My Writing Space - Julie Miller

I'm continuing my series about something that interests me personally: writing spaces. I love to hear about that creative nook writers make for themselves in order to encourage the word-smithing genius. Therefore I've asked some of my author friends to share a picture and description of their personal writing spaces.

Julie Miller & I at RWA

As we go into this Thanksgiving weekend, I am grateful to have USA Today bestselling author Julie Miller sharing her writing space. Julie is an uber-talented writer and just a fantastic person in general. She has been such a blessing and encouragement to me as I've navigated the Harlequin Intrigue publishing waters with my first novel, and since her latest release, YULETIDE PROTECTOR, is her 50th (!!) book I've appreciated her guidance and support. When I first got "the call" that Harlequin wanted to publish my book, I told my editor that Julie was one of my favorite Intrigue authors. Don't I have good taste?

Julie and I met at the Harlequin party at the Romance Writer's of America. Let's just say shenanigans ensued, and leave it at that. Hehehe. Julie's such a Rock Star.

Intrigue authors - shenanigans!!

Because I love her so much I won't even tease her for having a monitor that looks suspiciously like it has a CD-ROM drive on it. :-)

Without further ado, From the Desk of Julie Miller:

1) Describe your writing space for us. Is there anything unique about it? Pretty normal place for a creative mind. Probably not organized enough for those who need structure, but I know where everything is. This room of the house is strictly "my" room.  Hubby has a Star Trek room decorated exactly how he wants with his precious things; my office is where I have my collection of collections: family pix and heirlooms, Pepsi items, Beauty & the Beast, antique/collectible toys, Beanie Babies, dolls, Mary Englebreit, Monet prints, etc. This is also where I have my shelves of keeper books, as well as reference books.  The official dog bed is in my office, too, and Maggie often naps right beside me as I work. Of course, any bed, pillow, sofa, spot on the rug is her bed, too, but she likes to stay close.

2) Is there anything else unique about your space? My dad built my writing desk.  He was a US Marine, a teacher, a master carpenter and the best dad a girl could ask for.  He built furniture for my brothers and me, as well as each of his grandchildren.  Besides being well-built and designed to my tastes, the desk is a wonderful memory of my dad.  He was always one of my biggest fans.

3) What do you like most about your writing space? I'm surrounded by things I love that

have special meaning to me. So it's a place where I love to go.

4) How long have you used this writing space? The extra bedroom was one of the reasons we picked this house. It's the smallest bedroom in the house, but has a big window for lots of light, and makes a perfect office for me. So, it has been my writing space since we moved in.

5) Any books or tools you have around your writing space that you can’t live without. Thesaurus. Dictionary. Baby name book. Sticky notes. Calendar. Wrist brace. Pepsi or cup of green tea, depending on the temperature.

6) Any organizational or writing space tip, tool, method, hint or amazing revelation you’d like to share.  Have a good chair, and make sure your monitor/laptop/keyboard/whatever you write on is positioned correctly (arms should be at 90 degree angle, for example) so that you don't run into back/neck/leg/wrist/eye/finger issues.  If you write a lot, you need to take care of your body's needs, or you won't be able to write for very long.

Julie Miller can be found at: www.juliemiller.org

Her newest Harlequin Intrigue YULETIDE PROTECTOR is on sale now.

Here's the cover blurb for Yuletide Protector:

HIS STAR WITNESS RECEIVES THREATS INSTEAD OF CHRISTMAS CARDS IN USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR JULIE MILLER'S MINISERIES THE PRECINCT: TASK FORCE

As the lone surviving victim who can put her attacker away in prison, heiress Bailey Austin becomes the key to the D.A.'s case against a notorious criminal. As lead detective, Spencer Montgomery must prep her for trial. But he becomes her personal protector when she starts receiving terrifying "gifts" meant to scare her away from testifying.

Spencer is a cop on the fast track to making captain one day, if he can keep his emotions in check. But as the stalker's threats escalate, he can't deny that Bailey has thawed his icy heart. Her courage touches him in ways no other woman has, and reminds him that she's more important to him than any investigation.

Sunday Showdown: AFI vs. IMDb (#9)

It's the Sunday Showdown: continuing my comparison of the American Film Institute's and Internet Movie Database's Top 100 films. 

So, believe it or not, I STILL haven’t had time to see The Wizard of Oz and The Dark Knight (#10). I’ve seen them both before, so I don’t know why I don’t just make a decision. But I’d really like to see them again before choosing, so I’m holding out.

So we’re out of order again this week with #9: Vertigo vs. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.  Both of these films have been on the list before. I’m not a huge fan of Cuckoo (although it got my vote over Dr. Strangelove for #33), but I do so love how bat-crazy evil Louise Fletcher’s Nurse Ratched is. Jack Nicholson is great too. They both deserved their Oscars.

This scene in Vertigo is pretty important to my novel!

But Vertigo, to me, is an indefinitely more enjoyable film. Not to mention, this film actually plays a pretty important part in my upcoming romantic suspense novel Primal Instinct. Intrigued? (See what I did there?) Well, you’ll just have to read it.

So, my vote goes to Vertigo over One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest this week, bringing the score to AFI – 50, IMDb -43. Going on the assumption that I still won’t have seen Wizard of Oz and Dark Knight by next Sunday, then next week’s showdown will be Singin’ in the Rain vs. Pulp Fiction. That’s a pretty painful choice. 

