Work Space is a State of Mind

This post first appeared in 2014 at The Contemporary Romance Café.

Last night, my daughter graduated from high school. No, I’m not bragging. (Well, maybe a little.) On the day of her graduation, I realized the post on my work space was due in two days. That in combination with the big event made me think of all the places I’ve worked while waiting for her—coffee shops, the car, hair salons, the car, doctors’ offices, the car. You get the idea. In fact, I was in the car waiting for her to finish a driver’s ed class when I got “the call” from Angela James that Carina Press wanted to publish my first manuscript. That led to thoughts of all the places I’ve worked while traveling—airports, airplanes, hotel rooms and lobbies, and again the car (although in the passenger seat).

Before I had a home office, Sharing Hailey was written at a desk my husband rescued from the dump more than thirty years ago.

Most of Sharing Hailey was at a desk that my husband rescued from the dump thirty years ago.

He and I shared it. He hates clutter. It doesn’t bother me as long as there are no dust bunnies hanging around. You might think that made for a perfectly clean desk. It didn’t. I wouldn’t allow him to touch my “piles” because when he did, I couldn’t find anything. Yes, I’m one of those people. If my desk is clean, I’m lost! Oh, it looks pretty for a few minutes, but it quickly reverts to its natural state-chaos. 

After I sold that first novel, I figured I needed a dedicated room for my work. So Waiting for Ty was written here.

I call it the green room. I keep all my research books, writing awards, swag, posters, and professional publications here. It’s a mess. I know. Kind of like my mind.

Most of Tempting Meredith was written here.

Most of Tempting Meredith was written in an olive green, fifteen-year-old recliner with the footrest up. But the manuscript also saw time on the back porch, the bedroom, the green room, the car, coffee shops, airports, even my brother’s house when I cat sat for him.

As with many writers, my work space isn’t an actual spot. It’s a state of mind. And maybe this works because we’re not mentally in the space where we write. We occupy the space our characters inhabit, whether it’s a luxury home in Hawaii, a cheap apartment in Houston, or a hunting ranch in the Texas Hill Country.