Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Meet 11 Literary Muses for November Inspiration

YOUR SOUL CAFE: CONVERSATIONS THAT OPEN HEARTS AND INSPIRE ACTIONS
"I have learned to surrender to the muse. I become obsessed with a theme or certain stories; they haunt me for years, 
and finally, I write them."-Isabel Allende

How do you surrender to the muse?

One way is to be curious while meeting some familiar and new literary muses. Some of these eleven authors and poets still create. Then, as Stephen King suggests that some, “Muses are ghosts, and sometimes come uninvited.”

So what is a muse? Muses are visible and invisible energies, found in trusted people, places, pets, and things. They're always present and often not present when needed and so writer’s block appears. Some writers state they've never experienced this state of mind. Lucky them!

Wendell Berry,  poet, essayist, farmer and novelist, offers these clarifying insights:
“There are, it seems, two muses: the Muse of Inspiration, who gives us inarticulate visions and desires, and the Muse of Realization, who return, again and again, to say "It is yet more difficult than you thought." This is the muse of form.

These 11 writers and poets born in November could serve as your 
“Muse of Inspiration and Muse of Realization."
Won't you please meet and read:

"The book is actually divided into five sections, through which the key character, 
the muse, leads us." –Christopher "Kit" Williams

Margaret Mitchell November 8 (b. 1900)-Pulitzer prize winner and American author-Gone with the Wind (1936)

Alicia Ostriker November 11 (b. 1937) – American poet – A Woman Under the Surface: Poems and Prose Poems (1982)

Bahá’u’lláh (Mírzá Ḥusayn-`Alí Nuri  November 12 (b. 1817) - Persian Mytsic, founder of the Bahai Faith میرزا حسینعلی نوری)   – Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

Ayaan Hirsi Ali November 13 (b. 1969) – Somali writer, human rights activist –Infidel (2007)

Karen Armstrong November 14 (b. 1944) – U.K. writer (religion); memoirist – the Spiral Staircase (2004) 



"Writing sometimes feels frivolous and sometimes sacred, but memory is one of my strongest muses. I serve her with my words. So long as people read, those we love survive however evanescently. As do we writers, saying with our life's work, 
Remember. 
Remember us. 
Remember me." -Marge Piercy

Marianne Moore November 15 (b. 1887)- American poet, The Fish

George Eliot November 22 aka Mary Ann [Marian] Evans (b. 1819) – British novelist, journalist, poet, and translator – Brother Jacob (1864) 

Dale Carnegie November 24 (b. 1888) -American author and speaker- How to Win Friends and Influence People (1936)

Alexis Wright November 25 (b. 1950) – Australian (indigenous) novelist, short story writer – Carpentaria (2006)

Louisa May Alcott November 29 (b. 1832) American novelist and poet-Little Women (1869), Little Men (1871), and Jo’s Boys (1886)

Lucy Maud Montgomery November 30 (b. 1874) – Canadian novelist – Anne of Green Gables (1908)



Like Allende, might you now surrender to your familiar or new muse? 
Which author or poet "whispered" to you? Share a link to your book(s).

Shout Outs!
Celebrating the success of others.


As a student of chakras for decades, this IS the Ultimate Guide!

Let's Stay Connected!
Join Writer's VisionQuest, a free, dynamic private Facebook group for women writers to help "transform your words somewhere brilliant."
* Read Women as Visionaries with Lore Raymond, 5-year old magazine format with women contributors to "empower women through spiritual inspiration." Interested in contributing? Please inbox me.

15 comments:

  1. I love little women and Anne of green gables and read the entire works of those authors. I recently watched Middle March and would like to read more of the work of George Eliot.

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    1. Interesting to hear, Rachel. I, too, want to read more work by George Eliot. Tough to be a feamle author back in the 1800s and before. Thanks for sharing the post. YOU are appreciated as always for your kind support.

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  2. Dale Carnegie speaks to me definitely. read his book.

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    1. It's a classic for sure. What are some famous authors or poets romm Africa that I might add to this list?

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  3. I love Elizabeth Gilbert's TED talk about fighting with her muse.

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    1. I will have to listen to it, Barb! Thanks for the info.

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  5. What a wonderful list of muses. Thanks for sharing your inspiration Lore! Blessings, Lisa xx

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  6. I love that quote by Marge Piercy! Writing for me is sacred. We all have stories to tell. We all have something to say.

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    1. I liked it,too! Yes, writing is a sacred act and writing, a sacred profession, Heather Maria.

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  7. From the recent writers Elizabeth Gilbert, Marianne Williamson, Khalid Hosseini... and then I read a lot of Pulitzer and Booker prize winners. Currently reading 'When Breath Becomes Air'....I loved your list here too Lore. Some I have read, some I am going to get to. Thank you for sharing.

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    1. Appreciated learning about some new authors, Zeenat!

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  8. I am in the process of developing relationships with my Muses through painting and writing. This is in sharp contrast to controlling them, ignoring them, and doing what I think I want. Sometimes these relationships feel like subtle shifts and sometimes more dramatic. It is an adventure to be sure, and one that keeps me curious and moving forward. Thanks for your post!

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  9. I like this Lore! I cannot say that any of these authors have served as muse for me, but I do think one of my spirit guides is very much a muse for me and she inspires me in many different ways-some of them humorous even!

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