Today on the Writers’ Spaces Inspiration blog, Lea Nolan is here to talk about writing in public. She’ll have you laughing and inspired. She’s author of the forthcoming Hoodoo Apprentice series, and from the name alone, it sounds like a series you won’t want to miss!

Thanks for doing this interview, Lea! Please tell us a little about yourself. What types of things do you write?

I write YA paranormals filled with romance, magic, a sprinkle of suspense and a pinch of history.  Right now I’m working on a middle grade steampunk with paranormal elements which I’m really excited about.

 Do you have a schedule for writing?

I’ve got three smallish children so I pretty much write around their schedules. Thankfully they’re all in school now so I’m free from roughly 9:00-3:15 each day. That’s a pretty big chunk of time, but unfortunately my brain doesn’t like to think deeply at those hours so sometimes it’s a challenge. If I could pick my own writing schedule I think I’d want to write from about 2:00– 8:00 pm but that would seriously interfere with homework, dinner, tae kwon do, dance class and gymnastics. Luckily I’ve got a super supportive husband who helps out often to give me an evening and/or time on the weekends when he can.

That’s wonderful to have the time to write when the kids are at school. Do you have any writing rituals, such as music, food, clothing or anything else to help you?

I don’t really have any rituals, except that I need to drink Panera ice tea with four lemon slices and a packet of Sweet’N Low. Yeah, yeah, I know all about the lab rats and cancer, but it tastes soooo good and its sweetness is far superior to Equal, Splenda or plain sugar.  As for music, I can’t listen to anything with lyrics when I’m writing because otherwise, I’ll start singing along and totally lose my train of thought. Even when I was a kid I marveled at others who could do their homework to the radio or with headphones strapped to their ears. But that doesn’t mean music doesn’t influence what I write. It absolutely does. I make up a playlist for every book I write and play it in the car or when I’m doing research for a story. When I was writing my forthcoming book, Conjure, I listed to Colbie Caillat’s Bubbly a million times to hone in on how my heroine, Emma Guthrie, felt about the hero, Cooper Beaumont. The playlist for my steampunk work in progress is great because it’s filled with music from the Sherlock Holmes sound track and classical music that was written in 1837 which is when the story takes place. It’s all instrumental so I do occasionally listen while I’m writing, especially when I feel like I need to put myself back in time. Or when someone at a table next to me is smacking their lips as they eat and grossing me out. Which brings me to your next question…

Could you tell us about your writer’s space?

Anyone who reads my Facebook or Twitter feed knows I write at Panera Bread. Every weekday. We’ve got two in the area, one in Annapolis about ten miles away and a brand spanking new one even closer in my hometown. Score!

This is the storefront of my hometown Panera. It’s got a big open dining room with tons of light, lots of booths and banquets with electric plugs and free wi-fi. Even better, it’s quiet for most of the day, has friendly staff and yummy food. Basically it’s a writer’s paradise.

Here’s my favorite booth. I always sit on the left side. The right side is where my best friend and writer Laura Kaye sits. See the empty cups? We need ice tea refills!

And this is the big dining room. Pretty huh? Warm earth tones, lots of space. And that’s only half of it. There’s another area on the other side of that rust colored wall.

The other great thing about writing here is there’s no shortage of napkins on which to write myself “motivational” notes. Here’s my latest. I’ll admit it’s not a lofty, inspirational message, but it does provide the kick in the pants I need.

Why do I write at a café and coffee shop everyday? Because if I sat at home I’d be lonely. And distracted. The dust bunnies would taunt, “Psst, sweep us up.” The DVR would nudge, “You know, I’ve got a nice fresh episode of the Real Housewives of the Wide Open Prairie waiting for you.” And the laundry would beckon, “Hey, why don’t you come over here and do me.” Er, that didn’t come right, but you know what I mean. There’s a ton of crap to do at home and with a husband and three kids it never seems to get done. Ever.

The other great thing about working here is that I’ve got a sort of community. I know the staff pretty well and there are lots of other regular customers, some of whom are writers, who I see on a regular basis. We don’t sit and chat, but we do nod supportively each morning. The other, absolutely golden thing about writing here is that I occasionally eavesdrop on fantastic, story-worthy conversations. In fact, one jaw-dropping snippet I overheard between members of a teenage dance troupe has inspired an idea for a future novel. After the middle grade steampunk and The Hoodoo Apprentice series, it’s the next thing book on my to-write list. You won’t believe what these girls were talking about in the middle of a Panera, much less where I’ll take that conversation in a book.

I love the inspiring napkin. You should market those! What is the zaniest, craziest thing you’ve ever done?

Um, this is hard because I’ve always been a good girl. For a whole host of reasons from my upbringing—I was the oldest child and had a really sick mother; I was raised super Catholic—I never had a rebellious period. Not when I was a teenager or even when I went away to college. Heck, I met my future husband when I was 18, dated him when I was 19 and got married when I was 21 and still an undergraduate! Then I buckled down, got a job, went to graduate school and worked my butt off as a health policy researcher and analyst. Some of my former colleagues would probably say that my decision to give up my career to write YA fiction was zany and crazy.

But that’s not a fun answer. A much better answer would be to tell you about the time in eighth grade when my friend Debbie and I plotted the absolute best revenge plot on our nemesis, Scott, the boy who introduced us to dirty words and sex toys. I still remember the expression on my Irish Catholic mother’s face when I got off the bus and asked, “Mommy, what’s a dildo?” Anyway, to get back at him for embarrassing us, we turned the tables and planted an old, holey pair of underwear in a desk in our English class. It wasn’t just any desk. It was where James, the most obnoxious boy in our class sat. You can imagine what happened when he pulled that underwear out of the desk and read the label where we had scrawled, “Scott [last name redacted], Bunk #5, Fireside Camp.” There were shrieks and howls of laughter as the undies were passed around on the tip of a pencil, and poor Scott turned the most desperate shade of magenta. I almost felt bad for him. Twenty-seven years later it still cracks me up.

That story is hilarious! If we see it in one of your books, we’ll know where it really happened! Last of all, what advice would you give to other writers?

Never, ever second guess yourself while you’re writing. If you’re a plotter like me, you might think you know where you’re going in a scene, or at least the broad strokes of what’s supposed to happen but inevitably tiny, or not so tiny, left turns will steer you off course. You’ll be surprised and perplexed and sometimes you might consider hitting the delete button. Don’t. Let those magical, unexpected nuggets happen. Don’t worry that you don’t understand why all of a sudden the heroine has developed a twitch or what the hero’s mother is dead. There’s always a reason for it. Your subconscious has a plan. You may not realize what that is for another several chapters, but I promise, eventually it’ll all come together brilliantly and then you’ll sit back and think, “I’m a genius!”

Lea Nolan lives in Maryland with her three spunky children and heroically supportive husband. She is the author of Conjure, the first book in The Hoodoo Apprentice series debuting Fall 2012 from Entangled Publishing.  You can learn more about her at her website and at her group blog, Honestly YA, or follow her on Facebook or Twitter.

Thanks again, Lea!