Literary Indiana: Scratch Pads

Every picture tells a story, none more so than these of our authors’ writing rooms.
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Thomas French Writing Room
Thomas French, nonfiction writer:
“The wall I face is a collage made up of things I love and things that have worked their way inside me. A photo-booth shot of two high-school girls I wrote about decades ago in South of Heaven; press passes from around the world; a story my son Sam wrote in fourth grade about falling asleep in our apartment to the sound of neighbors yelling in the unit below; a fortune cookie note that says, ‘To be a man means constant revision like correcting a writing.’”

 

Michael Shelden Writing Room
Michael Shelden, biographer: “We live in a very wooded area, and this room is at the back of our house. I’ve been a big fan my whole life of Henry David Thoreau, and I love that idea of writers working as close as they can to nature. Deer will routinely walk right past the window.”

 

James Alexander Thom Writing Room
James Alexander Thom, historical fiction author: “Any window I look out, I see trees and hills and countryside. I love the beauty of it. I love to watch the squirrels. They run around through the treetops constantly, and they always amaze me—aerial acrobats.”

 

Margaret McMullan writing room
Margaret McMullan, novelist: “Coffee and being able to get to the desk are important. My dog Samantha sleeping nearby is important, too. Samantha usually rests under the desk so that I can tuck my feet near her.”

 

Opening SpreadLiterary Indiana: The Next Chapter
Indiana’s Fiction Writers
Indiana’s Nonfiction Writers
Indiana’s Poets