"Armed with fanciful prose and well-drawn characters, Muse is a novella that uniquely explores the mysteries of creativity, the people who possess such talents, and those who would exploit them. Allingham is an author to watch." - Lucas Mangum, author of Saint Sadist and Gods of the Dark Web
"A vibrant story about the intersection of art and suffering, and the predators behind the scenes looking for their pound of flesh, both literally and figuratively. ... With Muse, LCW Allingham has managed to tell a story that's both beautiful and horrifying."
—William J. Donahue, author of Only Monsters Remain
Muse
by LCW Allingham
Inspiration is a living thing and it is hungry...
Terra Desmarais’s success as the next big artist in NYC is absolutely inevitable. Her patrons, the associates, Mr. Black, Mr. Silver, and Mr. Green, can practically taste the raw talent dripping from the enigmatic trailer park prodigy’s dollar store paints.
Up and coming pastel artist Cedric Fleck is a lucky discovery of the associates. Rescued from oblivion by Mr Green, put up in a studio by Mr. Silver and paraded around on the arm of Mr. Black should be the dream. But within the steady stream of great press and even better parties, Cedric can’t shake the sense that something is very wrong. He wants to hate Terra for her overnight success, but he’s taken by her earnest love of art.
As the artists around them crash and burn, and Cedric struggles to break free from the toxic seduction of Mr. Black, Terra is only concerned with her strange and compelling paintings. She seems to want nothing of the fame, the money, the sex or the drugs. As greed exposes the true colors of the associates, and Terra is too lost in her art to notice the danger, Cedric discovers that inspiration is a living thing, and it is hungry.