Writing Room Revelations - Part Five

And today, I give you…. Yes! Yes! More Writing Room Revelations! This week some more very special children’s and YA authors reveal just how much coffee or tea they need in order to write…

In Part Five of Writing Room Revelations, authors Jo Treggiari, Cat Clarke, Candy Gourlay and Anne Rooney answer the questions:

Where do you write? And what does your writing space give you – i.e. why do you write there?

Where do you do your most creative thinking – and when? (e.g particular time of day, conscious space e.g. dreams)

Do you use/need anything particular in order to help you write? (e.g. music, chocolate, coffee, silence etc) In what way does this “support” help you?

JO TREGGIARI
Debut author of Ashes, Ashes

On Writing
For the first time in my life I have an office. It even has a door which I can close in the faces of my children. Unfortunately in order to enjoy the wonderful view I have out the sun porch of the sea and the lovely town I now live in, I chose to remove the wall opposite my desk. This means that I am exposed on that side to requests for cookies and questions about philosophy I have no hope of answering. On the plus side, besides the view it has bulletin boards, space for calming pictures, an old coal fireplace, and floor to ceiling bookshelves.

On Thinking
When I am in the midst of really writing a book, I can have an 'aha' moment at anytime but most often it is during my morning walk with the dog. I am quite rigid about having a notebook and 2 pens with me always because in the past I have been forced to scrawl notes to myself up and down each forearm. I have a routine for writing which I do not deviate from unless someone is really sick, and that is: sit down in front of the computer immediately after walkies and don't stir until I have written at least 1000 words. Repeat every day except for Sunday, unless things are going gang-busters in which case hours and word counts increase exponentially.

On Support
I don't need anything exactly but I enjoy chocolate and wine, more as mood uplifters rather than inspirational tools. I used to think I wrote fabulously when drunk but it wasn't true. I have also spilled wine on the keyboard on occasion so I am very very careful now. I also cannot function without 2 cups of coffee a day but that's just to wake myself up.

You can find out more about Jo Treggiari on her website
And you can become a fan on Jo’s Facebook page



CAT CLARKE
Debut author of Entangled

On Writing
I mostly write in my study, with the occasional trip to a coffee shop if I’m feeling antsy. The coffee shop has the added bonus of treacle scones; my study has the added bonus of cats. I’m slowly getting used to the study – I’ve only been in this house for a couple of months. Things I like about it: my cupboard doors of inspiration (pictured); a huge desk that allows me to be very disorganized; bookshelves filled with incredible books I wish I’d written; proximity to the kitchen.

On Thinking
I do a lot of my thinking on the bus or the train, watching the world go by. If I sit down at my desk and try to think, I usually come up with nothing (or at least, nothing good anyway). I’ve had a couple of good ideas from dreams, but they always seem to lose something as soon as I write them down.

On Support
I need to listen to music, and it has to be loud enough to drown out any other thoughts. I also need lots of cups of tea (please note the embarrassingly tea-stained mug on the desk), a glass of water, a hot water bottle at my feet (not when I’m at the coffee shop... that would be weird), cats (who usually occupy the tartan blanket in the corner of the photo) and something fun to look forward to. I need incentives to get me to sit down and write – an episode of my latest DVD boxset usually does the trick.


You can find out more about Cat Clarke on her website.
You can also follow Cat on her blog.
And you can become a fan on Cat Clarke's Facebook page.



CANDY GOURLAY
Award nominated and winning debut author of Tall Story.

On Writing
I've been trying to wean myself from spending so much time in cafes (so fattening) and I seem to be succeeding! For the past month I've been writing consistently in my office, which I call a shed but is really a proper room in the garden with a little decking area. I love sitting in the shed, surrounded by my stuff - my books, my Toy Story alien, drawings by various neighbourhood children, photos of my children and hubby, and my kit. The danger of being so near my "kit" (recording, video, editing) is I'm easily distracted into impulsive video making. It's great now that I'm a published author to have the excuse of making marketing material for myself on YouTube. I've planted a yellow bamboo tree just outside to remind me of home (the Philippines), and staring at the bamboo is
hugely therapeutic. I also have a view of our oversized trampoline and if I'm unlucky, the trampoline will be full of bouncing teenagers. Which means no more writing.

