Where Writers Write: Ryan W Bradley

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

Where Writers Write is a weekly series that will feature a different author every Wednesday 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 some of TNBBC's favorite authors roll up their sleeves and make the magic happen.

This is Ryan W Bradley. It would appear that there is very little he doesn't do. Writer, Editor, Publisher, Designer, Bookseller... perhaps the list would be shorter if I listed what he wasn't?! 

Ryan is no stranger to TNBBC. His small press was featured here back in June 2011, with his own personal spotlight following shortly after in July. Ryan submitted this awesome unpublished short story for us to share in August and speaking of stories... we've reviewed and adored his short story collection Prize Winners, novel Code for Failure, and his newest - a collaborative poetry project - You are Jaguar. So it is only natural that he show off his writing space here, with us, now, right?

Where Ryan W Bradley Writes 

I have no pretension when it comes to writing. I don't believe I need to be in a special place, or in a particular environment to write. My writing habits are more utilitarian, opportunistic. I write late at night on the weekends because that's when I have time to write. And I write in my spot in the corner of the couch, usually with something benign like SportsCenter reruns on in the background. I do this because it's the best and most comfortable place to spend a late night without bothering my sleeping wife and kids.

I have a nice office that is overrun by stuff related to books, music, movies, and numerous other things. I could write there if I wanted, I have Beatles stuff to surround me. But it isn't about environment. It is about convenience, comfort. When I write I have no quotes posted on a wall in front of me. Often there will be a book on the table next to me, because I will trade back and forth between writing and reading. I don't read something specific, I read whatever I'm in the middle of reading. I don't really keep notebooks, or anything else. I don't wear a tattered pink bath robe. I don't write on a typewriter or a roll of toilet paper. 

For people who know me well, or have read a (un)healthy amount of my work know me as a compulsive person, someone who builds routines out of everything. When it comes to writing I do not have routines, only a drive to make time to put words on the screen whenever I can make the time to do so.

My recently released novel, Code for Failure was written in emails to myself while I worked at a children's bookstore. I have written stories on couches in various houses, or cross-legged on my bed, or hotel beds. I have pulled out my laptop in my car and gotten words down in a parking lot. I have probably written in places that I am forgetting. For now, though, even as I write this I am enjoying the corner of my couch. It gives me what I need to write: a place to sit down. 

Check back next week to see where Greg Olear gets it all out!