I know you’re all dying to know about this Starbucks that I go to each morning like it’s work. So today I bought zee camera and shot a few from where I sit. See…I really do go to Starbucks every day.

If you have a site, post pictures of where you work and post your link under comments. I want to see!

I’m still at it, going to Starbucks after I drop off Trav, but I do wish there were other coffee houses to choose from. Berkeley has something like 70+ independent coffee houses to choose from and we have a handful in the O.C. The independent ones I can think of that are nearby have tiny tables and uncomfortable chairs.

What’s a girl to do?

Keep going to Starbucks, I s’pose.

Diet Coke.

It’s sad but true. I gave it up. Again. Over the years I keep giving it up. Why should it be so good? A bunch of food coloring and artificial sweetener. Oy. Vey.

So it’s Sunday afternoon and I’m watching the Angels vs. White Sox, my other addiction–the Angels, that is. (Yesterday went to the game with Brian and Travis. The two of them went today…)

When I’m watching a ball game, or when I’m writing in the afternoon, I want a Diet Coke.

Now I drink water. And white tea or green tea or black tea without the caffeine. I love the smell of coffee but I won’t drink it. Makes my heart go all aflutter. One of the best things is sitting down to write with a cup of dark roast coffee. When I lived in Vermont, I drank espresso with a sliver of lemon peel.

The Diet Coke habit came later. I don’t use artificial sweetener in anything, but I love it in Diet Coke. Bizarre.

What do you drink when you write? Or have you given up something (like coffee) and are developing a habit of something else?

It’s still working. I started last week, and so far have been there each morning this week for two hours. The noise isn’t even as distracting as email. (I’ve kept my vow of not checking email while I’m there.)

This morning a huge group of older adults, mostly dressed well and wearing jewelry, came in and pushed a bunch of tables and chairs together and took over the place. The din rose to the point of when I was on the phone with my chiropractor, I had to go outside to hear the person on the other end of the phone.

Still, I found that noise less distracting than the distractions at home when I’m working on fiction.

A few years back I was diagnosed as being an ADD adult so I wonder if the noise makes me focus in.

I have a friend who thinks I’m being a bit too personal about my writing woes. This friend thinks I should zip it, and just write away. And if I’m dealing with any obstacles, to just keep them to myself. This friend also doesn’t think I should go out to a cafe to work. He/she thinks I should just stay home and buckle down.

So tell me, does it make you uncomfortable when I, or any other writers with blogs, talk about what they’re dealing with, whether it be procrastination, writers block, or not being able to write at home? Seriously, i want to know.

…..

The LA Times Festival of Books was stellar, as usual. My friend Allison and I decided we liked the humor panels best. The panelists on the one I moderated (Allison Burnett, Merrill Markoe, Pamela Ribon and Amy Wallen) were hilarious. The other two humor panels we went to were great, too. Allison and Amy are going to come on the show in July, methinks.

…..

….to write. Well, to work on fiction. I’ve done it sporadically over the years, but finally realized I had to do it like a job. So I went out and bought a new battery for my iBook, one that lasts almost four hours.

It works like this: I drop my son at school and go to a cafe. One morning it was Kean, the next Starbucks near UC-Irvine. I work on the revision of Starletta’s Kitchen for two hours and then I leave. I vow not to check email, although my original intention was to work at cafes that are not wireless. But now the world seems to be wireless and it’s difficult to find a place that isn’t. Maybe the beach, or a park. But I want to work at a table. Monday through Friday, unless something comes up that I have to take care of, this is what I plan to do.

At home it’s too difficult to not get distracted. And as Dennis Palumbo has said, email is death to writers.

***

Today is the first day of the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at UCLA. I’m moderating a panel this a.m. on fiction and humor. So many great panels. I believe BookTV will be broadcasting some. Anyone going?

The ASJA conference in NYC last weekend was stellar. Great panels there, too. (They’re for sale at www.asja.org.)

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I like what Melissa Bank said at the panel on Voice at the ASJA conference. She said she has a drawing of a rhinoceros being airlifted and it reminds her that writing is difficult.

What techniques do y’all use to get writing done?