Blogger: Wendy Lawton
A generation ago we’d see want ads that promised to provide work from home. Most were scams where you would supposedly make a near fortune “stuffing envelopes.” What they didn’t tell you in all of these scams was that you would have to buy the materials for whatever home work they offered and then you’d have to find a market for the product or the stuffed envelopes or whatever.
But the thought of being able to make money and still work from home was enticing. Fast forward to the present day. According to Global Workplace Analytics 2.6% of the U.S. employee workforce (3.3 million people, not including the self-employed or unpaid volunteers) consider home their primary place of work. Your Books & Such agents fall into that statistic.
Wendy’s Office
Wendy’s Desk
I thought it would be fun today to show you where we work. I’ve shared photos of my office before but here are a couple more. My office is small by design. My husband has his office at home and it’s nearly twice the size of mine but I’ve found that I keep scrupulously organized in a smaller space. I had to close the shutters because of the light but if I could show you the outside, you’d see my herb garden and my husband’s workshop with the oh-so-popular hummingbird feeder.
Rachel’s Desk in the Main Office
Deck Outside of Rachel and Michelle’s Office
Janet’s Office
Janet Kobobel Grant, Rachel Kent and Michelle Ule all work at the Books & Such main office which happens to reside in the whole bottom floor of Janet’s home. Her house is perched on a hill overlooking a nature trail and a little further down, the famed wine country road, Highway 12. There are french doors in the main office leading to a massive deck that runs the entire length of the offices. You may be talking with Janet or Rachel on the phone but don’t be picturing them slaving away at a desk in a cubicle somewhere. They could very well be sitting out on the deck in the California sunshine watching Sonoma valley vineyards turning golden red with the advent of autumn. Rachel has a second office in her home for days she telecommutes.
Rachel’s Desk at Home
Mary’s Office
Mary Keeley runs our Chicago office out of her home. One of the nicest things for us is having this kind of cross country reach. Mary is very near Moody, Tyndale and our other midwest publishers. Before Etta Wilson retired, her office was in Nashville– another bastion of Christian publishing.
Rachelle’s Office
Rachelle Gardner’s office is in the newest mecca of Christian publishing, Colorado Springs. At the drop of a hat Rachelle is able to do the kind of important CBA publishing lunches that ABA agents have long done in New York. She’s our connection to the heartbeat of the Colorado publishing hub.
We love our work from home offices. Many of our clients and writer friends also work from home. Your turn. Let’s talk about the benefits and the drawbacks. (Yes, there are drawbacks– we tend to spend many more than forty hours at work when it’s all right there, don’t we?)
NOTE TO BLOG FRIENDS WHO WILL BE AT ACFW: If you are part of our blog community here (participants and those who regularly comment) I’d love to meet you in St. Louis. If you are free Saturday morning between 10:00 A.M. and 11:00 A.M., I’ll be somewhere in the vicinity of the Starbucks. Please drop by and introduce yourself. It will be fun to put a face with a name.
TWEETABLE:
Work from home. Five telecommuting literary agents share their workspaces. Click to Tweet
Another plus of working from home is the huge expense it saves on leasing or purchasing a separate building. I think that is very wise.
I’ve always loved being home and working from home.
A few drawbacks …
When you step away from your computer, you never know what your kitten is going to decide to add or take away from your MS! (“Hermione” just jumped in my lap, landing paws on my laptop and sweetly added this: “f!” … I’m trying to figure out how she did that … she would have had to hit the shift key.)
And the never ending chores scream for your attention. Cleaning the pool, raking the porch, feeding the sheep … but those things have to get done anyway, so you have to be purposeful with your time.
I wish I was going to ACFW. I am hoping for next year. I can’t wait to meet you all and hug your necks for the blessings you’ve been to me. Have a blessed time, Wendy!
My “Hermoine” is a seventy-pound putbull named Sylvia, who sits in my lap and leans and elbow on the keyboard.
And feeding the sheep…apropos nothing, it reminded me a spoonerism, actually said by the Rev. Spooner during a sermon…
“The Lord shall lead his shock of fleep.”
