Where do you get most of your writing done? Do you have a writing ritual, or commit to a certain word count each day, or does it come more sporadic? Also, do you prefer coffee or tea?

Yangsze Choo Hi Cynthia,

I get most of my writing done sitting on the floor, at a low coffee table. This rather unglamorous desk allows me to roll around on the floor when I'm feeling frustrated or have writer's block! In addition, the coffee table is foldable, so when guests come over I can pick it up and scurry off to another corner, though sometimes I come back to find that my kids have used it to stage Lego battles on...

In an ideal world, I'd prefer to write in the morning, but that isn't always possible; in fact, large chunks of "The Ghost Bride" were written late at night when all those Lego-building children were asleep. But I think when it comes to writing, most of us will take whatever time we can find. I'm currently working on my second novel and I try to write at least 500 words a day. Some days I'll come up with barely anything, and others, scenes will just fly by.

Coffee or tea? Well, I'd say both, but not together - although there is in fact a Malaysian drink called "chum", which is a mixture of coffee and tea served with lots of condensed milk!

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