Long Term Stay in Europe with no visa?

[jones]

i am looking to live someplace warm in europe for the colder months this year, preferably from september until april/may. i have a stable job working from home for a company in the usa, and i get paid direct to my bank account, so this will support me during my travels. i am not a student. i am a writer and have a project that i want to be spending my time on while there, rather than site-seeing and moving about, so i would rather just find an apartment and get cozy somewhere for 8 or 9 months, rather than move every 3. the problem is that for both spain and italy (my prime interest locations), i cannot even apply for a visa for that term of stay unless i am leaving in december!! (departure date has to be 90 days away, i have to wait till i get my passport on ~sept 1st) i really don't want to have to wait this long as my planned departure was september until i found this out. i am wondering how people have gotten by in europe for longer than 3 months without getting a long-term visa. is my only option to move to a different country every 3 months? or will that even work because both italy and spain are schengen countries?