WHAT'S ON YOUR DESK?

LINDA L. RICHARDS

I have this gorgeous teak desk that's been following me around for the last eight years or so. It's massive and beautiful. I also think it's a little magical, because it seems to fit no matter where we put it. (OK: a brief aside is probably in order. My partner is the original renaissance guy. I call this fitting thing "magic." He calls it measuring and retrofitting.)

The desk has this vast surface. Just acres and acres to clutter up ... and I do, though all can be collected up and stacked neatly when, for instance, company is coming and might potentially want to peek at the (ahem) nerve center.

There are always two coasters on my desk. That's because I am the original queen of liquids. I'm always drinking something and usually have a couple of beverages on the go. Most often black or green tea (first thing in the morning), herbal tea (late at night and in the wee hours of the morning), cranberry juice (whenever the mood hits), wine (in the early evening) and water (always).

The water is a constant. And I'm a total water snob. Every day I drink about 2 liters (over 60 ounces) of Spa Reine water from Belgium. (I love the water, but I also love the bottle. It just feels good in my hand.)

Looking at my desk just now, it seems as though I like to burn things. There are three candles, each in its own votive holder. As well as a couple of tea-lights in their own happy holders. I don't burn the candles so much right now, but in the winter they make things feel warmer. The votives are all jasmine scented. Really good jasmine. I read somewhere that jasmine stimulates creativity and since I really like jasmine, that works for me. It's nice, also, when things are pretty and nothing looks prettier than candlelight, dontcha think?

Not right on my desk, but on a filing cabinet very nearby: a jasmine plant I've owned for three years that is blooming -- seriously blooming -- for the first time right this second. What a gorgeous plant: these dark green leaves and, just now, delicate little white blossoms really stinking the place up. Just lovely.

More burning: I have a box of Nag Champa incense and an incense burner on my desk. I don't actually burn it while I'm in the room -- too strong -- but I love the scent of Nag Champa after it's been burned. More creative stimulation, I think.

And still more: two small atomizer bottles are on my desk. (Tucked neatly between my laser printer and the hard drive that takes my back ups.) One is a commercial blend: Aura Cacia's Patchouli Sweet Orange. The other is one of my own blends: geranium, lavender, grapefruit. I love aromatherapy. Here's what I think: best case scenario, the blends I have really do help me sleep/relieve tension/stimulate creativity. Worst case scenario? My world smells nice.

Oh: and there's a computer. Front and center. It's an Apple MacBook. When I'm home, it has its own little plinth, an external mouse and a keyboard chosen for the loud clacking sounds it makes. I like a keyboard that talks back some.

What's not on my desk: a phone. I never talk on the phone in my office. Actually, I seldom talk on the phone at all, but I really don't like all that ringing cluttering up my head while I write. The place where novels come from can be difficult enough to access without jeopardizing the journey with something as intrusive as a telephone.

Linda L. Richards' fourth novel, Death Was the Other Woman, a mystery set in Los Angeles in 1931, will be published by St. Martin's Press in January 2008. She is also the author of the Madeline Carter mysteries published by Mira Books and the editor of January Magazine.
 

THE TV SET
(2006)

Written by:
Jake Kasdan

Starring:
David Duchovny
Sigourney Weaver
Ioan Gruffudd


After selling his first pilot to
a TV network, a writer watches
in horror as his creation
is transformed into something unrecognizable. 

SAY WHAT? Misused Words

Impale - to pierce with something pointed.
      They hang, behead and impale their criminals in the most agreeable possible manner.
 

Impel – to urge to action or drive forward.
      Why he did so he could not say, but something seemed to impel him to the act. 
 

A MOMENT IN THE HISTORY OF WRITING

Years later, with several successful novels under her belt, she remembered the old city and decided to write about the days of Caesar. Her publishers were not too thrilled with the idea, preferring instead that she write a sequel to her highly popular novel, The Thorn Birds.

But this author wouldn't hear of that. She went with her heart, even though she didn't know much about the likes of Gaius Marius, Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Pompey the Great, Julius Caesar and Caesar Augustus. She researched in big blocks, consulting her own library of about 2000 books on Roman times. After taking hand-written notes and retyping them twice, “it’s in there,” she said, pointing to her head, “and I remember it.” 

The result of her meticulous research became the best-selling historical novel, The First Man in Rome. It also marked the beginning of a monumental undertaking for the history buff: Masters of Rome. This successful series of novels spans the last days of the old Roman Republic from January 1, 110 BCE through January 16, 27 BCE.

Colleen McCullough. She came, she saw, she conquered.

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