Thursday, October 20, 2011

Muse it Up

So rather than bore you with another edition of my truths I figured I'd talk about something close to my heart... my muse.

Let's talk muses. I'm fascinated by who inspires people, what you do to keep the inspiration alive. Is your muse music, an individual, a book? I wanna get to know you.

I'm imagining that you'll want to know about mine... one of those "I'll tell you mine, if you tell me yours," sort of deal.

Julie Andrews. Sandra Bullock. Muse.

No not necessarily in that order. However they each serve their own purpose. I like to have them all around at my beckon call, and they all oblige.

Julie Andrews is up first. I love her singing and dancing ability. She really does warm the heart. I just imagine us sitting down for a spot of tea while she tells me the writing will come and not to worry.

Sandra Bullock is my go-to-idea-girl. When I'm feeling alone, sad, and pitiful I stock pile all her movies and watch them from start to finish. By the end I'm raring to write my next novel.

Muse are Gods. They're genius rock out music keeps me pumped in the novel. They're my in the moment Muse and they've never let me down. I love them. I mean like really LOVE them.

So what's yours? Do you have more than one?

25 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Never really thought about mine. I hope she looks like Kate Beckinsale though.

No One said...

I don't usually think of them in terms of muses, but I think I have them.

Sherwood Smith - She writes YA fantasy. Most of her books can only be ordered online, but she just keeps at it. Her worlds are very clear and impressive.
Ella from Ella Enchanted - She broke her own curse. What more need I say?
Antonin Dvorak - He wrote the music of my childhood.

Jillian said...

Hi Jen! I just wanted to say thank you so much for tweeting about out link up! I really appreciate it and I know you have quite a few fans lol.

<3

Natalie Aguirre said...

I don't really think in terms of muses, but it's something t think about. Thanks for sharing yours.

Bish Denham said...

I don't have an actual muse, but I do have people who inspire me. And most of those are the abused, neglected kids I worked with who overcame so much. Their strength and resilience is awe inspiring.

Anonymous said...

I <3 Sandra Bullock!

Slamdunk said...

My mom's fav was Julie Andrews.

Not in terms of muses but those that inspire--I am actually working on a post on that topic. I'm calling it "The Fab Five" and it is about specific characteristics of five athletes that I have used in trying to inspire our kids.

Keep up the good blogging Jen and thanks for making us think.

Angela Hood-Ross said...

I have many muses but I have to be honest...I have a crazy family. Well, not certified but almost. Three sisters (which one is my twinsy) and one perfect brother, according to what my mom thought. These people always have some kind of drama going on in their lives. Me? I live with my hubby, shih-tzu, cat, and stepson who is never home. So, I feed off my siblings lives. Not to mention, my hubby and I, have some crazy exes. Him two and I have only one. These people usually help me out with some of the minor characters that are not liked very well. Could you have ever guessed that? So, I'm blessed to have my own cheerleading squad as well as a whole nut house of muses.

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

I don't have a muse, but meeting and talking with other writers inspires me.

Emily R. King said...

All great choices! Sandra Bullock's rom-com's are in my library, too.
My muse is often a book or a movie or a visit to the beach, anything that clears my mind and gets my creative juices flowing.

Sher in Albuquerque said...

My muse is also MUSE! I totally agree..I haven't been so in love with a group in YEARS! I love and am inspired by all their music (did u see them in concert here last yr?)
My other muse has to be Oprah Winfrey..She has always been a source of good will and inspiration...I am loving her Life Classes right now.

DL Hammons said...

I can only see my muse out of the corner of my eye, peeking out from behind a tree. When I run over to see who is there, all that I find is a gold locket laying there. Then I sense it again, on the fringes of my peripheal vision, peeking out behind a different tree. I dash over only to discover a childs set of ball & jacks. This goes on and on, never able to catch the vision, each time finding a different curious object.

My muse fills me with mystery...and the desire to pass that feeling along to others.

Johanna Garth said...

My muse if my morning run. I go out and my head is cloudy and I come back with everything crystal clear. On the best days inspiration will hit right after I get out of the shower!

Jacqueline Howett said...

My latest blog is all about who and what inpires you.

I don't have any particular person.

Unknown said...

I dig this post. You're right. Everyone has muses, but they can come in different forms.

My head is very crowded. I have characters vying for my attention, music drifting around all over, images, bits of phrases, movie scenes, and in all that chaos I have muses buried. They often come out at night when I'm too tired to fight them off. This is why I keep notebooks by my bed. But they can strike during the day too.

I've tried to put faces on them, but they change so often. Sometimes they're a character or a song, or a real live person. I also like the group Muse. So many great songs, but the first I heard was Supermassive Black Hole and it still makes me want to boogie. (You have good taste!)

My live people muses are Tim Burton, Gerald Brom and Yoshitaka Amano. My literature muses are Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan.

Janet Johnson said...

I've never thought about a muse, either. I would have to say the world at large is. When I need a good idea, I sit in a quiet place, preferable facing nature, and look at the stuff around me.

Never fails.

Bethany Elizabeth said...

Oh man, my muses are so nerdy. Well.. there's Link, of course, my silent strong hero muse, and more recently there's Hawke (from Dragon Age II) who makes me think about characterization and hard choices a lot.

Melanie Stanford said...

My muse depends on the book I'm writing itself. For the first YA I wrote, it was Taylor Swift's music and a song by Boys Like Girls. For the sequel, again- a Taylor Swift song. For the chick lit I'm writing now, my muse is Jane Austen and a certain British actor who is so dreamy I can't get him out of my head.

Sarah Allen said...

Ok, a little bit flipping out right now, because we blogged about the EXACT same thing at basically the EXACT same time. Crazy!

Muses are awesome :)

Sarah Allen
(my creative writing blog)

Kristen Pelfrey said...

Hi Jen,
I'm a slow but steady blog hopper. I really like this post. Julie Andrews is such a legend.
You know, I haven't spent a lot of time thinking of my muse. Maybe I should!

Golden Eagle said...

My muse? Almost everything inspires me . . . though certain things, like a good book or the right music, always help to get ideas flowing.

I love Julie Andrews! Her books are excellent, too.

Lenny Lee said...

hi miss jen! i didnt ever think bout having muses but for sure i got lots of people and stuff that inspirerers for me. and it not just only for my writing but its for how i could live.
...hugs from lenny

Sue said...

Great post and conversation. I've always been perplexed when people talk about muses, perhaps they're there and I call them something different? I'm inspired by so much, mainly being outdoors, reading, living. Far too often thoughts descend at night demanding attention - most inconvenient! Have a great weekend. Sue

BBC said...

My muse is my cat, as odd as that may sound. Hence the avatar and screen name. My big fella helps me relax, and if he's setting by my feet purring it up, I'm much more likely to crack out something decent. He's also a great break-time pal.

Stephsco said...

I also love Muse the band. For awhile a couple years ago I listened to them ALL THE TIME. I could not stop. I love how over-the-top theatrical they are, but you know it's not fake if you've seem them live, because the shows are incredible.

I think my muse is my twitter feed full of writers, and anytime I go to an author event and see how cool the fan to author connection can be. It's not about money, that's for sure. I'm passionate about telling good stories to a young adult audience and hope someday to share stories with more people!