Where Writers Write: Lavinia Ludlow

Welcome to another installment of TNBBC's Where Writers Write!

 

Where Writers Write is a series that features authors as they showcase their writing spaces using short form essay, photos, and/or video. As a lover of books and all of the hard work that goes into creating them, I thought it would be fun to see where the authors roll up their sleeves and make the magic happen. 

This is Lavinia Ludlow. 

In addition to being a TNBBC Review contributor, she is a musician and writer dividing time between San Francisco and London. Her debut novel, alt.punk (2011), explored the ragged edge of art, society, and sanity, viciously skewering the politics of rebellion. Her sophomore novel, Single Stroke Seven (2016), explores the lives of independent artists coming of age in perilous economic conditions. Both titles can be purchased through Casperian Books. Her short works have been published in Pear Noir!, Curbside Splendor Semi-Annual Journal, and Nailed Magazine, and her indie lit reviews have appeared in Small Press Reviews, The Rumpus, The Collagist, The Nervous Breakdown, Entropy Magazine, and American Book Review.

Where Lavinia Ludlow Writes

Although living out of a single suitcase has its head and heartaches, life on the road is one of the most exhilarating, charming, and weightless experiences. Knowing that I can check everything I own at an airline's kiosk eliminates many of the mental and emotional complexities that come with a permanent residence. Over the past few years, I've traveled the North American continent extensively for work while dividing my personal time between San Francisco and London.

In March of this year, I was incredibly fortunate to see my sophomore novel, Single Stroke Seven, published through Casperian Books. Much of the backend preparation and promotional work occurred in airports, cafes, hostel lobbies, and wherever else I could find a safe and relatively hassle-free environment to crouch with a laptop. When rough drafting text for short stories or potential novel content, I seek out quieter venues such as:

Cafe in the Crypt, which is an old burial space beneath Saint Martin's in the Field. The breathtaking brick archways block all internet and cellular reception, allowing me to word process distraction-free.

 Brompton Cemetery, which isn't as ominous and bizarre as it sounds. Part of the Royal Parks, the expansive property allows me to retreat beneath a nook in the colonnade or amidst the headstones to write. 

 Saint Dunstan in the East, which is nestled in the heart of London's city centre. The building was damaged in The Great Fire of London, and heavily bombed in the 1940s airstrikes. Though the roof collapsed in the chaos, the vine-shrouded scalloped walls survived. The quaint garden in the middle of the property is a great place to scribble in a notebook.  

  To fuel my creativity, I've consumed many slices of Guinness and rainbow layer cake, along with the Rupert Street Food Union's famous chicken, chorizo, and seafood paella. 

Although I might lead the life of a modern day vagabond, the past few months in London have provided me more than enough content to fill another novel, and that's precisely what I'm doing now: writing that third book.