Fifty Shades of Grey Guest Post and an International ebook Giveaway =)

WHERE AND WHEN

EL James June 2011

People often ask me when and where I write.  It’s an interesting question, and I think the answer is: all the time… everywhere.  I think a major part of the process is the thinking and day dreaming time that you do when you sort out a particularly knotty plot point or come up with a resolution to a scene, especially if like me you don’t follow an outline.  Of course this can happen when you’re in the shower, driving, doing the dishes (when do you ever do the dishes??? EL's hubs shouts) or reading through a lengthy contract at work (sorry Lisa!)  Or just when you are about to drop off to sleep... for me it’s especially when I’m about to drift off to sleep.  It’s the main reason I have a notebook by my bed so I can try to give my craven, overactive mind a rest and get some sleep.

I have found as I've got older that holding a thought in my head has become a challenge, and if I don't document it quickly it will skip laughing out of my consciousness, never to be retrieved.  I've had some brilliant ideas that are now sadly lost... um… I think.   Gah!  Who knows?

As for where, the actual process of putting words on to (virtual) paper also occurs all over the place.  Right now, I am on the 08:39 to Waterloo, and I'll shortly change at Clapham Junction to the 09:08 to East Croydon, where I’ll change again. That's right – I am subject to the vagaries of the British rail transport system on my way to work. (Can I just give a thank you shout out to South West Trains here, who know how to run a train system, whereas Southern Trains really don't.)

So I am writing on my BlackBerry.  It’s frustrating on a journey that’s broken by the change of trains (not once, but twice – but then I do work in the sticks.)  When I first started writing, I was miserable as sin in the particular job I had in central London.  But the commute was my solace, a place to where I could escape and write what was my first, as yet unpublished, novel (good idea shitely executed – needs reworking).  The thirty-five minutes to the office and back home again were a welcome escape from the tyranny I faced at work.   I used to get home and beam the contents from my old Nokia E71 via Bluetooth into my MacBookPro. On my commute I'd sketch out conversations and sex scenes, make random notes and sometimes write whole chapters, then rework and refine everything on the Mac.

I now avoid working full-time, so I can have odd days at home in front of my laptop, typing and tweeting in the relative comfort of my own house.  I still use a laptop, but at my desk it’s connected to a keyboard and a fancy-schmancy ergonomic mouse, so it’s more like a monitor, although it never leaves my side.  I even take it to bed with me, and if I really can’t sleep I can type a few notes on the laptop while the hubs is snoring away beside me.

Of course whenever I travel I take my trusted lappie.   I've used it to write on the ferry crossing between the UK and Ireland (it distracted me from seasickness) and on flights to Europe and the States.  In fact I began the epilogue for the Fifty Shades trilogy on a flight to Washington, even before I’d written the third book.  And if the battery ever runs out on the various devices I use, there’s always – gasp – pen and paper.  I am never without a notebook, just in case I have a good idea, and I’d advise anyone who wants to get into this writing thing to do the same – it’s how the Fifty Shades trilogy came into being.

And you never know, one day, you might end up seeing someone reading your first novel on the 08:39 to Waterloo.  Well, a girl can dream…

Where to buy
The Writer's Coffee Shop (paperback & ebook) http://www.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/publishinghouse/books/detail/23
Amazon (ebook) http://www.amazon.com/Fifty-Shades-of-Grey-ebook/dp/B0052U59F4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1308521267&sr=8-1
Lulu.com (paperback) http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/fifty-shades-of-grey/16053233?productTrackingContext=search_results/search_shelf/center/1
Find out more about E. L. James
Author profile http://www.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/ejames
Twitter @E_L_James


To enter the giveaway, leave a comment about this wonderful guest post as well as your email and GFC name (yes, you must be a follower).  This contest is international and will last for a week.  Thank you!