Oh, that’s funny, Andrew. We keep the sheep on the back three acres. It was like a jungle before we got those “two” … only “two” … sheep. You wouldn’t believe how bare it is back there now. You have the top leaves from the oak and cedar trees, but no growth on the ground. They eat all day long. We have to supplement hay and grain. And they would eat all the cedar needles if they could reach them. “Shock of fleep” I say! 🙂 And they are just like dogs … they really like me … and when I open the back door, they start baaing at me. They want to be sitting on the back porch.
Umm, can you find a cardboard box to put over the keyboard? Can the kitten knock it over?
I WILL see you in Texas next ACFW!! If I don’t? I’ll steal a car and drive out and get you.
Jennifer, the two kitties just got home from the “cutter” yesterday. Hee hee. If you’ve read Warriors, you know what that means! But you can guess!! You would think they would be limping around, but oh no. They can manipulate into anything.
And I feel very confident that you mean exactly what you say … you really would come out to get me. 🙂 That makes me very happy.
Sheep were used as groundskeepers on early grass-surfaced aerodromes. It was the practice of pilots to do a low pass or two to scatter them for landing.
I keep trying to convince Barbara that we need goats. I love goats.
Told her I’d build them a little hut, and would spend time with them to socialize them.
She asked, “What about the smell?”
I said, “Oh, the goats won’t mind.”
Too funny, Andrew. 🙂 So, has Barbara relented yet? I like sheep and goats, but we live in a sub-division. Our neighbors have chickens,but I’m pretty sure sheep and goats wouldn’t fly here, uh, so to speak. 🙂
I’m still working on her, Jeanne.
You’d think that my offering to name them after her and her family would break the ice, but for some reason that hasn’t had the desired effect.
One thing about being married, one does learn how to duck. Fast.
Don’t know why your neighbors might object to goats. When we lived in Texas Barb and I once chased some errant goats through a subdivision, and cornered the ringleader in a lawyer’s backyard.
The goat was surrounded by two cowboys, a sheepdog, Barbara, and me.
Guess which route she took on an attempted escape?
But aha! That goat has never played rugby!
Two of our neighbors have goats. When we walk, and our sheep follow, the goats come visit us, too. Last night, our neighbor’s donkey that we had never seen before was standing at our fence line watching us. It wouldn’t let us pet it … but it was curious.
Goats are more social than sheep, it seems. The goats will willingly let you pet them. Sheep are more shy. They will walk beside me, and I can sneak a pat on the head here and there … or pat them when they are eating their grain.
Our girls say the back three acres stinks. But I don’t mind the smell … I grew up walking my grandmother’s pasture with all her cows and what accompanies them (on the green!!). I just don’t mind it.
Goats are definitely more social, and they’re really quite bright. You can raise a goat like a dog; I don’t think you can do that with any but an exceptional sheep.
We live on open range, and while my suburban wife sometimes does not appreciate the cow-smell and the flies, I really don’t mind. Way better than a city.
With the exception of Chicago, which I am sure God took as the model for Heaven.
Andrew, the visuals you provide….. 😉
You had me laughing out loud. 🙂
My two sheep are a little social. But it’s on their terms. This is their terms: I’ll walk beside you … I really want to be with you … I’ll come up and smell your hand when you aren’t looking … I’ll eat right out of your hand, especially animal cookies … I’ll put on a show for you when you sit down, butting heads … just one exception … don’t reach out and touch me!
Our silly sheep … if they see you reaching out, they dodge. If you go behind their head, they don’t mind.
We are so that way in many ways with God. He wants to bless our lives, and we are dodging every way possible. We always tend to want things on our terms. His terms are so much better. 🙂
I keep reminding Barbara that sanity is overrated, and that she should “go with the flow”.
She usually answers with a fearsome eye-roll (they’ll lock back!) and mutters something comparing the “flow” to Scylla and Charybdis.
Shelli, that’s so lovely, how we are so like sheep.
Truly, it shows the wisdom of the Bible!
Andrew, we have a number of goat dairies in our valley. Goat milk and goat cheese are trending upwards. Happily the females don’t smell.
