This is the season that ends in darkness, especially in northern climes like New England. Wickeds, how do these dark days affect your writing? Do you need mood lights just to keep you going, or do the short ever colder days inspire you to write better tales of deceit and murder? Or both?

Liz: Without the light and long days of the summer months, I’m more inclined to become a hermit – which makes me more apt to chain myself to my desk and get work done. The colder and darker it is, the more I want to wrap up in a favorite blanket, turn on some nice lamps and music, and cook up murder and mayhem with some hot apple cider or tea.

Jessie: I find it absolutely easier to get desk work done at this time of year. The beach isn’t calling as loudly and schedules are more fixed with my kids back in school. I also like how at the beginning and end of each day my office feels cocooned in darkness and I have a sense of being even more inside the world of my stories.

Barb: I, too, love this time of year, even the cold and rainy days. I always have a bit of a bump when the time changes, but after a week or so of dislocation, I’m fine. By early December, I’ll be happy to see the Christmas lights twinkling outside, warding off the dark. And then we’re over the hump and the days are getting longer.

Edith: Once I get over grieving the end of fresh produce, except the kind I don’t care for –  beets, rutabagas, watermelon radishes – and the last few heads of lettuce, I love fall. I can layer on clothes and pretend I didn’t layer on pounds over the summer. I love cooking stews and roasts and apple pies. And like my blogmates here, when it’s dark and the world is in senescence (I learned that word from an essay by Annie Proulx on autumn), it’s so much easier to write about people’s dark sides.

Sherry: I love fall but I do miss the longer daylight hours of spring and summer. I combat it by turning on more lights. And I start turning on the “party” lights I leave up on the bannister all year long. They add a cheerful note. I don’t think the season change my writing or schedule — probably because I don’t have a schedule.

Julie: My life is very seasonal. I teach a class during the school year, and also my job heats up. Summer there are fewer demands on my time. Interestingly, I do get a lot done this time of year, because time is so precious I don’t waste it. But I would trade it all in for longer days, and I will truly miss not having to wear 5 layers every day.

Readers: What’s your experience of fall? Love it or hate it? Are you able to be creative, or do you want to curl up alone and just read? (Authors don’t mind that, of course!)