The hardest thing for me to do as a writer is to get in the chair, stay in the chair and write.

I, like a lot of creatives, need particular environments to allow them to portal into the world they need to create.   That’s why for thirty years I have also decorated and redecorated many a writing desk with the right lamp and perfect chair.   I have searched all over town for the perfect coffee houses that have the right corner with the best light with nearby outlets.  I have studied their flow of business patterns to know the right time to arrive so that I can quickly tap into my inspiration before the meter runs out on my car or I’m asked to order more food I can’t afford to justify occupying the choice table for four more hours.  As I became a working writer, I joined the wave of creatives getting exclusive memberships at the Soho House or other swanky and beautifully appointed membership clubs, that always start off hip and cool to write in but end up so cool it becomes the place to see and be seen— aka no work getting done but running up big bills you won’t be able to pay for if you don’t get the script done!  Then it was expensive get away trips to inspiring lands— Girlfriends was written in Palm Springs; The Game was written in Anguilla; Sparkle was written in the Amazon of Belize; Being Mary Jane was written in the French Quarter of New Orleans and Love Is___ was written in Martha’s Vineyard. And now during the pandemic my writing desk is co-opted by a child’s need for a remote learning set up and I am reminded why I work outside of the house.  At home, I am wife, mother, employer… I need a place to be a writer.  A place that is inspiring like Soho House and the places I’ve traveled but also conducive to the focus a writer needs to craft and complete the work.  That’s why the number one priority with my Netflix deal was to find and curate that special space for me to produce what I hope will be my best work.