Conversations with My Muse is a fascinating and compelling new book of selected poetry by Gary Bateman. As a new author, this work is Mr. Batemans first published book of poetry, and with it he brings to the reading public a refreshing and an eclectic selection of many different types of poetry and themes. The multi-thematic variety of Mr. Batemans poetry should capture the attention of most readers who have a sincere interest in poetry. His writings should also be of definite interest to new readers who are just discovering what poetry is all about and its invaluable contribution to world literature. Mr. Bateman brings a distinctive intellectual depth to his poetry and approaches each topic or theme individually with whatever level of commitment, nuance or understanding is required. He has a devout belief in the power of poetry as a most expressive medium for informing the reading public on issues, themes, problems, and life experiencesas part of the continuing human endeavor. Mr. Bateman sees poetry as a mirror for reflecting the very soul of mankind.

Part fantasy, part memoir, "Conversations" is the story of an artists progress from a work-a-day existence to one of visions and the world of art.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD “A beautifully crafted memoir, rich with humor and wisdom.” —Will Schwalbe, author of The End of Your Life Book Club “The idea of a cultured gay man leaving New York City to care for his aging mother in Paris, Missouri, is already funny, and George Hodgman reaps that humor with great charm. But then he plunges deep, examining the warm yet fraught relationship between mother and son with profound insight and understanding.” —Alison Bechdel, author of Fun Home When George Hodgman leaves Manhattan for his hometown of Paris, Missouri, he finds himself—an unlikely caretaker and near-lethal cook—in a head-on collision with his aging mother, Betty, a woman of wit and will. Will George lure her into assisted living? When hell freezes over. He can’t bring himself to force her from the home both treasure—the place where his father’s voice lingers, the scene of shared jokes, skirmishes, and, behind the dusty antiques, a rarely acknowledged conflict: Betty, who speaks her mind but cannot quite reveal her heart, has never really accepted the fact that her son is gay. As these two unforgettable characters try to bring their different worlds together, Hodgman reveals the challenges of Betty’s life and his own struggle for self-respect, moving readers from their small town—crumbling but still colorful—to the star-studded corridors of Vanity Fair. Evocative of The End of Your Life Book Club and The Tender Bar, Hodgman’s New York Times bestselling debut is both an indelible portrait of a family and an exquisitely told tale of a prodigal son’s return.

Writing with your Muse offers techniques, strategies, tools, tips, and stories to help you tap into creative inspiration. You don’t have to be psychic to be successful with these techniques, although that natural ability exists in all of us, and these techniques will help you develop your sixth sense. There’s even science to back it up. This book will help you if you hear words or see images but find it difficult to get the text on the page, you’ve written and published but are searching for something fresh and different, you have ideas but don’t know how or where to begin, you want to write but have no ideas, or you’re suffering from a bad case of writer's block. “This book is a must for writers searching for new ideas and methods to release their creative energy. Hawkin is refreshingly honest about her own experiences, establishing her expertise with gentle humor and humility. The book is packed with options and ideas to encourage writers to explore their own inner spiritual and creative sides. If writing is a journey, then Hawkin is the perfect guide to its unexplored and untamed reaches: inspiring, forthright, and inventive.” —Marie Powell, Last of the Gifted series “I’m so thankful Hawkin wrote this unique and beautiful writing book. It is, at once, a craft tool and a spiritual journey guided by a skillful, compassionate mentor. Hawkin’s gentle approach to teaching (she's a former academic and teacher) makes this stand out from other writing craft books.”—Sionnach Wintergreen, Men of the Shadows series

Mesmerism, Medusa, and the Muse: The Romantic Discourse of Spontaneous Creativity explores the connections among the Romantic discourse of spontaneous literary creativity, the nineteenth-century cultural practice of mesmerism, and the mythical Medusa as an icon of the gendered gaze. An analysis of Medusan mesmerism in the poetry of Mary Robinson, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Percy Bysshe Shelley and Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L.E.L.) and the prose of Mary Shelley reveals that these Romantic-era writers equate the enraptured state that produces spontaneous literary creation with the mesmeric trance. These writers employ Medusan imagery to portray both the mesmerist and the mesmerized subject, a conflation of subject/object positions that complicates issues of agency, subjectivity, and gender. Images of Medusan mesmerism ultimately work to deconstruct Romantic ideological dichotomies of self/other, female/male, muse/artist, and sublime/beautiful. In contrast to a traditional, masculinized Romantic discourse that emphasizes self-possession, this study uncovers a feminized, improvisational, Romantic discourse, characterized “Other-possession,” an assumption of the mesmerized subject position that enhances subjective fluidity. This study interrogates the Romantic discourse of spontaneous literary creativity through an examination of Romantic poetry, prose, and theory that utilizes mesmeric and Medusan metaphors to suggest creative inspiration.Building on recent scholarship about improvisational poetics, the subversive potential of mesmerism, and Medusa as a feminist icon, this work suggests that the mesmeric Medusan muse not only enables creativity for women writers but also provides a mirror in which they view (and through which they give voice to) their own societal oppression. The mesmeric Medusan muse in Romantic-era literature—from the Ancient Mariner and the Frankenstein monster to the tragic, abandoned Sapphic poetess—often represents the face of oppression, an unwelcome and monstrous truth in nineteenth-century British society. For women writers in particular, braving the stare of the Medusan muse enhances empathy, and therefore inspiration and literary productivity.