My Writing Desk | Colleen Oakes

I currently share an office with my husband.  This room has been many things: first, a man cave. Then, a guest room.  Now it’s a duel office space, and it’s still in transition as we wait for a trip to Ikea.    Even though it’s not finished, it’s still a little corner of peace for writing and all things business.

My writing desk is an old kitchen table, barely used, found at a local thrift store. The butterfly box on the left holds all my stationery tools. I have an old soul, and I love writing actual letters on actual paper.  I mail my friends cards about once a month, and I get loads of stationery for presents because of it. On top of that is a copy of Elly in Bloom, my first novel which debuted last September. It’s a good reminder of why I do what I do, to be able to look at that book and know that dreams really do come true—they just take a lot of work. Next to that is a beloved Saki container (that I once spied in the movie Iron Man!) filled with silk cherry blossoms. This is a leftover from my florist days. I keep all my pens, scissors, calculators, and other tools in this large mosaic candle holder. A mug just isn’t big enough.  

Fresh flowers are a must. I’m lucky I still have a wholesale license to buy them with. Also a must: Moxie, our doxie, my writing buddy. 

My 22-inch computer monitor is gigantic. I am a dyed-in-the-wool believer in having a huge computer screen. It makes you more productive. It really does! I encourage everyone who has a small screen to move to a big one. I move much faster and am able to manage more projects at once with a bigger monitor. I also have a small netbook for when I write in other places, like Starbucks. (Mmm . . . Starbucks.)

Next to the monitor are two small pictures: one of my mother and my sister and me when we were kids.  I just adore them, and the frames are little tokens from my mom’s house that make me feel loved while I work.

Finally, there’s my calendar that I could not live a minute without, and my idea notebook. I love owls, and many things I own are adorned with them. This is my notebook for jotting down plot ideas, good and bad. Good: Notes on the Elly in Bloom Sequel and plot holes in Queen of Hearts. Bad: Killer Whale Murder Mystery. Its name? Sham-MURDER. Sometimes I like to peruse it for a good laugh.

Thanks for stopping by, and thanks to Tricia Goyer for the amazing opportunity!  I love to curl up here with a cup of homemade hot chocolate and disappear into my imaginary worlds. Won’t you join me? And please enter the contest below to win one of two copies of Elly in Bloom!

Colleen Oakes is the author of Elly in Bloom, the #1 Kindle Bestseller in Contemporary Fiction.  She lives in Denver, Colorado, with her husband, a Lutheran pastor, and two naughty dogs. They are awaiting their first child through adoption. You can follow her blog, her author website, on Facebook, or Twitter.

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