Feeding the Muse -- Literally

Most days you can find me happily clicking on over to my fellow writer’s blogs.  Partly a delay tactic, not wanting to face the scene, or the character that won’t tow the line, or even worse, the blank page.  But usually I bounce on over for any ounce of inspiration, knowledge, or camaraderie I can glean.  

But lately,  too many of you have been talking about feeding your muses, literally.   

As you may know, my two current goals are simple - to lose weight and be published.  Okay, you can stop laughing now.  But for the very same reason I cannot watch the Food Network, I am having trouble reading your blogs.  

Brownie blondies, red velvet cupcakes, and Godiva chocolates seem to be the  decadent delicacies your muses crave of late.  

My mouth waters.  My stomach grumbles.   

Sure some of you expound poetic about going out into the world, your travels, your shopping expeditions,  trips to art galleries, or browsing quilt shops, to fill your creative well.  But too many times I’ve come away from the screen chomping at the bit.  Not to get back to my work in progress, as I’d hoped, but to get to the kitchen to find anything chocolate, even the years old canister of unsweetened cocoa.

And then low and behold one of you, Christine, has a whole Friday blog devoted to my biggest vice of all -- wine.  And affordable wines.  How cunning.  

And another batch of you ply your muses with equally sinful margaritas, cosmos, and appletinis.

What is a starving (I mean, dieting) writer to do.

I’ll tell you.  I bite the bullet -- with  sugarless gum.  

There’s a new one called Dessert Delights.  My current weight loss center, swears by the stuff.  So I armed myself with every flavor -- Strawberry Shortcake, Mint Chocolate Chip, Key Lime Pie and Orange Creamsicle before I even opened my work in progress.

I popped four of the mint chocolate chip sticks, never mind that I’m only allowed three per day, and that one barely registers on my taste buds.  I figured, even if I chew the whole pack, it’s better than going out to Winn Dixie and buying the half gallon of the real mint chocolate chip that I knew my muse really needed.

So I opened the page to that stuck scene.  I chewed and sucked every flavorful taste I could from the wad of gum.   I  blew countless bubbles with the feeble attempt at dessert, and thirty minutes later, with the flavor all gone, I’d typed two full pages.  Somehow I’d managed to feed, or trick my muse, for the time being.

So until I hit that magical goal weight in the sky, Dessert Delights is all my muse is getting.  I may have to mix it up, have all four flavors at once.  And I plan on emailing those Extra folks, the makers of Dessert Delights and asking them to please hurry and market a margarita flavor, or a nice Merlot.

So feel free to comment on how you feed your muse, as long as you don’t mention food or alcohol.  

Next time:  Calorie counts and word counts