a good day to be writing

It's snowing again here in the North-East of England. Yesterday was officially the first day of spring, but where I live, on the edge of Durham City, the trees are still skeletons and the temperature hasn't risen much above zero. I've always liked writing on days like this when rain or snow is falling outside the window and the wind is howling; it seems like good weather to be inside working on a writing project, and the stormy weather seems to help me think about the story.

When I look up from my desk I can see the snow gusting around the yard behind the house, but this is what the view looks like inside...

My writing desk

Much warmer and brighter... This photo also shows the things I have on my desk at the moment while working on The Heart at War. The books next to the computer are copies of The Eyes of a King and Voices in the Dark, which I keep close by so that I can check facts and continuity. That's a chapter of The Heart at War on the computer. The computer is set to typewriter mode, which is why the text looks so plain! And the notebook you can see to the left is for notes and general ideas, some of which may eventually become Book 4 - at the moment it's mostly empty, but it's waiting on my desk just in case.

Current writing notebook!

So that's what my working day today has looked like, more or less. I've been writing all day since about 9, so will stop for now, but I might work on the draft a bit more during the weekend - I'm really enjoying the process of finishing off The Heart at War.

How about you? Do you have a particular kind of weather that seems to inspire good writing (or reading!). And what are the essential objects you need to have on your desk to get started? Feel free to add your comments below...