This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
My Writing Room is a fabulous fortnightly event, in which some of our favourite authors show us where the writerly magic happens, and tell us a little about their writing life.
This week we look into Martina Reilly's writing space. Martina's novel, Even Better Than The Real Thing has just been released.
My Writing Room by Martina Reilly
You have no idea how long it took to try and make my writing space look inviting and interesting, but the camera never lies. This is it, minus all the junk that usually sits on my desk. I write, at the moment in my sitting room, facing a wall. The room itself holds four sofas, two computers, two televisions, a hall table, a printer which sits on a chair and numerous labelled boxes.
We’re actually in the middle of a house move – we have been for over a year now, so we’re in a rented house, which holds all the landlords furniture and all of ours. At first I didn’t believe I would be able to write in such a space, but I have discovered, much to my delight, that I can literally write anywhere, once I’m interested in what I’m doing. I’ve written my latest book (not out until 2013) here. The room itself would be cosy if it wasn’t so cluttered and the place where we live is quiet, so most days, despite the cluttered nightmare of my surroundings, it is peaceful. Because we’re renting, no one around really wants to invest much time in getting to know us, so during the day, when the children are at school, no one calls to my door, unlike the last place we lived where we knew everyone. This situation has been great for my writing but terrible for my social life. Thank God for the phone, Facebook and twitter!
Even Better than the Real Thing was written partly from my bed (in our old house) I used to think how fabulous this arrangement was until I ended up crippled, both in body and in wallet! Due to severe stiffness and pain in my neck and shoulder, I could barely get out of bed most mornings and thanks to Google, I convinced myself I had advanced arthritis. The physio however soon put me straight and advised me to invest in a new chair – the snazzy red one you can see in the picture, a back cushion – which is not in the picture – and the keyboard, which my laptop sits on. This keyboard cost about one hundred euro and was the best money I ever spent. Ignore the paintbrushes, I dabble occasionally but have no idea how they got into this picture!
Hopefully by the time the next book comes out, I’ll have a really cool writing space, with shelves and gadgets and views of green, well tended gardens to stimulate me. For now however, I’ll just stick with the view of the wall!
My website is www.martinareilly.info and you can catch me on Facebook or Twitter at @Martinareilly.