MUSE MONDAY
Please welcome my guest Barbara White Daille to Muse Monday. She has a great giveaway so be sure to get to the end and enter!
A big thanks to Brenda
for inviting me back to Muse Monday to chat with you.
Whether you’re a reader
or a writer, you probably have a muse of your own.
To me, a muse is that
helpful voice in our heads that stimulates and motivates us to accomplish what
we need to achieve. You may call him or
her or it your creative well or your brainstorming cap. Whatever works for you!
Typically, people make connections
between the muse and a creative endeavor.
As “to muse” means “to think (in silence) on a subject,” I’d say the
phrase covers such widely diverse projects as coming up with decorations to
match a party theme or daydreaming a list of potential vacation spots.
My muse is female,
finicky, and fickle. At the moment, I’m
keeping her very much in mind (no pun intended), since I’m on deadline for a
book that’s due at the end of this month.
And as usual, the closer I get to a due date, the more she wants to play.
When she gets in that
mood, here are some things I do to rein her in so we can both get back to
business:
- Sit down
to work, set a timer, and vow not to get up from the chair till the buzzer
rings.
- Make a
list. For a book, that would
include scene checklists, what-ifs for plot twists, or notes about edits
to be incorporated into the next draft.
For life in general, that could be a to-do list or this week’s menu
plan.
- Switch
gears. If I’ve been at my desk all
morning, I might take the laptop to another room for the afternoon. If I’ve hit a snag while working on the
computer, I’ll switch to a notepad to figure things out.
- Take a
break. That sounds
counterproductive, I know. But
sometimes our muses—and brains—have been hyper-focused for so long, they
need time to recharge.
Do any of these strategies
work for you when you’re trying to get motivated?
I can always use more
ideas, so please feel free to share if you have any other suggestions or
strategies you’ve heard about!
Also, I’m giving away a
copy of my upcoming book, The Texan’s Little Secret. Check out the Rafflecopter below.
Cover blurb from The
Texan’s Little Secret:
Coming home
might be the worst decision Carly Baron has ever made. Each minute on her
family's busy ranch is one minute closer to seeing him—her first love—the man
who broke her heart seven years ago. While coming face-to-face with Luke Nobel
again brings back painful memories, Carly quickly realizes there are other
strong feelings just under the surface….
Luke would be
a lot better off if Carly had stayed away. Being a single dad to an adorable
two-year-old girl and managing the Roughneck is tough enough, but resisting the
sparks that fly whenever he and Carly are together is near impossible. But
first she must tell him her secret. The truth could heal their past…or forever
destroy their chances of becoming a family.
The Texan’s
Little Secret can be found at:
Amazon Amazon UK Barnes and Noble Books a Million Harlequin Powell's Books The Book Depository IndieBound
Originally from the East Coast, award-winning author
Barbara White Daille now lives with her husband in the warm, sunny Southwest,
where they love the lizards in the front yard but could do without the
scorpions in the bathroom. Barbara
writes romances—usually with cowboys, kids, and a touch of humor. Her current title is Rancher at Risk, and she’s
excited that her upcoming book, The Texan’s Little Secret, releases in less
than a month!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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