The League and food

Do you guys read The League of Extraordinary Writers blog? Oh my gosh. I'm so excited to be guest posting over there today! I compare writing to food. And I may or may not have had a lot of fun editing several different graphics "ingredients" to make an unusual (yet strangely, kind of pretty) food item. Come hang out with me!

 The League of Extraordinary Writers

The future you

I'm a list-maker. A goal setter. Yet I rarely make 5 Year Plan kind of goals. Or even two year plans. I don't know why-- maybe because a lot of my goals have elements that are out of my control. Maybe because I want flexibility. I mean who doesn't want the ability to change their minds without feeling like they failed at goals? Or, you know, maybe it's just because I didn't get around to moving those goals from my head to paper.

Do you write long term goals?

I was reading Delia Moran's blog the other day, and she wrote a post about writing a letter to her future self. You see, there's an awesome website called FutureMe.org that lets you write an email to yourself, then choose the date you'd like it emailed to you.

I don't know about you, but that sounds BRILLIANT. So I did it! The anti-long-term-goal-setting me wrote a letter to myself, and it'll show up in my email in two years from now. I told myself what I was struggling with right now (balancing, priorities), and asked myself if I've figured that out yet. I reminded myself what point I'm at with my writing right now, and asked myself if I'd gotten to the point I hope I'll be at in two years. And I asked myself if the book I'm writing still has the same title. Because, hey-- I'm curious. And yes, I asked if I had met those goals I had set.

The best part about it is, two years from now I'm not going to remember that I did it, so it'll be like a present in my inbox!

You should try it. You can schedule the letter to come to you anytime up until the year 2060. If you just haven't gotten around to writing out those goals, you can take this easier route. The less I'm-going-to-feel-like-I-stink-at-meeting-my-goals-if-I-change-my-mind way. You can just ask yourself if you're where you thought you'd be. Or tell yourself where you are right now so you can see how far you've come later. Or say where you think you'll be, so you can laugh at how naive / brilliant / arrogant / spot-on your past self was. And what's better than laughing at your past self?

I have found the query writing experts!

credit*

I've taught a How To Write a Query Letter class to several groups of 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. I've got to say, middle grade-aged kids are SO much smarter than I was at those ages! Be worried. Be very worried. These kids have got it going on, and they're not that far from stealing the book deals from us. Check out a few of my favorites from the most recent school I went to:

(And don't worry-- each of the kids made up a name for themselves. None of the names are their real names.)

Dear Oh. Z. Osborne,

I saw your blog and found out you have an interest in aliens and wizards, so I wrote a middle grade novel called THE NEW NEIGHBORS. I think you'll like it. I know I do.

Wizard is living the life most sorcerers do, with one exception.... THE NEW NEIGHBORS. The new neighbors moved into the volcano next door. At first he didn't think that anything was wrong with them, until he went over to welcome them to the town. When he was done welcoming them, he had suspicions that his welcome was to the planet-- not the town! Were they brain eating aliens? Have they come to take over the world? Find out in my new middle grade novel, THE NEW NEIGHBORS.

I have read many wizard books, such as HARRY POTTER and FABLEHAVEN. I also have a degree in sorcery, so I am a wizard. Thank you so much for your time.

Sincerely,

los macho amigo
wizardfanatic@alienvolcanoes.com

***

Dear Mr. McNutt,

I've heard that you liked stories that have animals take over. I think you might be interested in my middle grade realistic fiction TRAPPED, complete at 200 pages.

Obama and family are camping on the desert island of Velk-A-Bomba, and they got dropped off with no way to leave for five days. When a team of highly organized raccoons threaten to steal all of their food, Obama and family must make a plan to outwit the raccoons or starve.

I am a highly qualified writer. I have a PHD in writing. I'm president of the High Society Book Club, and for the last eighteen months, I've been stranded on an island with no food or water except the ocean. I invite you to look a little closer into my book. Thank you for your time.

Cassandra Day
cassandra.d@yahooe.com

***

Dear Mr. Beus,

I read in a magazine that you like stories about the future. So I think you would be interested in my middle grade novel, THE DISASTER, complete at 250 pages.

My book is about a 15 year old boy named Zach. Zach lives in an army camp, and they get attacked by villains from Uple. One of the villains, a shape shifter, gets in to the base where Zack is using a laser to shoot down the villains in their flying saucers. But the shape shifter gets a hold of the gun and aims it at earth instead.

