A place to write

Don't tell my husband, but I can write pretty much anywhere. I've crammed in a few hundred words while sandwiched between a snorer and a reader on an airplane. And I've plotted by the ocean in Maui. I've scribbled a paragraph or two in my notebook while pulled over on the side of the road waiting for a train to pass. And I've invaded every Starbucks within a 100 km radius.

But whenever I'm feeling a little less than inspired, or I'm making excuses for my muse, I start whining about having a "my place to write."

Because my husband is awesome, this typically turns into a revamping of one of the rooms in the house. We'll spend hours tossing out junk, reshuffling (but never really filing) paperwork, hanging pictures and inspirational phrases, and stocking the area with pens, stationary and a giant whiteboard.

Needless to say, I've had some sweet looking "offices" over the years.

Nothing compares to my current writing space, though.

A few months ago, we moved out to the country, a small hamlet (75-people small) about a half hour outside of the city. As a family, we talked about it at great length, and discussed the sacrifices that would be required. In many ways, my stepdaughter stood to lose the most - a disconnect from her friends. Ironically, it was her voice that rang the loudest when we took the plunge. Best decision ever.

Our house is old and in great need of repair. Still, each of us is now attached to some part of it. The dogs love the football-field back yard (almost!), my husband covets the heated garage, and my stepdaughter adores her loft room, which happens to be the cause of great envy among her friends. It's huge. And black. *shrug*

I have a loft office upstairs, too and when it's painted and the floors are refinished, it will be beautiful. But I gave my heart to the sunroom, which used to look like the picture above. I don't have a macro lens to show off all of the spiders, cobwebs and mouse droppings that once lived there - but it was daunting.

Lucky for me, handsome husband is a construction worker. It took him (with my limited but strategic help *cracks whip*) to transform the run-down, never-before used sunroom into this:

Reclining chairs for morning coffee - and plotting

The writing area 

Impressive, right?

I can still write "anywhere" - if you've read Stephen King's ON WRITING: A MEMOIR OF THE CRAFT, you know setting should only be important in your manuscript. But I'm not going to lie, I'd much rather be writing here than pretty much anywhere else in the world.

Where's your favourite place to create?

- Dawn

The Book In My Bag Today: Forever, Maggie Stiefvater