They say a woman’s home is her castle. If that’s true, then a writer’s workspace is the enchanted garden on the castle grounds. The place where ideas germinate like seeds, flourish in secret, and spring to life, usually in unwieldy fashion. So, welcome to my little idea garden. Step inside the gate and let me show you around.
I’ve spent countless hours at this desk, crafting stories and writing reports for my day job as a forensic psychologist. Because I spend so much time here, I splurged on an ergonomic desk chair from Humanscale and a unique lamp from Anthropologie, one of my favorite stores. Truthfully, my desk never looks quite this neat…I suppose every garden has its weeds. Usually, it’s littered with notes to myself, client files, and occasionally, the errant snack wrapper. A pantser turned part-time plotter, I often have a stack of post-its nearby to track the twists and turns of my latest tale. For many, many years, my trusted feline companion, Shiloh, slept on a bed near the window. It’s been one year since he left me, and the spot he vacated will soon be home to a new furry friend.
Lording above it all is “Curly,” the Great White captured by photographer Bo Bridges in the Guadalupe Islands. Bridges, sometimes called the Indiana Jones of photography, is known to do a daredevil thing or two to get a shot, including hanging out of plane window and climbing an active volcano. But leaving the safety of a shark cage, with Curly swimming nearby, might be his most impressive feat yet. When I saw this photograph in his Manhattan Beach gallery, I knew I had to have it. Nothing says thriller writer quite so poetically as that single black eye and those sharp white teeth.
My sliding glass door overlooks a courtyard and gives me a partial view into my neighbor’s curtainless window. It’s the perfect set-up for a novel. And like a scene from A.J. Finn’s The Woman in the Window, I imagine bearing witness to a cloaked figure committing a heinous crime on a dark and stormy night. While in real life, I’m treated to my neighbor’s large, fluffy cats who enjoy reclining in the sun and gazing out at their vast domain.
Come closer now. Take a peek at the small curiosities in my garden, the little bits and baubles I’ve collected over the years.
My If you were in my novel, you’d be dead by now placard: Gifted by a friend, who knows me a little too well.
My See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil monkeys: Found at Uncommon Objects in Austin, Texas, a very unusual store that makes a cameo appearance in my book, Lucky Girl.
My Baccarat pigand Everything is possible paper weight: Gifted to me by my special someone, who believes in my dreams just as much—and maybe more—than I do.
My Lack of charisma can be fatal placard: Purchased at least twenty years ago, again from Anthropologie. Because when you’re writing about murder, anything can be fatal.
Looking at my “garden” from an outsider’s perspective, I imagine it may seem a bit bright and cheery—all daisies and peonies—for a person whose books (and day job) land solidly on the dark side. But beware, dear reader. Do not judge an author by her workspace. In the garden of a thriller writer, you never know where the bodies are buried.
Forensic psychologist by day, novelist by night, Ellery Kane has been writing–professionally and creatively–for as long as she can remember. Just like many of her main characters, Ellery loves to ask why, which is the reason she became a psychologist in the first place. Real life really is stranger than fiction, and Ellery’s writing is often inspired by her day job. Evaluating violent criminals and treating trauma victims, she has gained a unique perspective on the past and its indelible influence on the individual. And she’s heard her fair share of real life thrillers.
Ellery lives in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, a picturesque setting that provides the backdrop for many of her novels. If you don’t find Ellery interviewing murderers behind prison walls or pecking away at her latest novel, she is probably at the gym landing a solid jab-cross to a punching bag; riding bicycles with her special someone; or enjoying a movie the old-fashioned way–at the theater with popcorn and Milk Duds.
Ellery was previously selected as one of ten semifinalists in the MasterClass James Patterson Co-Author Competition and is the author of the Doctors of Darkness, Rockwell and Decker, and Legacy Series, with two standalone thrillers from Bookouture coming in 2022.
If you’d like to receive a notification when new books are released, please sign up for Ellery’s newsletter at ellerykane.com. You can also follow Ellery on Twitter: @ellerykane or Instagram: ellerykaneauthor. Ellery also signs e-books on authorgraph.com.