I have a major in college for Inventions and the Future from U of U. I also have a minor writing degree from BYU. If you would like to read my book, let me know. Thank you for your time, and have a good day.

Hunter Hanson
[phone numbers]

***

Dear Mrs. Hancock,

I heard that you like monkeys. My book is a mystery / adventure, called THE KILLER FORTUNE. This book has 350 pages, and is also middle grade.

The main character is Monaca. She is a half flying monkey and half human, and lives in the desert. She finds a restaurant in the middle of nowhere. They give her a fortune cookie, then a minute later, the fortune comes true. Now she goes there every day, but today was different. She got this one fortune that said You will be hunted. Now can she escape, or will she be hunted?

I am an expert on monkeys and the desert and fortune cookies. I study them so I know I am an expert. So if you are interested, give me a call. Thank you for your time.

Ginger Fault

www.monkeys.com

Moral of the post: If you're having troubles writing your query letter, look into hiring one of the kids at your local elementary school. They're geniuses.



*credit: By Everaldo Coelho and YellowIcon [LGPL], via Wikimedia Commons

One year from today! And the implications thereof.

Guess what happens exactly one year from TODAY?

My book releases!

Yes. I'm a little excited.

It feels like I've had my book deal for FOREVER (it's been 10 months and one week), yet I still have a year to go. In case you were wondering, yes, a year and ten months is a crazy long time when you're waiting for your book to come out! And yes, it's a completely normal length of time to wait if you're with a big publisher. Many of the people in the Lucky 13s have wait times over two years long. But now, to have that number be a year or less, feels MAGICAL. (Seriously-- anyone need any magic done? Today I feel like I could do it.)

There's a lot of implications, though, that come with the one year before mark that I can't say I had thought of before this point. Let me tell you where I'm at right now:

• Book 1 has been fully content-edited. 
• Book 1 has gone through the first round of copy edits, and ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies that go out to reviewers) are printed based off of that. It has gone to production for ARCs, even though they won't be out until spring. It has also gone back to copy edits for the second round. At this point, other than a few sentence wording things, it's pretty much set in stone.
• Book 1 HAD a cover.... until it was shown at list launch early August, and they decided that the cover wasn't strong enough for the book, so they started over with a different illustrator. That's a story for another time, but basically, it would've had a cover by now, if it went according to plan.
• Book 2 is two-thirds of the way drafted.

What does that have to do with anything, might you ask? A lot, actually. Like many, my books will come out almost exactly a year apart, which means books two and three will be on roughly the same schedule. Which means that when my book releases a year from now, this is what will be happening:

• Book 2 will be fully edited
• Book 2 will have gone through copy edits, and onto production
• Book 2 will likely have a cover
• Book 3 will be in the drafting stage.

Why that is significant?

Let's talk about reviews. Or, more importantly, constructive reviews. Have you ever read a book that was great except for one thing? Let's say it's an annoying tic the main character has that drives the general population nuts. Or something in the plot or with the world that seems to not fit, and desperately needs some explanation in the next book. By the time people start reading the book, and reviews start coming in, the next book is already to the point where everything is pretty much set in stone. So anything that needs to be addressed specifically, for the sake of the reader, can't be addressed until the third book.

Kind of mind-blowing, no? (Does it freak me out? A little. Yes.)(But it also helps stave off the Sophomore Slump, which is TOTALLY a story for another day.)

For a moment, I'm going to forget all that. Right now I need to go make one of those paper chains you made in December in elementary school to count down the days until Christmas by ripping off one link of the chain every day. Only this one will count down the days until TTBB releases. Then I'm going to wrap it around the walls in my office. And around... and around....

COVER REVEAL for Elana Johnson's ABANDON

I am so excited to be a part of the book reveal for Elana Johnson's latest book, ABANDON! Are you ready? Here it is!

seduced by power,
broken by control,
and consumed by love...

Vi has made her choice between Jag and Zenn, and the Resistance may have suffered for it. But with the Thinkers as strong as ever, the rebels still have a job to do. Vi knows better than anyone that there's more at stake than a few broken hearts.

But there is a traitor among them...and the choices he makes could lead to the total destruction of everything Vi has fought for.

