photo: Design Haus

I recently completed a draft of a YA novel, You Spin Me Round.  I am about to start the process of finding an agent and I have begun work on my second novel.

Things are different this second time around.  I wrote most of Spin in two different coffee shops:  Blue Moon in Minneapolis and Fresh Pot in Portland, OR.  I wrote it on a handful of single subject, spiral notebooks because I find composing on the computer distracting (Damn you Facebook!).

But, the biggest difference in my process is that I now live in Asbury Park, NJ, a wonderfully scruffy seaside town that has an incredible artsy, creative vibe and a strong grass rootsy pull.  Asbury has a few coffee shops, none of which meet all of my needs: comfortable, good cup of joe, pleasant people and not overly crowded or loud.  America’s Cup is okay.  They don’t have the most comfortable set up, the coffee is drinkable; but, they close early.  Twisted Tree is a great little place but it’s hard to write in there because it’s really small, there is frequently live music and the tables and chairs are not super comfortable, though they are open later.  Baker Brothers is closest to me and has the added plus of being on the boardwalk; but, their coffee is not the greatest and the last 3 or 4 times I was in there the server was really unpleasant and grouchy and that’s just uncool.

So, I’m expanding my search to the towns south of me; and there are a couple of good places down there that have good coffee and are open later; but, I really would love it if I could walk to the shop, clear my head in the ocean air.  When the weather clears and warms, I’ll be able to ride my bike to the next town which will be fun.  This whole coffee shop dilemma got me thinking about my writing process and just how important this “clean, well lit place” has become to my writing.

I’ll write book two whether I ever find my coffee shop nirvana (I’m adaptable); but, it would sure be nice to find my new Fresh Pot.