Category Archives: Alternative Muses

Inspiration Board for the [Untitled] Short Story I am Writing

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In my world, complex stories call for physical inspiration boards. The five-part short story I am writing has been in the planning stages for 3 years. In fact, the first part was written in January 2010. I’m finally ready to move ahead with the rest of the project (more details on that later). After completing it, I plan on adapting it into a play. Ambitious, much? Always! Before starting on the second segment, I decided it would be wise to pull together the disjointed bits of inspiration that have been living in my head for so many months. This collective of images lives on one of the glass blocks that divide my studio from the bedroom I share with The Chef. One glance to the left from where I type this, and ta-da!

I fancied up the photos so that you have a better idea of how things look inside my head!

Inspiration Board for Untitled Short Story

Inspiration Board for Untitled Short Story

Yes, it is set in the 1920s. Why do you ask?

Inspiration Board, alternate treatment

Inspiration Board, alternate treatment

I will add images to the board as needed.

 

[15th August Inspiration Board] Visually Inclined

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My writer’s brain requires a lot of different stimuli to keep on churning fast enough to function. A slowed down thought process is detrimental to my creativity. If you jumped out on the obvious limb and guessed that I probably have a hard time meditating, you were correct. Although I relish being alone, I do not handle quiet well. I need noise: a slightly too-loud television, a wide-faced Labrador crunching on a bone, a cat scratching on a door frame, low but audible music (The Clash or Patti Smith) pulsing from my laptop, discordantly lovely street noise breaking in through a few open windows, dogs racing and barking down the halls. Sirens. Car alarms. Screaming, skittering children. The sound of my bare feet beating against a table leg. A bus breaking to a stop. I could write with a baby squawking in my face. Noise. It’s beautiful. Continue reading →

Alternative Muse of the Month News-Katherine Mansfield Edition

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Four Katherine Mansfield short stories were recently discovered by a college student, along with several photographs. All were previously unknown. This is fantastic news for fans of Katherine Mansfield and students of the short story. If you are pleased or titillated by this news, thank Chris Mourant. Kudos, sir!

 

 

[Alternative Muse of the Month] Let’s Talk About Katherine Mansfield’s Miss Brill, or: Why Writers Deserve Silly, Media-Created Nicknames, Too

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I dream of a world where people care enough about writers to give them silly, unnecessary and catchy nicknames. Move aside JLo and LiLo, because here comes JAust (pronounced joust, because it just sounds better). Are you sick of Brangelina and, Lord help us, Kimye? Fear not, because SylT is here to make it all better. (For the record: I refuse to acknowledge the talented but dickish Ted with more than a perfunctory T.) I could do this all day (and probably will in some future post, because this is kind of fun, yes?) but I’ll stop after one more, the subject of this piece: KathMans. Continue reading →

[Alternative Muse of the Month] Katherine Mansfield Fun Facts!

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In honour of our first Alternative Muse of the Month, we are preparing to go into Official Katherine Mansfield Mode. Until then, here are some random facts about the short story writer.

  • Kathleen (Katherine) Mansfield Beauchamp was born in Wellington, New Zealand on 14 October 1888.
  • Her cousin was writer Elizabeth von Arnim (Mary Annette Beauchamp), best known for her novels The Enchanted April and Mr. Skeffington.
  • Her second husband was English writer John Middleton Murry.
  • Her best writing was done during her final, tuberculosis-plagued years.
  • She was an excellent cellist.
  • She was highly influenced by Anton Chekhov.
  • Her brother Leslie was killed in World War I.
  • She spent her last months desperately seeking a cure for the tuberculosis that eventually killed her on 9 January 1923. She died at Georges Gurdjieff’s Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man in Fontainebleau, France.
  • She remains one of the most important-and best-short story writers of the 20th century.

 

Related articles

[Drumroll] Our First Alternative Muse of the Month is…..

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Katherine Mansfield! We cannot think of a better person to fill the first Alternative Muse slot than the New Zealand-born short story writer (1888-1923).

Katherine Mansfield, a New Zealand-writer of s...

Katherine Mansfield.  Picture taken 1912. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Check back often during the month of May as we break down and study why she makes an ideal Alternative Muse. There will be reviews, fiction, trivia, essays and quotes by, about or in her honor. Please feel free to enter the discussion at any time with your thoughts, questions and ideas. The real fun begins on Friday. We hope to see you then!