On Thinking
Creative thinking seems to come at any given moment and often not when I have a moment to jot things down! But I do try to kickstart the creative juices in the morning by reading something brilliant - like re-reading chapters of Geraldine McCaughrean's The White Darkness or a short story from Ray Bradbury's story collection.


On Support
Silence is key in the shed ... and no connection to the internet whatsoever!
The weird thing is my best writing position is sitting in the leather chair with my feet up on another seat. I only write in my netbook - I so love the new Microsoft Word 2007. Tried writing on the iMac I use for design work and it's impossible! Or maybe I'm a creature of very fixed habits!


You can read more about Candy Gourlay on her website.
You can read Candy's blog.
You can become a fan of Tall Story's Facebook page



ANNE ROONEY
Author of numerous fiction and non-fiction books for children including, most recently, Off the Rails, Monster in the Garden and, Grim, Gross and Grisly.


On Writing
I can write almost anywhere. This afternoon I was writing in a café, and then sitting on some unused tables in the main hall of Small Bint’s school while she was setting up her GCSE art exhibition. [Author’s note, Small Bint is the affectionate by which Anne refers to her younger daughter.] But usually I write in my lovely office, which is so packed full of obscure objects that there is barely room for me. From here I can see: a stuffed piranha, a plastic cardinal, a flamingo wishbone, some volcanic rock from Mount Etna, a chunk of the Berlin Wall, part of an Etruscan amphora... There are French windows onto the roof garden and in the summer I can work outside looking down on the chickens wrecking the real garden and the tortoise in his gulag. I write in here because it’s (a) warm (b) bint-free and (c) full of my mess, rather than anyone else’s, so – unbelievably – I know where to find things.

On Thinking
Early morning is usually best. If I don’t get any creative work done between 6am and 8am the rest of the day is probably doomed and may as well be spent doing the accounts or faffing about on Facebook and writing blog posts while pretending that it counts as work really. Look, if I spend two hours chatting to Mary Hoffman, that must be work, right? We will mention a book at some point. We will be snide about Twilight. It will be very intellectual. I think at lot while walking, too – often to Waitrose. Sometimes I have to steal bits of loo roll to write down the ideas so that I don’t forget them while shopping. Sometimes I forget to do the shopping and just get carried away by the ideas and go home with two items, probably useless – a magazine for the bint and some rubber gloves, for instance.

On Support
Coffee, to get started; Radio 4 in the morning, Radio 3 later, especially if it’s playing opera. An opera CD if the radio is rubbish or playing that awful world music programme on Saturdays before the opera. I think they took too seriously that bit in Paradise Lost about heaven having no meaning if you don’t have hell. I would have been willing to take heaven on trust. Sorry, what was the question? Oh, gin and orange. With the opera, on a Saturday night – best time of all. But that would make for slow books as it’s only about three hours a week.

You can find out more about Anne Rooney on her website.
You can read Anne’s excellent blog, The Stroppy Author, in which she shares much of her extensive writing experience.
And you can become a fan on Anne Rooney’s Facebook page
You can also read Anne’s article Banned: The Hidden Censorship in Children’s Books on the New Humanist site

Writing Room Revelations - Part Four

And continuing the Writing Room Revelations series… This week children’s and YA authors Nick Green, Gillian Philip, Jonathan Mayhew and Cindy Pon answer the questions:

Where do you write? And what does your writing space give you – i.e. why do you write there?

Where do you do your most creative thinking – and when? (e.g particular time of day, conscious space e.g. dreams)

Do you use/need anything particular in order to help you write? (e.g. music, chocolate, coffee, silence etc) In what way does this “support” help you?

JON MAYHEW
Award winning author of Mortlock and the recently released The Demon Collector

On Writing
I have a tiny room to write in but often break out and write all around the house. Anywhere warm and deamnd-free.

On Thinking
I have most of my good ideas when I'm meant to be doing something else and often while I'm running or walking. So a bit of stress and some mindless routine usually does the trick!

On Support
Music from my youth seems to trigger certain creative juices. I have to be warm and I must know that nobody is going to ask me for aomething, to do something, to be somewhere etc. A laptop helps too!

The book trailer of The Demon Collector

You can find out more about Jon Mayhew on his website or on his blog
You can become a fan on Facebook
You can read my interview with Jon Mayhew here.



