One Over X News

A Friend in Need

This morning while I was restoring a Toshiba laptop (er notebook as you cannot call them laptops anymore because using them on your lap can overheat your legs and apparently contribute to sterility in males) to factory specifications for a customer, I received a most pleasant surprise. It is always delightful to get a phone call from a close friend. No matter how busy I am at the time I try to drop everything else so that I can talk for a bit.

My personal muse was not feeling well. She is recovering from a cold. She has been going through some tough times and handling a lot of financial issues. She is however still taking classes and still busting her ass to get ahead. As ever she serves as an inspiration to me. It is just that I feel very bad that all I can do for her is to tell her that I really appreciate her friendship. Need I even say it again that Book 1 would have been a very different novel had not been for her - not to mention the next ten books. Such is the curious impact of a personal muse.

We spoke for about fifteen minutes or so. I was due for a break so I took one. Most of what we discussed is sort of private in regard to her situation so I will of course respect her privacy and not post any of it here. It was just a very nice thing for her to do and it made my day.

One of the things that I can discuss is her cats. She is a cat person, of course. Her two cats, Jetta and Raja are mentioned in Book 1. Taking some literary license I made Raja into a male Wolf. In reality Jetta and Raja are sisters, born of a mother that was also Ela'na's pet in the past. From what I know of the cats I believe that they both think that Ela'na is one of them. From what I know of Ela'na she is as much a Cat as a human or even a Wolf. That really should come as no surprise to anyone as she is the inspiration for Wolfcat Goddess, Ela'na. Those of you that also know her, those who were members of the original Wolf Pack or any subsequent iteration might find this of some passing interest.

Ela'na is a stage name from back when she used to perform. She even had a last name which was also a stage name but as it is irrelevant to this discussion there is no point in mentioning it except to say that there was also a story about it. Anyway there is a link between the name Ela'na and the tender of the Tree of Knowledge in the myth upon which some of the story of the Garden of Eden borrows heavily. Once she told me that there was a secret link between her stage name and The Garden of Eden. Having read the myth in my studies, I immediately knew what she was talking about. I don't know but that might have impressed her just a little bit. At any rate I found it to be one of 'those' coincidences. Then of course as I have instructed everyone that has read Book 1 there are no coincidences.

When she founded a chat group that was focused on her unique persona, some of the chatters decided that since she professed to be a cat goddess that they would be Wolves. Wolves are nobler than dogs and apparently having the canine genetics would still love to torment cats. All of that happened well before the first time that I happened into one of Ela'na's chats.

Enough of the background (everything else can wait for another time or it is already included in Book 12 anyway), back to the parts of the conversation that were cute. Jetta was lying next to her head and sleeping comfortably purring into her ear and she was afraid to move for fear of disturbing her.

I don't know everything but what I do know is that Ela'na is a first class lady and even if she is not a goddess then she really deserves to be. The childhood she had to endure should earn her many 'Brownie points' with the All Mighty. Other than that she has the prettiest face I have ever seen in my lifetime and her personality is about as humanly perfect as anyone I have ever talked to. There is very little if anything that is wrong with her, in fact. I know, I know, people are people and each of us has flaws. As perfect as I might think I am my shit still stinks. Ela'na is very down to Earth and open, even too candid at times. She modestly claims that she is a pain in the ass. She probably can be. It is human nature.

Sometimes I think that my impetus to succeed as a writer is somehow tied to her. All else aside about the standing inside joke about her being my personal muse, I believe there is at least enough truth in it to be respected. I know that is a strange thing for an author to say but it is what I feel. You will eventually read Book 6. When you do you will understand some of what I am saying. After you have read the second series, you will see the full range of characters that emerged from her inspiring me.

E

posted by Unknown @ 6:18 PM