Creative people are, by nature, superstitious people. Writers and artists work alone, and their work and incomes are unpredictable. Many, like me, have muses around to keep us inspired.

I have six or seven. My favorite muse is “Froggy The Gremlin,” see below, a character created by Smilin’ Ed McConnell and brought to television in the 1950s when I first saw him on the Smilin'” Ed’s Gang show.

Froggy was famous for his defiant attitude to authority and for saying “Plunk Your Magic Twanger” on TV every week. I had my own ideas about what it meant.

I have muses all around me, and they do inspire me, including (above) an artist’s vision of a chicken and an iron crow, a bird that has always fascinated me.

The old lamp adds color, although she is not technically a muse. I’m grateful for my muses. When I come into my office every day, I nod to them and thank them.

They’ve kept me writing for a long time.