NICK GREEN
Author of The Cat Kin

On Writing
I don’t have a particular place to write – I do it wherever and whenever I can fit it in around other things. I’ve got so used to working with distractions (mainly to do with having a full-time day job and a young family) that I find it harder to work with total peace, quiet and stability. And I think all the upheaval benefits my writing – it forces me to be as gripping as I can be, merely to hold my own attention!

On Thinking
When, for whatever reason, I can’t get to a computer to write. I have enforced breaks where chores must be done and children cared for, and so forth. These are the times when my brain starts bursting with ideas, so that I have to frantically scribble them down, often with hands still wet from doing some small person’s bath. I’ve taken to carrying my notebook and pen in a trouser pocket, whipping them out like a gunslinger.

On support
I like to associate the book I’m writing with a particular song or piece of music, or several. Like making a soundtrack for a film that doesn’t yet exist. It helps to get my head immediately back into the mood of that story, just by playing the song. Choices can be very eclectic and it’s all about mood, not subject matter. For instance the forthcoming Cat’s Paw was helped along by K T Tunstall’s gentle ballad ‘The Other Side Of The World’, while another book used a song by the prog-metal band Dream Theater.

You can find out more about Nick Green on his website.
You can read my interview with Nick Green here.



GILLIAN PHILIP
Award winning and Carnegie medal nominated author of Crossing the Line, Bad Faith, Firebrand and novels for Young Adults.

On writing
I write in my study, which I'm very lucky to have (my husband gets a cupboard under the stairs, a la Harry Potter) but which I'm incapable of keeping tidy. That's why I'm offering a close-up shot of my, erm, paperweight - I'm ashamed of the DVDs all over the floor and the 'relaxed' filing system. But it is a wonderful private space where I can close the door and be (mostly) undisturbed, and it has a fabulous view of the valley below our house.

On thinking
I do my most creative thinking while I'm out walking, which I don't do nearly as often as I'd like to. It's true what they say about walking shaking loose ideas and getting plots in order in your head. And I'm hopeless at thinking creatively before about eleven o'clock in the morning - the later it is, the straighter I can think. I'm quite often sitting in bed, last thing at night, scribbling
furiously.

On support
The only think I absolutely need is coffee, and lots of it. I need it to jump-start my work day. I try to be sociable and have lunch with my husband, but quite often I'd rather grab a snack and stay at my laptop - the ideas are only just starting to flow by lunchtime, and it's a little frustrating to break the spell.

You can find out more about Gillian Philip on her website
and you can become a fan on Facebook

You can read my interview with Gillian Philip here, and my interview with her gorgeous hero, Seth MacGregor, from Firebrand, here.



CINDY PON
Author of the Asian-inspired fantasy novels The Silver Phoenix and the recently released Fury of the Phoenix

On Writing
My official "office" is at our dining table. It's not very writerly, but it does offer open space and brightness, which I like. I write here because it's the only space that works for me in our little house. When I want to be "social", I will write at a coffee place or my preferred boba shop, where they serve good food and drinks!

On thinking
Long car drives, showers, and on the elliptical machine. These seem to help induce very good brainstorming!

On Support
Definitely my Macbook Pro, a dictionary and thesaurus, and a drink, preferably espresso or chai latte! I also enjoyed listening to Jay Chou ballads while writing Fury of the Phoenix as it was quite emo and I couldn't sing along entirely since the songs were in mandarin. I think they support me as they are my comforts and my routine, and I'm a stickler to those, they make me happy.

Book Trailer for The Fury of The Phoenix

You can find out more about Cindy Pon on her website or on her blog.
Or you can follow Cindy on Twitter
You can read my interview with Cindy Pon here.

Writing Room Revelations - Fiona Dunbar

And continuing the Writing Room Revelation series - here's a Special Edition!

You know, sometimes when you ask an author a question, they don't just give you a simple answer, they give you a whole story - that's the totally wonderful thing about them - they're storytellers. So you will find that as the Writing Room Revelation series progresses, there will be a few posts dedicated to a single writer - because, well, because that writer wanted to share a story with you.
Yes, of course you best say thank you; it is a privilege.

