I do it in public...

Where do I write? In public.

My local Panera Bread, mainly (that's me: the guy with the 2-day shadow, hunting and pecking on a laptop near the window, drinking a large coffee at 7:30 most mornings - pull up a chair and set a spell). I've also "done time" and cranked out the pages in such notable locales as Caribou Coffee, Tim Horton's (curse you, delicious-yet-sugary Tim Bits!!) and humble ol' McDonalds.

I'm not sure why, but the constant ebb and flow of people, the gentle buzz of conversation and the welcoming smiles of the dimpled, shockingly awake counter girls always gets my sluggish creative juices flowing. The deadline I'm under each and every morning (I have to leave for work at 8:45, whether I've written my required 3-6 pages or not) keeps me focused.

I am, in fact, writing this in that selfsame Panera right this moment, in preparation for my departure for the World Fantasy convention in New York. Hope I don't wreck my car this time.

So, allow me to send out a huge shout-out to my "peeps" in the early morning java and bagel biz - yo, Desiree, Tammy and even that scary guy with the hedgehog hair, lazy-crazy eye and soul patch in Tim Horton's - you'll never know how much of you has made it into my books... somewhere.

I write in the attic

Here's my writing space. (Click the pic to see it larger). The attic's finished, with floor and ceiling and windows, and it's my hideaway where I can sit and think and listen to music and write. I did clean up a bit before shooting the old wooden desk. I'm a slob. I almost always write on the computer, longhand in my journal. I also paint here most of the time (watercolors and digital, see my blog for the portfolio). I cleaned, but left some of the junk, trinkets, the heavy concrete book toting toad who guards my library--four big bookcases off to the left of the shot. He's the greenish guy with a book under one arm in the back left, weighs about 80 pounds. I also threw in the SEABORN street sign I just picked up--that isn't normally on the desk. I just haven't hung it up yet. That's my podcasting stuff on the right, mic and mixer. Maps and other junk on the walls. That's about it.