Read Around the Rainbow | Your Ideal Writing Shack

ReadAroundTheRainbow

This is the first month of the Read Around the Rainbow webring thing 😄 We’re a bunch of authors who blog on the same topic. You’ll see the links to the others below, and if you click on the links by the image in the sidebar, you’ll be taken to someone’s site.

Where Would Your Ideal Writing Shack Be?

That’s the question we’re all answering this month! When I’m frustrated with the people around me, I always tell my husband that we need to move to a deserted island where no one can reach us or come visit. I soon realise how impractical it would be to live on a completely deserted island and say that we at least need to live somewhere where we can’t see any houses and preferably by the sea.

I often mention one of those small Scottish islands where they’re looking for residents to hubby, thinking it would be ideal for us. Then I picture one of those islands and just know there will be people who will want to talk and have like a community…and talk 😨 So no, perhaps not ideal.

When I say I’m an introvert, I mean I’m an introvert. As long as I have my husband and a good internet connection, I’m happy never to see anyone. So my ideal writing shack would be somewhere far away from people.

Last week I went into our closest city to go with hubby grocery shopping, he’s the one doing the shopping in our family, and it was the first time I was among strangers since before Christmas.

I grew up in a coastal city on the Swedish west coast, and I miss the sea every day. We moved to where we’re living now – outside a small village of about 350 inhabitants in the middle of nowhere – six and a half years ago, and while I like my daily walks in the forest, I miss the sea.

Another thing about living near the sea is that the Hardiness Zones are more forgiving. I like to garden, and I have this dream of being somewhat self-sufficient when it comes to fruit and veggies, even though I have no idea what I’m doing when pottering around by the garden beds. I’m a discovery gardener 😆 and learn and forget as I go.

Where I live now, I have 141 days between the last and first frost date, so…

Another factor is that I have four children, ages 6 to 13. When I picture my ideal writing shack, they’re all grown up and have moved away from home. I see a small house in the countryside, preferably by the sea, where everything is quiet apart from the roosters crowing now and then, and the only one sharing that space with me is my husband.

I love my children, but have you any idea how frustrating it is to try to write with them around? I go up at the crack of dawn to get some words down before they wake up. At the time of writing this post, one child is home, and she’s baking in the kitchen. I’ve already had to leave my desk several times to help her or stop what I’m doing to answer questions.

Sometimes, I’m amazed I get anything done at all, but most days I’m just dreaming about that quiet place. That small cottage with no neighbours in sight, where people don’t visit, and where the internet connection is superb. The garden will be prolific, we’ll have more than 141 frost-free days, and the chickens will peck around in the garden.
I want to be a hermit when I grow up LOL

Writing shack