My latest novel features a writer who leaves her family to go to live in a cave. While I wouldn’t dream of doing that, I do have my own cave of sorts: my office, what I call my ‘writing cave’. I can’t deny I sometimes go in there, shut the door and take a few deep breaths to escape the madness of family life!
My writing cave
What makes it so special to me?
The first thing people always notice is the forest scene that dedicates the main wall. It makes me feel like I’m writing outside and not closed in by four walls. I also love the fact that each time I look at it, I find something new in the scene (a rabbit, a deer).
As I’m very lazy, I also splashed out on a chaise longue! Such a cliche for an author, isn’t it? But honestly, it’s great as it means I can stretch my legs out as I write. My dog Bronte will often jump up on it too and take up all the space so I actually need to pull another chair over to lean my laptop on!
It’s important a writer’s room is inspiring. I have lots of visual prompts around my office, often changing them around for each novel. For The Lost Sister, for example, I placed lots of ‘beachy’ items around the room, from shells to blocks of chalk I collected while visiting Botany Bay in Kent, the town I based some of the novel on. I also have photos from that research trip. I love research trips, nothing beats actually visiting a place to get a real sense of it and I make sure to bring stuff back with me for my office.
I like to have reminders of my family too in my ‘cave’, with photos of them plus drawings my daughter has done for me. I have lots of items that have been gifted to me in my ‘cave’ as well, from the cushion on my chaise longue which is from my brother and sister-in-law and a book case that’s been in my husband’s family for generations.
Now what’s really important for any decent ‘living cave’ is tea-making facilities. When I left my job to become a full-time author, my work friends got me a special kettle which dispenses one cup of hot water in less than a minute, essential for regular cups of tea!
I was actually consuming lots and lots of cups of tea while I wrote The Lost Sister, as much of it was written in the heart of winter which was very disconcerting, writing summer beach scenes as it snowed outside!
Finally, I’d like to return back to my dog, Bronte. I actually dedicate The Lost Sister to my old dog, Archie, who sadly passed away a couple of years ago. There were a few months where I was completely alone in the house as I wrote. No snoring dog. No furry bundle to cuddle up to. My writing cave suddenly felt less like a haven, and more like an empty chamber.
But when Bronte joined our family, it returned back to its old atmospheric comforting space and it made me realise: it isn’t the ‘things’ in my office which makes it special. It’s my living breathing snoring office assistant, my dog!
The Lost Sister is published in EB on 20 July.