During winter I don’t like to leave my apartment unless I have to–I was born a summer child, so although I enjoy the Christmastime mood of the beginning of winter, I prefer warmth and light. So for those winter months, I write at home a lot. In Spring, Summer and Fall, though, I like to get out of my apartment as much as possible. Lately I’ve been going to cafes after I work out, to write and do writing-related things. Having a wi-fi connection and a decent cup of coffee or tea, along with good scones, are my first criteria for spending hours in a cafe, so this series of good writing places in Youngstown I’m going to write about from time to time will probably be shorter rather than longer, but the places I’m going have something really special about them, so I don’t need a lot of places to choose from.
Today I went to Cedars, probably the oldest cafe in the downtown. The front of the place is the cafe and restaurant, and around the street corner it sits on is an entrance to their bar, where some of the best local bands come to play every week. It’s been a favorite place of mine in Youngstown for the past thirteen years, since my freshman composition instructor invited me to come see her read poetry there when I was eighteen and she snuck me a glass of red wine to sip on through the evening. Cedars has art by local artists hung everywhere in its cafe, and a gorgeous patio as well. I tend to sit on the patio, but when it’s raining I head inside for the day and drink coffee with butter rum instead of iced tea. I totally look forward to getting up every day, knowing that after I get my exercising done, this will be one of the places I get to spend several hours in for the rest of the day.
Speaking of writing, the new issue of Realms of Fantasy with my story “Little Miss Apocalypse” in it arrived the other day. The boy wizard from England is on the cover. There are lots of good stories inside. Take a looksee.
**Forgot this at the time, but my story in this issue of Realms of Fantasy actually has a couple of scenes in it set at Cedars.