Historical Romance

Historical Romance with an Inspirational Touch

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

My Muse is a Guy

I have come to some interesting conclusions of late with regard to my muse.

1) My muse is a male. This shocked me as much as it probably shocks you. After all, I write historical romance and one would think a female muse would be the inspiration behind the story though I admit it is small minded of me to assume a romance is written by a female. But, now that I know his name, he is certainly not a she.

2) His name is Patrick. Why do I know this? This name consistently appears in my novels. I don’t know why. I try to never use the same name twice (which is very difficult by the way). Yet, the name Patrick always figures in. I didn’t even notice until one of my critique partners pointed it out to me. I don’t even know any Patricks. While it is my brother’s middle name, he is the last person I am thinking about when I envision these secondary characters. Which is rather interesting because even though Patrick figures into almost every novel, he never takes the lead, is never the hero. He is always the secondary. I wonder what the psychology is behind that.

3) He is jealous. I discovered that in these past two weeks. While Patrick had all but abandoned me while I was trying to write, he made an appearance when it was impossible for me to indulge him. During December and a good portion of January I did what I could to coax him out of hiding so I could get more work done on my current WIP. But, no matter how hard I tried, I struggled to get the right words on the page. Then, at the beginning of February I began work on Music Man where I was in charge of hair and makeup. The more I became busy with the show the more Patrick started talking. I mapped out scenes and dialogue ran through my head. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do anything about it because I was too exhausted by the time I got home. So, Patrick likes to play games. If I want him around, he plays hide and seek but the minute I turn my attention to another creative endeavor he is front in center demanding that I pay attention to him.

Do you have issues with your muse? Is it a male or female and do they have a name?

22 comments:

  1. LOL! What a cute post. I'm not that close with mym muse, but I'll keep an eye out for further details

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  2. I love how intimately aquainted with your muse you are. I have a Patrick working into my next novel.

    ~ Wendy

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  3. LOl. My muse is male as well. I just assumed they all were.

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  4. What a fun blog!!! And you are from Illinois, no less!!! My day's been made!

    Hmmm. My muse, the Holy Spirit? Guess He's a He but think God may transcend human gender issues!!!

    Hope we can be bloggites!!!
    Blessings,
    Patti

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  5. Those pesky little muses! I think mine is a teenage girl. She can be such a spoiled little brat sometimes.

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  6. interesting post about muses...I think of my muse as my creative child who comes out and overwhelms the careful critic with her ideas...

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  7. Oh my gosh! This is hilarious! Can I link to this sometime? I want to make a post out of it. LOL You're the first one I've ever heard of who named their muse. (well, apparently he's named himself, lol)
    Let me know if you're okay with me posting about this, okay? :-)

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  8. Megan, let me know when you and your muse become better acquainted.
    Wendy, you will have to keep me posted on your Patrick ;)
    T.Ann, I am so glad I am not alone with the male muse.
    Susan, I used to think mine was a girl in her early 20s but Patrick showed his true colors. Hmmm, not sure I would want a teenage girl muse, they can be very difficult to get along with - lol.
    Lin, I like the idea of a creative child as a muse.

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  9. Jessica, wow, what a compliment. Of course you can link it anytime you wish. Thanks.

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  10. Can you hear me laughing from Australia? LOL too funny, Amy.

    I think its best for me not to name my muse for a variety of reasons:

    1) I'm alone a lot during the time I'm writing 2) I already talk to myself out loud while alone 3) If I acknowledge a name for my muse I'm afraid I might speak of him/her too fondly and my dh might think I'm seeing someone behind his back.

    He would not understand! ;)

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  11. Too funny, Heather. I can understand not naming your muse. We spend enough time with them already we don't want to put our marriages at risk. ;)

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  12. My muse is a male, too. Jesus is His name, and He pops up in all my manuscripts, whether I talk about Him or not. He's there.

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  13. Yay! Thank you Amy! I'm doing it tomorrow.

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  14. Jeanette, you have the best muse ever!

    Jessica, looking forward to reading your blog.

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  15. Funny and cool! Having a guy's perspective on romance will definitley help out. :O)

    www.dianeestrella.com

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  16. This is hilarious. So glad I popped over from Jessica's blog.

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  17. Diane,
    When he is not aggravating me, he is helpful.

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  18. This is so cute! I followed the link from Jessica's blog. Thanks to you both for sharing!

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  19. Oh wow--I have to admit, I have never thought of a muse, what it is, and what it does! Am I so out of it or what? Heard the term but that's it. SO I guess from what you said, My muse must be a strong-willed younger woman--the kind I always wanted to be!

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  20. I love that your muse is a guy. Reading this makes me realize that mine is a guy as well. What a discovery. Mine, however, is not named Patrick, but I am lucky enough to have a Patrick for a best friend.

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