As we come to the end of 2023, I thought I should take the time to thank several people who have helped, and continue to help me, on my journey from scattered creator of second-rate nonsense towards creator of first-rate nonsense.
My muses.
Wikipedia’s introduction provides the historical context:
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric songs, and myths that were related orally for centuries in ancient Greek culture.
In my world as a part-time author of fiction, my current muses are women who provide me with inspiration. They inspire me in two different ways:
- By reading my stories and novels, and providing both affirmation and feedback
- By suggesting ideas and situations that I can write about
There are also one or two women who, although they may not know it, operate as occasional muses, by showing their own writing scope and style.
Joanna Love Jett is my longstanding friend and fiction muse. She is not active on social media, but is an aspiring author who has read a lot of my writing and who has the ability to get me to think about new ideas, scenarios and interactions with a few simple words.
Stacia Kaywood is a Regency Romance writer who I have a close online relationship with. She has read some of my writings, and like most writers, is capable of providing input that makes sense from a writing perspective
Dana Storino is a Romance writer who, like Stacia, provides input and feedback that makes sense from a writing perspective.
Thea Landen is a multi-faceted writer of Romance and erotica. This is an interesting call-out. She has (as far as I know) never read any of my work, but her ability to write fantasy erotica has led to me expanding my idea of what I could write about in future.
Brenda is a Twitter-only reader of erotica who has read some of my stories and provided feedback that triggers more story ideas.
At the end of the day, all writers need an audience. Since i have yet to formally publish any books, and I am my own worst critic in a way that would scare most people, I do regard muses as an important source of assistance and inspiration as I get my writings to a state where I feel I can let stories and novels into the wild, without being secretly dismayed by their quality (or lack thereof).
Many thanks to all of the named people.