Good Luck

My Top Five Necessary-to-my-Work Items:
by Whitney Gaskell


1. My desk. I have a vintage Paul McCobb desk that I scored on eBay, after falling in love with one just like it in a décor magazine. My previous desk was a very modern steel-frame with a hideous green glass top. It was so cold and sharply edged, I couldn’t work at it.

2. Ice water. I am incapable of writing unless I have a very tall, very cold glass of water next to me. Actually, I say glass, but it really has to be in a tall plastic tumbler. Every writer needs to have at least one idiosyncrasy.

3. E-mail. It’s how I stay in touch with everyone, as I hate talking on the phone.

4. My pug, Zoë. She sleeps on a cushion under my desk, snoring loudly, while I work. Zoë is the most hedonistic creature I’ve ever met. She’s my role model.

5. A spiral-bound notebook. I buy a new one every time I start a book. It’s where I keep all of my notes — character sketches, background information, plot lines, bits of dialogue. I do all of my actual writing on my computer, but without my notebook, I’d be completely lost.