Off visiting

My muse is all cued out this week since I've been busy guest blogging at The Naked Goddess. Please come on over and visit at http://thenakedhero.com/

My topic is humor.

Cheers!

Welcome to My Life

Quirky people, beyond spectacular scenery, and gobs of solitude. Any blog about me and my muse has got to begin in Vermont. It’s where I was born, where I have spent my summer vacations ever since, and where I am right now. Here’s why.

Like I said---beyond spectacular. Views like this have always inspired me. I didn’t think much about my muse when I was a child, but I did spend many hours imagining what was beyond that first ridge of mountains. Or the second ridge? What magic was happening in that magical and strange place where it goes from green to purple? Okay, so I was a weird kid.

As an adult, I might know what mountain I’m admiring, and the name of the town nestled in the valley on the other side, but it’s still magical. And I’m still weird. I stop the car regularly and irregularly to stare in awe at sights such as this. Call it goofing off, call it peace of mind, or call it communing with God. Whatever it is, it cues my muse.

Getting more specific, this my magical place in magical Vermont. I’ve been writing nonsense at Lake Elmore since I was about ten. A few years ago my husband and I bought a shack up here and the dock you see is my very own. I started my first mystery sitting out there. Three unpublished novels later, I’m still up here every summer, writing to my heart’s content. It’s called idyllic, and it cues my muse.



I warned you I’m weird. That’s me on the porch of my shack, Daydream Cottage. I’m out here every morning with my cat and my computer, writing. Okay, so sometimes I get distracted by the lake, which is about twenty feet in front of me, but mostly I write. I wear my pajamas because even if someone paddles by and sees me, this is Lake Elmore and it’s all okay. I wear my hat to keep the sun out of my eyes. And the fuzzy slippers keep me warm. Northern Vermont can be chilly in the morning, even in the summer. This is called routine and it cues my muse too.

Lots of Questions

Last time I promised my web audience out there in Internet Land an interesting, amusing and enlightening BLOG THEME. And I imagine (I have an active imagination) that you have all been eagerly anticipating what this theme might be. So here it is: What inspires creativity? Cueing The Muse will explore how creative people create. Where do their ideas come from? What habits, events, people and experiences get the creative juices flowing? A snippet of conversation, a song, a fleeting image from a dream? Do creative people know inspiration when they see it, or does it happen subconsciously? Is it instantaneous, or do memories play a role? What cues the muse?

Now I need to ask you a few questions. First of all, are you creative? Do you write, paint, sculpt, or build furniture? Do you design houses, birdhouses, dollhouses, or quilts? Are you a photographer, musician, gardener, actor or cook? Do you have a friend who does any of these things or something I have left out? Please let me know what you create. Because I desperately need GUEST BLOGGERS. Lots and lots of them. Creative souls who want to share what cues their muse with the folks out there in Internet Land.

I’ll get us started next time with something about my writing.

Here Goes…

Everyone tells me to blog. Build a web presence, they say. Get your name “out there” so you sell lots of books once you’re published. I might understand the logic, but that doesn’t mean I know what to blog about. My daily existence doesn’t exactly provide a huge, long list of fascinating anecdotes to entertain the masses. That’s why I write fiction---because my real life is dull. On my best days I sit in one spot for hours and hours and pound away at my keyboard, only moving to refill my coffee cup. Boring, boring, boring. I am boring. Everyone tells me to just stop it. Stop being boring, they say, and become interesting, intriguing, and adventuresome. And then blog about it.

Interesting, intriguing and adventuresome? Surely there must be an easier solution. I like being duller than dull, and I’m quite sure I wouldn’t adventure well. So I decide that my blog needs a theme instead. Something that I can think about over coffee and never leave home to pursue. Some interesting concept that will amuse and enlighten my web audience. No matter that I have no web audience. If my theme is good, they will come.

After much deliberation, I have thought of a theme: Cueing the Muse. Stay tuned, you web audience you, and I will elaborate next time.

New mystery completed

Cindy Blackburn is getting more response to her new mystery.

Keep your eyes open for Snowflake!