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Life of a Writer Mom Column August 2002 Column Four Legged Muses As writers, we all know that we have muses, someone or something that appears at just the right time, when the words come slow. Up until last week I had two of these muses, of the four legged variety. A 16-year-old basset hound and a five-year-old spitz mix. Now these two furry muses seem to enjoy curling up under my desk as I work. They instinctively seem to know when to lift their head for a pat or when to rub against my leg. Maybe they recognize the exasperation in my voice when I grumble at the computer screen, or the muttering to myself as I rewrite a paragraph for a third time. They’ve been here a while and know the routine. Well move over ladies, a third muse has joined the team. It all began when we heard about this canine and my husband sent me to the pound (just to look!) with two pre-schoolers in tow. Don’t try this at home, trust me, it doesn’t work! The next thing I knew I had a dog curled up in the front seat and two excited ,squealing pre-schoolers in the back seat. My new muse is small, black and furry of the cocker spaniel variety. She too now finds respite from family life by tucking herself underneath my desk. She’s a quiet muse, not very imposing at all, unless there’ s the possibility of a snack. My office, she has learned quickly from the others, always has this possibility. Often I’ll be nibbling away and thinking of what my character is about to say. When one of my muses places her head in my lap and wags her tail I absent-mindedly hand her a snack too. I’m not sure, but I think the three of them have it worked out so they take turns doing this, and thus they all stay trim and fit. They seem to know when the creativity well is drying up and at that precise moment they go to the door and wag their tail, indicating it’s time for a walk. I may grumble about the weather or leaving my work when I’m completely stuck, but amazingly when I get back from our walk the words flow freely. And the dogs, they let out a happy little sigh, as they curl up for a nap, knowing they’ve done their part in averting a creativity crisis. Bringing another furry muse in the house is fine with me. One more mouth to feed means one less chance of writers block. And it is indeed a comforting feeling to have your feet surrounded by fur when your writing early on a winter’s morning. Something about that feeling that just gets the creativity flowing again. Carla Charter is mom to Samantha (11), Halden (4), and Mathew (3). In addition to being a mom, Carla is a freelance writer specializing in newspaper and magazine journalism. Among her publication credits are Woman's World, American Indian Report and New England Business Journal. Online she has been published in Scubasource.com and Military.com. She teaches creative writing courses at Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner, Ma. Recently her novel Across Lots has been serialized at http://www.newenglandwow.com. She may be reached at cjfreelancewriter@earthlink.net. |
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