Emily Michel

I was a part-time Army brat growing up. My parents divorced when I was little, and I spent the school year with my mom in the western suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona. I spent the summers with my dad, wherever the Army sent him: El Paso, Texas, Norfolk, Virginia, Belgium, Memphis, Tennessee, and Louisiana. I met a lot of different people over those years, but still had school stability that many Army brats lack. It gave me a feel for how people speak and enables me to set the books almost wherever I'd like, since I've been to so many places.

I have a small desk in our family's library. I can close the pocket doors if one of the kids is playing a loud game or TV show, but usually I leave them open, still part of the family even when I'm immersed in my own world. I chose a small desk because I have a pile tendency: pile of bills, pile of notebooks, pile of volunteer paperwork, etc. With a small desk, the piles can only get so big before I have to deal with them. I also keep a small cat tree next to my desk to discourage Edgar from sitting on my computer. It works about half the time. I have four large bookshelves crammed with books and a medium one with my volunteer and writing materials on it. I have a bulletin bar with inspirational quote tacked up, to-do lists, to-read lists, and other odds and ends. On the walls, I am surrounded by photos and prints of our time in Germany, and if I look over my right shoulder, I can see out our sliding glass door to our lovely backyard and the foothills of the Catalina Mountains.