Ella and the Admiral

You know, sometimes the muse-I-don't-believe-in does weird things. I have a habit of waking up around 2-3am at night. I lie awake for an hour or so stewing over anything and everything that ever happened in my life, probably get up for a pee and a glass of water, then go back to sleep to a more respectable time. And THAT time is when I dream. I don't dream very often, mind. At least, not dreams I remember, and when I do I can usually work out where the weirdness came from.

But just a few days ago I dreamed about this admiral and a woman. Neither of them had names, but they had some sort of history - she had been in Fleet - and they met again in very different circumstances. A restaurant, fireworks... A glimpse of a story. So I've abandoned my current WIP for now (I'll go back to it) and did some work on this new story while the creative juices were flowing.

I had to think up a name for the file on the computer. I already had the imaginatively named WIP (I still haven't come up with a title) so I figured "Ella and the Admiral" would do. And then I wondered if I could use that as a permanent title. Would you read something with that title? Given an appropriate SFR cover?

Apart from that, I suppose I must be one of the last Star Wars fans to see the trailer for Rogue One. I've made it clear in earlier posts that The Force Awakens didn't exactly have me turning enraptured cartwheels. But boyoboyoboy Rogue One looks great. I can't wait. If you're even later than me to catch up, here's the trailer. Or even better, read through this tantalizing tale. Yum. Bring on the 3 minute trailer 2.

Which brings me to another small share about me. That's me in my Darth Vader T shirt (I've got a Kylo Ren one, too). I'm 65 years old. This T shirt is a real hit with the youngsters. I was wearing it on the long drive home from Brisbane when we stopped for a break and some coffee at a servo. One of the girls serving behind the counter came over specially to ask me where I got the T shirt. And quite a few times I've had younger people say variations of 'great T shirt'. Just goes to prove you don't have to be young to be a geek.

Oh - the new story will be fairly short, I expect (although you never can tell) and it will be another Dryden Universe. Wish me luck!

Meet My Muse

Here she is.
(My muse, not Michelle.) 

I wrote the following article about authors and writing inspiration for author Michelle Howard's first newsletter, which was published about a week ago. I thought this might be of interest to Spacefreighters' readers, so I'm positing it with Michelle's blessing. (Thanks, Michelle!)  

I met Michelle after she read my second book, THE OPHELIA PROPHECY, and emailed to share her thoughts about it. One of the topics she proposed for the guest article was how I come up with my ideas. This is something I enjoy talking about because I find the whole creative process mysterious, beautiful, and exciting.

But it can also be very scary. As authors, we load ourselves with some pretty heavy expectations. It seems like what we do is never quite good enough according to our internal critic, and sometimes the external ones as well. A hundred or a thousand or a hundred-thousand people can tell us we’re great, but one nasty review can throw us into a funk for days.

Author Elizabeth Gilbert (EAT, PRAY, LOVE) gave a great TED talk about this and offered some very interesting advice. The gist of it is that we shouldn’t internalize our creativity so much. That we should think of ourselves as vessels for conducting creativity from wherever it comes from, out to the rest of the world. That can help us to ease up on ourselves. I particularly appreciate what she said about just showing up at the desk every day. She spoke of sitting down and saying to the universe, “I showed up. I’ve done my part. Now you do yours.”

I confess that though I found a lot of wisdom in this, I also had mixed feelings. Another author who gives great writer advice is Chuck Wendig. His is more of the tough-love variety. He advises authors to “own that shi_”, and to act like the writing gods and goddesses we know we are. And I confess I find those kinds of affirmations empowering.

I try to meditate every day, and I often start by setting an intention. Usually something like, “I have a clear and focused mind.” But sometimes, inspired by Wendig, I set the intention to “be the writing goddess I am.” Silly as that probably sounds, somehow it does seem to work for me. I think because it dovetails nicely with some advice Neil Gaiman gave to a woman who was anxious about something she was trying for the first time: “Pretend you’re someone who can do this.”

Though on the surface these two approaches seem opposite, I think they work for the same reason. If you assign the source for your creativity outside yourself, it takes off the pressure. If you refuse to doubt you can do something, it takes off the pressure.

Still, when I become frustrated because I can’t quite get the words on the page, I do tend to reflect on Gilbert’s advice. It can be very cathartic to blame the muse.

This was perhaps the longest introduction to an article I’ve ever written, but I think I’ve finally come back around to the topic of where I get my inspiration. My muse has some very specific needs. [No, I did not just call you needy.] And some very predictable behaviors. [Nor did I call you boring.] And a tendency to leave me staring at or talking to people who aren’t there at all. [Go away! I’m trying to write an article!]

First of all, she *loves* science. If you ask her about this, she’ll deny it, because she believes that muses are supposed to be shimmering and majestic and not quirky little geeks. (It has something to do with being related to fairies and ancient deities.) But all of my worldbuilding unpacks from the science talks I take her to, and books like SYMBIOTIC PLANET (symbiosis research for GHOST PLANET), FRANKENSTEIN’S CAT (biotech research for THE OPHELIA PROPHECY), and ENTANGLED MINDS (psi and quantum physics research for ECHO 8).

Beinecke Digital Library:
http://brbl-zoom.library.yale.edu/viewer/1013696

Also, she has a thing about titles. Muse *crack*, at least in my creative world. Back before I wrote my first published novel, GHOST PLANET, I was trying to think up ideas for a story to enter in the Writers of the Future contest. I had already tried a few fantasy stories that made it to “honorable mention” but no farther. I thought trying science fiction might give me a boost, or at least some new ideas to work with.

I remember the title “Ghost Planet” popped into my head. I started noodling on what a story with that title might be about, and the little dear was off to the races. It has played out exactly that way with just about every story I’ve written. Here lately she’s tossed a couple awesome ideas at me with nothing more than a color. (I have an experimental story in progress on Wattpad called RED.)

