Getting Comfy

My daughter, much to my dismay, is going back to school later this week. I'll miss her dreadfully but I know she's eager to return to her friends, her studies and Boston. She's spent the last few weeks reviewing her Arabic so she can jump right back into it. We have a large house, but she couldn't seem to find the right spot to concentrate on the difficult language. So she packed her bags and headed off to a nearby Starbucks. She returned home a few hours later, triumphant with how much she accomplished. All she needed was the right atmosphere, the right chair and she could do her work.

Writing areas are often subjects of blogs. I know some people who can write anywhere. I've done my own share of pounding on the keyboard at baseball games but I get more done sitting in my office at home. I do a lot of my blogging in front of the TV, catching up on favorite shows or watching some on-demand movies, but for actual writing I need my office. Second to that is going to the café at BAM. It was better when it was Borders, including the coffee, but it still works okay. For some reason the chaos of the store helps me concentrate on what is in front of me. Just like going to Starbucks helped my daughter. Finding the right place, your comfy but get to work place, can really get those creative juices going.

My daughter is shaking her head at me right now because I'm watching TV while I write this blog. She tells me I'm ADHD because I can't just sit and watch TV. I always have to be doing something else in addition to whatever is on. Just like I needed some chaos in the bookstore or music or a movie playing in my office when I write.

So are you a 'quiet' writer or do you write amidst the music of the world moving around you? Can you just sit and watch TV or do you have to be busy with something else at the same time? Where's the strangest place you've worked on your writing?

IWSG: Where Are We Headed?

Welcome to August's edition of the Insecure Writers' Support Group. This awesome group help each other out with advice, support and sometimes just by listening to each other vent. Alex Cavanaugh is the brain behind this endeavor. You can get an entire list of participants on his blog.

My inspiration for this post came to me when I visited my local Barnes and Noble this past Sunday. My daughter and I went, not because either of us intended or even wanted to purchase a book, but because we love hanging out in bookstores. We arrived around ten in the morning, shortly after they opened. The parking lot was already filling up as we made our way inside. We parted ways inside the door and then met in the café a short time later, each of us with a stack of magazines and books that caught our interest. Of course, we had to get a drink. Like many B&N, maybe all, the café is actually a Starbucks. I stood in line behind six other customers and there were that many more behind me when I ordered. Every seat in the café was filled when we decided on one book to purchase and went to the checkout. At the checkout, no one was in line. No one was buying books.

Where is our industry going? The book I bought at B&N was the first 'real' book I've purchased in at least two months. All my other purchases have been ebooks. I'm sure many of us started out writing hoping to see our books on the shelves at a bookstore one day. Maybe going on a promotional tour. But more and more, writers have their books come out only as ebooks. And in my personal experience, if you're working with a small press, as an author, you're going to make most of your sales and your money from ebooks.

How long until all books, except from a few select writers, are paperless? How long until bookstores close their doors? Will I ever go to Starbucks again if they aren't located inside a bookstore?

Don't forget to visit more blogs here and share the joys and miseries of being a writer.

Great Trip

From Facebook

My daughter and I had hours of fun on our trip to visit UNC.  I believe she's decided to be a Tarheel unless Boston University or George Washington University come up with some big bucks in scholarships.  Even during the horrible traffic around DC there and back, we managed to laugh and keep our spirits high. And we got home in front of the Halloween snow storm.

Hopefully, I'll catch up on blogs and get some editing done today before this wet, heavy snowfall brings down the powerlines as predicted.  We have enough firewood in to keep the chill off one room if needed.  Usually I found the first snowfall of the season lovely but getting it in October kind of takes the charm off the experience.

The only good news is the weather will keep me at my writing work. 

While in Chapel Hill, my daughter and I did our usual routine of investigating any local independent bookstores we can find as well as Barnes and Noble.  We found a terrific store called Flyleaf Books.  My daughter invested in two thin books of French poetry published in the 1920's and I found an early book by an author I've been meaning to sample.  If she decides to attend college at UNC, that store will see us again.

We also made our tour of the coffeeshops. She's of the Starbucks generation but I was thrilled to find a Caribou Coffee shop.  I like Caribou better and their cafe was very comfy.  I wish we had one of their places around here.  Today though is a hot chocolate day.

So Caribou or Starbucks for you? Snow or sunshine today? Hot chocolate or hot coffee or wine?