Andrew, where were you the six months I spent trying to sell my goats? I would have made you a good deal! Goats are very social and so fun to have around, especially goat kids—there’s nothing cuter.
However, heading into another Michigan winter I’m not sorry that our barn is empty. I spent last winter hauling water to the barn in 30 below weather, braving frostbite, ice, and five foot drifts of snow. For the first few days I loved it. I was just like Laura Ingalls in The Long Winter! However, the thrill wore off in about a week…and then I had my own personal Long Winter…
Shelli, your home sounds heavenly. I imagine you get a lot of inspiration for your writing from your cozy country place. ❀
Thank you, Wendy. I do. The weather has finally cooled. My youngest daughter and I went walking this morning … didn’t expect that cool air. When we start out, I always think that I should bring my camera along … there is always a picture begging for a blog post! 🙂 And this cool air begs, as well, for a pumpkin on my porch! Finally!
Those chores that stare us in the face actually make for good breaks so that we don’t freeze in place, right?
It’s nice to be able to put your virtual “voices” into a visual context – thanks!
Who’s Janet’s supervisor?
If I would publish a picture of my workspace, my wife would kill me. It’s a tray table holding a laptop, in a room shared by thirteen dogs. It once also resounded to the happy good sound of sheet-metal hammers and rivet guns, but health has now brought that to a functional end (but I still do a little, and there are airplane parts scattered about…like the complete back end of a Messerschmitt 109).
That’s what a living room is for, right? Living?
My editorial assistants range from Denali the Hyperkinetic Husky (never visible as more than a grey-white blur, usually at eye level) to Bella the Wheelchair Dog to The Ridgeback Sisters (aka “Them!”) to Rufus the Jack Russell, whose full name is “Rufus…Rufus? RUFUS! Oh, crap.”
And then there’s Ladron the Cruise Director, a Heeler who reminds one of nothing so much as a bossy teenage Irish girl.
It might seem cluttered, but it doesn’t seem that way, because (on my doctor’s suggestion, mind) I usually have a large and cheap cigar lit, which gives a romantic haze to the place. An ambience rather like Rick’s in “Casablanca”.
It’s a good place to work. Drop by. Have coffee. Bring earplugs, and wear old clothes.
Oh, and mind the shotgun in the corner. Yes, it’s loaded, and no, I don’t use a safety. Why do you ask?
But do it soon, because if Barbara found out I gave this detailed a word-picture, it’s “published posthumously” for me.
Ohhhh, you are brave!
Thanks!
But I hear a little voice…
“Courage is often the point where inspiration and stupidity meet.”
It’s a good thing you have a sane woman balancing you out, Andrew. 😉
Janet’s supervisor is the legendary Murphy– one of the smartest dogs I’ve ever met. He’s 13. He manages to herd the whole Books & such crew.
It’s lovely, and lots of fun, to see your offices.
I work from home, I work at home and I work to keep home from becomong a lot of work.
Our dining room is my office, and as I sit here, I’m looking out into the woods behind our house. The vain sugar maple is bragging bright and loud, and preening in all its glory. The unseen skunks taunt me from the woods, daring me to try and make it past their last knowm address to pick the ripe, juicy blackberries that hang in plain sight.
Cord upon cord of firewood rests, stacked in neat rows, awaiting the white blanket of winter.
This view makes pondering so much more enjoyable. I can get lost in it when I need to, seek solace whan I have to, and I thank God everyday for such a blessing.
Because of complex issues with my feet and back, I cannot predict what each day will feel like. So, home is my office, and sanctuary, and this little laptop has become a huge part of my world.
Drawbacks?
The laundry piles know my name and call out in muffled voices for rescue. Bathrooms with 3 males in the house? Ugh.
There’s an antique dresser dis-assembled in my living room, along with 4 moving boxes for our son, boxes of car parts, a camping cooler, and a set of goalie pads.
Time to look out the window again!
We have skunks, too, Jennifer. Last year, I was sitting on the back porch … one started walking straight toward me, but instead of climbing the stairs to me, it went under the house … under me. Made my heart go pitter pat! 🙂
UGH!
