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Backstage at the Blog: M is for Muse

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M © A Scenic RouteI sat down to write my letter M post about margins– or media–or menus …

Umm, no.

The letter M is well represented around here by the Muse, so I guess I should just relent and talk about him!

His name is  Morpheus, as in Prince of Dreams, although I often simply refer to him as ‘M’. He looks a bit like Neil Gaiman‘s ‘Dream‘ character in The Sandman and usually comes stomping across my pages wearing his black rock and roll boots, smelling of rain, wildflowers and weed, all the while chuckling at my stubborn determination to get some writing done.

He’s got unruly black hair, a pierced tongue, and wears too much eyeliner. And he’s got wings.

Sometimes he rearranges things while I’m away from my stories, and when I come back, it all fits together better than I had imagined. How do I know he was there, and that it wasn’t just me in a flurry of inspiration?Roman Malyshev/Big Stock

I find feathers.

If you stick around here, you’re bound to catch him giving me a hard time and helping me come to terms with this stuff they call fiction writing.

Do you have a muse? If so, does your muse talk to you? Or am I just nuts?

(Here’s your link back to the A to Z Challenge Sign Up list.)

A-Z Challenge Morpheus Muse Neil Gaiman The Letter M The Sandman
April 15, 2014 Kirsten

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Backstage at the Blog: N is for Notifications → ← Backstage at the Blog: L is for Link

25 thoughts on “Backstage at the Blog: M is for Muse”

  1. Alex J. Cavanaugh says:
    April 15, 2014 at 8:18 am

    I’ve never thought about my muse as a person. And if I found a feather, I’d go looking for a duck.

    1. Kirsten says:
      April 15, 2014 at 6:55 pm

      A duck! You are the practical sort, aren’t you? 🙂

  2. Sammy D. says:
    April 15, 2014 at 8:31 am

    You are one lucky lady.

    No, strike that. Morpheus is one lucky muse 🙂

    1. Kirsten says:
      April 15, 2014 at 6:56 pm

      Heh, I think we’re both lucky to have found a way to express ourselves through writing. 🙂

  3. nancyrae4 says:
    April 15, 2014 at 8:56 am

    If my muse talked to your muse THAT would be nuts! (There’s a story idea in there somewhere.) Seriously, it’s a wise writer who listens when a muse speaks:)

    1. Kirsten says:
      April 15, 2014 at 7:01 pm

      My Muse is in awe of Juan- a real traveler from outer space. I think he’d be speechless if they ever met, but you never know, it could work!
      There might need to be alcoholic beverages involved to ease the tension … 😉

  4. melinda says:
    April 15, 2014 at 9:01 am

    I suspect M would be sulking in a dark corner somewhere if you had chosen to do your M post on anything else! My Muse revealed itself to me last summer as a dragonfly. I thought it was appropriate, since a dragonfly is hard to catch until it decides to land on you.

    1. melinda says:
      April 15, 2014 at 9:02 am

      *had* chosen. (Note to self: Proofread before clicking “post”!)

    2. Kirsten says:
      April 15, 2014 at 7:06 pm

      No problem, all fixed. 🙂

      You’re absolutely right though, he would sulk, and probably throw bad story ideas at me.
      Dragonflies are fascinating, and amazingly hard to catch! I can relate. 🙂

  5. Shell Flower says:
    April 15, 2014 at 9:06 am

    Yay for M, as in your muse, Morpheus. The more I hear about him, the more jealous I am. He is awesome. Glad you have such a cool muse. Maybe you can make a craft out of the feathers 🙂

    1. Kirsten says:
      April 15, 2014 at 7:07 pm

      Right now, I tape the feathers into my writing notebook next to the ideas. Maybe someday I can make one of those dreamcatchers out of them …

  6. elsieamata says:
    April 15, 2014 at 11:09 am

    Your muse sounds pretty hard core! I love it. I don’t really have a picture of mine so much as a character’s voice who can be relentless.

    Elsie
    AJ’s wHooligan in the A-Z Challenge

    1. Kirsten says:
      April 15, 2014 at 7:12 pm

      Hi Elsie,
      It’s funny, your comment made me realize that he wasn’t always as much of a tough guy, but the more I share my work, the more hardcore he’s become. Interesting.

      It’s cool that your characters bug you like that. 🙂 My Muse started out as a character in my first story, then morphed into who he is now.

      Welcome to A Scenic Route!

  7. Amy Keeley says:
    April 15, 2014 at 12:54 pm

    I like your muse’s name! He sounds like a great muse to have. 🙂

    As for me, if I do have a muse, I’ve never gotten a clear image of one, even when I did Holly Lisle’s exercise. That’s fine, because I tend to believe more in a collective unconscious anyway, or perhaps in the spirits of ancestors who told stories looking over my shoulder and saying, “Hey, you know what you should put in there?” It’s never felt like one person/thing to me. I find that comforting.

    1. Kirsten says:
      April 15, 2014 at 7:22 pm

      The fun thing about Holly’s exercise was seeing how other writers’ muses manifested. Many of them (maybe half, in fact) were less tangible, if indeed an imaginary character can be considered tangible. 😉
      But you hear the words and the ideas! Isn’t that just the coolest thing? I love the idea of an ancestral storytelling spirit.

  8. susan says:
    April 15, 2014 at 3:04 pm

    My muse comes to me in different guises, no you’re not nuts – a friend’s muse is a French young woman in a red beret. One of the posts here on this challenge is about a muse – hysterical – don’t know why the writer doesn’t have more followers. And the one with the french muse had his muse meet a friend’s muse who was totally different. Muses are like characters sometimes

    1. Kirsten says:
      April 15, 2014 at 7:24 pm

      Muses are definitely like characters–but without their own story to live in. I love hearing about other writers’ muses!

  9. jamieayres says:
    April 15, 2014 at 6:16 pm

    I like your muse better than mine, lol!

    1. Kirsten says:
      April 15, 2014 at 7:26 pm

      Hi Jamie!
      I can ask him if he wants to visit you sometime. He seems to have plenty of time on his hands with this A to Z challenge going on … 😉

  10. armchairauthor says:
    April 21, 2014 at 10:53 pm

    I am still hopeful that a more corporeal muse will emerge for me in time. As it is, I just envy the strong relationship you have with yours 😉

    1. Kirsten says:
      April 22, 2014 at 7:04 pm

      Give your muse time. 🙂 It took a while to draw mine out– in fact he gets clearer and clearer the more I write!

  11. Pingback: Write Much Lately? | A Scenic Route
  12. Pingback: The Last I Heard, He Was Slurping a Daiquiri | bemuzin
  13. Silvia Writes says:
    August 18, 2014 at 12:35 pm

    Yes, my muse talks to me, wakes me up at night, or slaps me awake from daydreaming with some idea. At bit nervy of such muse, I must say. 🙂
    Enjoyed reading this after having found your blog on Sammy’s post.

    1. Kirsten says:
      August 18, 2014 at 9:10 pm

      Isn’t it great to have a Muse intrude on an otherwise ordinary day though? I’m glad you enjoyed the post (and so is Morpheus who is grinning wickedly as I write this) !

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