Fiona Dunbar
(image courtesy of Candy Gourlay and Fiona Dunbar)

In today's post, Fiona Dunbar - best-selling author of the Lulu Baker/Jinx, and Silk Sisters trilogies and the new Kitty Slade series) answers my questions:

1. Where do you write? And what does your writing space give you – i.e. why do you write there?

2. Where do you do your most creative thinking – and when? (e.g. particular time of day, conscious space e.g. dreams)

3. Do you use/need anything particular in order to help you write? (e.g. music, chocolate, coffee, silence etc) In what way does this “support” help you?

On Writing:

My workspace isn't actually ready, you understand. But Nicky wanted this piece now, so here it is. It's my brand new study, so pictures have yet to be hung on walls, that pile of junk you see sitting on top of the plan chest needs sorting through and putting away, and I need to get a proper mat for under my chair. But then, workspaces are always works in progress really, aren't they? We don't exactly prioritise them interior-design-wise. I didn't tidy up for this pic, so it's a miracle there's nothing on the floor. Actually no, it isn't, because finally I have managed to plan a space that allows for source-material-spreadage, i.e. it has enough places to put things. Never underestimate the extent of source-material-spreadage.


On Thinking:

What is really fab about my new study is the French windows that lead out onto a deck. This is now My Deck. Yes, I am spoiled: yes, I deserve it, so there. Occasionally I will take the laptop out there but not often, because on a sunny day the screen is highly reflective (I do have one of those hoods to put over it but frankly it's a pain; someone needs to design a better version). Also, sometimes it's noisy out there: this is a terraced house in London, with all that that entails. But as a spot to sit and read, muse, make notes…it's fab.




I have to mention Alfonso. Alfonso is my gilded Spanish chicken, and he lives on the ledge behind my desk. He's a little the worse for wear, poor thing: I found him in a tiny shop in Seville in the late 80s, and he's a bit worn out now – but he's still smiling. I do like his expression; it makes me smile, too. I plan to fill my work space gradually with things that resonate with me for whatever reason: things that give off positive energy, to indulge in some ghastly New-Age-Speak. Alfonso definitely does that. He was the Chicken of Happiness, long before Edward Monckton thought of such a thing.


On support:

I work in silence: I would find music of any sort distracting.

What keeps me going through the day are:

· Pukka herbal teas. I can't have caffeine, so these are a godsend: herbal teas that are really flavourful. Oh, and Dragonfly Rooibos Vanilla. This seems SO dull as I write: would love to claim I survive exclusively on Jack Daniels and Woodbines, but alas I think I'd be dead if I did;

· Almonds & raisins: my absolute favourite snack. I really should lie about this, shouldn't I? Yeah, really I graze on morsels of suckling pig, spit-roasted on my deck by a half-naked assistant;

· Facebook. But only after 2pm. OK, sometimes 1pm. Or 12 noon. Hey, it's a lonely business, this: we writers are pathetically grateful when people 'like' our comments on FB. It makes feel as if we exist or something;

· Exercise. No, actually not. A walk to the shops, or to go and have a non-coffee with Keren David or Candy Gourlay. That counts as exercise, right?

· Naps. There is a little chunk of night-time for 3am-4am when I am wide awake. Always. That little chunk of night-time gets transferred to 3pm: that is when I take a snooze. Incidentally, 3am is my Magic Hour: that is when I get all my best ideas. And no, I don't mean those ones that you dream, scrawl on a pad, and then read the next morning 'monkey tennis' or something (apologies, Steve Coogan). I mean wide-awake, proper ideas: solutions to problems you've been straining over all day that just ping into your brain, all shiny and clever like someone else thought of them. Amazing thing, your brain: it doesn't stop working on that question you asked it ten hours ago, just because you've been making the dinner and watching The Apprentice.


Fiona Dunbar's new Kitty Slade series kicks off to a great start with Divine Freaks.

"Hey, I'm Kitty Slade. Just your average, normal girl, doing, you know, normal stuff. Got a brother (annoying), a sister (quite annoying) and a grandma (she's awesome).
Oh yeah, and one more thing. I can see dead people."

When a ghost turns up in her biology classroom, only one thing's for sure - Kitty Slade's life is about to get freaky...

Fiona says of her new series "I started out wanting to write a series of mystery stories, along the lines of The Famous Five, only more up-to-date. Then I was looking at the start of a story I’d written about a ghost-busting boy, and I knew I wanted to incorporate that idea too, so what I ended up with was a bit more like a junior version of Ghost Whisperer."

