a tidy desk…

Current work: revisions for Med
Listening to: Bach
Reading: various research stuff

My table arrived yesterday and oh, it’s nice to have a non-rickety surface to work on again. DH built it for me after tea and moved the new bookcase in, put my pics up and moved my clock. (Yup, he’s a star. Completely wonderful. And completely appreciated.)

Last month, I said I would never, ever post a pic of my workspace because it’s messy. Well, today, it’s tidy. (Temporarily!) So this is where I work.

Left to right: fax machine (needs dusting) on top of filing cabinet (also needs dusting)– behind the fax is my stereo, and on the wall above it is my mate Steve Denby’s gorgeous print ‘Beachcombers’ (you can just about see the far right edge of the frame). On the cabinet are some magnets, including one from my lovely mate Jan Jones saying that 'Chocolate is proof that God wants us to be happy'.

Next to desk: cupboard with printer on top. (Is a printer/scanner/copier - quite old, but it's excellent and when it gives up the ghost I will definitely get another HP.) In front of that: tower fan (very, VERY necessary because I feel the heat and I think better in lower temperatures).

On desk: screen; speakers; desk lamp (yay, I can plug it in now because I no longer have a problem with the stupid bar at the back of rickety ex-desk blocking access to the plugs) with coal frog and tuning fork sitting on the base (holiday souvenir from Ironbridge and tuning fork lives there otherwise the other guitarists in the house borrow it, forget where they left it, and I get stroppy); desk tidy thingy containing sellotape, post-it notes, business cards and bits and bobs; pen pot with elastic bands stretched round it to keep them tidy; coaster for coffee mug; headphones with mic for use with Dragon; keyboard and mouse; case for glasses (used only for screen work, to stop me getting headaches).

Above desk: print of ‘October Mist’ by Steve Denby, clock, calendar. (Hmm. My to-do list had better go back up as well. Daughter has asked where totty gallery has gone: currently awaiting new home. Possibly on side of filing cabinet.)

I admit, this pic was taken last night and it doesn’t look quite like that now. I’ve put the pile of papers and two research books back in that space to the right of the headphones (hmm - maybe I need some filing trays with risers?), plus my handbag, a photo of the kids, kitchen timer (to limit my loafing time on YouTube/online word games) and scruffy mouse mat (needs replacing: must add to list). And there is still a pile of stuff on my comfy chair that needs sorting. (I will do that later – but I have deadlines to sort first.)

But anyway. It's a very calm space; it's where the kids do some of their homework, where I practise my guitar (that's immediately behind my desk, so I can just spin round on the swivel chair and pick it up), and doubles as a spare room if we have more than one person staying.

Thank you to everyone who gave me feedback on what readers want from an author’s ‘books’ page. I’ve revised mine accordingly, so do go and take a look at it here – any suggestions for improvements welcome! I am thinking about creating a page with hero/heroine name and setting for ease of reference, but I need to work out some tecchy stuff first (i.e. how to build a table in CSS – I know how to do it in HTML but CSS is a little different).

Also finished my proofs for Scandals, Sieges and Spooks: Suffolk Ghosts and Legends. Lovely publisher sent me three different covers; I asked DH and the kids what they thought (all separately so they wouldn’t influence each other) and they picked the same one as I did, so fingers crossed that’s the one.

Guitar lesson yesterday was good – tricky bit of Bach, and we unpicked it so I could work out the harmony and why it modulates as it does. I really do like Bach’s harmonies.

Busy day today – this morning I have an interview about the new book, and this afternoon I’m talking at daughter’s school on their new Humanities topic, i.e. Norwich. This meant doing my first ever Powerpoint presentation: I was impressed at how easy the programme is to use.