her to settle down and finish what needs to be done. I'm trying to work on final revisions for my YA urban fantasy, Bitter Envy. It needed a major overhaul, and I'm close to finished with it. I really want to get that novel out on submission by January. My muse, however, has her own ideas.



Yes, that is my muse in her excitement about Silver Storm, book 1.5 in the Light Chronicles series. At the rate she's going, I may end up with a novel by the end of November after all. She always did have a soft spot for the character Taranis in the Light Chronicles novels. Silver Storm tells the story of how Taranis and Alexa meet. Personally, I like this story, it features lots of Taranis. I haven't decided if lots of Taranis is too much of a good thing... yet. Only time will tell on that front. Poor guy has his work cut out for him in this novel. Alexa is a fun character to write. She has a backbone and doesn't back down from a challenge... or what she wants (hmm, reminds me of my muse).


Me after a few hours of dealing with my muse.

So my muse is happy about Silver Storm, and I really don't mind all that much. Writing is ultimately a creative art form. I learned a long time ago that if I try to force my creativity, I end up with nothing but drivel. So I guess for now at least, Bitter Envy & Crimson Reflections will have to take a backseat to the new sparkly plot that has captivated my muse. Thank goodness I don't have a long string of unfinished novels lying in my wake, or I'd be concerned. How could this be, you ask? Sure my muse is frivolous and flighty, but lucky for me she absolutely loves revisions and despises leaving anything unfinished. She can have her fun for now because deep down I know we'll be back to revising Bitter Envy in no time.


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