Vi, Jag, and Zenn must set their problems aside for the Resistance to have any hope of ending the Thinkers' reign. Their success means everything...and their failure means death.

ALSO:
Elana is running a Pinterest contest for the cover! She wants to get 500 pins (or repins) over the next two days. If we can get that many, she'll pick someone who pinned the cover to win a $50 Amazon gift card. 

It's so easy to do this. All you have to do is click this PIN IT button and select one of your boards to pin the cover to. Elana has done everything else!



Don't have a Pinterest board yet? Put it on your Tumblr page. Your Facebook page. Your twitter stream. Elana will count those too! Just be sure to tag her (@ElanaJ on twitter, Possession by Elana Johnson on Facebook).



Cover tour organized by A Tale of Many Reviews.

The Way We Are: The book that everybody ELSE has read

Has there ever been a book before that you haven't read, but everyone else has? And I mean EVERYBODY. And you're sure that it's a perfectly fabulous book, because so many people love it. 

By Moses (The Crowd For DMB 1) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

But you haven't read it yourself, because it's just not your cup of tea. And since EVERYBODY has read it, everybody talks about it, but you don't get any of the references. And everytime you hear it discussed, you think "I've really got to read that book! If for no other reason than being able to get the stinkin' references!" But then all these other books that are so new and shiny and that are books you ACTUALLY WANT TO READ entice you, so you never really get around to reading the book that everyone else has. Or that author that everybody talks about.

... and time goes on, and you never quite seem to get around to it.

Anyone? Anyone?

Have you ever read a book, not because it appealed to you, but because you wanted to be in the know? Is it worth it?

Because dang. There's some references I'd really like to get. There are some books I have no desire to read whatsoever, and I'm happily fine to never get the references. But others I'd love to understand why they're loved. In fact, I'd really love to love a few classics written by a beloved author (*cough* JaneAusten *cough* I can't believe I just admitted to not having read her stuff ), but I can't seem to make myself sacrifice the really great stuff in my TBR pile.

If you did read one of those Everybody's Reading It books... were you glad you did? Or do you recommend just staying happily in the dark? (And you can tell me what books you're having a hard time reading. I obviously won't judge. (I mean come on! Look what I just admitted to not having read!) Maybe if you're on the fence and it actually is a *really* good book, someone in the comments will talk you into it. ;))

A Beneficial Misunderstanding

You guys have heard of The Bookshelf Muse, right? (If not, click on that link, then make a button for it on your browser's bar. Because holy great resource, Batman! Seriously. You'll wonder how you ever lived without it. Especially when you find your characters expressing emotion with the same body language ALL THE TIME. Not that I ever do that or anything....) Anyway, I am so excited to have the co-author of not only the Bookshelf Muse but also of the book THE EMOTION THESAURUS, Becca Puglisi, here to share her knowledge.

Take it away, Becca!

My daughter started Pre-K in August. I’m still adjusting, but she’s loving it and doing really well. She’s very peer-oriented, but she’s a little bossy and a lot opinionated, so I knew this year would be more of a social experiment for her than an academic one. I found this to be true when she came home a few days ago, upset that one of her friends had said she didn’t want to play with her.

I took the news well (WHAT LUNATIC TODDLER DOESN’T WANT TO PLAY WITH MY ANGEL??!) It was a sad little crisis, though not unexpected. Girls will be girls, especially at the ripe old age of four. But after talking it through, I realized that the other girl wasn’t saying she didn’t want to play at all; she was just tired of the game they’d been playing every day at recess for weeks—the reenactment of some story my daughter made up about two little bats being chased by a giant “comtagious” bat named Maleficent.

Like many creative geniuses, she clearly isn’t being recognized in her own time.

Once I’d ferreted the truth out of this tangle, we talked about how friends should share and take turns choosing what to play. And since then, the sun has returned to shine upon the toddlers of Room 30. It was just disappointing that my daughter’s feelings were hurt over a simple misunderstanding.

