A-Musing Henry Rollins

Photo by: Nic Walker

God, I love Henry Rollins. Smart, handsome, funny and interesting--everything museworthy. He's a radio announcer, vocalist, columnist, writer, punk icon and much more. Oh, and he's also Brave. He's touring Canada in January. It was -17 Celsius in Edmonton last night. Note the capital 'B'.

My husband and I got to see him last night, doing one of his spoken word shows. In fact, when I told my husband Henry Rollins was coming to Edmonton his response was "Oh yeah, let's go!"  You see we saw him a few years back, and I have never heard my husband laugh so much and so hard. And I've been with that troll for twenty years.

How does anyone talk about themselves for two hours, all the celebrities they've met, all the places they've visited and all the things they've accomplished without being boring and pompous? That's a rare gift.

There's a lot about the Black Flag frontman that astonishes me. How does he travel the entire world and keep up with a regular column? I can't figure out what to blog about. Where did he find the time to write books while touring? I can barely pump out a book a year. How does he keep up with and answer all his emails? Sometimes I can barely look at mine, never mind respond timely. How does he keep up with world politics? How does he know about which country voted for who? I've been getting my news from social media. (I know. I'm sorry.) and can barely stand to look at what Canada and the US are doing. And HOW does this guy make time for friends and fans who ask advice and opinions from him on a weekly basis? How does he seem to have the right answers? How does he tell the sad stories of the broken people he meets and turn those tales into pure inspiration? How does he make us laugh? How does he sound geeky and humble while talking about meeting Iggy Pop, David Bowie and Lemmy Kilmister? Must be a muse thing. Do you understand why he is MY muse?

Henry Rollins, if you ever see this blog, I want you to know I am grateful for you. I'm grateful for your books and your lyrics. I'm grateful for your sense of humor (Thanks for making my husband laugh so hard. That's a rarity in itself.) I'm grateful for your sweet neurosis and that you choose to share it for the sake of entertainment and inspiration. YOU are truly MUSEWORTHY and you bring me happiness and ideas. You also gave me a much needed kick in the pants. If you can do all these things and still write, I can hold down a job and write novels.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to begin the edits I'm afraid of. I also need to research Eastern mythology for my next novella.

Femusing...FeMuse #3

Lucy O'Brien is Assistant Editor at IGN AU, and Carrie Fisher is her rolemodel. Follow her on IGN at Luce_IGN_AU,or @Luceobrien on Twitter.

I've always associated the word 'muse' as a sexual thing...something that inspires because one finds the subject sexy or attractive because of talent, looks, or other things that cause one to think outside themselves. My muses are Bruce Dickinson and Henry Rollins. Both are older men in the music industry, known for re-inventing themselves and helping the world become a better place.

I've decided it's time for me to express my appreciation for the feminists who use their gifts to make this planet a little more awesome with their presence. They don't need to be sexy, it's irrelevant. They just need to be women who make me want to stand up and CHEER.

 There are so many...Emma Watson, Susan Anthony, Gloria Steinem, Lydia Pajunen, Tina Turner, Joy Maruno, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, The list really is endless.

I have decided on three women who I can look at and think "Yeah! They did it. I can too!"

Number Three is Carrie Fisher. And it's not just because of Star Wars, although she's brilliant as Princess Leia. So iconic was the movie, and her role in it, that people still shout "Princess Leia!" and she still answers.

Did you know she's an author as well? Titles I've read are : Postcards from the Edge, Delusions of Grandma, Surrender the Pink, and The Best Awful. There are more. LOTS more. Carrie Fisher Author Page

What I like about her, both as an actor and an author is her willingness to bare all, GIVE all. She's an open soul.

She's blunt and honest. She speaks of her own mental illness without shame, shares it with readers in The Best Awful, and expects people to accept her as she is. She'll have it no other way.

She's funny. She pokes fun at herself in pages, in interviews and in cameo appearances. She'll joke about her experiences in rehab and her weight. That's refreshing in anyone, never mind a Hollywood starlet.

She's talented as Hell. I loved her as Princess Leia. And she was so young at the time! She gave kids like me a REAL princess to look up to, not a damsel in distress. One who put herself in charge of her own rescue when the boys got them shot at. That role was MADE for Carrie Fisher. Who else could have pulled it off?

I liked her in The Burbs. I loved her appearance in Ellen, the sitcom. I loved her cameo in Big Bang Theory. I love her in interviews.

I love her most as a writer. When I grabbed Postcards from the Edge, I confess it was just curiosity. I didn't expect much. So many actors try to branch off into other fields like books and music, only to find they can't make the transition. But Carrie made it look effortless. She spoke to me in her own personality, and somehow it worked. She knew what she was doing. She knows how to write.

