Musings: My Lair

I really think, as a writer and if you can swing it, you should set yourself up with a closed door lair in which to immerse yourself in what you love. This makes a great working environment for the muse - at least for me it does. And that’s what I’ve managed to do. (And it only took 35 years to accomplish . . .)

So in Lue of a book review today I thought I would give you a brief tour of my Lair and my book collection as well as many other knick-knacks I’ve stored away over my lifetime.

And yes, it is my office, my Lair, my haven away from Mundane existence and I really enjoy it - muchly. And it is in the basement (but my basement, not my Moms. Felt the need to clarify that one. Thanks to Shat for that.)

This first pick is the back wall of my Lair complete with six bookshelves fully loaded with some of my collection of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and Winston Churchill’s Second World War books. My collection all told amounts to somewhere over 2000 books all lovingly collected for the past 25 years. And, I am still collecting a lot. I know, I have a problem but I don’t think it will make me blind, so I’m living with it and dealing.

Things of note? Well the books are, despite the seemingly random stacking, in alphabetical order (can you say rectal retention? I knew you could. In defence I say, it helps me find what I’m looking for a lot faster than random heaping.) The first four bookshelves are books I have yet to read, and starting on bookshelf five and continuing around the room (out of this picture but in the next one) are books I have read.

My DVD collection sits on top of the last four bookshelves too. All science fiction from the Terminator, Alien and Matrix movies to B5, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, etc, etc.

Oh, and pictures on the wall are from one of the Tolkien calendars (can’t remember the year - may have been 1980 or so) you can see on the far wall and above bookshelf one.

Now, on to bookshelf picture number two.

What to say about this one. Well first off you can see above pictures of actresses and actors. Yes they are signed and you can read about them in this post I did earlier in the year. And that is a plush Cthulhu you see between them. Isn’t he just cute?

Oh, and a Duck’s Unlimited Limited edition Ursus Horribilis Bronze statue head. Got that from my folks for Christmas about ten years back. So, these bookshelves are a continuation of "read" books and they are completely filled to the floor. Oh, and the table in front I got for ten dollars at a yard sale. It is a full size kitchen table about the era of "Leave It To Beaver" but very solid and functional.

The last pic is my workstation.

Yes, that is the Discovery from 2001 on the desktop screen and a Talosian is keeping a vigilant watch over my tower case. Completing my immediate view (as I sit working) is an old Lord of the Rings Poster (years before the movie came out - yes, even the animated one) and a poster of the Solar system so I can ground myself in this universe if my mind wanders too far afield.

Well that ends the tour, and now I need to get back to writing my script (the outline you can see is four pages and sitting on top of a science book.

I hope this little tour was worth the visit. Oh, and I am currently reading a longish book, so didn’t finish it for today, but should have it consumed and up for review next week.

Any questions on my lair contents - just post a comment and I will try to answer.