Workspace Wednesday welcomes Mia Marlowe
February 26th, 2013 | 
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My guest today is the absolutely fascinating Mia Marlowe. An award-winning author who writes wonderful historical romances for multiple publishing houses, Mia is also a classically trained soprano who won the District Metropolitan Opera Auditions and has shared a stage with Placido Domingo! If that’s not fascinating, I don’t know what is! I have long been a fan not only of her books, but of her character. I admire Mia so much for giving back to the writing community. One way she does that is with her “Red Pencil Thursdays” on her blog. She has used the feature to to provide fresh perspective to many an author who volunteered to have a piece of writing critiqued. As she describes it, it is a chance for the author to think in new directions about their work in progress, as well as to give readers a peek behind the curtain into some writerly issues. And at the end of the day, an author who helps other authors is my kind of author. 🙂
With that introduction, I’ll hand you over to Mia.
MIA MARLOWE: Thanks for having me here on Workspace Wednesday, Norah. What a fun idea! However, I don’t have a fancy office to show off. You see, I’m a condo dweller here in New England. While that makes for pleasant times during the winter when we don’t have to shovel and glorious springs and summers enjoying the lush landscaping around our building without pulling a single weed, it also means “itty, bitty living spaces.”
My workspace is a recliner. It sits in a corner of my bedroom. As you can see from this photo, I have writing buddies. Mack and Harry love to snuggle, one on either side of me serving as furry armrests, while I type away on my laptop. For active little dogs, they demonstrate a remarkable ability to lie perfectly still while the keys are clicking. They also give me an excuse to knock off every now and then and take a walk around the park outside our building. Sometimes, I do my best dialogue writing in my head while Harry and Mack are making the world safe from squirrels.
Of course, having pets means wear and tear. One recent casualty in the Harry vs Anything Chewable War was my beloved thesaurus. My friend Marcy says he chews books because he associates them with me and wants to feel closer to me. By that reasoning, he also wants to be closer to the wood worker who shaped the spindles in my dining room chairs. Fortunately, Harry seems to be outgrowing the chewy phase.
One of the best things about my writing space is the view from my window. We are situated on the Mystic River (which you can see here in semi-frozen glory). There are flocks of swans and Canada geese that eye each other warily from across the open water, like rival gangs marking out their turf. In summer, the river is alive with boat traffic and early morning scullers. When I get stuck on a scene, a few minutes of river gazing helps me center myself and dive back into my story.
Thanks for letting me share a bit of my life with your readers, Norah. In closing, I’d like to ask your readers what sort of view they have from their home? Is there anything there that comforts or inspires you? Leave a comment and you’ll be entered in the random drawing for a Kindle version of my newest release, Stroke of Genius. I’ll also be giving away an advance reading copy of One Night with a Rake (coming June 4, 2013) to a second lucky winner.
CAN AN ARTISTIC GENIUS . . .
Crispin Hawke, a brilliant sculptor, is revered by the ton. His works are celebrated in every fashionable parlor. And tales of his fiery bed skills whispered behind every fashionable fan.
TRANSFORM AN AWKWARD HEIRESS . . .
Grace Makepeace is determined to wed a titled lord, but her Bostonian bluntness leaves much to be desired among the well-heeled London crowd. So to gain their acceptance, she commissions the incomparable Crispin Hawke—and asks for love lessons on the side.
INTO THE MOST SOUGHT-AFTER ORIGINAL . . .
Crispin agrees to school Grace in flirting and the delights of the flesh. But when she catches the eye of a marquess, he realizes he’s done his job a little too well. And suddenly he knows Grace is the one masterpiece he cannot bear to be parted from.
WITHOUT FALLING FOR HER HIMSELF?
Claim your Genius today!
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Mia loves to connect with readers! Find her at her lively blog at http://www.miamarlowe.com, on Twitter http://twitter.com/Mia_Marlowe, and Facebook http://facebook.com/MiaMarloweFanPage .
Thank you, Mia! I’m marveling at your tiny writing space! Mainly because I would have expected someone with your limitless imagination and boundless enthusiasm would need more room to … I don’t know … sprawl. That’s why I love doing this feature. I’m so often surprised!
Okay, folks, it’s comment time. Tell us about your favorite view from a room in your house, and what it means to you or how it inspires you.
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I live in Colorado and can see Longs Peak out my back door. It’s so beautiful to see the Rocky Mountains from my house. I grew up in the mountains and it takes me back to my childhood.
I used to live in Aurora, CO, so I know how lovely the Front Range is, Cynthia. I love my river, but I do sometimes miss the mountains.
Gorgeous view, Mia! I see the San Tan Mountains out my office window. (Office aka shared hide-our-clutter space where I don’t write.)
I’m jealous, Erin. A “hide our clutter” space is singularly missing in condo living. I have to ruthlessly purge lest we look like we suffer from hoarding tendencies.
