I love the idea of having a Muse. Not a grand, ephemeral, spiritual Muse, but an actual Muse. The kind of Muse that can sleep on the bed and follow you around the house, like a dog. Dogs make great Muses. They always come when you call them. Especially when you have a piece of meat in your hand.
Cats in general do not make reliable Muses. My Muse is Smokie the Ragdoll cat; I introduced him in my Fat City Mysteries as Elfie, Kate’s Ragdoll. (I changed his name and gender to make sure he didn’t know I’d “used” him as a character!) Elfie née Smokie is a great character, but a finicky Muse. He turns up to lend creative inspiration only when he damn well pleases. Mostly he’s pleased when I’m opening a can of tuna.
Recently I wondered about famous writers and their muses. I did a little digging:
F. Scott Fitzgerald:
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s most potent Muse was probably his wife, Zelda. Her Muse-dom came with a catch, however: she refused to marry Fitzgerald until he could support her in a lifestyle befitting America’s first celebrity flapper. Fitzgerald sprang into action. He quickly cranked out THIS SIDE OF PARADISE, and published it to critical success. Zelda agreed to marry him soon afterward. Then she set about making the rest of his life a living hell.
The F. Scott Fitzgerald Rule about Muses: Don’t marry them.
Ernest Hemingway
Hemingway had a similarly bad outcome with one of his Muses, journalist Martha Gellhorn. The couple met at a bar in Key West (where else?). She later became his third wife. Gellhorn was reportedly too strong and spirited for Hemingway. She dumped him.
The Hemingway Rule about Muses: See the F. Scott Fitzgerald Rule.
I’m beginning to see a trend here. Famous writers are inspired by living, real people. People with whom they have hot, torrid affairs, but are better off not marrying.
Hmm. Those of us who are happily married to non-Muses will simply have to find our creative inspiration another way.
What about you? Do you have a Muse? If so, send us a picture. We’ll post the pictures this Friday. You can send the picture of your Muse to killzoneblog at gmail dot com.
I have a pair of muses, one cat and one dog. In fact, my main character has a muse. In Shimmer, we met Hannah, a Border Terrier who has adopted EJ Sanger.
In addition to my wife and children all of whom enjoy my stories and encourage me to write I have two other full time muses that have been with me for many years.
One with silky long black hair and a smile that sparkles brighter than the morning star. She whispers in my ear. Her breath sends sensual shivers through my entire body. She sings and points to things of beauty that I otherwise may not have noticed. She wears lacy, gossamer dresses that give the impressions of being revealingly shear yet she is very modest and the material is not as thin as I imagine. What I see beneath those layers is only in my mind.
Her rival is an energetic, fun, and gabby individual. Her hair is also black and shiny but is tied back in a tight pony tail that bounces and snaps like a whip when she moves her head. She doesn’t sparkle, she pops. Constantly talking and jabbering and tossing ideas into my mind at such a rate that I can barely digest one before the next comes barreling in. Perky is a word that might describe her…. or caffeinated. Every time I see her I know something fun is about to happen and cannot wipe the smile from my face.
The pair seldom appear at the same time. They can sometimes be abrasive toward one another when they are together. The poetess starts making vulgar rhymes and the perky one ends up slapping her.
But they are both very hot. They are sultry and sexy and drive me crazy. And I quite enjoy both of their company.
Does this make me a virtual polygamist?
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Send us a picture of your muses if you can, Brian, to killzoneblog at gmail dot com . And Basil, send us a photo if one of your muses is willing to be photographed–we don’t want to start any trouble, lol!
Can a mortgage be a Muse?
Now YOU are my muse, Mr Practical.
Kathryn, Hemingway had it right. Poor F. Scott indeed. But Jim is grounded in reality: a mortgage IS a terrible and forceful muse. However, I will stick with furry.
My cat, Star, is my muse. He must write with me every day. Star whips his tail at me to write if I stop typing. He even has the nerve to chew on my reference books as I write reminding me to write better. Plus he steals the best window view to stop me from daydreaming. But he keeps me here with my butt in the chair, where I should be. And that is a good muse.
I’m sure there’s nothing better for inspiration than three lashes from the cat o’ nine tails for inspiration, right, Donna? Jim, the answer is yes, and now I’m expecting pix of houses!
My muse is the personification of that weird part of me that never wants to sleep and has jumping-jack fits every time she finds something she can twist into something more interesting, which is precisely whenever I let her see. On all other matters she is extremely finicky.
I have never had inspiration problems.
My tumblr post about my muse: http://unconsciousplots.tumblr.com/post/16324470255/meet-my-muse
To be honest, I had to look the word “muse” up. It’s a word that gets tossed around a lot but I wasn’t 100% certain I knew it’s true meaning.
But the dictionary says “a spirit or source that inspires an artist.”
As soon as I read that, I knew what my muse was. I sent a photo to the listed address of the source that inspires my writing.
Kathrine, you have one drop-dead gorgeous muse! BK, I agree with you that the word “muse” does get chucked around a lot. When it comes to inspiration, I think it can be anything you want it to be! Thanks for sending us the photo–it’s beautiful, definitely inspiring. I’m looking forward to posting these pictures on Friday. Cheers!