Sunday Afternoon at the B&N Café
Almost every Sunday afternoon I flee my house of chaos for the Barnes & Noble Café. It’s a long drive for me, so usually I go to a local coffee shop to get a little uninterrupted writing time. However, I prefer the B&N Café because you have to pay for Internet access (at my little local coffee shop, it’s free), which means I don’t buy it and I actually write instead of procrastinate by checking my email, playing on Livejournal or Twitter or hunting down eBook pirates (my own private and pointless obsession).
The chairs are fairly comfortable, the staff is friendly (I’m in the B&N Café as I write this, in fact), and once I plug myself into my iPod, the auditory environment is conducive to writing. I like to try and get a table that backs up to a wall so no one can read over my shoulder, especially if I’m about to write a sex scene…which I intend to do right after I finish writing this post. Today I snagged a wall table, so today is a good B&N Café day.
Muted conversation fills my ears, since I don’t have my ear buds in yet. So does the gurgling sound of the café staff making coffee. The scent of that coffee fills my nose, along with the faint aroma of the woman’s perfume beside me. I can also hear the clinking of change at the register, the beeping of machinery, the sound of a child crying in another part of the store.
| Today I’m wearing a comfy black sweater with black running pants and fuzzy red socks. On a totally different topic, Limecello gave me a list of possible subjects to write on and one of them was about my favorite kind of socks. You’re probably all just dying to know that I prefer slipper socks and wear them most of the time in the winter. As a full time writer, I can get away with that. Comfort is my first priority. A fashionista, I am not. |  |
Back to the topic at hand, I get a lot of writing done at the cafe. I write for a while, then stop and think, staring out over the top of my laptop with my eyes unfocused. I’m not really seeing anything because I’m deep in thought, thinking about the scene I’m writing or how I need the next part of this particular chapter to show something significant about a certain character, set up for an upcoming battle or black moment, or show how the relationship between my hero and heroine is evolving. I do a lot of staring and thinking when I write.
 |
That doesn’t mean I’m not aware of my surroundings. On the contrary, I’m hyper-aware of everyone around me. I think most writers are. Writers observe. They take in all people and events around them and consider them. For a writer everything and everyone around them is potential inspiration or story fodder. . Today there’s a woman next to me who is dressed in a stylish fawn colored sweater dress and expensive looking thigh-high boots (her perfume smells expensive too). She’s reading a stack of books on divorce. I can’t help but wonder about her, who she married and why they’re divorcing. I can’t help but make up stories to fill in the gaps about what I don’t know about her. . What about that man in his mid twenties in the corner who is pounding away on his laptop like me? Writer? Or grad student? |
And there’s clutch of women in the corner that’s obviously a book club since they all have the same mass market paperback on the table beside them-with the title I can’t quite make out – and who are clearly having a wonderful time and not talking about books.
The man at two o’clock is flipping through a book by Mike Huckabee and has Sean Hannity sitting jowl-to-jowl with Michael Savage (books by those men, I mean, not the actual men). He keeps furtively checking out the well-heeled women who is reading the books on divorce.
| The chess players are here again. They’re here every single week-the same people scowling down at the boards, scratching their heads and trying to figure out their next move. Another group of women are in the corner. It’s a study group for library science, unless I miss my guess. I can tell their relationship is tentative and new (probably the first time they’ve studied together) because of the nervous chatter and the self-conscious laughter. It’s the kind of communication one engages in when one is not totally sure. . It strikes me every week how many people come here to do things other than drink coffee and consider their purchases. People come to study, write novels or dissertations. They use it as a library, pulling books up next to themselves along with a pad of paper and pen to take notes. The woman on my other side is angry that so many people are making noise (the noise culprits are the library science group and the two tables in front of us who have struck up a conversation about football) and is hissing into her cell phone about how people should be quieter here. of one’s audience. |
 |
Except, of course, this isn’t a library…it’s a bookstore. Me? I just put my ear buds in and turn to my sex scene….
*P.S.- Anya, because she is awesome, has very kindly offered to give away an autographed copy of her recent release Witch Heart to one lucky commenter. Not that you wouldn’t have stopped by to chat with her anyway, right? 😉
I have read a couple of reviews on Witch Heart – sounds great! I’ve added it to my list of reads.
I never thought of going to B&N to write, but now that you mention it, it sounds cozier than the cafe I usually go to to avoid Internet distraction. I’m gonna try it! And of course I’ll have to get a cookie while I’m there….
Isn’t people watching fun? I like to do that as well. Sometimes it’s nice to just sit back and not worry about your own problems while fixating about what others problems might be.
Unfortunately, I don’t live near enough to a Barnes & Noble to just sit around in the cafe. I’m sure if I did though, that I would spend way too much time there.
It’s not distracting to have people and noises around you? I suppose that you might be more likely to get work done there than if you stayed at home. Otherwise, family and household responsibilities might pull you away from your writing.
