Hi. This is my introductory post. I'm going to use this space for my writing, musings, rants, raves, and general commentary on...well, everything.
Mostly, my interest is writing, philosopy, and psychology. But those of you who know me know this to be true.
Naturally, in a blog, the aim is to present the best aspects of the self, or even the worst. To project a personality, to rant aimlessly or almost aimlessly, and other such things. I think I'd like to write about writing, most of all (hence one reason for the name of the blog; the other reasons are forthcoming).
The written word has been with me as a friend and companion since I first laid eyes on ABC's and 123's and the writings of Dr. Seuss. I have since been enamored with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Allan Poe, H. P. Lovecraft, Steven King, Clive Barker, Chuck Palahniuk, Charles Bukowski, J.K. Rowling, and so on. That's just to name a few.
I named this blog 'Writing Without A Muse' because I hate the idea that if your muse isn't talking, then you aren't writing. Screw your muse. Writing is a grisly, mind-breaking habit that will suck out your soul until you tell your damn story. I am a writer for a living. A freelance writer. If I don't write every day, it's a day I go without paying the bills. So the 'muse' can go shove it, because if she shuts her yap, then I don't get to eat. I'm of French-Canadian heritage (along with several other things, but I am closest to my FC heritage). I love to eat.
I don't care to allow comments on my blog. I appreciate the opinions of others and enjoy learning from them, but honestly, if something I say sways you so much that you feel the need to comment on it, WRITE IT IN YOUR OWN BLOG AND POST IT. Do it! It'll at least get you writing. Besides, this stuff is just my opinion. You're entitled to your own as well.
Other things I'm hopeful you'll find in this blog include profound wisdom, amazing things I've discovered and love so much that I just have to share them, and the occasional except from an upcoming book or announcements on what's being published and when.
Why do I write if writing is such a 'grisly, mind-breaking habit,' you ask? (You didn't? Well, I'm telling you anyway.) Because it's a must. I get images and stories in my head that just won't go away until I write them out. Sometimes, it's laborious. Sometimes, liberating. Other times? It's just a hell of a lot of fun! Plus, I'll let you in on a little secret: the ones I've had the most fun writing are the ones that get attention. The ones that people enjoy reading.
This blog will attempt to be organized, because I'm not, so the blog will have to do it itself. Above all, I hope you'll have as much fun reading this as I will writing it. I hope to post frequently (every Friday if I can, every other Friday if I remember, monthly if I'm a jackass and keep forgetting...etc.) and amuse you with my macabre sense of humor, my occasional Anglophile angst (I wish I were British), and everything else that's going to go in this blog.
Is your muse calling? Tell her to cram it. You can do it on your own. I'll get into that in a later post.
Have fun. Life is short and you're the one who has to make it sweet.
With love,
Anne L. Hogue-Boucher
The Silly Yet Macabre Writer