To read more about Kitty Slade and Fiona's inspiration and motivation see Fiona's website - or watch the book trailer below.

Fiona Dunbar can be found at http://www.fionadunbar.com
You can become a Fiona Dunbar Facebook fan
Or, you can follow Fiona Dunbar on Twitter


There'll be more Writing Room Revelations later this week!

Writing Room Revelations - Part Two

Following on last week’s post about the mysteries of where authors like to write and think, here is the next in the series of Writing Room Revelations.

As you may recall, the questions posed to each author were:

1. Where do you write? And what does your writing space give you – i.e. why do you write there?
2. Where do you do your most creative thinking – and when? (e.g. particular time of day, conscious space e.g. dreams)
3. Do you use/need anything particular in order to help you write? (e.g. music, chocolate, coffee, silence etc) In what way does this “support” help you?

KATHERINE LANGRISH
Award winning author of the Troll Trilogy, Dark Angels, and the soon to be published Forsaken.

On writing:
Well, I should /like /to write in a small, but perfectly appointed library with views through a casement window (with leaded panes) of a small lake with hills behind it. In fact, though, I write in our spare bedroom, which is about 8 feet by 6, with a view of the house across the street. But after all the view doesn't really matter, as I generally pull the curtain across in order to see the screen of my laptop. There isn't anything like enough room for all the books, so they sit in teetering piles which fall over from time to time, and the walls are covered in maps of wherever
it happens to be that I'm currently writing about. The best thing about the room? It has a door, which I can shut.

On thinking:
My most creative thinking is often done while driving the car, walking the dog, or in the moments before I fall asleep or just as I wake up.

Katherine Langrish's writing space

On support:
I don't need any particular props to help me write (other than about a million reference books). Just silence, and if possible, no one in the house.

You can find out more about Katherine Langrish and her books on her website or on her blog.


PAT WALSH
Award nominated author of the Crowfield Curse and the Crowfield Demon

On writing:
If I'm at home, I write in my study, but I like to take a notebook and head out to one of several coffee shops most mornings, where I can happily write for an hour or two. The staff in these places know me now and are happy to let me get on with it. I like to be around people for part of my writing day, and being away from my PC means I'm not going to be distracted by Facebook/emails etc.

On thinking:
I do my most creative writing in the mornings. I can't write to save my life in the afternoons, but I get back into my stride in the evening. I do my creative thinking when I'm out and about, doing other things. Thoughts and ideas are constantly buzzing away at the back of my mind. I always carry a notebook with me wherever I go and jot things down as I go along. Funnily enough, I never dream about whatever I'm writing, and I don't think I've ever been inspired by a dream. I find places inspire me and often spark ideas for stories.

On support:
I need music - preferably on the radio. I'm usually not aware of what I'm listening to, but the sound of voices is a companionable hum in the background. And a constant supply of tea or coffee. To keep my caffeine levels down, I drink a lot of herb and fruit teas. When I'm writing by hand, I have to use a note book with either plain or squared paper. I'll use narrow ruled lined paper at a push - but wide spaced lines are a definite no-go!

You can find out more about Pat Walsh on her website.
And you can read my interview with Pat here.


CHRIS PRIESTLEY
Award winning author of Redwulf’s Curse, Death and the Arrow, the Tales of Terror series, and the Dead of Winter, amongst others.

On writing:
I write in the smallest bedroom of a Victorian terraced house that we rent in Cambridge. The office gives me nothing at all and I can think of little positive to say about it other than it is fairly quiet. But it has no atmosphere at all. I write here because I have nowhere else apart from a studio that I rent to do my art stuff. That one has the benefit of being away from the house, but it is noisier and I share with a couple of other people. My dream is to buy a house here and build an office/studio in the garden.

On thinking:
I pretty much always fall asleep thinking about stories and often panic that I will forget whatever it is I've come up with. I carry notebooks around and scribble away in coffee bars and trains. It's one of the bits of the writing process I really enjoy. But it's fair to say that if I am conscious, I'm often writing in my head. I work at the computer and have a notice board with photos of things to do with whatever book I'm working on. At the moment it is filled with pictures of Amsterdam and paintings from the Dutch Golden Age - the setting for my new book, The Mask.

