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Our favorite authors give us a peek into the space where they write, research and yes, procrastinate. Today, The Beach Trees author Karen White invites us into her cozy sitting room.
I'm a creature of habit. I grocery shop once a week on Sunday. I change and wash linens each Monday, and do the household laundry on Thursdays. Each day, after sending my son off to school, I write for 1 ½ hours before I allow myself to eat breakfast. Okay. So maybe "creature of habit" isn't strong enough. Maybe "borderline anal-retentive?"
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Courtesy of Karen White
I have my reasons. I've published fourteen novels in ten years while raising two children, a dog, taking care of a house and all that entails, while being married to a man who travels for most of the week. It was either control the chaos and overwhelming number of tasks to be done, or let them bury me. I thought it easier to make shopping lists based on the floor plan of my local grocery store and the path I always take through it on my shopping trips.
How does this relate to my work and my workspace? As it turns out, not at all! As organized and efficient as I am in other aspects of my life, I'm ridiculously not when it comes to my writing process and the space(s) in which I choose to do it. Compared to the Karen White/ mom/housewife, the Karen White/author is practically a hippie. A free-spirited flower child, if you will (except I don't own a pair of Birkenstocks or long gauze skirts).
I don't outline, I research while I write when I discover I need to know more, and my synopses that I struggle to write for my long-suffering editor only bear a passing resemblance to the end product. Besides my morning-time writing, the rest of my day is regulated by my other life and I squeeze in writing time when I can.
When I typed out my first book in the late nineties it was in a home office with dark wood desk and credenza and the clunky PC perched on a side table complete with fat monitor and dial-up modem. As my children got older and I became their personal chauffeur, I spent a lot of time at horse barns and practice fields. My mind was always going on my stories, but I had so little computer time that it took forever to get anything written. When my husband got a new laptop, I inherited his old one and voila-a new world was opened to me.
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Courtesy of Karen White
My first real writing space was the inside of a 2004 Volvo SUV. I wrote the largest part of three novels in the confines of the cream interior (liberally scented with the aromas of hay and athletic socks). I actually found I was a lot more productive when not in an office. With the seat reclined all the way, I was comfortable-almost like being in bed-and the writing never felt like work. However, being chronically sleep-deprived, I did find myself doing a lot of unintentional napping. A job hazard, I guess.
Because I was so used to writing in a car, I found myself enjoying the long-distance trips for holidays and vacations and not just because I had an excuse to make my husband do all the driving. With the kids happily involved in watching movies or reading in the back seat, I was free from laundry, errands, and email to simply write.
When we moved across town six years ago, I decided it was time to find a house with more than just office space; I wanted a writing space. Yes, my husband was part of the purchasing decision, but since I spend more time in the house than he does so I figured I'd have more input (he still got his cigar-smoking porch). In the end, we found a house with not just one, but two places where I allow my creative juices to flow freely.
I do have an official office on the first floor with wall-to-ceiling bookcases for all of my research books. I have a desk (a new purchase-not the old cherry-wood banker's desk that I started out with) and pretty yet functional furniture, and mementoes of my writing career sprinkled liberally around the room and walls. This is where I do the business side of writing---website, Facebook, fan mail and everything else. And since my publisher went all-digital for the editing process, this is where I do my final editing. I have two large windows that overlook the large hill of our back yard and the woods and pasture that lie behind it. It's very serene and beautiful, but I can't write in it. Maybe it's the chair and the way I have to sit up straight. Or maybe sitting in an office seems like too much work.
![author karen white]()
Courtesy of Karen White
When the weather is fine (in Atlanta that means in the spring/fall AFTER the pollen coats everything with a thick layer of yellow and BEFORE the heat of summer/chill of winter descends) you'll find me on the back screen porch that gives me the same view as the office, but I also get to hear the birds in the bird feeder and watch fat bumble bees and wasps trying to enter my little sanctuary from my perch on a low Adirondack chair. I have to put up with the lingering odor of cigar smoke, but I'm currently working on redecorating the space to make it more writer-friendly. Please don't mention this to my husband as I certainly haven't.
But my favorite place to write is in the sitting room upstairs off of my bedroom. It's a perfect setup-allowing me to roll right out of bed and into my writing chair on days my son doesn't go to school. The dog doesn't get up early for anything so I can sit in my pajamas and write until he's ready. I have a little wet bar with my coffee maker (it has a timer so I always have hot coffee when I wake up) and a little fridge filled with my creamer and my little addiction: Diet Dr. Pepper. Nobody else in my family drinks this, so I'm free to have my own hoard right up there in my sitting room.
I have two large bookshelves filled with favorite books and photographs, and a fireplace that goes on at the flip of a switch when the weather is cool. To the left of my chair is a small bookcase where I keep my research books that relate to my current work in process. When I finished
The Beach Trees, all of my books about hurricanes, the Gulf Coast and New Orleans were moved to their section (yes, I have sections on my bookcases) down in my office to make room for all of my Charleston books as I work on the third book in my Charleston-based series.
However, the most important part of my writing space is my Velcro dog, Quincy. Since he joined our family nearly five years ago, he has been glued to my side, bless his furry little heart. He insists on sitting next to me when I write and I actually had to buy a wider chair when he got bigger so we could both fit (yes, it was just him getting bigger I'm sure). He's been at my side for so many books now that I'm not sure if I could write one without him. I've even included him in several of my books. It was the least I could do. My husband has suggested moving the washer and dryer into my sitting room to make my workday more efficient, but for some reason I've managed to resist so far.
I'm at the moment sitting at the airport in Charlotte, North Carolina writing this on my laptop, and I've been working on my book as well while flying on various legs of my book tour. I guess this means that while a writing space that is creative and comfortable is important and desirable for a writer, a deadline is what really dictates where I choose to write. But that won't stop me from angling for a beach house to stimulate my creativity. I might even accept a washer and dryer in my space in exchange for the sound of the ocean. Hey, it could happen.
![author karen white]()
Courtesy of Karen White
Karen White is the national bestselling author of On Folly Beach and thirteen other novels. Her most recent work, a moving tale about the South, family, and courage entitled The Beach Trees, was released this May. Karen lives in Atlanta. Visit her online at karen-white.com.
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