One night, our son was half an hour late and we were getting mad. Once he came in, we barked the traditional “where’ve you been!?” at him. Then he said “Oh, I was home on time, but there was a skunk on the driveway so I just waited for him to leave.”
Now we just tell him to make noise as he’s riding his bike/long board up the road, and the skunks will let him come home.
Oh, that’s funny. Yeah, I got a lecture on how to capture a skunk from the exterminator. He said to always use a very tiny cage … so that once the skunk gets inside and the cage is shut, it can’t lift its tail! Ha! Sounded like good advice. 🙂 We have one that lives up by the house, by the fence and another that lives out on the trail … that we know of! 🙂
Sounds idyllic, Jennifer.
Jennifer, the description of what you see framed in your window is expansive and lyrical. I feel like I’m there with you, which would be divine I might add. 🙂
Thank you, and it would be lovely!
I was born to write, but not to sit for hours and hours at a time. Working at home lets me alternate tasks: an hour of writing, then do the laundry, an hour of writing, walk around while I make phone calls… The variety keeps me happy and energetic all day! (Oh, and my office is a door set across two file cabinets in a closet, but it’s nicer than it sounds.)
Brenda, I love how we all have different offices. 🙂
Love it, Brenda. For years I used a door and file cabinets for desks and work tables. I think it looks artful and gives one a huge working surface.
I looked at the laundry today and decided to run for it.
Wendy, a question – what sort of musical ambience do you guys have in your work areas? It would kind of complete the picture.
I’ll throw mine in to start off.
Twisted Sister, Queen, Demon Hunter, Red (NOT Simply Red…ugh), Van Halen, Linkin Park.
Johnny Mathis stopped by once, but he and Ozzy had a matter-antimatter reaction and blew each other up. Messy.
I’m one of those who works in silence but if I’m collating or doing some mindless task I’ll listen to one of my playlists. My most oft listened to playlist is one I’ve dubbed ‘romantic.” It has the likes of Stéphane Grapelli & Yehudi Menuhin, Eric Clapton Unplugged,Billy Joel, Patti Page, The Chieftains, Straight No Chaser, The Mills Brothers, etc. I know, no one else combines those but it works beautifully.
I prefer the music of peepers and crickets, with the occassional distant bark of a dog. Unfortunately, Benny (our rescue terrier) thinks he is my protector and my song.
Love this, Shirlee!
And so he is.
Among the many others, we have three heelers. All girls. When they start singing, you just have to stop and listen.
Great question, Andrew.
My ‘Write to Music’ playlist includes Tears for Fears, Depeche Mode, Coldplay, U2, The Civil Wars, Mat Kearney, MercyMe, Sara Groves, Nickel Creek, Alison Krauss, and Norah Jones.
Ohhh, of course, Last of the Mohicans. Christopher Tim’s Baba Yetu, (OVER AND OVER) Aretha, Hillsong, Genesis, Beach Boys, NewsBoys, lots of classical stuff, Kenny Rogers (Don’t judge!),the Les Mis soundtrack, the Frozen soundtrack (again, judging?), Mark Knopfler,
I have two “home offices,” depending on if the kids are home or not. I loved working at our kitchen table. I’ve had beautiful flowers on our deck this summer to gaze at for a splash of color. In the mornings, sunlight sparkles in the dew on the grass and clouds float past the sliding glass door (which for the moment is actually clean). And, I often have a scented candle lit (today, it’s cinnamon).
My other office is my “project room” where piles adorn the floors. I’m mastering the piles on the table. Slowly. But there’s always a place for my lap top. From there, I watch the most amazing sunsets as it goes down behind the Rockies. I can close the door when I’m in the middle of a scene, and it usually reminds the men in my family to give me some quiet. 🙂
The drawbacks to working at home for me are that I need order around me to concentrate. If I have a lot of piles on the kitchen counter, I have a hard time focusing on my writing. And, as has been mentioned, other things like dishes and laundry knock on the door of my attention span. I’m learning to take care of some of those things before I sit down to write. This makes me much more productive.
You’re like me– setting matters.