Deidre
Anya – I’m tempted to go to a B&N and people watch now! I have to go there anyway – but I’m generally one of the people that has her nose buried in a book, in a particular section, trying to decide what to buy.
Heh – the guy using the bookstore as a pick up spot amuses me. Great ground for a story/character. (Maybe a fail.) Thanks for visiting with us today!
I love heading over the the B&N store on 5th and 46th here in NYC. You get the tourist mingling with the local business crowds especially during lunch. It is truly a site to see.
I am so tempted to read Taken ( my only hesitation is that menage isn’t usually my cup of tea but i do love you stories – argh! such a dilemma (not truly I could never really resist temptation. :))
There’s not a bookstore with a cafe near me (in Uptown Minneapolis), but I do like spending time in my neighborhood coffeeshops, wondering what all the people with laptops are typing (maybe published authors are there!), then tuning them all out and reading my book.
I haven’t read your books – yet. 🙂 But I’ve just been poking around on your blog and you’re going on my TBR list!
I people watch all the time especially with my mom. It’s just so interesting to see different people and what they do or how they act. When we go out for coffee we have a great chat and of course, look around.
Great post! I very much enjoyed reading it.
Anya, I love B&N Cafes. I’ve met my friends there a number of times. It’s usually hard to catch a table, though, as they’re so popular. Your description of the environment is fabulous and makes me want to ditch the rest of the work day and just go camp out at the Cafe with my laptop.
Of course, I like to take my laptop to local parks as well and watch the people enjoy the sunshine on days like today when it’s warmer than average.
It’s nice to have you here and chatting with you. I can’t wait to read your book!
Tami
In my town, the gathering spot is the local Borders. We now have a BN in our mall, but Borders has a nicer ambience. Often we’ll stop in for a cappucino and maybe some dessert. Can’t wait to read the next in the series, Anya.
I often go into B & N to buy books, but I’ve never sat in the cafe area and read or ordered a drink. I have, on occasion, planted myself in one of the big chairs for a few minutes to browse through a book to see if I wanted to buy it.
And here I am, only going into bookshops for the books, not the food, beverages and writing 😉
Have a lovely day! 🙂
Maybe ‘thigh-high boot’ chickie was looking how to cause a divorce…..
My B&N is 8 blocks up the road…I love that place. They do have a comfy area for sippin’ and readin’. I’ll have to remember to use it as a socialogist experiment next time. I usually do that at the mall and make up stories about how couples meet.
The last time I was in the cafe part of B and N was during the midnight launch of Breaking Dawn…… surrounded by squealing teenagers in costume and trying to do a trivia contest. I prefer to do any writing (emailing) at Panerra, and spend my time at B and N going through the stacks and trying to find yet another mis-shelved book. The best place to people watch at our B and N is in the recliners set up for tired-footed readers, the snoring noises can get quite loud and some “serious” shoppers accidently on purpose drop items on or around the sleepers to wake them.
Witch Heart sounds great!
Love to go to B&N and sit in the cafe and people watch.. It’s one of my son’s favorite stores too.
That sounds like a great place to go to write – certainly more inspiring than my dining room table. I’ll have to give it a shot.
Hi Anya! I have to admit that when I need a break, I usually don’t go to a bookstore, because I work in one. I do love to people watch though, and when I need to do that, I grab my book and sit on the bench in my front yard or at the local park (weather permitting of course. AHHH spring). I absolutely loved the first two books in the series and I would love to read Witch Heart! Thanks for holding the contest!
I love hanging at the coffee shop at my Barnes & Noble, not to work though, but to hang out with friends (and buy books, of course). 🙂
P.S. Are you going to RT this year?
Hi Anya. People watching is interesting. You never know what you might see or hear. Witch Heart sounds great.
great interview. gald u see u here. congrats on the books. hot covers
I love BN people watching. Once me and my friend were walking past the aisles of books to get to the cafe and find a place to people watch, we passed this older guy dancing in the aisle. It was the funniest thing me and my friend ever saw. Especially, when he tripped and almost knocked down the book stand. He stopped after that. Ha. Lol.
I love to people watch, especially people that don’t think anyone is watching. If I need some quiet time I go to the mall and sit and watch people. I like making up stories about all the different people I see.
Thank you for all your wonderful writing.
Thanks for your kind comments, all. 🙂
Ann — I will be RT this year! See you there?
Deirdre asked: “It’s not distracting to have people and noises around you?”
That’s what my iPod is for. 🙂 Though I am pretty good at “not hearing” sounds around me while I write when I don’t have it.
Yay! I’ll be there too. 🙂
Hi Anya~
We do not have any bookstores here that have the coffee shop in them…so, I have never been able to do this. However, when we go out of town we stop at a Barnes and Noble which has a coffee area and I really enjoyed the experience of sitting down with my purchases to enjoy my just made purchases and watching the other people.
And finally… SHELLEY – you are the winner! If you would please email us – using the contact link with “Anya Bast” winner, we’ll get that information forwarded. Thanks!