The Writer's Desk
There is a book by photographer Jill Krementz called The Writer's Desk, which is filled with many of her wonderful portraits of writers in their work spaces. (Krementz was Kurt Vonnegut's wife, and there is a great shot of him at his desk, barefoot, hard at work on a crossword puzzle.) The book came out in the mid-1990s, and more of the desks are occupied by Smith Coronas and Olivettis than HP laptops or MacBooks. Ashtrays also appear with slightly startling frequency.
But almost everything else is consistent, not only from era to era, but from author to author. There are a few who always write in bed, or while lying on the sofa, or while perching on a kitchen counter, but most writers seem to use the same familiar building blocks: Piles of notes. A scattering of pens and scrap paper. Inspiring quotes hanging just above the work surface. A window, or some artwork, or family photos, or a few totemic little figurines. A dog lying supportively nearby.
When people find out that I'm a writer, they often ask me where I work. "In an office, in my house," I say. "At a wooden table in front of a window, with my dog snoring near my feet." This is what it looks like, minus the dog. (His bed is that red fringe-y thing at the left. In this photo, he has recently vacated it in order to try to bump the camera out of my hands.)
I'm more than a week behind, links-wise, but you can still read the Star Tribune's interview with me about The Books of Elsewhere, along with reviews of several fantastic new middle-grade novels by Minnesotans, at www.startribune.com/entertainment/books/126406968.html.
I was also recently featured on Writers Read (here's me: whatarewritersreading.blogspot.com/2011/07/jacqueline-west.html), which made me happy because I got to gush about Gillian Flynn and Catherynne Valente.
And, finally, here's a review of The Shadows from the fantastic site Mundie Kids (younger sibling of the tastemaking Mundie Moms), which I somehow didn't see until three days ago: mundiekids.blogspot.com/2010/07/book-review-shadows-books-of-elsewhere.html.
But almost everything else is consistent, not only from era to era, but from author to author. There are a few who always write in bed, or while lying on the sofa, or while perching on a kitchen counter, but most writers seem to use the same familiar building blocks: Piles of notes. A scattering of pens and scrap paper. Inspiring quotes hanging just above the work surface. A window, or some artwork, or family photos, or a few totemic little figurines. A dog lying supportively nearby.
When people find out that I'm a writer, they often ask me where I work. "In an office, in my house," I say. "At a wooden table in front of a window, with my dog snoring near my feet." This is what it looks like, minus the dog. (His bed is that red fringe-y thing at the left. In this photo, he has recently vacated it in order to try to bump the camera out of my hands.)
I'm more than a week behind, links-wise, but you can still read the Star Tribune's interview with me about The Books of Elsewhere, along with reviews of several fantastic new middle-grade novels by Minnesotans, at www.startribune.com/entertainment/books/126406968.html.
I was also recently featured on Writers Read (here's me: whatarewritersreading.blogspot.com/2011/07/jacqueline-west.html), which made me happy because I got to gush about Gillian Flynn and Catherynne Valente.
And, finally, here's a review of The Shadows from the fantastic site Mundie Kids (younger sibling of the tastemaking Mundie Moms), which I somehow didn't see until three days ago: mundiekids.blogspot.com/2010/07/book-review-shadows-books-of-elsewhere.html.
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