My Writing Office #1

A few days ago I visited Stephen King's web site and noted that he will soon have an interactive page that will allow readers to visit his home office and see the various artifacts and awards that he has gathered around him as he writes. I thought I would beat him to the punch and allow others to see what kind of space I write in, and how vastly different our spaces are. So, here's the first of my photos.

Here you see my writing space. The computer is a twelve year old Compaq with an old floppy drive. The monitor is about shot, and often, as I am writing, it shorts out, smolders for a few minutes in a purple haze of ozone scent, and then, after a gentle pounding, blazes forth again. I have written a dozen published books on this machine and have plans to write more if it doesn't burst into flame. As you can see, I have many floppies. Nearly a hundred of them, in fact. These are loaded with book proposals, short stories, essays, manuscripts in various phases of production, and ideas that I hope to work on in the future.

My space is a mess. Stephen King cleans his work space daily and buys a new computer every year. I feel that, on a good day, I've accomplished a lot if I don't end up with second degree burns on my upper torso. I have no idea how many hours I've spent in front of my little faded monitor, but I keep hoping that I can get one more book out of it before it goes to that great electrical recycling bin in the sky. I have been saying this for over a decade.

Stephen King has a top-of-the-line computer. I have a piece of junk.

Stephen King doesn't use floppies. That's the only digital storage I have.

Stephen King is a multi-million dollar writer. My books earn enough for me to buy a sandwich now and then.

Stephen King is a household name. I often misspell my own name.

Stephen King has a fantastic web site. I have a blog.

Thanks for visiting my office . . . please come back tomorrow.