The Big A-Z Reveal, Polar Night Character Closeups, and The Write Space with Ellie Garratt

Busy day here today! And just when I said I was going to cut back a bit on blogging LOL. 

First up, today is the day for The Big Reveal Blog Hop, hosted by Brits in the USA and Mina Lobo, so I am excited to reveal my theme for this year's A-Z in April Challenge.

I'm writing about Alaska this year to go along with the publication of my novel Polar Night. Alaska is the setting for the novel, and I had such fun learning about this fascinating state that I thought it would be a great A-Z topic. Looking forward to seeing what others have chosen for their themes!

And speaking of Polar Night, this is the last day for my Character Closeups feature on E.J. Wesley's site The Open Vein. Aleksei Nechayev is hanging out with E.J., so I'm a little worried about E.J.'s safety. Hope everything will go smoothly, as Aleksei is a dangerous guy to have around. Visit us here to get to know Aleksei and to sign up if you'd like to be included in my ebook giveaway.

Danny and Amanda already visited E.J. this week and had a great time. Thanks again to E.J. and to everyone who stopped by to visit!

Now on to the big news of the day! Ellie Garratt, author of Passing Time, is here today as part of her blog tour. I'm thrilled to be part of the tour and excited to have Ellie here to share her writing space with all of us.

Take it away, Ellie!

The Write Space 

Thank you for hosting me, Julie. It’s an honour to be passing time with you and your readers.

I believe every writer needs a space of his or her own to write, no matter how small. Why? It focuses the mind on the task in hand. It lets the business-like part of the brain know you are serious. It also lets other family members know you can’t be disturbed unless there is an emergency or they are bringing copious amounts of coffee and biscuits.

Like most writers I dream of having a room just for writing. It would have a large mahogany desk, fireplace, wall-to-wall bookshelves, a majestic view, and maybe even a dog sat by my feet. The reality for most writers is the complete opposite.

When I first started writing I sat on the sofa with a lap tray or used the dining room table. Both were great but meant I had to keep putting my writing stuff away. Then I bought an old writers bureau, which meant I could leave everything out all the time. It was small but worked perfectly. I’ve since moved house, and my bedroom now doubles as my writing area. In fact the reason I chose the flat was because the bay window was perfect for a bigger writing desk, and the estuary view inspiring (if you ignore the car park).

One of the UK writing magazines does a ‘Where I write’ feature every month, which I love. So I thought I’d share my current writing space with you.

As you can see I have a fondness for elephants–nothing at all to do with my name being Ellie. Honest.

On the left is my blog calendar. If I don’t note everything down, I will forget. Underneath the calendar is my current work-in-progress word count. The boxes contain all my writing and Star Trek magazines. The folders contain my current projects. I have a few good luck charms: a NaNoWriMo mug, robot USB hub, and various bookmarks.

Finally, the other side of my desk:

Neil Armstrong is hiding in the right-hand corner. You can just see the car park through the window, and beyond that is the River Exe.

So that is my writing space. What is yours like? Do have your own room or desk, or do you make do with whatever space you can find? Do you have a dream writing area? What would it be like if money and space were no object?

Book Blurb

Nine dark fiction stories that may just give you nightmares.

A man lives to regret Passing Time. A father will do anything to save his son in Expiration Date. An author finds out her worst nightmare is back in The Devil’s Song. A woman gets more than the claim fee when she takes out vampire insurance in Luna Black.

In Dining in Hell, the Death Valley Diner becomes the wrong place to stop.

A serial killer wants to add another file to his collection in The Vegas Screamer. In Eating Mr. Bone, an undertaker could meet an unfortunate end. A con man meets his first ghost in Land of the Free. And will truth finally be set free in The Letter?

Book Links

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

Goodreads

Facebook

About The Author

A life-long addiction to reading science fiction and horror, meant writing was the logical outlet for Ellie Garratt’s passions. She is a reader, writer, blogger, Trekkie, and would happily die to be an extra in The Walking Dead. Her short stories have been published in anthologies and online. Passing Time is her first eBook collection and contains nine previously published stories. Her science fiction collection Taking Time will be published later in the year.

Author Links

Website

Amazon

Facebook

Goodreads

Twitter

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