I can't wait to rediscover her in her role as General Organa-Solo. Yes, I'm aware it's January, and I'm probably the only person who hasn't seen the new Star Wars movie. I've been kinda busy, so no spoilers, please. There's so many of her books I haven't read yet. I'm very much looking forward to reading those too.

I'm glad Carrie Fisher is back in a new Star Wars movie, because I'm glad I found her again.

Texas 2014 Part Three-The New Muse

Serenaded by a mariachi band at Landry's Photo by :Mel

My favorite class of the entire conference was "Excuse me! Your Muse is Waiting!"

I knew this class was going to have a few different ideas. I LOVE new ideas, (Who doesn't?)  especially ones that aren't within the norm. This class promised way to use your own mind and intuition to make your writing work. I was in at 'intuition'.  Being a former paranormal investigator, I was more than willing to use that part of myself to engage my writing career.

I didn't really expect to use meditation--I HATE meditation--I considered it a waste of time that could be used to do ANYTHING else. Long story short; I was wrong.

But I promised to tell you how I met my true muse, and why, even though he's unexpected, he still makes perfect sense.

Nearing the end of the class they played relaxing music and asked us to go into a relaxed position. We were asked to imagine a dark room with no light.

Since I don't like the dark, mine had ambient lighting in sconces. It was never completely dark. (I don't think there were any wrong ways to visualize. Just whatever makes you comfortable.

Her next request required us to visualize favorite things in this room. I could not. Things aren't my favorites. My room had a plain queen sized bed. (I think that represents my dreaming self) There were tiny floating lights, which I knew represented stars. I was content with this.

We were invited to leave the room through an imagined door.( Mine were French doors, because they are the most beautiful doors I can literally think of.) and outside would be a favorite body of water.

I was disappointed when I saw a lake. I love the ocean, which  I have only seen in person twice. Lakes are commonplace for me. I realize now, it was a BAY. As in Horseshoe Bay, Washington. I visited that spot when I was travelling with friends at seventeen years of age.

So they tell us our muse s coming to meet us. They will be there any minute. Just wait. Sure enough, mine comes into view, wearing his red shirt with a white cardigan sweater. It's...

My favorite quote from him said a little differently.

Bill Cosby? What the...? No, wait. That makes sense. My muses tend to be older men in the entertainment industry who consistently reinvent themselves and their careers over a few decades. He's been a stand-up comedian, a kid's show host, he's endorsed Coca-Cola and Pudding Pops, and he acted on one of the most successful sitcoms ever. He's still relevant today, and after I googled him I've discovered he's also an author, producer, musician and activist. Never a dull moment with this guy. No wonder my sub-conscious chose him!

I heard a quote from him a few years back. It went "Decide you want it more than you are afraid of it." --BILL COSBY. It's my favorite quote in the whole world, because I've lived my life like that for the last decade. I refuse to let fear hold me back from the things I want or from things that will help me evolve and grow.

It can be something as small as driving the Whitemud Freeway for the first time in a rainstorm, or it can be as big as dropping a management career as a meatcutter in favor of writing full-time and planning my wedding and honeymoon in three months while I'm at it. I stopped  wondering 'What if', and started asking 'Why not?'

Since that epiphany, I've written and published two novels, with another on the way, I took Kendo, became a paranormal investigator, and took up belly dancing. That wasn't all, and you haven't seen anything yet.

So here's to Bill Cosby, my new muse. Don't worry Bill, nothing's going to stop me now.

NOTE: I'll be at Bawaka Book Fair for an Author Takeover from 1 to 4 mountain Time. Come say 'Hi'!
https://www.facebook.com/BawakasBookfair

Texas 2014 Part Two--The Workshops

Unless you're a writer, you might not have the attention span for me to give you Every. Single. Detail of the workshops I took. They were one to two hours long and I took 14 of them, so I'll condense my story a bit. They were all pretty good...I'll pick the top 5.

First on the list is "Fit to Be Tied...To Your Desk" This class, led by Angela Breidenbach,  focused on the physical health of the Writer. Writer's like myself have a tendency to ignore their health. It's not just because of the writing, but other factors as well that cause us to eat badly and avoid physical activity in favor of chasing our stories. When I quit my full time job as a meat cutter four years ago, I gained three sizes in four years. Now I am a borderline diabetic, which I'm fighting to change.

The first thing Angela told us is how blood pools when we sit too long. That causes our brains to 'stop'. I've been there. You're writing for two hours and suddenly, you just can't write anymore. That happens to me a lot. The solution is to either get up and do something else physical, as we know....or we can do simple YOGA.

