Magic Thursday: Some muses are not there to help with Rhyll Biest!

 

I have a secret.

People often ask where fiction writers get their ideas from and, like most authors, mine comes from the muse occupying my vestigial tail. (Next time you go to an author convention or book signing, ask to see the author’s vestigial tail. They won’t mind.) Where it gets weird is that my muse is not there to help.

Somehow I’ve ended up with a muse who’s the sort of sewer-mouthed tramp prone to scrapping over the last pack of Quilton three ply during a pandemic lock-down. Proud of her Bukowski-like appetite for vulgarity, she sports the impulse control and attention span of a toddler, and has never met a bad decision she didn’t like. If she were an organ she’d be a diseased liver. I call her Rude Jude (among other things, behind her back) and blame her totally for derailing progress on my current novel. And I share with you here the results of following her down a were-rabbit rabbit hole for several hours. 

I innocently googled “rabbits in folklore” and came across the tale of English woman Mary Toft who, in a gloriously successful medical hoax in 1726, convinced the medical fraternity (including an attending doctor) she was giving birth to rabbits. After a scientific paper was published about bunny-birthing Mary, she became a hot topic throughout England and Europe, leaving quite a trail of documentary evidence for historical researchers. (If you’d like to join me and Rude Jude in the were-rabbit rabbit hole, you can read an interesting Atlas Obscura article about the hoax, a socio-historical analysis in the non-fiction book The Imposteress Rabbit-Breeder: Mary Toft and Eighteenth-Century England, or the historical fiction novel Mary Toft; or, The Rabbit Queen. 

Mary Croft. Source

Then Jude and I discovered that even before Mary Toft, rabbits and hares had a bad rep. Seeing a rabbit or hare was considered an ill omen for travel, and it was thought that if a pregnant woman saw or ate either it would result in her child being born with a hare-lip. Rabbits and hares, along with various other creatures such as cats and crows, were also believed to be witch familiars, and folklore abounds with tales of milk-thieving animals, including (you guessed it) milk rabbits who were either witch familiars or witches in disguise. 

They might steal milk from livestock as well as nursing mothers, which meant that no sheep, goat, cow or lactating woman was safe. And since the loss of milk could mean the difference between life and death back then, ‘milk theft’ was A Very Big Problem. Poor nutrition and disease control were probably to blame for low milk yield (in both women and livestock) but without the benefit of science, who better to blame than witches and those odious servants of Satan—the milk bunny and were-hare? 

And if it wasn’t rabbits stealing your milk, it was troll cats. Not familiar with troll cats? (Shame on you!) Troll cats are, according to Scandinavian folklore, witch familiars that suck the milk from cows so they can later spit it out into a witch’s milk pail. They were also known to creep into homes to lick up cream. Apparently witches could create these troll cats from a bit of human hair and some nails and wood shavings. (Note to self: Next time I run out of milk, I won’t bother going to the store, I’ll just whip up a troll cat and send it out to steal some milk from my neighbour’s cow.) 

For modern witches who don’t like pets and are prepared to go to a little extra effort (i.e., following a complex procedure for creating a milk-thieving golem-like creature) a tilberi for milk theft is another option. However, the downside of creating a tilberi (besides it not being as cute as a cat or a bunny) is that if you get knocked up and lactate, and the tilberi manages to reach your milk-filled breast, you’re at risk of being suckled to death by your own witchy creation. But modern gals who live on the edge by regularly attending botox parties and taking overseas cosmetic surgery holidays will likely be comfortable with this small risk.

milk hare

So, there you have it. That’s the crazy were-rabbit journey I was led on by my frenemy-cum-muse Rude Jude. While all that reading might one day come in use for a story, it hasn’t so far, but I think the take-away message for me was that I’m glad I live in the twenty-first century and don’t have to worry about pesky were-hares, troll cats, tilberi and milk rabbits draining either me or my cow dry. And that I should resist the temptation to tell people I’m giving birth to rabbits (because Mary Toft went to prison for that shit).

Refuge

Book 2, Shelter

Widow, workaholic vet and card-carrying curmudgeon Stacey prefers pets to people and surgery to socialising. To rally the town to save her animal rescue shelter, she’ll need a charismatic campaign spokesperson—someone like her popular, lumbersexual colleague Nick.

Addiction, secrets and Stacey’s marriage to his best friend forced Nick to keep his distance from the passionate, potty-mouthed Stacey. Now she wants his help but as a recovered addict he’s reluctant to become the face of her campaign. 

However, as opposition to the campaign turns violent, Nick and Stacey find themselves increasingly turning to one another.

