I moved into a new office earlier this month, so I wanted to share a glimpse of my inspiring surroundings.

As a writer I should be able to work everywhere as long as I have a computer, but for different reasons I don’t work from home. First, I work as a copywriter to supplement the Avalanche of Gold (*) that comes with short fiction writing, and networking is pretty important to bringing in business. Second, I start talking to the cat entirely too much when I’m alone, just as I tend to turn into Grumpy Internet Guy. Trust me, my head is a nicer place when I get out of the house.

Still, it rains a lot around here, which means I need a spare roof. I like writing in cafés, but there’s a limit to how much coffee I can drink (*), so a desk in an office hotel is pretty ideal for me. It helps me separate work and free time, and it’s also a good place to meet other small-business owners. We tend to help each other out with projects or troubleshooting, or by bouncing ideas back and forth.

There are about 10-15 office hotels in Aarhus. Most of them have white walls and people who take growth seriously, which is great if you want to grow. I went to see one such office and they promptly asked for my business plan and present their ideas for finding me an advisory board. I told them the business plan was to write more novels. They responded by saying that their in-house telemarketing department could boost my sales… (*)

So now I have a desk at another place called Galleri Grisk (Greed Gallery). It’s in an old chocolate factory with two basement rooms converted to ateliers. There’s a tattoo shop, a barbershop and a couple of fashion designers. Plus your usual contingent of graphics guys, photographers, and, you know, the odd text guy in the corner.

It’s not home, and it sure isn’t your everyday workspace. I like it here and hope to get a lot of novel-writing done from my new desk.

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(*) No, really.