And that got me to thinking. Misunderstandings are the culprits behind a lot of our real life problems. As such, they’re perfect for our stories—an ideal vehicle for creating conflict, which leads to tension, which creates heightened emotion in both the character and the reader, which leads to awesomeness all over the page. So, while we want to avoid misunderstandings in real life, we should look for ways to develop them in our stories. Here are a few natural ways for misunderstandings to take place:

Things Not Said. In my opinion, this is the most common reason for communication mistakes. People either deliberately leave things out, or just don’t articulate their thoughts clearly and important information is lost. In Princess Academy, Miri is frustrated and hurt when her father won’t let her work in the quarry like the other girls. She assumes it’s because she’s weak and small and worthless in his eyes, so she doesn’t discover until she finally confronts him at the end of the story (*spoiler alert*) that her mother was killed in the quarry and he can’t bear the possibility of losing her, too. If Miri had brought this up earlier, that plot line would’ve come to an end, throwing the whole story out of whack. To maintain tension, don’t let your characters confront. Keep them assuming and stewing and simmering until the story’s climax, when everything is finally made clear.

Things Overheard. How often have you walked into the middle of a conversation and gotten confused about who or what was being discussed? This scenario can just as easily lead to misunderstandings on the part of your hero. When he jumps into a conversation, or overhears two friends talking without knowing the context, he’s left to make all kinds of assumptions—ones that can easily be incorrect. This is an easy way to frustrate your hero, build conflict between him and the other characters, and lead the reader astray.

Misinterpreted Actions. It’s been said that up to 95% of our interactions as humans are nonverbal, so a large part of communication involves interpreting the actions of others. When a person misreads these clues, it leads to problems. In Hate List, main character Valerie is as shocked and horrified as everyone else when her boyfriend opens fire in their school cafeteria. As she reviews the past year with Nick, she begins to see clues that she missed. Her flashbacks provide a great example of how one person can misread another’s actions, in this case, with devastating results. To ramp up the conflict in your story, make sure you include some clues about what’s really happening, but in such a way that they can be misinterpreted by others.

Misperceptions. So much of the conflict in our world is a result of misperceptions. People look a certain way, so we assume they are a certain way. Someone makes one bad decision and we jump to the conclusion that this is who they are. Prejudice, guilt by association—these things are a result of making snap judgments about someone’s character or personality. In The Wicked and the Just, when Cecily and her father move to Caernarvon in Wales, she assumes that all of the Welsh are uncivilized, untrustworthy, and ungrateful. This misperception leads to big-time trouble. As much as we don’t want to be prejudiced, to some degree, we are. Apply this common fault to your characters to create difficulties and give them room to grow.

So, apparently, misunderstandings can be beneficial. If you’re looking for ways to increase conflict or stretch out the tension over the course of a story, hopefully these tips will help.

BIO:

Becca Puglisi is one half of The Bookshelf Muse blogging duo, and co-author of TheEmotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression. Listing the body language, visceral reactions and thoughts associated with 75 different emotions, this brainstorming guide is a valuable tool for showing, not telling, emotion. The Emotion Thesaurus is available for purchase through Amazon, Barnes& Noble, iTunes, and Smashwords, and the PDF can be purchased directly from her blog.

Fabulous advice, isn't it? Thanks so much for joining us, Becca! 

So what about you guys? Have you used The Bookshelf Muse as resource before?

Quotes and Cookies: Scary

"If your dreams don't scare you, they aren't big enough."

~ Lowell Lundstrum

Scary thought, isn't it? Dreaming big enough that the dream scares you. It takes a lot of guts to dream big! But the big dreams--- those are the really awesome ones.

So... What about you? Are you scared? If you are, have a cookie. It helps. ;)

Daniel Schwen [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

The Way We Are: Rereading Books

By Vinayaraj [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

The bookshelves in my house were overcrowded. Terribly. I had a yard sale a week or so ago, so I figured it was high time to make some serious choices about all the books on my shelves. With each one, I thought Would I ever read this again? (And, because I'm not the only person in my family, I also thought Would anyone else in my family want to read this someday? but that's not really what this post is about.)

I was a little surprised at how many the answer to that question was NO. It was no on a lot of books I LOVE! Why? Well, because new great books are coming out all the time. I don't even have enough time to read all the ones I want, so I really can't justify re-reading books I've already read!

UNLESS..... They're inspiring. You know the kind-- the ones that even if you read just a part, it's so incredible that it energizes you and makes you want to sit and write and never eat or sleep again?

We're writers. That means we buy lots of books, right? (Or at least it means we like to read lots of books.) So how about you? Do you ever re-read books? And, the bonus question, do you keep tons of books that you liked tons, but you know dang well that you'll probably never re-read it, but you just love it way too much to ever get rid of it? Um, yeah. My guess is that as a whole, we tend to have overflowing bookcases. Oh, come on. There's worse things in the world to horde, right?

