If you’ve ever been curious exactly where I tuck away to work on your manuscripts, now’s your chance to take an insider’s tour of my new editorial office.
While we still have some things to move, organize, or finish, my new office is mostly completed and I have been able to work in it for several months now. Lane’s gun safe will remain in the corner of my office, as it is the best location for it to be and I had the space available. But our dresser will eventually move into our bedroom and another bookshelf (or two!) will take its place.
The North Wall
In one corner, I have a bookshelf, on which I have classics, client books I’ve edited, and other books I have read and enjoyed or that are on my TBR list. On the bottom shelf, I have some Red Quill swag that I send out to clients when we complete a project or just because I am thinking about them. The plush toy is Wailin’ Jenny from my lovely client’s book, Here Comes Wailin’ Jenny (Wailin’ Jenny sometimes has sleepovers with my daughters).
Before The Fire, I had an amazing collection of leather and clothbound books that I’d collected over the years from hunting in old used bookstores, several classics, tons of books from my creative writing classes when I was working toward my BA, and nearly all the Folger’s editions of Shakespeare’s plays. Of course, all of those are gone now and my collection must start over, but I have managed to begin regathering some great books since then.
On the other side of the bookshelf (and the temporary dresser) sits a printer my uncle bought about a decade ago and never opened, which he ultimately gifted to me. I mostly work digitally, but it is nice to be able to print the occasional document out, especially around tax season. In the little closet that angles under the stairs (flooring still to be done in that space), I have shelves that store paperwork, extra office supplies, and more Red Quill swag to send to my clients.
The West Wall
There’s a dog bed under one of the windows for my best work buddy, Bo (named for Bo Duke). Outside this window is a plum tree that is currently heavy with developing plums (in the photo on the right, it was in full bloom), and beyond that, a creek. That same wall sits to my back as I work at my desk.
The Art Corner
In the corner where west meets south sits a shredder and an aqua garbage can. Above it, you’ll see my art corner. On the west wall, I have some custom decor to get me in the book-editing mood, including the original artwork for my upgraded quill that was sketched by my tattoo artist and friend (Thanks, Brant!), a canvas print of my logo (there are some exciting changes that will be announced very soon!), and a piece of poster board full of stickers. At the bottom of the poster board, I sketched an open book, and above it, I placed vinyl stickers that hold meaning to me or bring me joy, including a couple I designed myself and send to clients. The poster board still has some blank space for more stickers to be filled in, and I can’t believe I don’t have any horses on it yet! On the south wall, you’ll see a calendar and all sorts of homemade artwork from my daughters including a couple “books” they created, all displayed with pride.
The Editorial Desk Setup
The window on the south wall in my office faces the covered porch, the stretch of grass in the front yard, and a red camellia that was in full bloom as I wrote this. Next to this window sits my desk. I keep it on the minimalist side—neat and organized. Over the back of my chair, I have a small blanket that fits perfectly over my lap for those colder mornings/days. And besides my wine-red brand color found elsewhere in my office, you’ll notice my favorite color, aqua blue, within the little details of my desk items. I find this color and organization to be a very soothing duo. With a calm space in front of me, I can focus and get a lot of quality work done.
On the corner of my desk, sits a business card holder that belonged to my late father-in-law who shared my passion for horseback riding and was a fantastic team roper (he used to practice on my horse as we rode the trails together!). Behind it is my signature wine-red quill and ink set (behind it, you’ll notice my new barn door is hung, but the trim has yet to be installed). Next to all this usually sits either a book or my Kindle for work breaks. I also have an organizer full of pens, notebooks, highlighters, Sharpies, letter openers, scissors, Wite-Out, Post-its, and more essentials. The orchid was a Valentine’s gift from Lane earlier this year. While beautiful, the main reason he chose the orchid was due to the simple instructions to care for it—as much as I love nature, I have anything but a green thumb!
On the opposite corner of my desk, I keep a tissue box. And in front, I have a mousepad and keyboard wrist support (this makes a world of difference when you spend several hours a day working on a manuscript!). These were a matching set, which I thought were both cute and funny (did you notice the fashionable cows?). I also have two drink coasters on my desk because I am often double-fisting coffee/earl grey tea and water/iced tea. One came with the mousepad set and the other I got last summer at the local apple harvest festival.
While seated at my desk, I silence my phone, but keep it face up on my monitor riser. This way, I can see if the school is calling about one of my daughters and otherwise ignore things that can wait until later. For this same reason, I have text notifications turned off on my monitor.
The top left drawer is where I hide the tape, stapler, eyeglass cleaner, lotion, and an external hard drive to ensure I don’t lose everything if something were to go wrong with my computer (I perform a weekly backup). The middle top drawer contains more notebooks, checkbooks, eyeglasses, and sometimes snacks (Shhh…don’t tell my daughters!). And the bottom left drawer holds my iPad, which I use for annotations to PDF or image files that I sometimes work with for children’s books or nonfiction books. This drawer also holds my beloved, mostly retired MacBook, which I worked on up until my new office was completed and I made the switch to my even more beloved iMac. Looking at the thirteen-inch screen of my MacBook compared to my new desktop monitor seems crazy now! No wonder I need to wear glasses when I work at the computer.
The background of my computer currently displays one of my favorite drone shots Lane took of our new hometown—the redwoods are my happy place. Other times, you might find a BTE (between the ears) shot of me riding my horse on the trail or of my daughters on some adventure. Over the Apple brand on my monitor, you’ll notice I customized it with a vinyl sticker—of a book, of course! Also on my riser, you’ll see a few desk companions, including the little balloon dog my oldest gave me, the snowflake obsidian my youngest gave me, and the smooth green rock my husband gave me. These things might occasionally be accompanied by Post-its with notes of things I don’t want to forget to do, like an idea for a new Tips for Writers article, a blog post, or a new YouTube video. More extensive notes for these ideas or from webinars I’ve taken are written in a notebook, and time-sensitive tasks are kept in the calendar in my iPhone.
On my iMac’s Dock, I keep the Calculator for figuring out turnaround times to reserve for certain projects (I have a custom equation I created that is typically spot on for my pace). I also keep Safari there, on which I pull up the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) and the Unabridged Dictionary by Merriam-Webster, plus a third tab for Googling and fact-checking. Next is Microsoft Word, of course—an editor’s favorite word processor. I use Microsoft Excel for many things, including accounts receivable and client email and physical addresses to check in or mail swag to. The Calendar app mirrors the same one on my phone, which comes in very handy to keep up with my daily tasks and goals. Next comes the Mail app—always open to alert me to new inquiries or communications with existing clients so I can reply in a timely manner, something I pride myself on.
There’s a chunk of personal apps that follow, relics of my pre-Red Quill days such as iMessage, iPhotos, and FaceTime. These are mostly unused with rare exceptions, such as when I’m searching for a photo to use in a blog post. I also keep the Launchpad, App Store, and System Settings handy, just in case. Next, I have the Time Machine app that coincides with my external hard drive, Podcasts so I can listen to The Editing Podcast with Louise Harnby and Denise Cowle during my lunch break, and Zoom for my book club meetings (and possibly future coaching sessions with clients . . . hint, hint). After that, you’ll see my recently used apps, often including Adobe for contracts, Contacts for emails, and Preview for photos used in blog posts.
Thanks for Taking the Red Quill Tour!
And now you know where all the magic happens! Thank you for taking this little tour of the new Red Quill editorial office I am so proud to work in! Don’t forget to keep me busy by getting in touch and securing your manuscript’s spot on my calendar. 😉
