Little Miss Muse has become positively impossible since the arrival of Trudi.
So much so I’ve considered crawling into my freezer to summon the Sultan (grab a copy of Life All Over Again if you’re curious about this entity).
The day we gave Trudi her freshen-up, Little Miss insisted on “purpling” all the feathers. Instead of the intended magical effect, or at the very least the hope that Trudi would “match” Little Miss, the goose looked like it had been in a motor vehicle accident with a Mack truck.
“Don’t you have a book to work on? Little Miss Cooks a Book? Wasn’t that the title?” I tried to get Little Miss to bug off and let me handle Trudi’s makeover to no avail.
So we tried to compromise and only give Trudi a hint of purple on her neck. At that point, the goose looked like she’d had an encounter with a serial strangler.
“But looook at all our supplies. I wanted to empty them all on Trudi.” Little Miss danced around the garage with multiple spray cans of glitter and bottles (and bottles and bottles) of purple paint.
“You’ll have to find some other project to use those on—and no, not the cats. After this one last detail, Trudi will be ready to join us in the house.”
I had to reign in Little Miss Muse or else it’d have looked like a preschooler went to town on my goose.
Little Miss and I came to an understanding. We blinged her base with glitter. We adorned Trudi’s head and neck with a very—very—light coating of glitter.
We also opted for one single feather to be “special.” Purple with a heavy coating of Rose Gold glitter. Very pretty. It reminds me of one of my favorite children’s books: The Rainbow Fish. Remember the one with all the glittery scales and then *spoiler alert* he gives all but one away so everyone can feel special?
So, Trudi has one special feather—the source of all her magic and intelligence.
Little Miss Muse struck a deal with the duck, so to speak, that on occasion, Little Miss could make a wish on that feather so long as Trudi gets all the hand-me-down tutus she can stand to wear.
I’ve since closed the freezer door; no need to call in the Therapist to the Muses—Mr. Sultan can remain on ice.
And we now have a new phrase to be used alongside those giddy little jump-and-squeal moments.
Ready?
Here it is: “Well, glitter my goose!”
This is the exclamation I heard from the office as Little Miss Muse found the author copy of Thrill Ride Magazine and danced with it, giving Trudi (our new office goose) a minor coronary. I guess in the middle of the latest CIRCUS performance I’d forgotten to show the team the hard copy of Betrayal (which came weeks ago, and I just, well. CIRCUS and squirrels, people. CIRCUS and squirrels…).
“There’s an explosion on the cover!” Little Miss was equally excited back in February when we promoted the Kickstarter for this project with images of military tanks. She glittered all over the house, then too.
The hard copy just sent her over the edge.
You can check out the magazine’s home page here: https://thrillridemag.com/. Our story will be in the winter edition, and I’m honored to be in the company of such great writers.
Then, when I sat down to check email, I had another little giddy jump and squeal moment. A contract for a short story sale. (Stay tuned… details in the works).
“Well, glitter my goose!” may have slipped out of my mouth.
It was wind in the sails on what was otherwise a pretty dark day of “This CIRCUS will not stop. That work-in-progress manuscript will dry up and blow away in a brittle mess before I can pay attention to it again.”
That single email very effectively glittered my goose.
Other things that make my writing days brighter (aside from actually hitting a word count that exceeds the number of words in this lowly paragraph)? Unboxing Day—when those paperback copies of my titles arrive to boost the inventory. Proof Copy Day—when the first-run paperback lands in the mailbox (especially when I don’t have to return to the software and tweak fifteen problems with the cover and formatting). Celebrating other authors’ successes—especially the peeps I know personally boosts the spirits as well. Messages from those same fellow writers letting me know there’s life out there. Those are cool.
For the creatives in your life, glitter their gooses, or, if you’d rather be prim and proper about it, instill a little wind in their sails.
You never know how close someone is to quitting. That last book you read, movie you watched, art piece you purchased? Someone was behind those endeavors—possibly a tired, drained, and ready-to-throw-in-the-towel someone. That is until another human comes along and sprinkles a little encouragement.
Or Glitter.
Or Fresh Breezes.
If you have a creative in your life, here are a few low- to no-cost ways to support their efforts that only take a few seconds of your time. You never know what impact it could have:
- Words of encouragement (don’t blow smoke, though. Be genuine or be quiet—we can tell 😊).
- Share and repost their announcements on social media.
- Subscribe to their media pages, newsletters, etc.
- Tell a friend face to face (what’s that, right?).
- Leave a review if you purchase something.
- Take a pic of yourself enjoying their creation.
- Offer to babysit/elder-sit/CIRCUS-sit or bring dinner or a maid to free up some of their time.
- Let them ugly-cry on your couch, then give them a cookie and some fruit punch and tell them it’ll be alright. (Yeah… this one might take up a bit more of your time depending on just how ugly the crying is.)
Trudi insisted on putting that bit in about the fruit punch—it’s her favorite. It wasn’t enough that Little Miss Muse hovers over my shoulder as I write these blog posts. Now I’ve got a garden-sized concrete goose putting in her beak’s worth.
The mailman’s knocking on the door. He may have witnessed a giddy-little-jump-and-squeal.
It’s Unboxing Day! Touchable, glorious proof that I actually did do something with this writing thing at one point in time.
Aaahhh. Fresh wind in the sails and a well-and-truly glittered goose.
