Welcome in. I hope you are all well.

This week Clair Brett asked, What are your pre-writing/writing rituals? For example, do you light a special candle, have a certain playlist, or a must have cup of your favorite tea before you sit down to write? What gets you in the “writing” mood?

I love to sit down to write. I don’t light a candle, though I’m not opposed to the idea. I don’t have a special cup of tea, though that sounds nice too. I usually just have a glass of water and a comfy chair. I don’t like to write at my desk. I do plenty of work at that desk, but not usually the writing.

When I write, I like my recliner or the couch. When the weather is good I like to write out on the screened porch. All I need is quiet or white noise. I love baseball, but I also love to have it on in the background while I write. I can just look up when something really great happens. Of course, if the game is exciting, then the writing will wait.

I don’t listen to music because I end up singing along and it’s not easy to sing and write. LOL I can write in public and when I worked in NYC, I would write on the train to and from work. Again, that’s white noise. I might try a coffee shop in a month or so. I’ve done that a few times and it’s always interesting. But a eavesdropping on a good gossip session can be distracting.

So it’s me, a comfy chair and my laptop. We tick tick tick away until the characters come to life and the scene emerges. Silence is golden.

---

Keep on hopping to Leslie Hachtel

---

Check out Stay With Me, by Leslie Hachtel.

Two women. Years apart. Linked by common experience and a cottage that has survived since the Civil War.

Evelyn Smith has changed her name and is running from an abusive husband. She buys a cottage in Florida that has its own history, only to experience an attraction to the previous owner.

Rebecca Faber has rescued a Yankee soldier and fallen in love, but circumstances have forced her to marry an evil man who killed her father.

When Rebecca reaches out from the past, Evelyn finds it life changing.

And in their own times, each must find discover strength and fight to find and keep true love.