Michelle Griep – Tour My Office – Part 1 of 3

Shannon here: Michelle Griep shares a tour of her office plus a chance to win her latest Regency Romance, Brentwood’s Ward. Comment or answer the question at the end of any post dated Jan 26 – 30 to enter the drawing for a copy. Deadline: Feb 7th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Michelle:

What? No Candles? by Michelle Griep
Good news. You’re peeking into my writing corner on a good day. Bad days there are dirty coffee cups stacked like a Jenga game on the desk, chewed bits of paper on the floor (from my dog, not my anguish), and research books laying around like dead little soldiers.
As you can see, there aren’t a whole lot of romantic inspirations on those two walls. No photos of dashing young heroes—that’s what Pinterest is for. Here’s my Hero Board. There’s not a cut-glass bowl of dark chocolates. Hah! As if that would last even two minutes. And you’ll notice there are no candles or soft fabric or fresh flowers. So, what in the world inspires me to write romance? Two things that are invisible . . .
Music
Spotify is my usual haunt that I play in the background as I write. For each of my stories, I make up a soundtrack. Here’s the one for Brentwood’s Ward .Or check out my playlists on Spotify under mmgriep. Almost always it’s instrumental music that makes my mind wander and heart melt. Think about some of your favorite movies. It’s not just the story and visuals that touch a person’s soul. Music has a way of crawling into the deepest parts of the human psyche.
Scent
I’m not a hippie, but there are some lingering aftereffects of being born in the 60’s. I love the smell of patchouli, myrhh, and lavender. Not all mixed together, though. That would make me sneeze. The thing is that writing is sensual, and no, not in the 50 Shades of Grey kind of way. I’m talking the five senses. Engaging all the senses tends to make me enter into a scene more realistically and/or romantically. Sounds kind of mystical, eh? Not really. Studies have shown time and again that the brain fires all its pistons (disclaimer: my technical term for a big word I can’t pronounce) better when the senses are engaged.
There’s your peek into my little writing corner of the world. I admit, though, there is a chair in the corner at my local Starbucks that’s a little worn from my behind as well. These are the two places that inspired BRENTWOOD’S WARD.
About Michelle: Michelle Griep’s been writing since she first discovered blank wall space and Crayolas. She seeks to glorify God in all that she writes—except for that graffiti phase she went through as a teenager. She resides in the frozen tundra of Minnesota, where she teaches history and writing classes for a local high school co-op. An Anglophile at heart, she runs away to England every chance she gets, under the guise of research. Really, though, she’s eating excessive amounts of scones. Follow her adventures at: http://michellegriep.com, http://writerofftheleash.blogspot.com/
And all the other usual haunts: https://www.facebook.com/michellegriep, https://twitter.com/MichelleGriep, https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=47743174&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile, http://www.pinterest.com/mmgriep/, https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2754194.Michelle_Griep, and Instagram: michellegriep.
About the book – Brentwood‘s Ward: He’s there to protect her. She steals his heart . . .
Place an unpolished lawman named Nicholas Brentwood as guardian over a spoiled, pompous beauty named Emily Payne and what do you get? More trouble than Brentwood bargains for. She is determined to find a husband this season. He just wants the large fee her father will pay him to help his ailing sister. After a series of dire mishaps, both their desires are thwarted, but each discovers that no matter what, God is in charge.
Question: What is your favorite scent?

Come back Jan 28th for Michelle’s inspiration for Brentwood‘s Ward!