PS—I hope I find you on Saturday, Wendy. 🙂
Jeanne, please give Wendy a hug from me! 🙂
And a BAAA! and a head-butt from me.
Hey, goats will be goats, right?
Ha ha!! 🙂
Laughing out loud, Andrew. It’s a good thing I’m by myself. Trying to explain this to anyone could be, um, interesting. 🙂
Can’t wait to see you.
PPS—My mind is racing to get ready for leaving early tomorrow for St Louis. I loved seeing photos of each of your offices. You each have a unique sense of beauty in how you’ve set up your work spaces. So fun to put that visual into what I know about you ladies. 🙂
I’m also lucky enough to have a full-time job where I work from home. I’m a copywriter for a marketing agency. I love the flexibility of working at home. I love being able to cook my breakfast and lunch, and read, watch television, or run errands on my lunch break. I love spending the day with my doggies. I get a lot more done than I would in an office setting. Yes, sometimes it feels lonely, but I try to go into the office once a week (or every other week) to connect with my co-workers who don’t work from home.
All in all, I’m very blessed to be in this position!
Lindsay, it won’t be lonely for long. You’ll have some bitty baby company soon! 🙂
Haha, so very true!
That’s the perfect balance in my mind– work from home but be connected to something bigger for socialization and networking.
Thanks, I enjoyed seeing the work spaces.
I’m blessed to have 2 writing spaces. The first is a writing armoire in the corner of the living room for sharing time with family in the evenings while they’re watching TV.
I also have an office in our converted detached garage. This space has all the bookshelves, 2nd monitor, files, etc. It has windows, a furnace, and is fully insulated, but I need supplemental heating during our very cold winters. The problem is that I can’t have both heaters going at the same time or I blow a fuse, so one hand and side of my body is always cold. And when I’m really cold, my brain is more on my state of being than on my story. But at least it’s quiet. 🙂
Interesting. I’m such a creature of place, I need one place to do one kind of work. For instance, I could never have my quiet time in my office– that’s a specific nest in the family room or my chaise in the garden.
What about an electric blanket? And ohhh, yes, Anita, your winters are VERY COLD!!
I enjoyed seeing everyone’s office.
However, if I were Janet, Rachel, or Michelle, I don’t think I would be able to get much work done with a view like that at Janet’s house. I bet Fall must be beautiful there.
We were just talking about how bad we are about stopping work to enjoy the beauty around us. I looked at one beautiful setting on Janet’s front porch and asked her how much time she sits out looking at the mountain. I think she blushed when she admitted never.
I have mountains all around, and…
I lift up mine eyes unto the hills whence cometh Thy help.
Wendy, thank you for showing us the offices. I love the books, wood, windows, and plants in your creative space. How old is that lovely African violet?
I have my PC set up in the upstairs den where the morning sun shines in and I have a view of our large willow tree and the reddening Virginia Creeper that grows on the house. I also have an attic “woman cave” where I go when I need quiet time. I’m hoping to get a laptop for use in there since I can’t always focus when the den gets busy.
What I like about a home office is the opportunity to stay connected with the family and the freedom to write early in the morning or late at night if I get on a roll. The down side is the interruptions. I combat these by getting up before everyone else. I confess that I interrupt the others too (Do you think that a guy would say this? etc).
Blessings ~ Wendy Mac ❀
It’s give and take, right, Wendy?! That’s sweet.
The attic sounds like a story in itself. 🙂
Shelli, it begs to be a writer’s room. I originally set it up as my sewing space and as soon as I had the guys place a large desk under the window I felt the tug to get serious about my writing. It was an aha moment. ❀
Wendy, I love that you have flexibility to be creative within your family and your life. And, I’d love to see a picture of your “woman cave.” 🙂 Sounds inviting.
Jeanne, my husband named it that because the slanted walls make it too short for him to walk around in except the middle. It’s a flowery room with homemade items such as quilts, purses, and other girlie things. ❀ Blessings on your time at ACFW.
