My Muse is on Vacation

I tracked my muse down once this week.  I've been wanting to write a couple of short stories to send off to magazines.  My novel is taking longer than I hoped and I wanted to see if I could find my way into publication in the meantime.  However, there's a difference between deciding that you want to write a story and writing the story itself. You need inspiration, an interesting twist that makes your work stand out from everything else that's been done before.

That's why it's inconvenient that my muse is on vacation on a tropical island somewhere.  I wish she was here so I could get some good creative work done.  Or a visit to that tropical island might be good for me too.  Alas, the latter is not a legitimate option at this time.

I'll give her credit.  She at least called me over the weekend.  Here's how our brief conversation went.

Pleiades:  I'll be back in town sometime next week.

Me:  That's inconvenient.  I need a muse now.

Pleiades:  Well, I need a vacation now.  You have no clue how old I actually am, and I've provided services for lots of writers over the years.  You writers are a demanding, neurotic bunch of people!  I need a break.

Me:  What did you call me?

Pleiades:  Hey, don't worry!  It doesn't mean that I don't like you.  It's just part of who you are.  Maybe you would do better without me if you learned to relax.

Me:  Maybe.  It's just stressful when I have a lot of work I want to get done, and I have no inspiration.

Pleiades:  Oh fine.  I can give you something from here.  (Pauses, can hear her grinding her teeth through the phone.)  Okay.  Time travel.  I know you love time travel but you never write about it.

Me:  Yeah, but that's because it can get complicated.  You can go anywhere with it.

Pleiades:  Okay.  Well, what would society be like with time travel?  What ethical issues might come up?  After all, you studied philosophy in college.  Surely you know a bit about ethics.

Me:  That's still a bit vague.

Pleiades:  Oh, gotta go!  Hottie at 3 o'clock!

Well, at least I got something out of her.  I guess I'll just have to struggle through it from there.