Ask the Authors: Friday

Where do you do most of your writing, and why?

I write at home almost always, unless I'm traveling. I do enjoy writing on an airplane, especially if it's a long trip. But when I'm proofing or editing I like to work at Starbucks. It gets me out of the house and gives me an excuse to drink high-calorie coffee. -- Rene Gutteridge

I do most of my writing in our sunroom that overlooks the backyard. Writing in an office on a desktop computer depresses me. Give me a laptop and the peaceful silence of sunshine and birds and an occasional ant crawling beneath the door. --Hannah Alexander

At home, either in my office or sitting in the patio swing. Why? Because it's where I feel most relaxed, where I'm surrounded by the things I love: pictures, music, my family, my pets...it's where I can watch the clouds dancing over the mountains; where I'm serenaded by the wind nudging our windchimes; where I take a break to dig my hands into the rich soil as I weed my pansies, roses, irises, and other flowers; where I can pause and watch my dogs exult in the wonder of play. It's home, where I'm energized and inspired. Karen Ball


If you're talking about the physical act of typing
words into a computer, that would be here in my home
office, as I don't have a laptop. But if you're
talking about the mental act of developing the story,
that would be everywhere: outdoors while I'm walking,
in the kitchen while I'm washing dishes, in the car
while I'm driving. I'm more or less mulling over a
story all the time, no matter what else I'm doing. --Ann Tatlock

My local Panera's coffee house. I laughingly have 'an office' there where friends know where to find me. It's great. All the coffee you can drink, free wi-fi and oodles of people watching for future story lines. -- Lori Copeland

My favorite Starbucks, because it has just the right mix of background noise and music, my table is in just the right spot and every now and then I get in a really good conversation with someone who may end up in one of my books. - James Scott Bell

Until a couple of years ago, my desk was a farm table in a corner of our living room. With four kids in a cozy, but small duplex, I didn’t have any other options. Now that we have a bigger house and only one teenager at home, I have my own sunny studio with plenty of storage and a tall window that looks out over our quiet street. However, I don’t confine my writing to my office. Something about a change of scenery really inspires me and gets the words flowing. So I write solely on a laptop that I carry from my studio, to the chair in front of the fireplace in winter, outside on the porch or deck (Kansas weather permitting), or often, to a barstool in the kitchen. I often write away from home, especially when I’m on deadline. Barnes & Noble, the library, a bed-and-breakfast, and even a bench at the park, have all served as wonderful temporary offices where the phone never rings and no dirty dishes or laundry ever call my name. –Deborah Raney

On the bed, in the car, at my cabin. On the bed, because I don't have an office. In the car because there's no internet. At the cabin because there's no distraction and I have three times the output there than anywhere else. By the way, my cabin is available to writers, artists and thinkers who need a space to create. I only charge the cleaning fee. (Sorry to get businessy on you all!) lisa samson

Almost all my writing is done in my home office. I do a little on my laptop, but I seem to work better in my familiar work space. -Robin Lee Hatcher

In my home office, though I work on a laptop, not a desktop. The coffee pot is close-by, as are my reference books, Ember the cat, and Clever Trevor, the golden retriever. And other than some faint music in the other room, it's blessedly quiet. I have to have the quiet. About the only thing that will shatter my concentration in a heartbeat is noise. -BJ Hoff

My home office. Because:
1). My stuff is there.
2). It's tax-deductible and
3). I don't like coffee.
--Angela Hunt