Office Furniture Envy...

Today I had to go and buy a new chair to use at the computer.

Now it's not that I have suddenly gained an office to do my writing in- if only- no my swivel chair was falling apart and it had to be replaced.

Have you seen how much adjustable swivel chairs can cost? I'm not talking executive types either- I don't have room for those anyway. They cost!!!

I didn't need new, second hand would be fine and within my budget.

So off we went to the Office Equipment place, based in an early 20th century building that looked like it was once a large expensive car showroom with attached garage.
Within was a cave of delight for any writer.

Filing cabinets of assorted sizes and designs. Big desks, curved desks, desks with draws and shelves, and then the chairs: black, orange, brown and blue; the plastic sort you find in church halls and schools and the metal legged sort that wouldn't look out of place in a hospital waiting area. There were a few bucket chairs in black imitation leather and a reception sofa...

It was hard to concentrate on the chairs when my eyes kept lingering on the other equipment, but I forced myself.

I bought a used operator chair with adjustable height and back, and enough wheels to move the chair with ease and still swivel.

There's even room for my wide posterior to rest comfortably on the blue seat.

My dear hubby lifted it into the back of the car for me and drove us home.
Then it was a couple of hours before I actually got to sit at the computer in my 'new' chair as the males in the house got to it first...

In the meantime I will dream of the day when I can have my own office... :-)

A Little Light Reading and Listening...

All writers need to read, but as I've said before I do sometimes worry that I don't read enough, but today's prize winner I can honestly say I know the story.

Congratulations go to the winner of the 2011 Orange Prize for Fiction, Téa Obreht.  A first-time novelist and apparently the youngest winner of the prize, which will hopefully encourage more writers.

I heard her winning book 'The Tiger's Wife' serialised on BBC Radio4 a few months ago and it was worth listening to. I'm not sure that I would have continued reading it if I'd tried it in print form, but give me a 'prize' book in an audio format and I'm fine.

I've actually started reading an Agatha Raisin e-book- Agatha, a Cotswold amateur detective, is the creation of M C Beaton. In the last few years I've heard other people say they've enjoyed the books, but never got round to picking one up myself.

That was until a few weeks ago when I happened to tune into Radio4 Extra (used to be BBC7) and heard one of the books being serialised. (Agatha is voiced by actress Penelope Keith.)

I may eventually read the first book and work through the series, but I've started with the 'Fairies of Fryfam'- this story follows on from the book being serialised on the radio this week. So far I'm enjoying both...

(I did not know, until I was looking the books up, that M C Beaton is also Marion Chesney- I've read her historical romances over the years.)

Audio books seem to have become popular recently. When I've been looking for possible e-book purchases there will frequently be an audio version also available. You can buy and download them to your computer, your IPod or an mp3 player, it's no longer just cassette tapes or Cds -but if you intend to buy one do check whether it's an abridged (shorter) or an unabridged version (full length) of the book.

The best thing about the audio format is you can do the housework, shopping or even travel on crowded public transport while you listen to a good book...