Posts
21 -- Monstrous Muse
NOTE: This blog is a continuing dialog between the two faces of rilla. The identity crisis is explained (if such a thing is possible) in the first edition. Click here to read: 1 -- Introduction
Rilla: What are you working on now?
rilla: LynNerd has given me an assignment.
Rilla: Is that a euphemism for being tagged with another meme?
rilla: If I say yes will you go for a loop and explode again?
Rilla: I never explode. I have a calm disposition, what they call even-tempered…
rilla: OK then, yes.
Rilla: See…no explosion…you…really…do…me…an …injustice…
rilla: Why are you holding your breath?
Rilla: not…holding…breath…
rilla: You’re going blue…
Rilla: Phoooooo...ooooooooooo...oooooooo...ooo…
rilla: Hey! Isn’t that cool? She just blew away…note to self…discovered a great way to get rid of Rilla…must try more often…OK…where was I. Yes. LynNerd wants me to describe my muse…hmm…let’s see… my muse … my muse… what does my muse look like…my muse…
Rilla: Yes?
rilla: Groan…you back? That was quick…note to self…method not very effective…keep searching.
Rilla: So that’s your ‘assignment’ is it? Your muse?
rilla: Know what a balrog is?
Rilla: A balrog? Never heard of one.
rilla: You know. From The Lord of the Rings.
Rilla: Told you once, told you twice…I don’t do fantasy.
rilla: Oh, you must be buddies with Debra Garfinkle…
Rilla: Now there’s someone who thinks the way I do…fine, fine author…
rilla: Balrogs…
Rilla: Huh?
rilla: We were discussing balrogs.
Rilla: Sigh…if you insist…what is a balrog?
rilla: Something was coming up behind…a great shadow…in its right hand was a blade like a stabbing tongue of fire; in its left it held a whip of many thongs…the dark figure streamed with fire…the shadow about it reached out like two vast wings…it raised the whip, and the thongs whined and cracked. Fire came from its nostrils… That’s from The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien.
Rilla: All right…OK…enough already. I get the picture. This balrog is an immense, winged, fire-breathing, whip-cracking monster…
rilla: That’s a lot of adjectives.
Rilla: Is that what your muse looks like?
rilla: No.
Rilla: Then why’d you…?
rilla: That’s what YOU look like.
Rilla: So now I’m a balrog? Nice. Hmm… been called worse. A balrog…not bad. Quite like the sound of it to tell you the truth…
rilla: Oh, that’s just like you.
Rilla: So this muse of yours…how does it appear to you? I’m curious now.
rilla: Hard to describe really. That’s one tough assignment there, LynNerd.
Rilla: OK. What does it feel like?
rilla: Kind of amorphous …
Rilla: Like a vast shadow?
rilla: Yeah, it is immense. A shadow that overtakes me and…
Rilla: Fills you with a fiery passion?
rilla: Fiery is right. Hot and addictive, it’s relentless…
Rilla: Driving you to write…?
rilla: Like a whip cracking over my head.
Rilla: Prodding you?
rilla: With a flaming sword…
Rilla: Does it have wings?
rilla: Oh, yes, takes me on one wild ride, flies me to places and settings and vistas on the horizon of imagination…
Rilla: Hmm…this muse of yours…
rilla: Yes?
Rilla: Either it’s something you’re on…
rilla: …and you want some?
Rilla: Or…
rilla: Or?
Rilla: It’s ME!
rilla: Huh?
Rilla: Yeah. Prodding, fiery-tongued, whip-cracking… I AM YOUR MUSE.
rilla: How? Oh…I get it…you…balrog…muse…you sure fly to conclusions…
Rilla: Yup! Face it. I…am…your…muse!
rilla: Groan…no wonder I get so many rejections…
You are the fabulously quirky and independent woman of character. You go your own way, follow your own drummer, take your own lead. You stand head and shoulders next to your partner, but you are perfectly willing and able to stand alone. Others might be more classically beautiful or conventionally woman-like, but you possess a more fundamental common sense and off-kilter charm, making interesting men fall at your feet. You can pick them up or leave them there as you see fit. You share the screen with the likes of Spencer Tracy and Cary Grant, thinking men who like strong women. 
8 comments:
Hi rilla and muse,
That is a really cool description of your muse. Wow, and it turns out it's Rilla. So all this time you've been blogging, you've been connecting with your muse. I must say your muse sounds very powerful. Love the descriptions. I hope it takes you on lots more adventures. Sounds like you might need a whip to tame it every so often! Great blog entry. I enjoyed it.
You can really spin a tale out of anything, Rilla. I love how you come full circle, in this post. The two personas, the muse and you, and how it turns out to be so fantasy like. Perfect. See? It all makes sense :)
And Debra Garfinkle is not the only one who's not big on fantasy, remember ? It doesn't mean we are bad people, though...
Hey Lynnerd,
this is all because of you. Never thought of giving my muse a persona, but the more I thought of it, the more true the balrog rang. Yes, I need to find a whip ;)
Hey Katia,
you would have loved my Dad. How I wish you could have met him. He could spin a tale out of anything, and the best part, for you at least, and Debra ;) was that it was NEVER fantasy ;) He loved children and they loved him. Most of his life's work was in the villages and slums trying to improve the lot of India's impoverished kids. Would have been a great children's writer too.
Even though I don't like to read fantasy, somehow I ended up writing fantasy--my time travel book Stuck in the 70s and my children's series The Supernatural Rubber Chicken. Very strange, eh?
Hey Debby,
That is funny. So do you read the books you write ;)
Great post! And lucky you ... every writer should have a fiery, whip-cracking muse!
Also, great picture!! My dad worked at Longwood Botanical Gardens (Kennet Square, PA) for 28 years until he retired. And he was in charge of the lily ponds for a number of those years!
Hey Linda,
lucky you! Your dad worked in a Botanical Garden...I'm jealous ;) Whenever we visit a new city, we try to get to the botanical garden. Some amazing ones around the world. My fave of course was Sydney.
If your muse doesn't have a whip...buy one ;0 They seem to work...
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