Places To Write By Mickey J Corrigan

Let's welcome author Mickey J Corrigan as she talks about Places To Write. She came with a kindle copy giveaway of THE BLOW OFF. 

Places to Write
Mickey J. Corrigan

We just moved to a tumbledown house a block from the beach. The location is awesome, but I have to pull myself away from the computer screen and go down to the sand. It's too easy to work all day, especially when I'm ghostwriting for others or editing their work.
Back in the suburbs, distractions were a huge issue. My child was home schooled. My husband worked nights so he was around during the day. The neighbors dropped by, the laundry needed doing, and we were always out of something essential requiring a car trip to the store.
Arising very early was essential if I wanted to get any work done.
Virginia Woolf said that a woman required "a room of one's own" if she wanted to write. Day after day, this rang so true for me. My work space was in the middle of the living room. I ached for a place I could go to be alone for an extended period of time. No kids, no friends, no errands, no distractions. Just me and my writing.
Not all writers feel this way. Some people prefer the background hum of a café. JK Rowling is famous for writing the Harry Potter series in her local cafés. She's a genius, though. She could probably have written those books on her phone while stopped at red lights.
I can't do that, I need to be able to focus. That means I can't be watching the cute couple making eyes at one another over lattes. I can't be at the local library either, listening to the retirees compare recent surgeries. I need to be alone. In a bare room. With my thoughts.
Stephen King advises writers to strip the writing room. No TV, no phone, no windows that provide a distracting view of the real world. You need to go inside your own head and stay in there. So the story can tell itself to you.
One day, the tumbledown house could serve as a getaway for writers. The only distraction is the sound of the waves on sand, and you can only hear that in the wee hours when the offshore breeze blows west.
Anybody want to come stay for a while? I promise, I won't talk to you while you're writing.

***
Originally from Boston, Mickey J. Corrigan lives and writes and gets into trouble in South Florida, where the men run guns and the women run after them. The tropics provide a lush, steamy setting for hot Florida pulp. Books include the edgy novellas in The Hard Stuff series from the Wild Rose Press (Whiskey Sour Noir, Vodka Warrior, Tequila Dirty, and RealLife Rum); the spoofy Geekus Interruptus and F*ck Normal from Australia's Bottom Drawer Publications; and the thriller Sugar Babies from Champagne Books. Her urban crime novel, Songs of the Maniacs, was released by Salt Publications in the UK.

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THE BLOW OFF

One long, hard night of working the streets is more than enough for twenty-five-year-old Shea O'Grady, a Boston-based grad student. She just doesn't have the stomach for it. Or the lips. So she comes up with a better way to use her youthful sexiness to pay off her debts. When she shares her plan to seduce and rob johns with her nasty tempered pimp, he agrees to fence her take for a generous cut. So Shea puts together a team of girls to work with her and convinces her downstairs neighbor, a hunky Rastafarian dealer dude, to help with the knockout drugs. But picking up rich guys and relieving them of their excess bling is not as easy as it seems. Sometimes it's even more dangerous than a job on the street. 

The Blow Off is a cautionary tale, a romantic black comedy, and a satirical look at student debt, prostitution, woman on man crime, and the things we do for love.


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26 comments:

  1. Congrats, Mickey! The sound of waves against the sand and the clicking of the keyboard--it sounds divine.

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    1. Now if we can only fix all the house issues, it will be divine!

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  2. I need to focus too. I have an office now and it's wonderful to have a room where I can write without distraction.

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  3. Yeah, I need to be able to focus on what I'm writing. The last thing I need is a distraction. Of any kind.

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    1. Exactly. And it's so hard to avoid them. Phone, email, kids, anything...

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  4. Sounds awesome! Although I rarely write in silence, I'm sure I could get used to it :)

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    1. Believe me, it's so different. I don't miss the noise at all. Being able to focus on the landscape in my head feels like a gift!

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  5. Kelly, thanks for the intro to Mickey. I too, need a quiet place to write. I get distracted by the smallest things.

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  6. It's only been recently that I've started putting background music on when I write. (Instrumental only, or else I'd be singing along!) My desk is a large L-shaped one, situated away from the windows, or else I'd be gazing outside. As much as I love the ocean, I'm not sure I'm strong enough to concentrate on writing if the sea were right outside, calling my name. (But I'd be willing to try!)

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    1. If you know you CAN get out there at some point, it becomes easier to focus on the work.

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  7. The Blow Off sounds like quite a book! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Mickey.

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  8. I think I'd even be happy in a tent. With leaks. If it mean being by the beach and being left alone to write, housing itself might be optional ;)

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    1. I know what you mean. It's pretty dreamy.

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    2. And when it rains, the roof leaks in my office. So that's kind of like a leaky tent...

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  9. I am a reader, not a writer but need quiet for focus. So I get up well before dawn. Quiet time. Me time. And I resent any interruptions.
    Love the sound of Blow Off. Black comedy is one of my things. Thank you.

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    1. I know what you mean. Before the family arises is the best time (sometimes the only time) for focusing.

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  10. I've never written in a cafe but I don't think I'd be able to get any writing done there. I prefer my home. :)

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    1. I used to work in a library and, when it got noisy, I'd go work in my car. Anywhere but at home!

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  11. I do most of my writing in my office space. I'm able to work in public spaces, but sometimes distractions throw me off.

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  12. I prefer to work in silence, but quite often, I find myself writing at my son's Krav class, where at least ten kids are shouting at the top of their voices!

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  13. I write at home and there are certainly distractions- but not like the ones I would have if I wrote in a cafe or someplace public. I am glad Mickey knows the best environment to get her writing done. :) I like the sound of a little place near the beach. :)
    ~Jess

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  14. Yes please, I would love to come and stay! I'm not a writer as such just a bookseller and blogger, but I need perfect peace to be able to write a word. I was on the train the other day sitting next to a lady who was typing on a tablet. The train was really busy and really noisy, but she had perfect concentration. I couldn’t resist peaking over her shoulder, the page she was working on was headed Chapter 23, so I assume she was a writing a book – I spent the rest of the journey trying to work out if I had seen her before, or if she was someone famous.

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