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Thursday, February 2, 2012

More Author Insight: People Watching

Where is your favorite place to people watch?

"I don't know that I people watch. I interact with teens all day, as a teacher, and I wouldn't really call that people-watching, but it's the most social part of most of my days." - Bethany Griffin, author of Masque of the Read Death.


"Well, I live in Memphis, and the candlelight vigil on the anniversary of Elvis’ death brings out all sorts of interesting types. But on a day-to-day basis I’d have to say my Bikram yoga class. Nothing like watching people contort themselves in unbearable heat." - Barry Wolverton, author of Neversink.


"I don't have a favorite spot, mostly because I tend not to hang out in any one place for a long time. I write at home (on a desktop computer) and when I go places that require me to wait (like the dentist office or something), I usually bring a book or knitting -- and watch people from the corner of my eye." - Jodi Meadows, author of Incarnate.


"The airport! It's the closest human equivalent we have to a zoo, I think, in that people are basically trapped and on display (at least until their seating zone is called). You've got families grappling with antsy children, robotic traveling businesspeople who haven't slept at home in weeks, military personnel, lovers in love and lovers fighting. It's the perfect place to build imaginary backstories for the people around you." - Elizabeth Miles, author of Fury.

 
"Restaurants. You get so many snapshots of different people, different situations. First dates, fights, gossiping friends. My husband and I often fall silent during dinner, because we’re listening to the strange conversations around us!" - Sarah Wilson Etienne, author of Harbinger.

 
"I love people watching at the airport because there’s inherent drama. Time is winding down. People are anxious, eager, coming, going. It’s a point of transition and change, even tension, which is all interesting. And you see people of every age and nationality." - Veronica Rossi, author of Under the Never Sky.


"The airport—I like to try and figure out where people are going or where they’ve just come from, and the reason for the trip." - Marissa Meyer, author of Cinder.


"I love sitting in cozy cafes, sipping tea, writing or reading the paper for hours and hours.  (Colson in Brooklyn has become my newest regular spot.)  I just love the warmth of the space and the friendliness of the people who come and go." - Jess Rothenberg, author of The Catastrophic History of You and Me.


 
"The subway.  We don't have one where I live, but when I'm in a large city like New York, Chicago, or Tokyo, I love watching the intersection of class, race, and sex that only public transportation can provide." - David Macinnis Gill, author of Invisible Sun.

 
"The school bus stop, where I pick up my kids.  We’re like a little evolving eco-system, with shifting friendships and alliances among the waiting parents.  For the most part, it’s always the same players, but it’s always different, too." - Beth Fantaskey, author of Jessica Rules the Dark Side.

 
"I like to watch people at the grocery store.  It’s a familiar setting for most people, so they are fairly natural. It also throws people together who would not ordinarily interact. It gives me access to families as well as couples and folks of all ages and backgrounds. It’s my own forced 'elevator improv skit.'" - Mary Lindsey, author of Shattered Souls.


"I happen to be a champion people-watcher. I live in DC and love hitting any of the Smithsonian museums. One of my favorite writing spots is the courtyard at the Portrait Gallery, and I’ll sit there with my laptop attempting to work but I’ll inevitably get distracted by every tourist, school field trip and lunching office worker that passes by. I love it!" - Aimee Agresti, author of Illuminate.


"My husband is even more of a people watcher than I am. I love to sit with him on a bench at the mall and listen to his hypotheses about how this particular person ended up wearing that outfit, and why nobody at home stopped this person." - Jennifer Echols, author of The One That I Want.

 

"I work at a college. The cafeteria is always an interesting place." - Suzanne Lazear, author of Innocent Darkness.



Stop by Tuesday to find out if the authors would change anything about their journey to publication.

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