This past week I’ve felt a little in limbo with my writing. I’m quite sure there was a list of things I wanted to get done this year and, as the end of January approaches, I have the sinking feeling that I haven’t made much progress in checking things off my list. I feel like I’ve just been keeping my head above water and lucky to get a little bit done every day.
The Yahoo! Contributor Network asked for flash fiction on a Display Only basis so I gave them my homage to Gershwin and Dubose Heyward’s Porgy and Bess. I called it Sweet Summertime. (I do like how you can generally find a picture in their files to go with what you are submitting.) I wrote that a couple weeks ago so not much effort on my part there.
They had also asked for a short story based on an image but I’ve looked through my files and nothing is inspiring me right now. I think my muse took a mid-winter vacation. I may have to get off the beaten path and create something original to submit, which is what I tend to do anyway, see what bubbles up through the seamy underside of my brain.
This past week I’ve been writing just a tiny bit on a new short story each night before I fall asleep. Unfortunately, this is not my most creative or productive time. But then, muse deficient writers take what they can get and you shouldn’t look a gift goat in the mouth. (They eat everything.) Morning is definitely a better time for me to write but since I’m in a perpetual state of sleep deprivation, that’s a little hard to do and make it to work on time.
Makes me start wondering about the incidence of Hollywood remakes these days. Could it be we’re all a little muse deprived? (Heck, that flash fiction was an homage.) Anyway, I just saw a blip that said there’s going to be a Super Bowl commercial starring good old Ferris Bueller. Makes me feel kind of nostalgic. I may have to look for an old eighties film this weekend.
I’m also reading a book of short urban fantasy stories, Naked City, edited by Ellen Datlow – very well crafted short stories by authors like Jim Butcher, Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman. I’ve noticed Jim Butcher contributing to quite a few of these types of collections in the past few years. Seems almost a little backwards, attain your rep as a writer and then you can start contributing to anthologies. Didn’t it used to be the other way around? Write short stories to get your chops then you can get a publishing contract for books. I’ll admit I’m enjoying the short stories a little more these days and admiring authors for developing characters, setting and plot well in a short format. There’s nothing extra in these stories and they pull you along at a fast clip.
Anybody else experiencing a seasonal slump? I’m going to have to get my muse a calendar or Day Planner, maybe a Blackberry.
Melora Johnson's Muse 
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