Pub Talk: The order of edits

Hi, guys! How the heck are you? Before I get into my second ever Pub Talk, a couple of announcements. I got my release date! It's September 24, 2013. :) :) :) Things could still change because, well, they tend to, but for now it's official!

And I got my official author picture! (Check out the sidebar.) Huge thanks to the uberly-talented Erin of Erin Summerill Photography.

Now let's talk the kinds of edits you get after getting a book deal. There's so many different kinds, they can get a little fuzzy. I'm going to say when I got each of mine, too, just in case you're curious. Of course, every single publisher is different and every book is different. Even other debut authors with Random House with fall 2013 release dates have slightly different schedules than I do. But I think it's good to hear numbers from different authors, just so you can see the range. Plus: interesting. (Or is that just me?)

Content edits
What are they usually called?
First round edits, second round edits, etc. Sometimes Editorial Letter. (As in "Oh, my gosh!" *waves letter* "I just got my first editorial letter!" Or as in, "Yay." *gnashes teeth, pulls out hair puts on a smile* "Fourth round edits. Party.")

Who:
These come from your editor.

# of rounds:
I've heard as few as one and as many as five. I had four.

What are they like:
It kind of depends on your editor. Most write a letter and talk about the things that could be made stronger in your manuscript. (I've heard of one who doesn't use letters at all, but writes every suggestion on the manuscript itself.) They aren't "fix this problem this way" kind of suggestions. They're more like "Here's a problem. How would you like to fix it?" Which is nice, because then you can figure out best how to address the issue, so it can still be done in the way you want. But.... then YOU have to figure out how to best address the issue. (This is where the hair pulling, teeth gnashing comes in.) The awesome thing about it, though, is that you can run ideas past your editor. And editors are crazy smart.

When did I get mine:
1st round: February 2012. 2nd round: May 2012. 3rd round: June 2012 4th round: June 2012. Mine took a total of 4 1/2 months to complete.

Line edits
What are they usually called?
Um... Line edits. Or sometimes they're just included in the "edits" umbrella. Or sometimes they aren't called anything at all.

Who:
These come from your editor.

# of rounds:
Pshaw. Idk. I had four. Each editor is different. A lot only do one.

What are they like:
This depends on your editor, too. Mine likes to print out the manuscript, then mark on it. I got a marked up manuscript with each editorial letter. Some like to do it with comments in a document in Word. Some don't do any line edits until after all the content edits are done. Some may not do it at all. If there are huge changes (like huge chunks being rewritten or changed drastically) in first round edits, it's unlikely line edits will come with it, because it'd kind of be pointless. They're fairly easy... Or at least that's what you go along thinking as you're cruising through your manuscript at a fast rate, then you hit something that's SO not easy. It'll be things like awkward wording, word reps, things that are unclear, or questions that affect other parts of the ms (the screeching stop kinds of things ;)).

When did I get mine:
1st round: February 2012. 2nd round: May 2012. 3rd round: June 2012 4th round: June 2012. I did mine in the same 4 1/2 months as content edits.

Copy Edits
What are they usually called?
Copy Edits, plain and simple.

Who:
These come from your COPY editor. Not the editor you've been working with. Sometimes the copy editor works for your publishing company, and sometimes they're a freelance copy editor.

# of rounds:
As many as it takes. Basically they come to you, you make changes, they go back to the copy editor. There will sometimes be further questions on the things you fixed, or grammatical fixes that need to be made on things you changed. It goes back and forth until everything's all sparkly.

What are they like:
In general? I don't know. I've only ever seen my own. (Which I started on yesterday! Yay!) I'm going to assume that it's a fairly consistent thing, though. I got my manuscript as a Word document, with Track Changes turned on. The CE (copy editor) checks for grammar, punctuation, things that don't match the house style, awkward wording, and CONSISTENCY. This one is huge. They check to make sure that if you say it's May 15th, or, say a Tuesday on one day, that your timeline actually matches that. Or that your description of this character that was on the page for two seconds matches what you said about them 57 pages earlier. Things like that.

So, basically, there's changes (which you can STET, which means to leave it the way you had it) grammar-wise, and there's queries. (Which is funny, because query really means something completely different to us than it does to a CE!) You answer the queries, and make the appropriate changes if needed, until it comes back with no more queries.

