Welcome to my writing studio.

Welcome to my writing studio.

This is my space. This is where I am surrounded by my beloved books. It is here that I plan, think, dream, fret, and journal. And sometimes, write.

I write with old-fashioned 4B or HB pencils, on paper. I jot down ideas and dreams, outline stories, and create word lists. Occasionally, I’ll doodle or draw something that illustrates the growing concept. It helps me a great deal, covering sheets of paper in leaded patterns that make up words, images, and structures that may or may not evolve into stories.

This is also where I sit and type. I love my laptop on its tidy stand. The tapping eddies me on when I’m lucky, and things flow. Often, I listen to white noise through earphones. Gentle beach waves, or the sound of rain, solidly pouring down for hours as I sit typing. On other days I simply allow the rush of the N4 and birds calling among the many indigenous trees outside the house, to fill the studio.

My studio smells of books and the leather couch. The older books have a stronger scent. My mother's study volumes, my granny's loyal dictionaries on which she relied to complete thousands of crossword puzzles when I was a child. Whenever my roses are in bloom, I smell whichever beauty sits in a vase on my desk. That gives me continuous joy and peace. Now and then I bring a few sprigs of rosemary to my desk. Or indigenous lavender. The herbs’ clean, fresh smell brings calm.

I am glad that you are here with me now, as strange as it feels to share the intimacy of my studio. I hope that you may also find dreams here, ideas, and laughter, too. Without laughter, I would not have been able to write a single line. I will blog about things that make me think, laugh, cry, be angry, or believe as time goes on. It would be so good to know someone out there is reading these fleeting moments and sharing them.