Confessions of a clutterer,

I am what I eat is a phrase we hear. I've just finished a mammoth spring clean of my office and I have to say that in my case it's I am what I collect.I like things around me--to distract me from my writing. I like toys to play with, pretty views to admire. And so I have pictures by Monet on the wall, as well as Robert Redford in an open shirt, and Redford and Newman in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. I have an Edgar Allen Poe bobblehead with a stuffed lizard sitting on it. I havea jeweled enamel owl sent to me by my friend Katherine Neville. Open it and there is a star inside. I have snow globes containing my book covers, an antique miniature teddy bear, a cow that moos when squeezed, Mr. Jeremy Fisher from Beatrice Potter and a kookaburra from Australia.

My favorites are a cube of Monet pictures that can be changed according to my mood--the snowscape is rarely chosen in winter. Instead it's the beach in Dauville. I have a tiny wooden top that a craftmsn in Udaipur India made for me. it spins beautifully. I also have a spinning disk with holograms on it.And I like wind up toys. A cat that plays a saxophone and mechanical teeth are the latest.

Then we come to my greatest treasure and distraction: my Celtic harp sits right behind my desk with music on the stand, ready to play when I need a break from writing. So what does this mean--that I have a cluttered mind? Or are these toys a demonstration of my childlike creativity? I'd like to go on with this post but there is a little box of carved African animals just begging to be opened and lined up across my desk....
I do have my award nominations framed on one wall, to remind me that if I don't get back to work, I'll never win another award in my life.
Please tell me, dear Jungle Reds, that you don't have pristine offices!

JAN: I just cleaned my office and already its a mess again. There's just no containing me. Or making me put things back where they belong. In my office, I keep my guitar on a stand next to the desk. Also the music I'm working. On the desk there's a framed photo of me and my mother, and her crystal candy jar where I keep receipts that have to be recorded. There's nail polish I never wear and cuticle cream I sometimes remember to put on. Also two brass tennis rackets that are paper weights.
On the wall, I have my Gerald Loeb award, a journalism award, framed covers of my novels, a poster of Aix En Provence, where I spent a semester in college and month last summer. Also three -- count em -- three bulletin boards. One is for moving around scene cards when organizing a novel or screenplay. . One is for stuff I don't want to lose, and one is filled with letters from people I love.

HALLIE: I have the riding trophy I won at Camp Tocaloma. I started the summeroff by falling off a horse and ended up winning this timed race around barrels. I have the award I won in high school for "Best Newswriting" and it always reminds me how stunned I was to win it. I have a collection of feathers I've found on our many bird walks, the badge from every conference I've attended. and piles and piles and piles and piles of books, organized by "keepers" and "on their way out the door."
RO: I can't say that my office is neat. It's a bit more tidy now than it's ever been but it is filled with things that I love to look at. I've got two walls of windows so that I can look at the trees and the birds. The telescope takes up a lot of space. The sofa and curtains are 40's barkcloth and there are lots of throw pillows. On the walls..dozens of bird and flower prints, a Hopper poster, a Vladimir Tretchikoff print (one of his blue ladies from the 50's) and a cherry blossom painting I picked up on the street in China. Shell and coral collections, ceramic deer vases, a china cabinet filled with vintage linens, a plastic angel that lights up, a pink flamingo stuck into the pot of a very large plant, a squeezable brain, three vintage lamps, lots of plants. And tons of books. It's a wonder I can think with all of this stuff here, but I love it!

ROBERTA: I'm not at home right now, but I can picture the slanted wall of my writing nook in Connecticut. It started out with a few photos taped up, but now every square inch is covered: photocopies of friends and relations, funny cartoons, my Agatha and Anthony nominations, a certificate of appreciation for my years as the faculty adviser to the Yale peer counselors, book covers, and lots more. I love looking at it when I'm wasting time. As for my desk, I try to be neat. But the further I get into a project, the messier things are. Unfortunately, this creeping paper affliction reaches the bedroom too.

RHYS: I knew I was among like minds at Jungle Red. When I am writing I have to have all my research materials around me, like a bastion, so I can swivel around and reach for any of my books on New York, history, forensics etc etc.They all came with me to Arizona and here I don't work at a desk but sit with my laptop next to one of our tall arched windows, so I can gaze out at palm trees and sunshine.
And I took some fun pictures of all the stuff in my office at home and of course I downloaded it to the wrong computer. Sorry, you'll just have to imagine how it looks!