Katie L. Carroll

Books for kids, teens, & those who are young at heart

Tag: writing space

Setting Up a Virtual Author Visit Space & Recording of “Balancing Writing and Parenting” Webinar

October 26, 2020 /

I’ve been working hard getting my new virtual author visit space up and running in my attic office. I’ll be offering a variety of programs through Talkabook when it launches soon. You can also book a program directly through me by sending me an email at katielcarroll @ yahoo.com. Check out my Author Visits page to get an idea of my offerings.

The recent “Balancing Writing and Parenting” webinar I presented for the Indie Author Project Expert Sessions was recorded there. You can view that now on demand. The office space isn’t visible because the video is only my presentation, but it was a nice way to break it in.

I know not all the little details will be obvious in a virtual setting (and the yellow wall is what I see when I’m presenting), but I really wanted a space that would also make me happy. I made small posters to give some interest to the slanted ceiling. My books are displayed with skull and corvid bookends. The characters on top of one of the bookshelves were painted by my grandmother. I also have a special pirate ship backdrop for PIRATE ISLAND themed presentations that’s not pictured.

I’ll be making adjustments as necessary (and I have to make up a new poster for a secret upcoming book!), but I’m pleased with it so far and I’m very much looking forward to connecting with readers there.

Attic Office Space Update With Pictures

May 20, 2014 /

I recently posted about how I’m getting a new writing room in the soon-to-be finished attic. Of course, the whole space won’t be entirely devoted to my writing pursuits. It will also serve as a playroom, a room for others to pursue their creative talents, and a workout room. I only posted one picture and several of you asked for updates with more pictures, so here we go!

Mostly empty attic. The green in the ceiling is spray foam insulation and you can see old duct work and the loose boards that served as a floor.

August 2013: Mostly empty attic. The green in the ceiling is spray foam insulation and you can see uncovered duct work and the loose boards that served as a floor.

 

Similar view...now with subfloor, duct work hidden, and a half wall framed out around the staircase.

April 2014: Similar view as above…now with subfloor finished, duct work hidden, and a half wall framed out around the staircase.

 

April 2014: Good look at the duct work, which will be hidden behind a knee wall. Where those boxes and the toolbox is will be a closet.

April 2014: Good look at the duct work, which will be hidden behind a knee wall. The spot with the toolbox and boxes and stuff will be a closet space.

 

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More from April 2014: Pic with the framed knee wall.

 

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April 2014: Framed wall and closet wall with stairway in view.

 

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May 2014: Drywall up and ready to be painted soon, view from the top of the stairway.

 

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May 2014: Drywall up, view from the other end of the room, looking toward the stairway.

That means painting comes next, and we already have the colors picked and the paint purchased. There was also a lot of behind the scenes work that you don’t see in the picture, like electrical and stuff. I can’t take credit for any of the work, though! The hubby has done a lot of it himself and we contracted some of it out, given the time constraint we’re under. What do you all think of the progress?

A Room of My Own

February 3, 2014 /

Writing Space 1My current home work space is a desk that was once my husband’s. I commandeered it when I started working from home because my desk is a lot smaller and the top of it is cluttered with papers, knickknacks, my jewelry box, and stuff. Both desks are in the room we call the library (because it has lots of bookshelves and I’ve always wanted to have a library in my house), but which also serves as the workout room (when we workout, which lately is hardly ever) and The Boy’s playroom.

Writing Space 2In a few months, we will be switching The Boy from his current room, which is the smallest bedroom in the house, to what is now the library. And my office space will be moving upstairs to a brand-new room, which was once an unfinished attic space used only for storage and is presently in a state of partial finished.

It’s got the important stuff like heat and insulation (flooring to come soon), but I’m really excited about the big windows. For some reason when our house was built, the bedrooms all had these small windows, and even when the people who lived in the house before us redid the window, they kept them small. Like I have to stand on tiptoes to get a good look out of them. I’m not a fan.

My new desk upstairs will be right in front of one of the new big windows (the picture above doesn’t do their size justice). Admittedly, my view won’t be super picturesque or anything, mostly the street and the neighbors’ houses and lawns, but I’ll be able to see trees, too, and the sky! Sure beats staring at the wall while I write.

Granted this room won’t be entirely mine. It’ll have a big storage closet (because this was our main storage area before renovating) and an area for toys and musical instruments (which have sadly not seen the light of day for along time, and though neither my husband nor I are particularly talented in our musical pursuits, we still like to dabble). But it will be a space I helped design, with a desk that I picked out myself and didn’t just inherit. And it’s on a different floor than the rest of the house, so it will feel more like a place I can escape to write, even if The Boy ends up following me up there to bang on his piano.

Because as much as I love getting away to the cafe to write, it just doesn’t happen often enough. And as much as I’ve made do with the space I have now, it has never felt like mine. So that’s what I hope to have in this new room: a space of my own. Even if it’s just a spot on the desk in front of my big window.

What’s your favorite spot to be creative?

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