Hi, Mia and Norah! I often write in a cozy armchair too, although sans the fluffy arm rests. Those guys sure are cute!! And love the view out the window – nothing like a little dose of nature to free up the thinking processes!
What other profession allows you to work with your feet up? Wait a minute. Don’t answer that. They didn’t used to call loose women “light-heeled” for nothing.
I live in ND, so my view is fairly, ah, flat. But it does help to look out the window when I’m stuck on a bit of dialogue or a plot point. We do have incredible sunrises and sunsets. And yesterday when I got on the treadmill there was a gorgeous orange moon hanging outside the window. I probably need one of those treadmill desks!
Thanks for sharing your office space, Mia. That chair looks very inviting. I move my laptop all over the house to write because I don’t have a chair like that. You’re an inspiration. And your cover for Stroke of Genius is beautiful.
Thanks for those kind words, LJ. I grew up in Iowa, so I know about flat views. Except there is something majestic about being in the middle of field, doing a 360 and seeing the edges of the earth all around.
Cute post Mia. I love that your furry sweethearts make the world safe from squirrels. 🙂
Best Luck,
Rose
Mack and Harry do their best!
My view is not as lovely as yours, Mia. However, I live next to an open field so I do sometimes get the Canadian geese to view. Love your dogs.
I like seeing the geese, but they leave a horrible mess. The swans aren’t nearly as bothersome.
I live in Indonesia especially in Surabaya. I love my small window. From there I can see my garden and the front street. I like to see the activities of my neighbors and people who do jogging. Around 4 a.m. I can hear the sound of motorbike and the chatter of the birds and people. Sometimes there’s a seller with motorbike offering their vegetables. It can give a lot of inspirations just from the small window.
Love that you’ve included sounds from your window. I’m a very visual person, so I always have to remind myself to engage all the senses when I write.
I live in a condo near Tampa. How do you do it? Write like that, I mean. At least you have nice views! And you know that I love your books!!
My writing chair is very comfy. All you need to write is your imagination and mine fits snugly into my small space. When we move back to Missouri next year, I’ll have a real office, so I don’t have long to go with my “itty, bitty spaces.”
I guess I’m way behind the times because I use a desktop computer to write and thanks to my five-year-old taking over my former office, I am now in one-half of my husband’s office that has a view of the creek that runs by our house. Right now the rolling hills that lead to the creek are covered in snow here in Missouri, so it’s quite pretty. In the summer, if I scoot down in my chair, I can see only the prettily flowing creek and not the usually brown grass of our yard!
Karri, your view sounds lovely. If I had room for a dedicated office I know I’d enjoy it.
Who says you have to have a 1200 square foot office?
I wrote my first two novels in my recliner. My husband had built me a little table to set the lap top on. Now I have a little office in the basement, complete with desk, comfy chair, etc. I still like to come up stairs and sit in the recliner and write. The view is often better! ;o)
Thanks for sharing your space and your pets! Mack and Harry adorable! ;o)
Basement writing, huh? You’re a better woman than I, Suzan!
That chair looks delightful, as do your personal leg (and arm) warmers :). I love the view out your window and oh, you get to see swans? How fabulous. My dad used to work for the Conservation Department when I was growing up and we had Canada geese all around. The sound of “honking” takes me back. For writing, occasionally I move my laptop around,although I try not to sit next to a window for fear I’ll do too much ‘thinking’ and not enough typing. Living in the country, I’m lucky to have a small overgrown field of trees (with a deer now and then) across the road from me and a nice field with cattle grazing right next to my property. So where do I prefer to write–facing the wall LOL.
LOL, Barb. Your wall must be your imagination’s blank canvas. Your cows remind me of the field behind our home in Missouri. Last time we were back there, it was so quiet, I kid you not, we could hear the cows tearing the grass.
Despite new construction west of my home I still have a narrow view down the alley of the Flatirons in Boulder, CO. I love watching the morning light play off of them especially when they’re speckled with snow! I’ve spent many a meditative moment staring at them over a morning cup of hot chai blended by a local woman native to Delhi.
We used to live near Big Horn, Wyoming and had a gorgeous view of the mountains. I loved watching the light hit the tops and then slide down every morning.
Hi Norah. Thanks for hosting Mia.
Mia, I love that your dogs work with you. It’s so cute that they’ve got their little positions in your workspace. My dog usually sleeps under my desk or behind me while I type. My desk is near a window overlooking our wooded backyard. I’ve imagined many a scene staring out back. Jordan
The thing that’s really funny about Mack & Harry is that they both prefer the “coveted left side.” I suppose it’s because they can see out the window there.
Where ever I’m sitting, I have 2 dogs at my feet and a view of the forest. I love watching the squirrels and birds.