Wendy, that African Violet is one of the starts from Lauraine Snelling’s violet. I have no idea how old its mother is, but this one and her sisters are only about three years old. I love violets and have eleven different plants. If violets intrigue you, check out Violet Barn online. The tiny plants come perfectly packed and grow into the size you see on my desk in less than a year. (I use the amazing, but ugly Oyama self-watering pots http://www.avsa.org/faq-pots and hide them inside clay pots or pretty containers.)
I know, more than anyone wanted to know.
I used to keep African Violets. Had a lot of different color varieties, and was really upset when a virus took them all in the span of a couple of weeks.
Thank you, Wendy, for the awesome link. I’ve bookmarked it.
In my second WIP one of my characters has African Violets lined up in one of her morning sun windows. Some people may be tempted to live vicariously through their children, but I’m tempted by my characters.
I think it’s time for me to shop around and trust that my daughter’s cat will leave the new plants alone…or else I can put them in my woman cave.
Have fun at the conference. ❀
All your home offices sound lovely (well, maybe all but Andrew’s). I briefly worked from home when my last child was born, and I found the call of the laundry and dirty dishes hard to resist. I’m much more mature now, with the self-discipline to walk past the waiting housework with nary a twitch. I also spend 2 hours a day driving to and from the office–but it is a scenic commute, providing some quality time with God and creative inspiration.
I miss commute time. I used to call my car my think tank. It’s a creative setting for me.
This is something I have a plethora of lately. I live and work in different towns, and my daughter attends school in a third. Listening to The Secret Life of Bees this week. 🙂
I love this peek into behind the scenes! After being out of the workforce for 13 years, I can’t imagine working anywhere but home. I love the flexibility and freedom that comes with it. I think at this point it would be quite an adjustment to go back to working on someone else’s schedule and methods. I actually think I am more productive when I can be alone, with writing anyway. I don’t even like to write in coffee shops. I’m just too introverted!
I’m not a total hermit. When I was working outside the home, I did always enjoy working with people. But I was a preschool teacher, so it wasn’t anything like writing or office work.
I have to watch hermit tendencies. I love solitude. I keep remembering how often in the bible we’re told to “live in the land.” I have to work at connecting in my town– living in my land.
Too many times I live in the ‘cyber’ land, while choosing solitude over face to face interactions with those around me. Sigh.
It’s all too easy to become a hermit.
Since even riding in a car, let alone driving, is very painful, I almost never leave the mesa, and my contacts with people are overwhelmingly blog-driven, outside a very few personal emails.
A couple of things I do, that seem to help me stay connected, are working outside for awhile, whatever the weather, and always dressing for the day’s work.
Television doesn’t really help me stay connected. Sometimes it has the opposite effect – makes me feel like a bit of an artifact.
Wendy,
Thanks for sharing. About ACFW – I am not a member, but will investigate more. What organization(s) do you recommend for middle grade children’s authors? I belong to SCBWI and just attended their Michigan fall conference. It was great and there were a lot of Christian writers there – I think it is because we don’t know where else to go.
I love seeing your offices! Wish I could say hi this weekend at the conference, but I’m waving to you from my little loft office in our log cabin in the woods.
Blessings~~
Loved the glimpse into your productive spaces, Wendy.
We live in a small upstairs apartment, so my writing space is divided between the dining table and a desk set up in our living room. The trees outside our windows define California. Redwood, eucalyptus, lemon, oleander, and oak. At present, the squirrels traipse across the power lines with intent to strip the oak of acorns.
The Santa Cruz mountains are decked in a shawl of fog for Autumn.
I work two days a week as an office manager in a small town. Human interaction keeps me sane, and gives me fodder for future story characters.
Have safe travels to ACFW!
Jenni, your part-time work sounds ideal for a writer, and I love the idea that you can view trees and acrobatic squirrels from your writing space. ❀
The main reason I started working outside of the home is to give me a better balanced between work and home life. It’s definitely been better since I go to the office 4 to 5 days a week. Not sure if my kids would agree.
I have an office at home, so I can put my work hat on when I am doing book promotion work or writing research. The problem is it can also become the checking email, surfing the Internet, and playing on Facebook area too.
