In which Tony continues to be challenged by the coffee shop environment.

Judging by the vast number of laptops in the shop, there appeared to be many authors present. I wasn’t sure why it was essential for writers to escape the quiet of their home-offices and find inspiration in noisy environments with multitudinous distractions, but what do I know about writing.

From time to time the staff would chase the writers with a broom, but little by little they’d sneak back in, look for a moment as if they were going to buy something, then start tip-tappying on their notebooks. There was virtually no place to sit when I arrived, but after a vigorous sweeping of the authors by an irate employee I found a table and sat down. My legs crashed into something soft below. There was a writer cowering underneath, typing away like fury.

“I’ve told you a thousand times,” said the employee, dragging the writer from below the table and sending him on his way. “You know better than that.” The writer scurried away. “It’s good for them,” the employee said to me afterwards. “Makes them feel tortured. They need that.”

“Tough love,” I agreed. I watched them huddle together outside the shop, bracing themselves against the cold and waiting for their moment to slip back in undetected. I wondered how many of these characters were published authors and how many just liked the lifestyle and the thrill of the chase.