The second post in Yearning for Wonderland’s new feature, A Room of My Own, features the creative space of Angela Goff (@angela_goff on Twitter).
Angela has a blog, Anonymous Legacy, where her most unique features include her Visual Dare and also Sunday 7 writing challenges. Be sure to check it out!
Q: Please describe your space, describing any features that make it extra special to you.
A: My hometown has an amazing art community, and the old town square has been revitalized over the past ten years into a fabulously hip center for all that is quirky, cool, and uniuqe ~ two locally owned and operated (and thriving!) bookstores, a framing shop, organic grocery, European bakery, art studios, not to mention a good score of locally owned and operated restaurants, ranging from Brazillian to Irish to Cuban to veg/hippie to fine upscale dining.
All that said, it’s the location of Gallery Row -and the clientele – that really makes it a perfect writing spot for me. Despite what you see in the photo, it’s almost never empty, and there’s always a wonderful mix of people coming and going there, from all walks of life. Knitting circles, bible studies, students practicing their acoustic guitar, people breezing by after work or dropping in for an after-lunch coffee and desert — they all descend on Gallery Row at some point, making it the best possible place to eavesdrop and people-watch, which of course makes the backbone of any writer’s repertoire.
Q: What is your favorite/most inspiring object in this room?
A: The walls: (1) because it’s the original exposed brick of the 140+ year old building; (2) because they always have a rotating exhibit of artwork from local artists [also fuels my writer’s imagination], and (3) it’s along this wall that all the high tables with the super-tall chairs are arranged, not to mention all the electrical outlets. This means that anyone working on a laptop typically commandeers those spaces, usually facing out toward the street. Why? Because most of us are writers and we’re all people-watching and eavesdropping between sentences. 😀
Q: What rituals do you go thru when you want to write in this space?
A: First priority is to claim a wall table near a power outlet or power bar. Then buy a coffee so I can get the code for the 2 hour complimentary WiFi. Then write like the dickens and slurp coffee so I can reward myself with the WiFi later. (I’ve found it’s a great incentive to not procrastinate, which is always tempting.)
Q: Any other details you would like to share about your special room.
A: You know how I’m always tweeting about writer’s meetings with one group or person or the other? Well, nine times out of ten it’s happening here. There is an astounding number of rising authors in this town (and I speak in full confidence that we all will, at some point, get published), and I’m usually up here at least once a week just to meet with other writers, even if I don’t get any personal writing time in. The atmosphere is just perfect for literary conspiracies, not to mention that the drinks and desserts there are out of this world. (Starbucks, eat your heart out.) 🙂
Thanks to Angela for sharing her Room with us. Want to share your Room? Email me at annabbps AT gmail.com with a photo and answer the above questions.
Keep an eye on this space for more writers/artists and their inspirational spaces!
See the spaces of other creatives in “A Room of My Own”!
I loved seeing the hangout and I want to be there right now!! All that ambiance and free wifi too! FYI, I pronounce it wiffy. It makes more sense than Why Fye. It looks beautiful at the coffeehouse and if they also have knitting circles, I could stay all day. One of these days Angela, I am SO visiting!
Anna, loving this new feature! Really enjoying finding out these fun facts about the people we know on the Twitter.
Hugs to both of you!
Ahhhhh I wish you could come over for a coffee now! It is very VERY easy to spend a whole day at Gallery Row, I promise you. Lots of “scope for imagination”, as Anne Shirley would say. 🙂
And thank you, Anna, for such a wonderful opportunity!!
Oh, Angela, this is simply glorious!! Just looking at the photos and reading your descriptions make me want to sit down and write until the pen runs dry!! The architecture and creative community and people-watching sounds so very lovely!! Thank you for sharing your writing space with us!!
And yes, Anna, Jo-Anne has it right – this new feature is totally awesome!! Thank you!
Thank you! And it is a fabulous place – every town needs a coffeeshop like this…especially for the writers in the community.
That is a gorgeous place to write…and do anything else too! Would love somewhere like that here.
So conducive to writing and creativity!
I’ll order one up for you and send it right over! 🙂
Okay now I am SEVERELY jealous! That looks like the perfect place to write. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thank you for reading! Wish we could have a NoInklings writer’s meeting here…
What an amazing place for a NoInklins meeting. I’m in 🙂 Thanks for sharing!!