It's not just the internet which is keeping me away from writing at the moment. The new novel also has to compete with the builders who are currently rebuilding our utility room. The kitchen - my favourite writing spot - is out of action so I'm wandering slightly aimlessly, laptop, notepad and cup of tea in hand, between the front room and the bedroom, wishing for a study.

The perfect workroom for me (I've given it a lot of thought) would be a huge attic with skylights and a huge squashy settee at one end where I would sit in the sunshine (yes, I know we live in the UK) and think or read and an enormous desk - and no skylights - at the other end. Ideally, I'd love to have light flooding into the work area as well but direct sunlight and a laptop are not a happy marriage. Gardens ditto, which is a shame.

Would I have all my books in my study? Well, since we're talking about a perfect world, I think I'll have a library as well, also with huge squashy settee and lots of light - I know the spines will fade but I don't care.
Without the thousands of books the Other Half and I possess, the attic would be nicely minimal and, therefore, easy to keep clean. No carpets - just stripped floorboards with possibly the odd rug. In my experience the fewer surfaces I allow to accumulate in a room, the less I clutter it.

Dreams aside, the kitchen will be back in commission next week and, hopefully, the website will be live and I won't be delving in its innards 'adding content' so life here will be a bit more conducive to quiet thought and the tapping of laptop keys.