My family’s business is located at home. That means showing up at my desk in slipper socks and wandering to the kitchen for a drink whenever I want. The down side: my brother-in-law felt we could babysit my nephew since we were at home. Problem was, the baby always wanted attention and we didn’t get much work done. One time he played with wires and shorted out my word processor. The tech said it was the worst meltdown he’d seen. At least my nephew wasn’t electrocuted.
I don’t get to work from home often, but I can see the ocean and mountains and whales and bald eagles from my cubicle at work. No complaints!
I’ve been working from home for eight years now, and I still love it! On the days it works well, I accomplish work tasks plus house tasks or errands too. On the days it doesn’t work so well (yes, there are days like that), I let one or the other slide, or think that I REALLY need to get out and see what’s going on in the world!
My office has a big window that looks out on our backyard, and when the window’s open, I can hear the birds at their feeders and the muted roar and whistle of nearby passing trains–sounds I dearly love!
And then there’s flexibility! Tomorrow is Wednesday-with-Reed Day once agian. Love being able to pack up my laptop, care for my grandson, and get a little work done while he’s napping!
PS. Wendy, I can’t work to music either. Wish I could, but the rhythm of the music and the rhythm of the words always compete.
Hi everyone! Since I am relatively new to the B&S blog, this has been a fascinating glimpse into the working environment of agents and writers. Love the office photos! It’s also fun to learn more about everyone’s geographical locations.
Note to Jeanne T: I watch the sun *rise* over the Rockies 😉
Since I spent many years in a cubicle maze, blocking out distractions is second nature for me. But I do prefer to work in silence. (It’s noisy enough in my mind, with all those characters acting out!)
But here is a true confession…I’ve been decorating a writing room in Regency style. With my Jane Austen action figure prominently displayed, wielding her tiny feather quill pen.
I guess that’s what happens when the kids leave home…you can engage in some flights of fancy!
Have a wonderful time in St. Louis!
Welcome, Kathy!
Thanks, Jenni!
My husband and I started our married life in California…Walnut Creek. (many moons ago!)
What beautiful offices! I am ready to put a lavender in the corner. Thank you Wendy for this lovely view of where you all work.
I’m coming out of my off-line ACFW preparation frenzy to say thank you, Wendy, for making yourself available at the conference. I’m marking it on my schedule and hope to meet you there. Confession: I’ve never been to Starbucks. Could someone help me order? 🙂
Hope those of you able to go to ACFW will have fun and Meghan, ordering at Starbucks is easy. You can just be like me and get plain hot tea or coffee. It doesn’t have to be fancy.
I enjoyed seeing all those beautiful offices with neat desks. It would take me a week to make my desk look like that. Have you ever noticed how papers seem to reproduce if you drop them on your desk? 🙂 I also enjoyed all of you describing your work places. I have a office in my house now, but for years I worked in the kitchen. I have four windows so a view out on the green trees and fields of the farm. I see birds and deer and other small animals. But if I’m working on a story, I only see the people in my story. And I like quiet. No music except maybe my husband practicing his gospel singing in his room two door away. I can usually tune that out and keep concentrating on story. I should try working on the deck in pretty weather, but I, like Wendy, seem to need to be in place to create. Right now, all I’ve created is that paper mess.
One benefit I find invaluable is the fact that travel time is cut down to zero. No more getting stuck in traffic, no need to spend for gas. In fact, you even help the environment that way. But the hours spent driving back and forth from the office to your home could really be better spent on your work.
For the past 15 years my office has been in my home. The biggest benefit is also the biggest drawback: it’s quick and easy to go from home to work.
Thanks so much for sharing these office photos – they give me something to aim for!
Thanks for such a nice blog.I liked it.
I love Rachel and Michelle’s view!
I don’t generally work at home, but some days (in special circumstances) my employer does allow me to do so.
When that happens, it’s sheer BLISS. I get to keep the laundry going all day. I can stop for short breaks and do really meaningful things, like eating ice cream from my freezer, instead of reading CNN or FoxNews. Yeah… Like I said. Sheer bliss. 🙂 I could trade my corporate cubicle for that any day.
One benefit of working at home for me is that I don’t have to share my M&M’s. I have no coworkers to catch me eating them! 🙂