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Do you consider yourself to have a muse? Kina not really. See the next question for more detail!

What form does your muse take? Myself, I guess. Like a fictional version of myself. From the future. Who is remembering all these stories for me in what is my present. There may be more than one. Could be, like, a thousand—each one from a different world or time.

Which member of Destiny’s Child do you relate to the most? Beyoncé. I mean, of course 😅

Have you read any of Pressfield’s books? Nope. Not a word.

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I highly recommend War of Art, can be read in one sitting. Both are short and great and written for writers and artists.

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Hmm 🤔 I'll have a look 🧐

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Love that!! You’re self from another dimension!

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It's one of the recessed premises of my ouroboros-like series, The Secret of Secrets, of which Everything Fails is the first book.

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Love it.

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Charlotte. Wow. These are very keen observations and I know it's not very dignified of me, but I'm more than a little jealous of your writing ability. As far as I can see, you are level = EXPERT. I'm really glad that you wrote and shared this; I am truly inspired by it.

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Omg you’re too kind! But thank you. 🙏

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This a very fun and visual way for me to sort out the creatives in my head. I'm strong the hand holder and the strategy muse but long to just hang out with Beyonce

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Hahaha right. Meanwhile I’m basically just a Beyoncé groupie all day with no strategy. 😂

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Nah, no muses for me. I always just say to myself, suck it up or chop some wood.

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Hahaha love this.

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Interesting - I never thought of my muse as three separate entities before! For me, it's always music, though I'll pay more attention now to how that music changes during the writing process.

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Oooh music. Do you mean you catch your inspiration from listening to music?

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Yes! Each of my novels has a piece (or two) associated with it, which often is what inspired me to write it in the first place. I listen to those pieces obsessively during the writing of it, too. But my stories almost always have music as part of the plot, so that may be why that's so important to me.

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Oh wow! So cool. Which pieces of music and what are the titles of the novels?

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None of them are published yet (I'm still trying to query agents). Just as examples, one is title "Improvisando" and features the Elgar Cello Concerto. The one I just wrote is titled "The Miseries" and features two opera arias, Lakme's "Flower Duet" and Mozart's Queen of the Night aria from the Magic Flute. My WIP is at this point featuring Enescu's Romanian Rhapsody #1. More info than you ever wanted to know, I'm sure!

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That sounds awesome! Will have to lookup some of those songs.

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These are some nicely insightful reflections and meditations on the muse. Thank you, Charlotte.

In answer to two of your questions:

My own experience and understanding of the muse, and of the whole matter of inspired creativity, is laid out in my book A COURSE IN DEMONIC CREATIVITY: A WRITER'S GUIDE TO THE INNER GENIUS. It's freely downloadable at my author site: https://mattcardin.com/a-course-in-demonic-creativity

And yes, I have read Pressfield's books on writing and creativity, starting with The War of Art and then continuing on with Turning Pro, Do the Work, Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*T, and The Artist's Journey. He's brilliant. His blog is another excellent ongoing resource for keeping the same energies flowing.

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Google Jacqueline du Pre playing the Elgar. She's the best cellist that ever was (died far too young of MS). And Diana Damrau singing Queen of the Night, and Elena Garanca & Anna Netrebko singing the Flower Duet. Can't go wrong with any of those performances.

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