Niki asked: When do you write and where? Do you get up a few hours early? Late at night? In the middle of the day? All of the above? Do you have an office? Sit at the kitchen table? Out on the porch?
I admit that I have to have different writing spaces depending on the mood that I’m in. I usually compose my stories in a big, blue, leather, oversized chair in my upstairs office. And normally, I don’t get my groove until around 1pm. However, sometimes, the muse hits me in the early in the day, and I pull my laptop into my bed, and sit in the quiet of the morning, typing away to my heart’s content. Sometimes, after a scene, when I know I still have to pump out another scene, I take my laptop down to the family room sofa, or even sit with the kids in the television room, listening to their babble, or even the background noise of their television show. I have even been known to go to the local Java Moose where I plug in to work, or to the beautiful lobby of my husband’s hotel, located right on the north shore of Lake Superior, listen to the waves, and let my muse sweep over me. I often take the computer in the car, plug it into the dc source and type while my husband (or 16 year old son!) drives to Duluth. Finally, during one desperate season when we lived in the garage, I took my laptop to the library and worked in their cubicles.
When I edit, however, I have to work at my desk, an old converted table I turned into a desk. My office is what I call “eclectic” (read: garage sale treasures), with piles of research books open everywhere. But, all that imagery, and even the different places connects to different points of inspiration in my brain, and for some reason, I can’t create in a CLEAN, ORGANIZED space. (Or, is that just…an…EXCUSE?). Thanks for asking!!
What would YOU like to ask a writer? This summer, “Ask a Writer Anything!” Go to my website contest page to enter the “Ask an Author Anything!” Contest! and be eligible to win a free book.