WritersNewsWeekly has searched the U.S in pursuit of finding the best spots for writers looking for inspiration in some of our country’s busiest cities. Not sure what to do this summer? Consider visiting some of these places and calling it a road trip. This week, we scoped out the best joints for writers in the Northeast, Southeast and Southwest.

In our search for the best places to write, we considered price, friendliness of the staff, ease in which to get there and the overall atmosphere. So grab your pen, paper or laptop and get going!

Northeast
Boston, MA—Boston is home to several famous writers, including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Anne Bradstreet and Ralph Waldo Emerson, which is not surprising considering the accommodating nature of the city to writers.
-Boston Beanstock Coffee Co.—Salem
-Uptown Espresso Café—South End
-Boston Common—Beacon St.

New York City, NY—New York City is known for many things, including its long list of talented writers. Visit NYC, and consider yourself amongst some of the best, including Washington Irving and Beat poet Jack Kerouac.
-88 Orchard—Lower East Side
-Think Coffee—Greenwich Village
-Central Park--Manhattan

Southeast
Savannah, GA—With its breathtaking scenery and deep historical roots, Savannah is the perfect city for writers who want to get away from the hustle and bustle of their daily lives.
-Boba—West Saint Julian Street
-Savannah Coffeehouse Café—E. Congress St.
-Morrell Park—River Street and E. Broad St.

Memphis, TN—Despite having produced the “three kings” in the music industry (Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley and B.B. King,) Memphis has some of the best places for writers seeking a change of atmosphere.
-George’s Coffee Shop—N. 3rd St.
-Center for Southern Folklore—S. Main St.
-Strings and Things—Madison Ave.

Southwest
Austin, TX—Austin may be the perfect city for writers; this Southwest city embraces anything and anyone who is different. Residents of Austin have even adopted the slogan, “Keep Austin Weird.” This “weird” city may provide the creative spark your writing needs.
-Hideout Coffee Bar and Theatre—Congress Ave.
-Progress Coffee—San Marcos St.
-Pendernales Falls State Park—Texas Hill Country

Phoenix, AZ—Phoenix is a diamond in the rough for writers; nestled between the city’s fine art museums, shopping centers and sports arenas are some of the greatest spots for writers to take shelter from the desert heat and write one hot book!
-Papago Park—Phoenix
-Aroma Coffeehouse—N. Third St.
-Royal Coffee Bar—W. Jackson St.

Check back next week, when we reveal the summer’s best places for writers in the Midwest and West.

Agree? Disagree? Tell us at editor@writersnewsweekly.com or join the discussion on facebook.com.

Barry Trotter is a series of Harry Potter parodies written by Michael Gerber.

By Lindley Homol

According to Charles Caleb Colton, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. It is not immediately clear whether fan fiction, the creation of new scenes, events, and stories by fans from an author’s original, should be considered a tribute or a travesty. Some authors, notably J.K. Rowling, view fan fiction as a compliment. Others even encourage fan fiction as a harmless, non-profit derivation of published material that, at best, can generate free publicity for the original work. Still other novelists, such as Ann Rice, take a decidedly different view, attempting to bar all use of copyrighted characters and settings from fanfiction sites, believing that fans should create their own original characters and stories.

Although many writers have divided opinions about fan fiction on principle alone, the legal issues surrounding the use of these copyrighted materials only serve to further complicate the matter. According to US copyright law, authors, as the owners of the copyrighted material, have the right to control the publication of works based on their own original material. Based on this law, some authors justifiably believe fan fiction to fall under the auspices of copyright infringement. Copyright law does, however, protect some types of derivative works, parody in particular, under the doctrine of fair use. To further confuse the issue, copyright law does not limit this fair use protection to only types of writing that are specifically mentioned as protected. Fan fiction writers generally use this clause to defend the legality of their creations.

Whether writers believe fan fiction is legally or morally permissible for pure entertainment or not is one issue. Another issue entirely is when a fan writer makes money off of someone else’s copyrighted material. Even notable fan fiction supporter Rowling sees a drastic difference in the use of copyrighted materials for pure entertainment as opposed to profit, raising a lawsuit against the publication of the Harry Potter Lexicon by Steven Vander Ark. The Lexicon is an encyclopedia of Harry Potter’s world that includes lists of spells, characters and creatures. Although the material has been available online on a site Rowling deemed award-winning, the publication of a Harry Potter encyclopedia would mark the first time Vander Ark would make money from the material.

Supporters of the encyclopedia claim that Vander Ark is within his rights to create scholarly source material, since it is not an attempt to adapt Rowling’s work. They further argue that the Lexicon, slated to publish only 10,000 copies, would most likely sell to only diehard fans, thereby not interfering with sales of Rowling’s own proposed Harry Potter encyclopedia. Rowling’s supporters, on the other hand, do not think Vander Ark should make money off of a mere compilation of Rowling’s original characters and creations. The decision in this case stands to set a precedent nationwide in copyright disputes, a decision that even the judge does not seem eager to make. Judge Patterson, who presides over the case, has encouraged both parties involved to settle out of court.

Click Here to Read More About the Pro's of Creating Fan Work.

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