A place where nobody dared to go...

The title of this blog is only funny if you are familiar with the movie Xanadu. So, basically, Felicia will be the only one laughing at that! ;)

I'm the first to admit that I'm very easily distracted, and here lately, every time I've sat down to write, something else has seemed to get in the way. You know, really important things, like TV. Or laundry. Or going out to lunch.

So today, I decided to do the J.K. Rowling thing and try writing in a cafe, namely the Starbucks in Barnes and Noble. And, you know, I have to say, it was pretty nice. For one thing, there is easy access to lots and lots of coffee, coffee I do not have to brew myself. Also, there are snacks, adn so I can make fun deals with myself, like, "You can so have a piece of cheesecake if you write 1,000 words today!" (1,000 words a day is currently my goal. Stephen King says to do about 2,000 words or 10 pages a day, but that's... um... a lot. On a couple of occasions, I've written 4-5,000 words in a day, but that tends to make me feel like I've just been electrocuted.)

Now, there are drawbacks to the cafe situation. One is finding the right place to sit. When I attempted cafe writing once before, I literally looked like a moron moving from table to table, trying to find a place where there was no glare on the screen. Today, luckily, it was cloudy, so I was okay.

The second problem is music. See, I have to listen to music very loudly when I write. It's another way of "closing the door," basically, of focusing my mind. Now, I have earbuds, obviously, to listen to music out in public, but today I became very paranoid that people would either A) hear the music despite the fact that I was wearing earbuds, or B) that my earbuds would suddenly become unplugged somehow, filling the cafe with music from my computer.

I seriously could not get over this fear today. It was to the point that I kept taking my earbuds out and then listening to see if I could hear the music emanating from them while covering them with my fingers. I really wish I was making that up.

Now, if I were listening to something cool, like, I don't know, whatever the kids are listening to these days, that wouldn't be so bad. But imagine that I'm listening to something really lame, like, say, Olivia Newton John and ELO singing Xanadu. And then everyone in the cafe would be like, "Oh my god, that girl over there with the laptop was listening to Olivia Newton John and ELO sing Xanadu! What a freakin' loser! Everyone, quickly! Commence with the pointing and laughing!"

Not that I would be listening to Olivia Newton John and ELO sing Xanadu. I mean- ha ha- why would that even be on my computer. That's so lame. Yeah. Never would listen to that. Ahem.

Anyway, the third problem with cafe writing is, ironically, also one of the good things: the coffee. I had two Venti (or, you know, in English, Really Big) cups of regular coffee, and by the time I left, I was about to vibrate right out of my chair. Ooh, imagine if I had done that while unplugging my earbuds and filling the cafe with the dulcet sounds of Xanadu! That would have been really bad! "Everyone! Look at that crackhead listening to cheesey 80s pop! Commence with the laughing and pointing, but throw in a dash of pity!"

Shudder.

Lastly, there's the Internet issue. Now, on the one hand, it's nice not to have Internet as I'm not suddenly tempted to say, "I'm sure this latest chapter would go much better if I were to pop over to Perez Hilton and see what Britney is up to today!"

Oh, what's that? Barnes and Noble has Wi-Fi, you say? Well, yes, as a matter of fact, they do. For $15! To which I say, "Screw you, Barnes and Noble! You get enough of my money already, what with the books and the tasty coffee drinks and...oh, baby, come back. I didn't mean it! You know I love you!"

So yeah, cafe writing is fun some of the time, but I'm not sure it's gonna be my new permenant thing. Plus, one of these days, I will have to get a... what's the word? Oh, right. Job. And when that happens, leisurely writing time at B&N will no longer be an option.

In closing, I thought I'd leave you with the playlist for The (Damn) Book. I always like when authors do that because I think it gives you a good feeling of the tome of the book. So, without further ado, here's the"soundtrack" for Too Near the Glass! Now with less Xanadu!

1.Radiohead- Ladytron

2. Mazzy Star- Tonight So I Might See

3. Fleetwood Mac- Rhiannon

4. Placebo- Running Up That Hill

5. Kate Bush- Wuthering Heights

6.Sissel- She Walks in Beauty

7.Lifehouse- Sick Cycle Carousel

8. My Chemical Romance- Ghost of You

9. Travis- Luv

10. Rogue Traders- Voodoo Child

11. Monique Leyrac- Les Parapluies de Cherbourg

12. Loreena McKennit- The Mystic's Dream

13.Javier Navarrete- Theme from Pan's Labyrinth

14. Fiona Apple- Sally's Song

15. Katie Melua- Closest Thing to Crazy