Nowhen...

The magical no-place of fiction makes possible such journeys in space and time.

The quote above from Sonya Andermahr's book entitled Jeanette Winterson, which is a literary analysis of Winterson's work. Her words suggest that the mind is quantum while the body remains rooted in the progression of time.  Perhaps that is the the undying fascination writers have with writing and fans of fiction have with reading. There exists a parallel world made up of collective creative thought that continues to inspire and manifest across history and across genre. As Winterson herself writes in her memoir Why Be Happy When You Could be Normal?:

Creative work bridges time because the energy of art is not time-bound. If it were we should have no interest in the art of the past, except as history or documentary. But our interest in art is our interest in ourselves both now and always....Life + art is a boisterous communion / communication with the dead. It is a boxing match with time.

It is also potentially a means of understanding the arc of our lives in a larger frame. Much like the gods of old, our stories can be writ large. The seemingly random progression of events can be imbued with a new kind of order and meaning. That is why great works endure and certain story arcs, no matter how ancient, are recognizable to us regardless of technological innovations and social democratic developments. Unlike art objects, stories--narratives--live within us.

Below is an image of one of the nine muses from Greek mythology, likely Calliope, with barbiton. The original is housed in the Louvre and is attributed to the vase painter Asteas and is therefore believed to date from the late classical period between (360-340 BC). The concept of inspiration coming from the muses is naturally still with us today.