Buy

Rhyll Biest

Like the creepy Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs, I’m trying to transform myself. Since I’m a little squeamish about skinning, I’ve instead opted to transform myself from a weasel word-sproutin’, passive sentence-luvin’ government hack into a paranormal romance writer happy to sit down at the computer and wait for the keyboard to sprout hair. I’m a genre ‘swinger’, also dabbling in erotic romance, but would consider a long-term committed relationship with an alpha hero sporting suitably long fangs.

A reject from the world of academia since my PhD scholarship ended and no one would keep paying me to write made-up stuff, I spent years working for the Army of Darkness (Australian Public Service) writing articles about diseased animal innards while longing to recapture the lost paradise of writing in my jammies all day long. 

You can find Rhyll on Substack (@beastlyauthor) or at website at biestbooks.au

Magic Thursday - Where has my muse gone?

I wonder this all the time lately. The muse. She just ain't there! I keep a looking but to no avail.

Most people have busy lives these days, and I'm among them. Mine is not busy with normal work - as long time readers of this blog know, I have chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), so this condition stops me from working 9-5 jobs. The inconsistancy of my condition has empolyers scared, but I'm not sitting on my butt all day long.

Well I do sit on my butt, but I'm trying to keep my brain active.

I'm a semi-carer - my parents have health issues and I take them to their doctor's appointments.

I'm a volunteer with Romance Writers of Australia being on the committee, the RWA organiser for this year's Roadshow in Adelaide, and paranormal group co-moderator. I also index the Hearts Talk issues (usually - this project has fallen way behind).

I'm a student of graphic design. I've been studying very part time at Tafe (vocational training for those outside of Australia) for over two years now. At the beginning of this year, I changed streams taking the Illustration stream of graphic design. While the core subjects are the same, the electives are not, so some subjects I've done doesn't count for the diploma. It's okay though as I've learned some things that have helped with marketing and websites.

I'm a book cover designer - as well as do banners and website/blog customisations (HelzKat Designs). This part time business had suffered by the year of bad health (last year) as well but has recently picked up again.


So where has the Muse gone? 

It's strange. I have all these ideas but when I go to write anything down it's like an invisible barrier is between me and the words. The Muse is gone so the link between me and my words is missing. I think she's damned drained mentally.

I wonder if she's also tired of the fantasy novel not selling. She's worked hard on that story and while it's gotten nibbles, it hasn't found a home.

I've been through down patches before but usually I'm editing if not writing. ATM, even editing feels the same as writing. A barrier is there.

I love story telling, so it's baffling to me that I can't write or edit. In fact, this fog that I've had has affected my reading to a large extent and I've talked how reading feeds my soul in the past.

It must feed my Muse as well, it seems.

My only Muse food seems to be the TV shows that I watch. A mixture of sci-fi, paranormal, drama, comedy and documentary. Thank goodness for that, but on it's own is it enough?

I've made the decision that until the RWA Romance Rocks! conference in August (in Sydney), I will not worry about my writing or editing. I will let my muse take the time off now and get myself ready because Muse, ready or not, we will get to work. Even if I have to hog tie you.

SNOOP is my latest release. This paranormal noir novelette

Bob's rule of investigating: Never take the paranormal at face value.

Daisy Luck is a SNOOP - Sanctioned Nationalized Officer Of the Paranormal. Her latest case involving a vampire and a gremlin has her private eye senses in a spin. Throw in yummy Detective Maroney and her life couldn't get more complicated - or could it?

Buy links -  Musa Publishing | Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords |
All Romance Ebooks | Google Play | iTunes | Kobo

Find Eleni at - 

elenikonstantine.com | Elenis' Taverna blog | Twitter @ElenisKafe | 

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Magic Thursday-The Outcast Prince

Music and the muse

I don’t listen to music when I write, however I make a playlist for all my novels. When I’m running or at work I’ll listen to those songs to keep me in the story while I’m writing the first draft. Later that playlist helps me get back into the story for edits. The music is my short cut to getting in the mood.

I remember plotting this story and being at an Eskimo Joe concert (they were launching the Ghosts of the Past album) and I heard Echo for the first time. Right then I knew that would be perfect for the hero Caspian who is psychometric. Crossfire by Brandon Flower was already on the list—because getting caught in fairy drama is never a good thing. 

Sometimes the playlist develops organically as I plot, other times I go looking for songs as I need that anchor into the world I’ve created. While for a novel or a series I might end up with 20-30 songs, for a novella it might only be 2 or 3 songs. Some songs hold greater meaning than others and become attached to a particular point in the story. 

Devil’s Party by INXS will always be the Court of Annwyn. Lush and with seemingly no morals they gamble and make deals, use sex to secure favors and either have no understanding or no use for love. 