Image by: Ambro@FreeDigitalPhotos.net 

And then she had us do it. It works.


The next class I'd like to mention is from Elizabeth Hoyt, and she just saved my bacon...no sarcastic pun intended, you people who don't like cops :P It was called 'Holding out for a Hero'. This workshop is about figuring out what makes your hero a great character. Since my best friend and my husband have been telling me they don't 'feel' my new hero, Sam, I knew I needed this too. She asked us what makes a hero so fascinating...It's days like this I know I don't read enough romance novels. Our heroes need to be HUMAN.  They have FLAWS. They have FEARS. And Sam needs a new backstory. He's boring because he's perfect. That's gonna change. Even as I took notes for this seminar, I scratched constant notes to myself about exactly how Sam is going to evolve.

Then we have "Indie Success with No Experience." There was a panel of three women who self-published with no experience and with the stigma being what it was...they told NO ONE. Now they are successful. They taught me how it's not enough to have one or two offerings on the internet...now I know what I have to do. And I have a lot of gleeful work cut out for me. I can't tell you yet. I refuse to make promises I might not be able to keep. But rest assured, I have a new deadline for myself, and a lot more work to do before the year is out.

Next one was my favorite...It's called 'Excuse Me, Your Muse is Waiting!" It was two hours long, but it didn't feel like it. This class appealed to me, because I was l

ooking for subliminal ways to entice my writing abilities. Well, I found them. I also discovered that I don't hate meditating after all. I just needed a reason to engage in it. It had to be useful to me.

Not only can I FINALLY meditate, but they put us through an exercise in the last twenty minutes that helped find out true muse so we could talk to them. Sort of a hypnosis. To find out who that was for me, you'll have to check this blog next Thursday, because it's unexpected but NOT really unexpected. Stay tuned, for lack of better words...It requires it's own blog.


The fifth I will mention is "How to Sell Books by the Truckload on Amazon."  While some classes offered a beginning to end class of good marketing sites, this one offered SECRETS. Stuff people might not know about...Places we never knew to click on, and what they'll tell us. I arrived too late to get a seat, and had to sit on the floor, but it was worth it!  One of those secrets was so profound, we all reacted with exclaims of wonder and applause. What was it? Not telling! But it was the kind of secret worth spending an hour cross-legged on concrete in a dress  to possess.

So these were my favorite classes. Do you see where I'm going? 'Cause I do. I'm so excited I could burst. I have so much work lined up, and that makes me pretty damned happy. Ecstatic, actually. I met my true muse. Hint: It isn't isn't Bruce Dickinson or Henry Rollins.

Next Thursday is Part Three, the last installment of my convention experience, where I tell you how I found him.

Rollin' Along with Muse #3

Photo provided by: www.sickchirpse.com

"When those walls close in around you,
When all around you doubt you,
When the world can live without you,
Get a grip and keep it"--Henry Rollins 'Grip'

The first time I read those words they were quoted in probably one of the last issues of Creem magazine. The journalist clearly worshiped Mr. Rollins, praising this verse as a profound message to the masses on how to survive. 

As a matter of fact, I found them to be the exact words of wisdom I needed to get through my teens. I figured if he could not only exist, but THRIVE in the chaos that was HIS life, then so could I. This verse became a kind of mantra for me, and I've been an admirer of his ever since.

And over the years my respect for him grows. He's a punk icon, having fronted Black Flag and The Rollins Band. And when the punk scene gave way to metal, glam rock, and grunge, he traveled the world. He got his own radio show. He did documentaries for National Geographic.He went on spoken word tours. (You may have noticed I appreciate musicians who evolve their careers to stay relevant.)

And guess what? He's funny, educated, and cares a great deal for the world and its inhabitants. And he's' absolutely fearless. 

My husband and I got to see him here in Edmonton on his "The Long March" Tour. He told us stories about the punk scene: Like the poor girl who lost an eye when a large stagediver landed on her. He told us about trying to decide between a chocolate bar he loved and a larger one he hated because the gross one was bigger and he was down to his last 30 cents. How while he was deciding this, two cowboys tried to bully two cross-dressers and ended up running away like frightened little girls. He told us how he was filming for National Geographic and drank a glass of cow urine...Only to discover he was drinking the unsterilized version...Then his cameraman insisted on another take. Even my jaded troll loved him.

He made us laugh, cry, and think for three hours without missing a beat and without even a drink of water. It was after that show that he became an official muse for me. As my career waxes and wanes, will I have the same courage he does? 

I learned so much about him. What I don't understand is how a man who has been through so much can be so strong, humorous and caring. He's a brave and passionate man and I guess he never lost his grip.

And for those reasons, Henry Rollins is museworthy.