	AFI’s Top 100	IMDb’s Top 100 (as of 1/1/12)
	50	43
#6	Gone with the Wind (1939)	Inception (2010)
#7	Lawrence of Arabia (1962)	Schindler’s List (1993)
#8	Schindler's List (1993)	12 Angry Men (1957)
#9	Vertigo (1958)	One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
#11	City Lights (1931)	LoTR: Return of the King (2003)
#12	The Searchers (1956)	The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
#13	Star Wars (1977)	Seven Samurai (1954)
#14	Psycho (1966)	Star Wars (1977)
#15	2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)	Goodfellas (1990)
#16	Sunset Boulevard (1950)	Casablanca (1942)
#17	The Graduate (1967)	Fight Club (1999)
#18	The General (1927)	City of God (2002)
#19	On the Waterfront (1954)	LoTR: Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
#20	It's a Wonderful Life (1946)	Rear Window (1954)
#21	Chinatown (1974)	Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
#22	Some Like It Hot (1959)	Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
#23	The Grapes of Wrath (1940)	Toy Story 3 (2010)
#24	E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)	Psycho (1960)
#25	To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)	The Usual Suspects (1995)
#26	Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)	The Matrix (1999)
#27	High Noon (1952)	Silence of the Lambs (1991)
#28	All About Eve (1950)	Se7en (1995)
#29	Double Indemnity (1944)	It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
#30	Apocalypse Now (1979)	Memento (1990)
#31	The Maltese Falcon (1941)	LoTR: The Two Towers(2002)
#32	The Godfather Part II (1974)	Sunset Boulevard (1950)
#33	One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)	Dr. Strangelove (1964)
#34	Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)	Forrest Gump (1994)
#35	Annie Hall (1977)	Leon: The Professional (1994)
#36	The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)	Citizen Kane (1941)
#37	The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)	Apocalypse Now (1979)
#38	The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)	North By Northwest (1959)
#39	Dr. Strangelove (1964)	American Beauty (1999)
#40	The Sound of Music (1965)	American History X (1998)
#41	King Kong (1933)	Taxi Driver (1976)
#42	Bonnie and Clyde (1967)	Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
#43	Midnight Cowboy (1969)	Saving Private Ryan (1998)
#44	The Philadelphia Story (1940)	Vertigo (1958)
#45	Shane (1953)	Amelie (2001)
#46	It Happened One Night (1934)	Alien (1979)
#47	A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)	Wall E (2008)
#48	Rear Window (1954)	Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
#49	Intolerance (1916)	The Shining (1980)
#50	LoTR: Fellowship of the Ring (2001)	Spirited Away (2001)
#51	West Side Story (1961)	Paths of Glory (1957)
#52	Taxi Driver (1976)	A Clockwork Orange (1971)
#53	The Deer Hunter (1978)	Double Indemnity (1944)
#54	M*A*S*H* (1970)	To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
#55	North by Northwest (1959)	The Pianist (2002)
#56	Jaws (1975)	The Lives of Others (2006)
#57	Rocky (1976)	The Departed (2006)
#58	The Gold Rush (1925)	Memento (2000)
#59	Nashville (1975)	City Lights (1931)
#60	Duck Soup (1933)	Aliens (1986)
#61	Sullivan's Travels (1941)	Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind (2004)
#62	American Graffiti (1973)	Requiem for a Dream (2000)
#63	Cabaret (1972)	Das Boot (1981)
#64	Network (1976)	The Third Man (1949)
#65	The African Queen (1951)	L.A. Confidential (1997)
#66	Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)	Reservoir Dogs (1992)
#67	Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)	Chinatown (1974)
#68	Unforgiven (1992)	The Treasure of Sierra Madre (1948)
#69	Tootsie (1982)	Modern Times (1936)
#70	A Clockwork Orange (1971)	Life is Beautiful (1997)
#71	Saving Private Ryan (1998)	Monty Python & the Holy Grail (1975)
#72	The Shawshank Redemption (1994)	Back to the Future (1985)
#73	Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid (1969)	The Prestige (2006)
#74	Silence of the Lambs (1991)	Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
#75	In the Heat of the Night (1967)	Raging Bull (1980)
#76	Forrest Gump (1994)	Cinema Paradiso (1988)
#77	All the President’s Men  (1976)	Singing In the Rain (1952)
#78	Modern Times (1936)	Some Like it Hot (1959)
#79	The Wild Bunch (1969)	The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
#80	The Apartment (1960)	Rashomon (1950)
#81	Spartacus (1960)	All About Eve (1950)
#82	Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)	Amadeus (1984)
#83	Titanic (1997)	Once Upon A Time in America (1984)
#84	Easy Rider (1969)	The Green Mile (1999)
#85	A Night at the Opera (1935)	Full Metal Jacket (1987)
#86	Platoon (1986)	2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
#87	12 Angry Men (1957)	Inglorious Basterds (2009)
#88	Bringing Up Baby (1938)	The Great Dictator (1940)
#89	Sixth Sense (1999)	Braveheart (1995)
#90	Swing Time (1936)	The Bicycle Thief (1948)
#91	Sophie’s Choice (1982)	The Apartment (1960)
#92	Goodfellas (1990)	Up (2009)
#93	The French Connection (1971)	Downfall (2004)
#94	Pulp Fiction (1994)	Gran Torino (2008)
#95	The Last Picture Show (1971)	Metropolis (1927)
#96	Do The Right Thing (1989)	The Sting (1973)
#97	Blade Runner (1982)	Gladiator (2000)
#98	Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)	The Maltese Falcon (1941)
#99	Toy Story (1995)	Unforgiven (1992)
#100	Ben Hur (1959)	The Elephant Man (1980)