Elle Boon
The Purple
Pleasure Creator
I always wondered what “real authors” writing rooms looked like. Do they have huge desks with drawers filled with files that are labeled for each book, color coded accordingly? Do they open up their drawer with said file, lay it out and begin each day, prepared to write their next great novel?
Well, that was my thought when we bought our new home. Get a designated office room. Check. Paint it purple. Check. (I mean, purple is the best color in the world so clearly, purple was the color it had to be.) Buy a big desk to fill the room. Check. Buy bookshelves to hold all your signed books. Check. And then...write the darn books. Well, I can say check to an extent. The truth is, I have written several books sitting in the chairs, yes, I’ve bought three different chairs trying to find one that is comfortable, but I find that I don’t need or really want to be cooped up in a quiet room alone. I love chaos and people.
Up until we bought our new home, I had a houseful of people, with my son, aka Goob being in high school, and my daughter who was still in college at the time but living at home. Well, we sold our family home to our daughter Jazmine and her fiancé three years ago, and then my Goob went away to college last year, making us kinda empty nesters. In our old home, my writing space was in the large open floor plan living/dining room area. I’d claimed a space to the back of the dining room where I popped a small desk in the corner, and it was perfect. I could write and still feel as if I was a part of the family. You see, I’m a professional tuner outer, so noise wasn’t a problem. In the new house, my office, which I call the "purple pleasure creator," because I write romance and it freaks my hubby out, is on the third level down the hall from the master suite.
And then...Covid hit. My Goob came home from college because they closed the campus, and my hubby began working from home. Well, my hubby needed an office where he could shut the door in order to Skype and do Zoom calls with executives all over the world (He’s fancy as f**k like that). Prior to Covid, I had been going to Starbucks, and writing there on occasion with an author friend of mine. To me, I can literally write anywhere, on account of my superb tuner outer abilities. I could probably give lessons in it “wink”.
So, Covid didn’t seem to be going away, and my kitchen was a hotmess with all of hubby’s things lying about. So, I had a plan that would make everyone happy and it made me the good wife. Mind you, we have a guest room/hubby’s man cave on the fourth floor, that could’ve easily become his office. However, that would’ve meant buying him a desk, getting things moved around, and doing stuff I didn’t want to do, etc. Instead, I said “Take my office until things go back to normal. I’ll work at the kitchen table.” I was being soo good and nice. Ya know, being a giver and all. LOL.
Who would’ve thought we’d still be sitting in the same places, seven months later? In all honesty, I don’t mind writing at the kitchen table. I have two very comfortable chairs at each end, one of which I’ve claimed, and if I want to pick up and move, I just take my MAC and do it. Hubby has positioned his video feed to show my dry erase board, which is no longer has my things written or pinned to it. So now, when he gets Zoom or skype calls, he makes sure they don’t see the purple walls, or the bookshelves filled with scandalous covers and my awesome collection of chochkees I’ve collected over the years.
I do miss going to Starbucks and meeting Anna for sprints. We now do them via Zoom, but it’s just not the same. I love the energy of having people around me, and getting inspiration from the ordinary, that I twist and turn to put into my stories.
For me, writing isn’t a space that I have to plant my bum, rather a place that I sit and let my mind see the story. I’m a pantster who enjoys the journey, no matter where that journey comes from. Although lately, I’ve written at my kitchen table, watching my family come and go, loving the atmosphere surrounding me of home. I walk into my purple office, see my hubby sitting at my desk with my two dual monitors, and get a little pang of longing for my space. But then I go back down to the kitchen, make myself another cup of coffee.
I’ll reclaim my office once we get back to a new normal and my hubby goes back to his office. However, I don’t have to actually sit at the big desk to write. As long as I have my laptop, I can create stories anywhere. Or, if I have a notepad, my phone with an app, I am golden. Chaos, family, life, and music all gives me inspiration that I weave into my stories in some form, which if you look close enough, and know me, you might find an easter egg or two in each book I’ve written.
Elle Boon is a reader first and foremost…and of course if you know her she’s the crazy lady with purple hair. She’s also a USA Today Bestselling Author who lives in Middle-Merica as she likes to say…with her husband and Kally Kay her black lab who also thinks she’s her writing partner (She happens to sit next to her begging for treats and so takes a lot of credit). She has two amazing kids Jazz and Goob and is a MiMi to one adorable little nugget named Romy or RomyGirl (greatest job EVER) who has totally won over everyone who sees her (If anyone says a hair bow is too big they’re crazy). She’s known for saying “Bless Your Heart” and dropping lots of F-bombs (I mean lots of F-BOMBS but who is keeping track?).
She loves where this new journey has taken her and has no plans on stopping. She writes what she loves to read, and that’s romance, whether it’s about Navy SEALs, HOT as F**K MC heroes, or paranormal alphas. #dontlookdown is a thing you will need to google. “wink” With all her stories you’re guaranteed a happily ever after, no matter what twisted thing her mind has come up with. Her biggest hope is that after readers have read one of her books, they fall in love with her characters as much as she has. She loves creating new worlds, and has more stories just waiting to be written. Elle believes in happily ever after and can guarantee you will always get one within the pages of her books.