My Fickle Muse

I’m a writer. Once my book, which is currently going through the editing process, is released, I will at last be able to call myself a published author. 
I kept quiet about my writing for a long time - it was between me, the pen, and the page. Now that I have a contract with a publishing company, my secret is out, and I’ve discovered there is one question almost everyone I know wants the answer to: “Where do you get your inspiration?” Tomas Edison said, “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” The same can be said about my writing. After an initial lightning bolt of inspiration, the rest is unadulterated, perspiration inducing work. Oh yes, there's a lot of blood and sweat, and the occasional outburst of tears, in my writing process. My muse is a fickle, fair-weather friend. She pays me only the most fleeting of visits before flitting off to more glamorous engagements. But when she does spend a few moments with me, she often points my attention to everyday occurrences, things that could happen to anyone at any given time. For example, my muse might highlight the red-headed American woman ahead of me in the queue at the post office as she heaves a frustrated sigh. Once something or someone has caught my attention, my mind begins to wander. If my attention is caught by a red-headed American woman, I begin asking question about her in my head and inventing answers: Why did she dye her hair such a vibrant color? Maybe because her parents ignored her when she a child, and she then developed a need to stand out in adulthood. What merited such a heavy sigh when the cue isn’t that long? It could be because her visa is about to expire and she dreads having to go through the tedious reapplication process… This mental question and answer game doesn’t always amount to a story worthy of committing to the page, but it certainly makes waiting in line much less painfully boring.