The weird/scary/exciting part:
After that first round of copy edits, your ARCs are printed, based on the changes that were made in that round. Sometimes, with all the changing / changing back that goes on between you and the copy editor, mistakes can creep in. Yes, it's terrifying to know that it's a little out of your control that errors can sneak their way into your ARCs! Luckily, the CE is totally on your side, so hopefully there aren't many.

When did I get mine:
1st round: September 2012. Hopefully mine will take three days, because that's how long I have. Eek!

First Pass Pages
What are they usually called?
Pass Pages, or sometimes Galleys

Who:
I have no idea. And now I feel bad that I have no idea.

# of rounds:
Usually one. But if there are many changes, there may also be Second Pass Pages.

What are they like:
The manuscript comes to you, printed out, looking just like it will look in book form. It will have whatever the title page is going to look like (probably in the same font as your cover), the dedication, acknowledgements, etc. will all be there, the fonts and typesetting is all done, page numbers are there, and chapter headings will look like they're going to look. This is your LAST CHANCE to make changes. But.... they can't be too big of changes. Preferably not anything that's going to change what page the text is on. Usually, it'll just be a last chance to make sure that there are no typos or wording changes that need to be made before it goes to print.

When did I get mine:
I haven't yet.

And then, you celebrate, because all edits are done! Well, that is, until you dive into the next book. ;)



P.S. It's Jessie Humphries at the B-Word's birthday! If you get a chance, head over and wish her a great one.

Cover and trailer reveal for Carrie Butler's STRENGTH

Carrie Butler is one of those people who are just made of awesome. So when I found out she was looking for blogs to show her cover and trailer reveal, I was thrilled to join in on the fun! And...... *drum roll, please* HERE IT IS!

Title: Strength

Series: Mark of Nexus – Book 1

Publisher: Sapphire Star Publishing   
Category: New Adult (NA)
Genre: Paranormal Romance (PNR)
Release Date: March 07, 2013

When college student Rena Collins finds herself nose-to-chest with the campus outcast, her rumor-laced notions are shattered. Handsome, considerate, and seemingly sane, Wallace Blake doesn’t look like he spends his nights alone, screaming and banging on the walls of his dorm room. Hell, he doesn’t look like he spends his nights alone, period.

Too curious for her own good, Rena vows to uncover the truth behind Wallace’s madman reputation—and how two seconds of contact had left her with bruises. Of course, there are a few minor setbacks along the way: guilt, admiration, feelings of the warm and fuzzy variety…

Not to mention the unwanted attention of Wallace's powerful, supernaturally-gifted family.

They’re a bloodline divided by opposing ideals, two soon-to-be warring factions that live in secret among us. When Rena ends up caught in their crossfire, Wallace has no choice but to save her by using his powers. Now they’re really in trouble. With war on the horizon and Rena’s life in the balance, he needs to put some distance between them. But Rena won’t let go. If fighting is what it takes to prove her own strength and keep Wallace in her life, then that’s what she’ll do—even if it means risking a whole lot more than her heart.

Sounds fabulous, doesn't it? Click here to add it to your Goodreads bookshelf:

And now to reveal the trailer!

Where to find Carrie:

WEBSITE  |  BLOG  |  SSP  |  TWITTER  |  FACEBOOK  |  GOODREADS  |  GOOGLE+ 

Where to find Strength:

BOOK PAGE  |  GOODREADS  |  FACEBOOK (New!)

So, what do you think?

The Way We Are: Where do you write?

On a totally unrelated side-note, does
anyone else miss the days before
Roni Loren was sued, when you could
use whatever image you wanted, and
be blissfully unaware that you were
doing anything wrong?

In a bed?
In your head?
On a train?
On a plane?
At a retreat?
In a soft seat?
Do you prefer outside?
Or anywhere you can hide?
In secret or in plain sight?
In the middle of the night?
At a park while kids play?
At your neighborhood cafe?
At the library, on a couch, or at your kitchen table?
In a notebook, laptop, or anywhere you're able?

For me, it's at my desktop computer, or on my laptop at my kitchen table. Sometimes at the library, or while waiting for my kids. Yep, that's right. My laptop is almost never used ON MY LAP.

How about you? Where do you find yourself writing most frequently?