On support:
I have to have coffee in the morning to jump start my brain. I always like the idea of music when I work, but the fact is, if I really need to concentrate, I need silence. I can't say that I strictly speaking need chocolate, but it wouldn't hinder me in any way. In the end it doesn't really matter where I am or what's happening around me so much as long as I can hear my own voice clearly inside my head.

You can find out more about Chris Priestley on his blog.
And you can read my interview with Chris here.


MIRIAM HALAHMY
Award nominated author of Hidden

On writing:
I started writing in coffee bars as a student in the 1970s. I was influenced by reading about the Paris cafe life of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean Paul Sartre. I lived in Paris for nearly a year after college and loved writing in all the different bars around the Latin Quarter, Montmartre and the Marais. This love of writing in coffee bars has continued to the present day. I have written all three of the novels in my Hayling cycle at the same table in Costa Coffee in Golders Green. I presented my barista, Maria, with a copy of HIDDEN, last month and she was delighted. I go to Costa early in the morning when it is almost empty and there is just the hiss of the steam from the machines and usually some gentle jazz on the stereo. I like the early morning walk, even in the snow, getting the creative juices going. I eat an egg sandwich with my small Americano (hot milk on the side) and then I'm fired up and all set to go. Once I enter the world of my book, the external noises fade and I never seem to notice the crowd building up mid-morning and then slowing down until the lunchtime rush. I like the buzz around me and there is always something to look at when I need to take a break. I have a lovely study at the back of the house my husband built me and I work there in the afternoon, editing and redrafting. But my corner in Costa is my favourite place to write and lots of people tell me I've prompted them to go and write in coffee bars.

On thinking:
There is no particular place or time where I do my most creative thinking, rather it is the coming together of a particularly pensive mood, a thought which has risen to the surface and needs time to develop, a physical feeling of almost being outside my own body. My mind takes over and occupies space, making links and connections which may have been a long time developing and coming to fruition. There is something almost magical about this process as I step outside normal time and space and words form and move around me. I don't always record the thoughts, I just let them roll on. I know that if the thread is strong enough them it will stay in my mind and I will be able to recall it and write it down when I am ready. These are very precious times in my writing life and I treasure them.

On support:
I have to be warm and my chair has to be upright but comfortable. I need a steady, clean, flat surface to write on. Apart from my laptop, USB stick and mouse, I put various other items on my table - mobile phone, notebook, pen, diary,watch, glass of water, Polo mints. My objects need to be arranged neatly with edges straight. Coffee gets the adrenalin going and I like to eat something every hour, partly to give my brain a break and partly to renew my energy. I don't like loud music or strong ballads with familiar words. I have been know to ask them to turn the music down in coffee bars. But ultimately, all I need to write is a pen and a notebook. If everything else disappeared I would sit on the floor and write in my notebook.

You can find out more about Miriam Halahmy on her website or on her blog.
You can also become a fan on Miriam's Facebook page.

Writing Room Revelations - Part One

Writing and thinking spaces are fundamental to any writer and I thought it would be fun to find out where different writers write, where they think – and, if they need any aids to help them in their creativity – you know like, maybe, chocolate…

So I contacted a group of author pals and put the following questions to them:

1. Where do you write? And what does your writing space give you – i.e. why do you write there?
2. Where do you do your most creative thinking – and when? (e.g. particular time of day, conscious space e.g. dreams)
3. Do you use/need anything particular in order to help you write? (e.g. music, chocolate, coffee, silence etc) In what way does this “support” help you?

I’m sure you’ll enjoy the respective responses, in the first part of the Writing Room Revelations series, as much as I did.


MEG ROSOFF
Award wining author of How I live Now, Just in Case, What I Was, The Bride’s Farewell


On Writing:
Ostensibly I write in my tiny office next to the bedroom. But due to backache from leaning over a hot laptop all day, I started working semi-reclining in bed.
This is warmer in winter and makes falling asleep after a hard think so convenient.
When I can't stand the distractions of London and the internet any longer, I retire to Suffolk-sur-mer, where I write (semi-reclining) on the sofa gazing out to sea like a proper old fashioned Writer and forgo proper meals (yay) in favour of cold beans out of cans and toast.

On Thinking:
Walking dogs on Hampstead Heath, riding horses, driving, dozing, on a bus....whenever my brain isn't occupied by bills, chat, or Radio 4.

