My not-so-little room

The family computer where I do most of my writing. The glider on the right side of the picture is my brainstorming spot. (The balloons are from Boskone, if you're curious.)

I do most of my writing at the computer — currently, the family computer, which is positioned in the living room so I can look out the front window to rest my eyes if need be.

I do a lot of free-writing and brainstorming in the glider chair next to the computer. It puts my back to the window, but I get plenty of natural light. This is where I sat, for example, as I worked through what I wanted to write each day for NaNoWriMo this past November — what difficulties and solutions Jack Hawthorne was going to run into. The chair served me well then, as it does now while I’m thinking through an epic fantasy I’d like to write.

I’m not limited to one place, or even one room, to write, however. I have notebooks and pens scattered around the house, and I’ve been known to write short stories in bed, haiku while sitting outside, and random notes wherever I am. I don’t require specific items or place to write, which means I can write whenever I want.

I have a dream room, though, one I’ll probably never have — an octagonal tower room with windows all around and a spiral staircase coming up from below. The lower part of each wall is lined with bookcases — some reference books, some I’ve written, some books written by friends. My desk sits so I can look out the windows at the neighborhood. (I haven’t figured out yet how to deal with glare on the computer screen.) It’s a lovely dream, anyway.

Today’s post was inspired by the topic “My favorite writing place”– March’s topic in the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour — an ongoing tour where you, the reader, travel around the world from author’s blog to author’s blog. We have all sorts of writers at all stages in their writing career, so there’s something for everyone to enjoy. The next post in the tour will be on the 4th, by D. M. Bonnano. Be sure to check it out.

If you want to get to know nearly twenty other writers and find out their thoughts on crossing genre lines, check out the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour. You can find links to all of the posts on the tour by checking out the group site. Read and enjoy!

Originally published at Erin M. Hartshorn. You can comment here or there.

Defining the genres (introduction)

Both when I’m talking about what I’m writing and when I’m talking about my reading, I use terms to describe books — space opera, epic fantasy, hard SF, cozy mystery, middle-grade, and so forth. You may know these terms; you may not. More importantly, what comes to mind when you hear these terms may not match what I’m intending to convey. So, rather than point you to somebody’s else’s definition (with a ton of caveats), I’m going to start a new weekly series discussing what I mean by various terms.

As an example of “may not match,” I want to talk a little about epic fantasy. Not defining it yet, just talking about it. If you look it up on Wikipedia, you will be referred to their article on high fantasy. One of the links from there is a list of high fantasy works — which I vehemently disagree with. They include portal fantasy, juvenile fantasy, and comic fantasy books and series (but leave out some authors who unquestionably write epic fantasy, such as Joe Abercrombie). This is why I feel a need to talk about how I define terms.

Oh, and next month, I’m doing the A to Z Blog Challenge again, and I’m considering doing an A to Z of epic fantasy this time (mixing authors, books, and series as needed to get all the letters), which is why now. I figured you should have some idea how I decided what to include.

Any terms in particular you want me to talk about? Or that you have strong opinions on? Let me know in the comments!

Originally published at Erin M. Hartshorn. You can comment here or there.