Please do not speculate that I have even the slightest superstitious impulse in me. The only people who are less superstitious than fanatical atheists (who do not believe in any supernatural powers) are fanatical Christians (who do not believe in any supernatural powers aside from the Omnipotent, and are strictly forbidden in any case to evoke them).

No, sir, take me at my word. I am being utterly honest with you. I know about my writing the one thing my readers do not know. I know how much is perspiration and how much is inspiration.

Materialists who think inspiration comes from the unconscious mind credit that part of your brain that does not have conscious thoughts with miraculous and godlike powers of creativity, nuance, word choice, rhythm, human insight, and so on. Humbug. Materialism is a crass superstition, as illogical as belief in a lucky rabbits foot, and a philosopher such as I will have no part of their nonsense.

No, the principle of Occam’s razor, that most scientific of principles, says not to multiple entities in a theory without necessity. When I write, I can see inside my head which ideas are the stupid and laborious ones I come up with, and which pop into my head as if from nowhere.

Theories of modern physics to one side, Einstein is right and Heisenberg is wrong, and God does not play at dice, and nothing comes from nothing. No entity and no event can come from a cause which is insufficient to create that cause, for the same reason that Rocs do not hatch from chicken eggs.

Hence, logically, if story elements, images, characters, plot twists, events, word choices and so on pop into my awareness in my mind, and I do not see their origins anywhere in my mind, then they come from outside my mind, from a source capable of understanding and producing great art.

An unconscious mind or unaware awareness sounds like a contradiction in terms, and the idea that an unaware awareness is aware of abstractions like plot and theme and symmetry and so on is nonsense.

So the source of thoughts found in me, if they did not come from me, come from an outside source. You may call it what you will. The ancient Greek called them the Muses, and I see no reason to demean them with a less dignified name.

Now, I am open to the possibility that spirits more righteous and upright than merely pagan goddesses are behind any of my writing that shows truly holy spirit in it, but at this point to speculate further may be beyond human wisdom, and is certainly beyond mind.