And I'm back! (From outer space!)

Now that  you all have that lovely little earworm in your minds, hello, readers!  I hope you've all enjoyed your last few weeks as much as I have.  From The Desk of Buster Heywood is officially a week old, tomorrow, and I have to say, I'm very proud of our protagonist.  I had said previously on Facebook and in my newsletter that the novel would be available in print by tomorrow, but I have a few tweaks that I want to make before I submit the file to Lulu.com.  I'm hoping that you'll be able to buy it in ink-and-paper and enjoy that lovely new book smell sometime next week.

This week, however, I would like to talk to you about desks, since that's a word you've been seeing a lot...

---

---

"(Desks) look nice and official on the outside, but it’s when you open them up and look inside that they really get interesting.  And they’re capable of holding ridiculous amounts of stuff.”
“Yes, but what sort of stuff?”  
“That’s the beauty of a desk,” Cam said.  “Whatever you put in it is automatically part of it ."
- From the Desk of Buster Heywood

---

When I first began writing this novel, I did it mostly on my laptop, at a rolling desk that I could use from the comfort of my favorite armchair.  Then I moved into a tiny, glorified studio apartment that was more like a shoebox, and my writing space was very limited.  The rolling desk was no longer an option with my armchair, and I had to resort to using the kitchen table, which was cramped and not very comfortable.  I found myself missing my old desk, which had been used only for paperwork and Official Adult Life Business.  I made the kitchen table work, of course, and switched to hand-writing 

so that I could work on the novel wherever I happened to be.  Handwriting became my preferred method, and having to work without a desk turned out to give me a brand new, far more effective system of writing and editing.  You can be sure, though, that as soon as we moved into our current apartment, the desk was returned to its former glory.  I'm sitting at it as I type this, surrounded by books which inspire me, pictures of loved ones to encourage me, and a few of my other creations to remind me why I'm here.  (Look closely: there's a clay maquette of Buster perched on the right side of the second shelf.  He needs paint, but he's paying attention and making sure I look out for typos.)

As far as what's in my desk, per Cameron's theory?  Inside its drawers, you'll find a copious amount of office supplies and organizing doodads ... because Staples and I have a very co-dependent relationship.  My fiancee may stage an intervention if it gets any worse.   There are also scrapbooking supplies, a few photo albums, sketchbooks both full and blank, and of course, a few small items that are too precious to keep anywhere else.   My desk holds one, long love letter to creativity, with just enough organization and discipline to keep it all from exploding into chaos.  If you ask me, that sounds just about right for a writer.

What's your creative space like?  Or, if you can't have one right now, what would the perfect one be?