There is a downside to the playlist. After listening to the same songs for weeks on end while writing the first draft it’s always wonderful to switch it off and listen to something else :).

To go in the draw to win a copy of The Outcast Prince tell me what your favourite song is. Winner will be drawn 7pm WST Sunday 23 June.
~~~
Outcast Prince had me spellbound from the first page! Shona Husk's engaging voice and vivid, creative world-building make every one of her books a must-read!" - Larissa Ione, New York Times bestselling author
"Brilliantly unique, beautifully sensual, The

Caspian Mort can feel the history in anything he touches, a gift he inherited from his father, the Crown Prince of Annwyn. Devastated over his ex-wife's infidelity, Caspian has withdrawn from human contact except when working as an antiques dealer.

While assessing the contents of the historic Callaway House he encounters the beautiful Lydia Callaway and senses that her home is haunted by a banished fairy. But what does the dangerous exile want?

Unbeknownst to Lydia, she's the owner of the last remaining portal to Annwyn--a mirror hidden somewhere in the house. To keep Lydia safe, Caspian will have to divulge the secrets of his heritage, and risk losing his heart again.

Amazon | The Book Depository | Barnes & Noble | Booktopia

Enchanted Orb: Nicole Murphy

Welcome to the Enchanted Orb - a look at the inspiration behind the DarkSider's tales.

Our guest today is Nicole Murphy, author of the gadda series as well as a couple of other publications.

 

Today, she talks about... well, I'll let her tell you.

Take it away, Nicole!

Making your muse work for you.

Today I want to talk about FORCING inspiration. There can be a view that the muse is a strange, elusive creature and you have to coax and beguile him/her to work.

On that, I call bulls*&t.

You can MAKE the muse work for you. Think of the muse as something like a puppy - all bouncy and all over the place with inspiration. Train it, and then you get a well-behaved beastie that works for you!

Now, this wasn't always my opinion. I thought you had to wait for ideas to come, and they were the only ones worth pursuing. But I was taught the error of my ways by a fabulous writer friend of mine, Ian McHugh.

Ian is a kick-arse writer. So kick-arse that he not only won a quarter of the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future (something only a few Australians have done), but he won the entire competition (thus far the only Australian to do so).

Part of the prize is a week in LA with some of the biggest names in speculative fiction teaching you. Part of that was a story generating exercise. Ian enjoyed it so much that last year, he did it at a meeting of the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild (CSFG) of which I am a member.

That night floored me. The story I produced as a result is one of the best stories I've every written, and it was interesting and intriguing and NO WAY would my muse have ever come up with it if I'd left him/her to their own devices (I haven't decided on my muse's sex - quite like the idea of gender not being part of the identity).

The exercise was in three easy steps. First, you are given an object to study, consider, take notes about. Mine was a Santa-shaped babushka doll. Second, you go out and meet a stranger and talk to them and see what they say (in the meeting, we talked to the person next to us but were given three topics to share and listen to). Third, you go into a library, or a bookstore and at random pick a book, then randomly throw it open.

Take those three elements, throw them together and see what happens.

At first, I wasn't too sure. I had my Santa-babushka and it was interesting. The person I talked to had some great stories about her grandmother working in the war to support her family and her in-laws having a ghost in the house. But I couldn't see any obvious connection, any story that would grow out of it. What did it all mean?

Then came the crucial third piece of the puzzle. I decided my random book would be a random internet article. I opened Wikipedia and looked at the "Did you know..." section on the first page. There was something there about the largest colosseum ever discovered outside of Rome. From there, I went researching the real Colosseum and from there, I found out about a building called the spoilarium, where the bodies of dead gladiators were taken and stripped of their armour. The bodies were discarded, the armour fixed for another gladiator to wear.

Suddenly, things were coalescing, moving in my mind. I opened Word and typed in the first line:

"I woke to find the ghost had stripped another layer."

The story flowed, as they sometimes do. It was about a mother, making the ultimate sacrifice for her children in order to secure their future. I knew I'd done something special when I took it to a critique session and the first person looked at me and said - "Wow."

I can't share more than that - am trying to sell the story at the moment - but the experience sold me on story generation. Since then I've used it a few times to either start a story or help a story along - choose a line of a song, open a book at a page and see what comes out.

And when you think about it, story generation like this isn't too far removed from editing. When you come across a problem in your story, you have certain parameters within which the solution must come. Story generation creates those parameters upfront and considering how much I enjoy the problem-solving aspect of editing, it's probably no surprise story generation has worked for me.

Try it for yourself - next time you're waiting for the muse to give you an idea, bypass him/her and try to generate the story yourself. There's lots of exercises online if you Google 'story generation'. At the very least, you might just scare your muse into being more proactive!