your unhealthy muse?

A cup of cheesecake.

The recipe is 1 shot vanilla liquer and 6 to 8 oz of cranberry juice. Mine is usually a bit stronger. Tastes like cherry cheesecake, love'em. Usually have just one and not often. They're reserved for humor and horror nights.

Straight up non-fiction gets coffee. I smoke writing or not, so cigs don't count.

If I really want to cut loose, I'll drag out the Jack or Bacardi, but it has been a long, long time. Probably one shot of either would have me sleeping instead of writing.

With apologies to Frank Herbert...

"It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion,
It is by the beans of Java the thoughts acquire speed,
The hands acquire shaking, the shaking becomes a warning,
It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion."

I can't remember where I heard that one, but I never forgot it. In my case, I smoke a pipe, too.

EDIT: Just so there's no misunderstandings, it's regular pipe tobacco!

I need to try out that cup of cheesecake -- my muse has been napping too much of late.

Pretzel sticks. Although I notice GS cookies are finding their way into my office...

Caffeine and cigarettes. I used to smoke a pack a day or more, but have cut back to two or three cigarettes a day. I can't seem to quit completely. I rarely drink alcohol, just a little champagne on New Year's Eve.

Junky Hostess snack cakes, washed down with 7-11 iced coffee. Mmm, the sugar rush always gets the fingers typing.

Oh get real. Without coffee, nothing happens. With coffee, all things are possible.

You are wise, Oh Queen.

Coffee is definitely my thing. Love it. I used to only have one cup a day, but lately I've been having two. One in the early afternoon and one after dinner.

Water. Lots of it.

Then a nice cup of tea.

Then maybe a red wine.

I had eleven cups of coffee today. That probably seems like a lot to some people.

Coffee in the morning =(fiction).
Water in the afternoon=(business stuff and non-fiction drafts).
Wine in the evening=(research and edits).

(oh--and cookies or a lb. bag of plain M&M's when there is a deadline...)

Tea, lots and lots of cups of tea

and bananas. Odd I know, but I need 2 or 3 a day to keep my mind focussed. Doctor friend of mine told me it probably has something to do with potassium but I thought that just helped stop shaking (I do know WW2 snipers used to eat them to help keep their hands from shaking whilst waiting for their target - interesting fact for you)

That is an interesting fact.

The only way I'd consider bananas unhealthy is if they were dipped in chocolate and covered with scoops of ice cream. Now you're talkin'...

Coffeecoffeecoffee...

and chocolate are the best, but I can function without the chocolate.

coffeecoffeecoffee...

I have heard that bananas are really good for concentration. And I used to eat one every morning, but I hate fruit so I don't anymore. Bananas are very beneficial. Maybe I should start forcing one down each morning again at least it's done first thing and I can enjoy my coffees later on.

Used to drink cafe au lait, but when I haven't had it in a while (for health reasons, I occasionally have to abstain for up to weeks at a time), it makes me want to scramble up walls once I do get back to it, even in the "short" sizes!

So green or white tea, it is. And at this time of year, it's all about Thin Mints, baby. The rest of the time, it might be homemade scones or crackers.

Thank God my office is way on the other side of the house from the kitchen. It's just way too tempting to eat my way through an entire box of Milanos when I'm experiencing writer's block.

Cheers,
Marjorie