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Where Stories Are Made is a new feature here at Book Chick City. It’s where the author takes us on a tour of their writing place, be it an office, coffee shop or park and tells us about their writing day and rituals. My guest today is J. F. Lewis…
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The secret is out!
I write naked while seated in a vat of grape Jell-O.
Okay.
Not really.
It’s orange Jell-O.
Gah! Don’t picture that!
Seriously though, most of my ideas bounce around in the shower or in my head on the drive to and from my day job each morning. (I cannot tell you how many plot issue resolutions or scene revisions have hit me in the shower.) Even wandering around downtown on my lunch break, I am thinking through the possibilities. I put fingers to keyboard wherever I can get a comfortable seat and plug for my laptop… sometimes it’s a coffee shop or a fast food place, other times it’s a cozy chair by the fireplace in my family room at home.
My home office
Some of my writing does get done in my home office, where I can see my Japanese Super Robots and Comic Book Character Statues… because nothing helps cut through the text like Usagi Yojimbo or UFO Robot Grendizer. I’m more likely to be in there near the end of the writing process when I’m going through revisions and doing edits. Then, having my own writer space is more important. Nothing, however, is as important as my PJ’s. PJ’s cut through writer’s block like a werewolf through a boy scout troop.
I won’t be showing any pictures of my home office as it gets when I’m near the end of a project, when books, soda cans, and comics litter the floor, stacks of Stuff make it nigh impossible to traverse, and post-it notes with cryptic notes like “Show more”, “Beatrice’s eyes are blue-gray”, and “The time difference between Void City and Paris is +6 hours” paper the walls. Sorry. It’s just too horrifying. I can’t even work in there right now. But you can see me in my PJ’s in this photo.
Me in my PJ’s
Of course, some of the hardest work gets done after the first draft is finished. There’s a lot of waiting involved while my agent and editor work their magic. When the revision letter comes in, the ball is back in my court. Then, I carry around a printout of the letter and the manuscript, and I’m constantly scribbling and typing (when I’m not working my day job!) My iPod is almost always on during that part of the process. The headphones rarely leave my ears and I go from listening to music with great vocals to stuff like Vangelis or soundtracks by John Williams or Uematsu Nobuo. Last, there’s the green pencil phase where I’m working with the galleys and checking and rechecking; then, I usually gather a group of friends and we eat pizza and read/re-read into the wee hours of the morning.
I guess at some point undead monsters should come into the mix, but the closest I get to real life supernatural hijinks is when my dog, a hyper Labrador mix, won’t stop running circles around me or whines at the mysterious sounds that echo through the house. She still doesn’t understand why Dad insists on tapping keys for hours on end. Maybe someday she’ll get it.
My Japanese Super Robots and Comic Book Character Statues
And that’s all there is to it. There’s no magic wand waving involved…just the judicious application of butt in seat, fingers on keyboard, a little controlled insanity… oh… and grammar, but that’s not my specialty. I failed Advanced Grammar. Twice. Advice for the grammatically challenged: marry a teacher.
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Staked: out now
Revamped: out now
You can find out more about this feature HERE
**Next week on ‘Where Stories Are Made’: Jaye Wells**
11 Comments
Good to hear I'm not the only writer constantly listening to tunes!
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Mr. Lewis's desk looks suspiciously neat. I was expecting to see bits of paper everywhere, but it's sooo clean. Please tell me this was staged, or I'm going to feel like a hopeless slob.
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Very fun to see another of my favorite authors, thank you! Lewis is one of the authors I find myself recommending often; I hope this column brings him some new, well-deserved fans.
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Funny Funny Author. Don't worry I dismissed the orange jello thought. LOL Went right for pudding
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Yeah, you're definitely not alone, Alex. I'm a total playlist ho when it comes to setting the mood and getting into the "feel" of a scene.
Rebecca, regarding the neatness… that is my desk at its neatest stage. Right now, my desk has a big statue of Doctor Doom in the middle of it, surrounded by cans, notes, and stacks of "stuff". Even so, there is a definite reason we avoided showing the floor in that picture.
Thanks for the reccs, Greytfriend! Glad you enjoy the books. CROSSED (Void City, Book 3)will be out in early 2011.
Cleverly, it would really depend on the pudding. I might be willing to entertain the idea of tapioca, but I'm not a big pudding guy.
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First off do not have to ask as it was very clearly a "staged" desk shot, no way was work being done during the time period the desk was clean and neat. That said, thanks for the mental image of what it looks like near the end of a project and more thanks for not actually posting a photo of the complete and utter chaos. If you had it would cause us fans to never go near a book again from the sheer horror of remembering the image of your "torture chamber"/office.
Looking forward to Void City 3 but 2011 is still a ways off!!
jackie b central texas
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Crossed in early 2011? *squeeeeeee* I cannot wait *bouncing*
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What a great feature idea! I've noticed that authors are often asked about their particular writing habits; interesting quirks, location preferences, background music etc. This is a subject that many readers seemed to be interested in, so a regular feature specifically about this topic is a wonderful idea. This actually the first of heard of Jeremy Lewis but I'm going to look up his books right now.
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Love this feature! Btw.. "PJ's cut through writer's block like a werewolf through a boy scout troop." Does that mean they are not prepared for everything?
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Well, there's being prepared and then there's BEING PREPARED…
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Aw Dang… And I was all excited about the sitting on Jell-O part *pout* =P
Hilarious post! <3
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