My Writing Room by Jenny Harper

I have a small study upstairs. It’s a nice enough space, but when I’m writing, I like a feeling of openness, calmness, and tidiness. It must be something to do with emptying the mind to let creative thoughts flow in. If I’m in my den, all I can think about is that I should be doing my tax return!

So my favourite space for writing is our dining room. It’s usually tidy, it has a glass door to our balcony, which has a spiral stair down to our garden, and in the mornings it’s very sunny. If it’s cold, my corner is right next to a cozy gas-effect fire, and I can draw the curtains over the door to keep out the dark of our long winter nights. I love it!

You’ll see that while I work on a laptop, I have set it up on a box so that it’s exactly at the right level for my eyes. I have acquired so many back, neck and shoulder problems over years at computers (and probably too many racquet sports!) that it’s really important to have my work station set up as ergonomically as possible. I use a wireless keyboard and mouse so that my hands are at the right level.

I gave the painting above the fireplace to my husband, Robin, on a recent ‘big’ birthday. It’s by artist Scottish John Bellany. I bought the swan flower vases years ago when I was editor of a magazine on the Scottish crafts, and the two books were given to us by a sculptor friend when Robin was elected to the new Scottish Parliament in 1999. They are The Scots Acts of Parliament and the books date from 1682. When we got them, they were falling apart and Robin’s brother paid for them to be most beautifully rebound, by hand.

Jenny Harper met Hazel Cushion (MD of Accent Press) at this year’s RNA conference and before the conference was over had signed a four-book deal. Her latest book, Loving Susie, is out now.