A Room of My Own: Eva Rieder

I had originally planned “A Room of My Own” as a limited run feature to showcase the writing spaces of a handful of writers I knew. This feature has been so popular, I have decided to extend into writers with whom I am less familiar. This week, I am showcasing Eva Rieder, (@evariederauthor on Twitter). According to Eva’s blog, this feature inspired Eva to clean her own creative space! So read it, to reward her for her trouble.

Q) Please describe your space, describing any features that make it extra special to you.

A) My space is a comfy corner in my office/guest room, and I painted it a light blue color several years ago to make the setting more tranquil. When the window is open the desk is lit just right, and I can enjoy a breeze while I immerse myself in writing. This desk is actually a table that I randomly saw at a side-of-the-road giveaway the week I moved in to my house (no kidding), so I snatched it up and made it my desk. It could definitely use some drawers, but I have a bookcase to the side and drawers in my printer table, so I’ve made do. I kept meaning to buy a bulletin board, but instead I just started irresponsibly pinning everything to the wall in the corner: pictures of my sister and niece, quotes and writing rules, and those delightful little postcards by Anne Taintor. The bookcase to the left is what I call my Writing Bookcase—as opposed to the other cases in the house filled with all sorts of books I have and haven’t  yet read, mostly fiction—and it is filled with writing guides, reference books, and various office supplies.

Q) What is your favorite/most inspiring object in this room?

A) There are actually three things in this room that inspire me. One is the illustration above the desk of a princess walking across a tightrope over a spider web, followed (led? chased?) by a cricket and a spider playing their instruments. It is by Arthur Rackham and you can see it here. My mother gave it to me when I was seven or eight, and it’s lived directly above my desk as fantasy inspiration ever since. (I always thought I was the princess when I was young!) The second thing is the word list by the window—I’ve been adding to it since the age of fourteen, a collection of words that I thought sounded pretty or that I just enjoyed saying because they rolled pleasantly off the tongue. Finally, there is a note on the board from my best friend of 19 years that she wrote in ’06, a response to an earlier version of my current WIP. She slipped it into the manuscript and I found it later, a note of encouragement and cheering that somehow only best friends can manage to pull off in a way that truly warms your heart.

Q) What rituals do you go through when you want to write in this space?

A) My ritual is pretty simple, actually: grab coffee/tea, kick cat out of chair, open file on computer. 🙂 I’m such a planner in my non-writing life that I try to fly more spontaneously when I write. Or, when I need to have a strategy, I sort it out the night before as I prepare for bed.

Q) Any other details you would like to share about your special room

A) First, yes, that is a Vampire Diaries calendar from 2011. My mother gave it to me as a Christmas gift because the show is a family obsession, and though I still haven’t read the books, I think the series is quite clever. We call each other each week to debrief! As for the calendar being outdated…vampires are immortal, remember? Who cares what year it’s from? 🙂

Second, there is a rainbow-painted bobble-head dog on my desk that I can’t seem to move away to save my life. My niece painted it when she was about to turn three, and whenever she comes to visit, she’s ecstatic that I still have it on my desk (she is now almost five). I tell her it’s because she did such a good job painting it that it makes me happy when I write. Though it originally just sat there, now it’s actually grown to serve that very purpose—I smile every time I look at it. Little ones can be so darn clever!

[P.S. I have included a picture of the mischievous Sienna, Eva’s naughty cat who looks very happy at the pile of papers now on the floor. -ed.]

Thanks to Eva 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”!

* Tracy McCusker

* Steven Watson

* Daniel Swensen

* Angela Goff

* Angie Richmond

* Ruth Long

* Lillie McFerrin  

A Room of My Own: Angela Goff

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”!

* Lillie McFerrin

* Daniel Swensen

* Angie Richmond

A Room of My Own: Angie Richmond

When Virginia Woolf wrote A Room of One’s Own, it spoke of a need for a writer to have their own personal space to read, reflect and think. The need for a special space, no matter how humble, is essential to any creative person.

I have decided to start a new feature on Yearning for Wonderland called “A Room of My Own”. This feature will highlight the creative spaces of my favorite writers and artists.

The first creative person featured is both a writer AND artist, Angie Richmond. She is the creative mind behind the 22 Things Exercise. You can visit Angie’s blog and should follow her on Twitter (@write_me_happy).

Q: Please describe your space, sharing any features that make it extra special to you.


A: My space is warm and inviting. It’s cluttered with a multitude of items that inspire me, including a statue of the Queen that waves (solar power is awesome!) My space is a shrine to all that is creative.

Q: What is your favorite/most inspiring object in this room?

A: Right now the most inspiring object is a headline from a newspaper that says “Imagination knows no bounds”. Different items inspire me for different reasons. How I feel in a particular moment, dictates which item inspires me most.

Q: What rituals do you go thru when you want to write in this space?

A: I make sure I have a cup of tea next to me along with paper and pens.

Q: Any other details you would like to share about your special room.

A: My space is ever changing. More items get added to my desk and corkboard often. Nothing has ever been removed.

Thanks to Angie 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”!

* Lillie McFerrin

* Daniel Swensen

* Angela Goff