Here I sit, writing at Starbucks again, and since it is summer a cool caramel frappuccino perches at the side of my table. A tiny flicker of guilt erupts into flame and I try to quench it with creamy coffee goodness. It can’t be that bad to spend a morning in the coffee shop can it? Aside from the calories I am certainly imbibing, I am people watching and catching a little jazz music. But is it really concentrated, focused writing?I wrote most of my last novella, Alien Revealed, sitting in my sister’s camper or visiting the beach. But I wrote Dark Harmony my first full length novel here, in a corner of the loud, busy Starbucks ten minutes from my home. I’m not sure
which was better. But I think the drive here focuses my thoughts for what I am about to write and the environment forces me to focus on my words. If I don’t focus I don’t write, at least not here. There are too many people moving around me, too many distractions if I don’t focus. So it’s concentrate or do nothing. I think too, that because I am focused my prose comes out a little sweeter. And no, I don’t think it is the frappuccino, LOL.When I write at home I sit in a cozy armchair (for some reason I don’t often m
ake it to the desk) and my cat sits nearby, watching my fingers move and waiting for a chance to attack. There are distractions here too – the cat, the kids, the TV (eek!) and the refrigerator. At least at Starbucks I am only limited to one treat because, after all, I’m not a millionaire, LOL. I’ve heard other authors refer to their offices or writing corners as their cave courtesy of author Paige Cuccaro – but mine is anywhere I am. I just need my laptop. I even got a chapter written while on a Girl Guide camping trip. Hey they had to sleep sometime, right?Writers have to be flexible, IMO. It isn’t like people imagine – that we can only write when the muse strikes us. That we babble our words out until we lay there spent, drained. Well okay, that can happen, but most of the time authors work, day in, day out, a little each day, writing, revising, editing. And we do it everywhere, anywhere. As long as we are comfortable, who cares where we sit? Or if we use a laptop, desktop, pen and pad of paper or a voice recorder.
Where do you write? Find your focus? Drop in with a comment and you could win an electronic copy of my novel Dark Harmony from Red Sage Publishing, or my novella, Alien Revealed from Carina Press. Both had recent releases – Alien Revealed was a part of Carina Press’s launch last week and Dark Harmony came out in paper June 1!
Lilly Cain
“Stories of Darkly Seductive Fantasy and Sensual Romance”
To read more about Lilly check out her website at http://www.lillycain.com/.
To purchase a copy of her book Alien Revealed or find out about other fantastic authors, check out http://www.carinapress.com/. And to buy a copy of Dark Harmony, in print or ebook, visit http://www.eredsage.com/.
Lilly Cain is a wild woman with a deep throaty laugh, plunging necklines and a great lo
ver of all things sensual - perfume, chocolate, silk! She never has to worry about finding a date or keeping a man in line. She keeps her blond hair long and curly, wears beautiful clothes and loves loud music. Lilly lives her private life in the pages of her books.Lilly lives in Atlantic Canada, although she spent eight years in Bermuda, enjoying the heat and the pink sands. She returned to her homeland so she could see the changing of the seasons once again. When not writing she paints, swills coffee and vodka (but not together), and fights her writing pals for chocolate.
When not living up to her pen name, Lilly is a single mom who loves reading and writing, dabbling in art and loving and caring for her two daughters. She loves romance and the freedom erotic fantasy provides her imagination. She loves the chilling moments in her novels as much as the steaming hot interludes. Her stories are an escape and a release, and she hopes that they can give you that power, too.
