This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Taking inspiration from The Guardian's 'Writers' Rooms', Sky Arts' 'The Write Place' and Book Chick City's excellent 'Where Stories Are Made'; 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 are pleased to bring you the Writing Room of Sasha Wagstaff, author of CHANGING GROOMS and WICKED GAMES.
My Writing Room by Sasha Wagstaff
As soon as I left my banking job to focus on writing properly, me and my husband converted a spare room in our house into a stylish office. We bought a lovely, high-level desk and a huge, comfy chair I could sit in cross-legged and I stacked the shelves with novels by my favourite authors. I finished the room off with a small television and some gorgeous Mucha prints I’d bought in Prague.
However, as soon as I secured my book deal with Headline, I fell pregnant and discovered I had a condition which gave me terrible back pain. I could no longer use my beautiful office because my desk was too high and my chair was too soft so I moved my lap top downstairs to our dining room. I sat on a rigid chair which supported my back and tucked my growing bump under the dining room table. This worked well for most of my pregnancy as the kitchen was only a short waddle away and when I got tired, I could move to the lounge and have a cat nap.
After Phoebe was born, my husband had commandeered the office upstairs so when it was time to fire up the lap top again, I continued to work at the dining room table, with Phoebe asleep or playing nearby. When my office was finally free again, I found, to my surprise, that I had grown rather attached to my sunny spot in the dining room and I didn’t want to move back into my stylish office, after all. So my lap top and printer now live on our dining room table…not ideal, maybe, but it works for me!
There is a box behind my lap top which contains baby name books which I use when I develop characters and also book ideas: magazine articles about interesting people, exciting jobs or maybe just a place in the world I might want to set part of a novel in. On the wall above me is a photo of our wedding with messages from friends and family around it, which always makes me smile and on my desk, I have my calendar of ‘The Secret’, the ‘World’s Greatest Mummy’ mug mat Phoebe bought me for Mother’s Day and also, generous supplies of hand cream and lip balm, because for some reason, I use them constantly when I’m writing! My mouse mat is Audrey Hepburn’s ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’, which is one of my favourite films and my pink blingy mouse is very girly but I love it.
So this is where I work…it’s a light and airy spot with a lovely view of the garden. I have the TV on low for background noise and our three cats usually curl up nearby. I genuinely find it the most peaceful place in the house to write my novels.