Laurie Cass | Weird Writer Habits

There are probably as many weird writer habits as there are writers. Well, more
than that, really, because I know I have more than one weird habit and though
I’m willing to bet everyone else does, too, we don’t have time to go into all of
them, interesting as that might be. But we can make an effort, yes?

This particular author’s weirdnesses start with sitting in the car with my
laptop to write because that’s the only place where I won’t be interrupted. And
then there are the times I stare off into space with a completely blank look on
my face because what’s going on inside my head is a lot more real than what’s
going on in front of me.

My long suffering husband has grown so accustomed to this look that he can
diagnose it in half a second. Sadly, it’s not uncommon for this to happen when
we’re out for dinner with friends. I’ll see and hear things going on around me
but they don’t sink into my brain because my brain is suddenly busy with working
out a plotting problem. Someone will ask me, “Are you okay? You look a little
funny,” and my husband will reply, “She’ll be back in a minute. She’s writing
inside her head.”

Another weird thing is what I take away from reading the newspaper. Not so much
the front page, because those articles are usually complete stories with all the
questions answered, but the short things. The tidbits that leave you with a lot
of questions. The reports from 911, the local law enforcement reports, and
sometimes the obituaries. Why did someone break into a house and steal only the
microwave and not the television? How did that person’s life start in England
and end in a small town in northern Michigan? These are the things that can
start a plot in a writer’s head, or at least start an idea that leads to another
idea that ends up as part of a plot.

My memo pad is another odd writer thing. I carry a 3” x 5” spiral memo pad with
me at all times and every day for the last umpteen years, I’ve written up a
page. I started doing this way back before I was anywhere close to being
published, hoping that the act of writing at least a little bit every day would
make me more of a writer.

I have no idea if that actually worked, but a memo pad is now a part of my life
and I would feel bereft without it. Sometimes I write a name that might be great
for a future character. Sometimes I write dialogue, sometimes it’s a scrap of an
idea for whatever book I’m working on, sometimes it’s a description of a person,
place, or thing that just aches to be written down.

Every so often, though, I realize that it’s time for bed and I haven’t written a
single thing in my memo pad. When that happens, I sit and think for a minute,
then jot down a few thoughts or descriptions or impressions of whatever comes to
mind. It doesn’t matter much what it is, as long as I fill the page with writing.

Because, in the end, that’s the most blatant, unashamed, and deliberate of all
writer habits.

We write.

About BORROWED CRIME

Librarian Minnie Hamilton spreads the joy of reading throughout Chilson,
Michigan, with her bookmobile, but she doesn’t ride alone. Her rescue cat,
Eddie, and a group of volunteers are always on board to deliver cheer—until one
of her helpers gets checked out for good...

When Minnie loses a grant that was supposed to keep the bookmobile running,
she’s worried her pet project could come to its final page. But she’s determined
to keep her patrons—and Eddie’s fans—happy and well read. She just needs her
boss, Stephen to see things her way, and make sure he doesn’t see Eddie. The
library director doesn’t exactly know about the bookmobile’s furry co-pilot.

But when a volunteer dies on the bookmobile’s route, Minnie finds her traveling
library in an even more precarious position. Although the death was originally
ruled a hunting accident, a growing stack of clues is pointing towards murder.
It’s up to Minnie and Eddie to find the killer, and fast—before the best chapter
of her life comes to a messy close…

About Laurie Cass

Laurie Cass grew up in Michigan and graduated from college in the 80's with a (mostly unused) degree in geology. She turned to writing in the late nineties. After a number of years in management, she felt the need to move on and took a job with fewer responsibilities. A month later, she was dead bored and began to consider writing as a way to wake up her brain. She started reading a lot of books on writing and happened across a particular sentence: "What's it going to be, reasons or results?"

The phrase practically stuck her in the eye. She printed it out, framed it, and
put it next to her computer. "Reasons or results?" At the end of her life, was
she going to have a pile of reasons for not having done anything? Or was she
going to sit down and write a book? Once she started looking at it that way, the
decision was easy. A short 13 years later, her first book was published.

Currently, Laurie and her husband share their house with two cats, the
inestimable Eddie and the adorably cute Sinii. When Laurie isn't writing, she's
working at her day job, reading, attempting to keep the flowerbeds free of
weeds, or doing some variety of skiing. She also write the PTA Mysteries under
the name Laura Alden.