This is part of a year-long series about those intrepid newcomers, The Class of 2k8. To help marketing efforts for debut novelists, these 28 novelists have banded together to create a group marketing effort.

Courtney Sheinmel: Class of 2K8

Courtney’s Office

I spend most weekends in bed, which sounds a lot lazier than it really is. I write on the weekends, and I live in Manhattan – which means I live in a pretty small apartment. It’s a studio. Actually, it’s big for a studio (I guess a “big studio” is kind of an oxymoron), but I don’t have room for a separate writing area. I have a desk, but it’s next to the front door and I’ve never sat down to work at it. If you step farther into my apartment, there’s a bed, a couch, and several bookshelves. I suppose I could work on the couch, but my coffee table isn’t high enough to rest my laptop. And I like sitting on my bed. It’s very comfy. The bedding was my present to myself when I got my first paycheck. I have loads of pillows, and I sit against them with my legs extended out, and the laptop on my lap.

I have to admit that I’m growing out of my apartment. I have more books than space on the shelves, more clothing than room in the closet, more stuff than space. Sometimes I have fantasies about pushing on the walls of my apartment, and making everything stretch out, big and wide. Clutter would be a thing of the past. And yet, if I had a big apartment, or even a house, I suspect I would still end up writing in bed. It’s where I’m comfortable. And best of all, when I’m blocked, it allows for me turn over and take a nap, which is excellent because I think sleeping makes me write better.

Read more about 2k8 authors

March: Jody Feldman
April: Zu Vincent
April: M.P. Barker
May: Sarah Prineas
June: Daphne Grab
July: N.A. Nelson
August: Laurel Snyder
September: Nancy Viau
October: Ellen Booraem
October: Kristin O’Donnel Tubb
October: P.J. Hoover
October: Courtney Sheinmel
November: Stacy Nyikos

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