New England Writing Sites

OK, this will be the last post on great places to write, promise. At least for awhile.

This Los Angeles Times story lists the vital data of the homes of six late lamented literary giants, all in New England. Address, phone numbers, and admission charges, of the home of:

• Louisa May Alcott (Orchard House)
• Emily Dickinson (actually, two houses but the one pictured was her home, the Homestead)
• Nathaniel Hawthorn (the real House of Seven Gables)
• Mark Twain (the most expensive to visit, at $14)
• Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Herman Melville (Arrowhead)

Being a Californian who's never ventured to New England (although I did hopscotch over it into Canada), I wonder what role cold weather and lush green springs play in literary creativity. Possibly none; most writers seem to love the landscape they land it, desert or seacoast, cold or hot, rural or urban. The exceptions that come to mind are adventure-seekers like Ernest Hemingway, or the chronically depressed who don't feel at home in any place.