On Support:
I like silence punctuated by the soft snoring of lurchers. Music is impossible, though I do like the sound of Radio 4 wittering away in another room.

You can find out more about Meg Rosoff on her website, or, on her blog



NICOLA MORGAN (aka The Crabbit Old Bat)
Award winning author of Wasted, Fleshmarket, Deathwatch, The Highwayman books, and many others


On Writing:
Ideally, in my beautiful, weirdly-shaped study, looking onto my garden, unable to see no other sign of human habitation, able to hear nothing but birdsong. Considering that I live in central Edinburgh, seven minutes' walk from John Lewis, that's pretty amazing! It gives me peace, space and comfort. And it's only a few metres from the kitchen, with access to caffeine.

On Thinking:
Walking. Without human company. Or ironing. Ditto.

On Support:
Coffee. Lots. Loud music for fiction, silence for non-fiction or editing. The "music for fiction" thing is about accessing the emotional side and shutting out the noise of reality. I'm very fussy about what the music is (though I can't exactly explain why some works and some doesn't) and will listen to the same album over and over. And over. Bands that work well for me include REM, Muse, Manic Street Preachers, Keane, Kaiser Chiefs, Amy MacDonald, and Belle and Sebastian.

Nicola Morgan's "weirdly-shaped" study

You can find out more about Nicola Morgan on her website , or on her blog

BREAKING NEWS!!!
Today’s a big day for Nicola Morgan, it’s publication day for her new book, Write To Be Published, in which she offers “crabbitly honest advice to good writers determined to succeed.”
Read the special, publication day and particularly crabbitty interview here
You can read my interview with Nicola Morgan here



KEREN DAVID
Award winning author of When I Was Joe, Almost True and the soon to be released Lia’s Guide to Winning the Lottery.


On writing:
This is a really difficult question for me. I'd like a dedicated writing space, which is mine and mine alone, somewhere I can store books, put up pictures on the wall, generally use as a creative space.
I don't have that.
There's a room at home which is a multi-purpose writing/storage/spare room space, and that's the best place to work when I'm home. I don't like it much because it feels messy and not really mine. It's better however than the dining table, which is a place of constant distraction, or the kitchen table (covered with laundry). Sometimes I work in a cafe, sometimes I go to my friend Anna's house. Those places work well for me because I can't access the internet.
The minimum I need to be able to write is quiet and no internet. Rewriting and editing however I can do anywhere at all - on dining table, television on, family rampaging.

On thinking:
When I'm doing something very dull - at the gym, on a walk, supermarket shopping, in the car. Sometimes at night in bed, which is annoying because then I have to get up and find a notebook.

On Support:
Silence is best. Music and conversations mean that other people's words intrude on mine. But a very noisy place can be OK - as long as I can't distinguish individual words. I like to drink either water or tea and maybe have some grapes or blueberries to give me a little reward for getting on and doing it.

You can find out more about Keren David and her books on Keren’s blog
You can read my interview with Keren David here



EBONY MCKENNA
Australian author of the whackily hilarious Ondine series (which also involves a ferret…)

On writing:
This is my home office and I love it. It's straight off the hall near the front door. I am a very lucky author indeed to have so much space. I was going to tidy up first, but I'd rather be known for my funny books instead a tidy house.

Ebony McKenna's self-declared "mess"

It's the perfect writing space for me. I can look out onto my garden, or look over to see my books on the shelves to remind me how good life is. I also have 'permission to write crap' on that purple and blue note directly beneath the monitor. This is to remind me that the first draft can be woeful but it's OK, nobody will see it.

On Thinking:
First thing in the morning is best for me. As soon as The Dude (TM) is at school, I get to work. If I write first, I can get anything else done later. If I do the accounts first and cleaning and run errands, I'm too frazzled later to be creative. The writing happens first or it doesn't happen at all - in which case I feel like I've wasted the whole day.

On Support:
A nice, 'proper' coffee gets me fired up first thing. (I bought a very cheap but reliable espresso machine and I'm very happy!) Then it's on to Earl Grey tea, nice and strong. Chocolate will make an appearance at some point. I don't play music or listen to the radio. I love the peace and quiet of being in my own head. This doesn't work for everyone, but it's worked for me and I'm sticking to it.

You can read more about Ebony McKenna on her website
And you can follow her on Facebook and on Twitter


Join me again next week for more Writing Room Revelations.