Clearly it makes no sense that a whole story should erupt spontaneously from a couple of words. But it happens. In my case, A LOT. And that’s what fascinates me about the creative process. It’s also why the ancients came up with the idea of muses — they couldn’t say any more than we can today *where* those stories come from. It’s so much like magic, they must be coming from some outside source, right?

It’s nice to have a partner, and it’s also a relief to have someone else to turn to (or blame) when things go wrong. Even if they’re only in your head.

When the Muse Misbehaves

I've seen several authors say there's no such thing as a muse, and others virtually tearing out their hair on Twitter because of this strange entity. For me, the muse is a single personality made up of all the voices in my head. The idea that wakes me up at 4am and won't go away. The mind-numbing lack of words at that essential moment in the story. The warren of plot bunnies that appear mid project. And the sudden burning urge to work on 'that' old story right in the middle of urgent edits with a deadline. She's capricious, elusive when needed and a persistent noise when I want her to shut up. She can be the genius who solves the backed-into-a-corner jam in the midst of housework, or the sudden silence in the same situation two days later. She's a tease and a torture. Yes, she's also still me, but she's the part of me that gets my characters into trouble, then sits back and laughs while I try to fix it. Oh, how I love and hate her!

Right now we're at an impasse. Content edits for Imprint - my SFR short for the Brigade anthology  - are done and off for copy edits. I've had and checked the ARC for my scifi novel Gethyon, due out in just 11 days, squeee!  All my guest posts for the virtual tour are done bar one, and ready to send off. I'm going to be busy until the end of June, but with nothing else contracted right now, I'm looking at my next project to complete.

The problem is, I just can't decide what to work on next. It isn't lack of ideas. While muse may not have given me more than a few tenuous new ideas over the last month, I have seventeen - yep, SEVENTEEN - current WIPs on my hard drive. Everything from ready-to-sub manuscripts to drafts that are more at the coal than rough diamond stage. A short story that's been through first round edits but still isn't ready two years after writing it. A superhero romance that started as an urban fantasy, went scifi, steampunk, dieselpunk, and is currently decopunk/alternate timeline. There are more Quin/Keir stories, a space pirate vampire novella, and even a dark fantasy romance, started for a contest and never finished. And lastly a folder with a collection of CAPTCHA words, odd bits of tech, some lines, titles, and random paragraphs of ideas all waiting for a home.

And I just can't choose between them. About half a dozen are clamouring for attention for different reasons, like a bunch of toddlers at nursery. The series of books that I'd planned for Keir are kind of in limbo until the fate of Book Two is decided. Three stories for Quin are all demanding that I work on them, and with the sudden arrival of New Adult as a category that's growing in popularity, I feel I should finish her first adventure. I should do the edits on the short, one of Quin's stories set before Gethyon and Keir (yes, I'm working backwards. Don't ask me why - the stories have been in my head for 20 years but I'm only just writing them down, sigh). Then there's the story with Quin and Darion. There *are* readers who want to know what happened there.

And nearly everything that I have finished has some kind of sequel now. Terms & Conditions Apply has one, plus another spin off idea (I can blame Diane Dooley for that last one). Tethered, another finished work that may have found a home (can't comment on that just now, shh!) has a sequel. Even Imprint has a follow up story that's currently novella length (and I'm hoping to reach at least 80K).

In the past, one story normally fends off the others and refuses to be left. Now they're all shouting "me, me, ME!" with equal intensity. Maybe I should start something new? Maybe I should take a break?

But I can't. The need to finish *something* is like an itch I can't shake off.  When I first thought about being published, I fretted over running out of ideas. Now I fret over whether I'll get them all written in my lifetime!
Does your muse have a personality? A life of its own? Or do you think I'm a little more crazy than the average author for thinking of inspiration as a person? :P And how do you decide what comes next?

Pippa's Journal

Action!
I've mentioned some already. Content edits on Imprint are done. Line edits will be going back to my main editor before the final set comes to me for tweaking and polishing. My logline, blurb and author page have all been submitted. I'm so excited! This will be my first adventure as part of an anthology, and having read a couple of the other submissions I can promise you a fun read.

Gethyon releases in just eleven days!! *bounces*  I'll be touring for the whole of June to celebrate. My final PDF arrived yesterday (it looks so pretty with the cover on!) so I'll be hunting for review sites later today to submit to.

Happenings
The SFR Brigade's 2nd Midsummer blog hop needs you! Even if you can't sign up to take part, I'd really appreciate it if anyone could put the button or banner on their blog to help promote the event. Email me at sfrbrigadebloghop (at) Gmail (dot) com if you'd like the button. I'm so excited about organising this event!

Discoveries
This is something fun I found on Twitter just today. A random alien race generator. The creator admits it isn't perfect, but again something that might help spark ideas. You can read about it here.

Ping Pong
@Laurie - so sorry about your missing ending. A timely warning to authors - always be sure to save and back up your work! Having lost my computer a couple of weeks ago, and with a spate of similar disasters among my fellow authors, I second this completely.
@Sharon - great post on whether the behaviour of authors reflects on people still buying their work. I saw comments to a post about unethical marketing where the reader said she didn't want an author to be her friend via social media, and she didn't like this push by publishers and internet gurus for authors to connect with readers. A view that goes against most marketing advice. We'd be less aware of minor author meltdowns, but then, wouldn't fewer people get to hear of our books? Being an author on the web is a real double edged sword.
@Donna - am I forgiven for not being a devoted ST fan yet? Lol. Hubs and I have been debating going to see STiD, but I think babysitting issues will probably mean us waiting on the DVD. =/