Books. Shelves. My new Office.

I have never met a writer who does not read voraciously.

If you have, I have no desire to hear of it.

I have an innate distrust and suspicion of anyone who does not have books in their home. It can be James Pattersons oeuvre, it can be Nicholas Sparks, I dont care really as long as there is reading material accompanied by somewhere comfortable to read it.

However, if you do only have works by the above writers I will not come and stay with you.

When I was young I was forced to visit an aunt who only had Harlequin romances and those abridged Readers Digest classic omnibuses.



Yes, I read everything while I was there.

But it wounded me deep in my soul.

And I am older now and far less amenable.

Our new house is settled and moved into. And after 10 years of writing in my bedroom, I have an office.

It even has a door which I can shut.

But then it is open (sort of) on the other side so I can stare out the sun room windows at the sea, the war memorial and the court house which is red brick with green copper roofs and pleasing to stare at.

This is my view:

Sorry about the sun spot. The blasted sun is always shining in Nova Scotia.

And I have one wall which is spanned by two floor to ceiling bookshelves.

These are my bookshelves:

Note how full they are…this is just my YA collection and a few MG books. The adult books are on other bookshelves scattered around the house.

I was quite mortified by the sheer number when I was unpacking the boxes but now I am glad that I have so many.

They are an investment, right? I think I read that in the Wall Street Journal once. Well, anyway they dont depreciate by 30% when you drive them off the lot, and they give hours and years of enjoyment and when I am done with them I will donate them to the library.

This is my desk. Actually it is an extremely heavy farm table my father built which has somehow moved from Ontario to California to New York to here even though it tips the scales at a bazillion pounds. This is where I sit when I am staring at the ships on the waterfront and thinking about sailors. Umm, I mean plotlines.



I have two computers because I dont altogether trust either of mine on their own. My PC is old and doddery but I like the keyboard. And my Mac is shiny and fast but likes to do weird things if I brush the mouse pad and then refuse to explain itself or switch back.

I alternate between the two because then I feel as if I am super-organized and breath-takingly efficient.

I have cork boards nailed to the wall with photos, pictures, outlines and maps referencing whatever I am working on currently. Its seals, northwest California and fishing villages right now.

If you were able to zoom in closely you would see print-outs of the mock-up cover for ASHES,ASHES.

I am hoping you dont have mad computer skills and are unable to do that because it will ruin the surprise!

Do you have a special place where you write?