A peek inside my mind...

So sometimes you hear writers talk about this crazy thing called a muse...we almost always refer to him/her/it as a real being with real thoughts who's only goal in life is to mess with us and give us entirely too many plot bunnies to deal with, to the point that even penned and coraled they still figure out some way to get out, bump fuzzies and create a firestorm of TOO MUCH.

Obviously the muse is our metaphorical way of describing our thought process, how we get our ideas, which ideas slide right to the top of the pack and maybe make their way to a novel (if they promise to be good and shut up so we can think!) or sometimes they're like that guy in your home room class who's so freakin' hot and you're totally crushing on him until he opens his mouth and starts talking about farts and how many girls he's laid and 'hey babes, you wanna be number 10'...ewww gross. Okay, so those we trash. But what gives us the ideas..

Well, I can't speak for all writers but I can speak for myself. In my R(eal) L(ife) I'm a very quiet, studious person. I look at the world around me. I don't just go for a walk and plug my headphones in and forget there's a million other people, other things going on around me. I guess in some ways I tend to look at the world like a great big novel and my plot is just one of many that creates that story. I'll see someone run past me and I'll wonder why're they're running. Too lose weight? Because they're angry? Because they're happy?

Sometimes I'll read a story about a man marrying his car and....no, nah..I couldnt' even come up with a storyline on that one. Too weird even for me..lol.

What I find myself most inspired by is nature. I'm very blessed to live in one of the most beautiful places in the world. For instance I go walking every day on this trail behind my house. The trail is framed by trees on either side. But these aren't the normal trees you see on the mainlaind, these are twisting, knotted things that seem to reach out from the ground like a great big hand and with green fingers shotting towards the heavens in a large sprawling blanket of leaves. There's also another tree that has this great big mound around the base with the most amazing spread of wild flowers growing in thick bunches around it. The petals are the most amazing shades of pink and purple, sprinkled with white throughout and I always think if fairies existed, they'd totally live there. Then I start thinking well if they lived there what would they be doing?

And boom, plot bunny. Which is good and bad. You never want the well to run dry because then that means you won't be able to write anymore, but sometimes (like now) you've got a series you're trying desperately to finish and you just can't entertain thoughts of fairies flitting from stem to stem at night, glowing like willow o wisp's gathering dew. Although....*tucking that thought away for another day* ;)

And just because I'm in a sharing mood I'll share with you the picture of one of my favorite trees. I call it:

                                                         RAINBOW IN PARADISE

No, it's not painted..it is exactly as it appears..it's called a Rainbow Eucalyptus Tree. Now tell me that wouldn't inspire you!