The Desk

We recently had some windows replaced in our house and we needed to move stuff out of the way so the workers could actually get to the windows. I also realized that there would be dust involved, so I wanted to cover what I could. In the end, I decided to remove everything from my desk.

Wow.

It's amazing what kind of stuff accumulates on a desk (or any surface where you might set things you intend to put away later). It was almost like an archaeological dig! I found a list of possible titles for the series of my novels ("Penumbra" was second on the list). I found random notes of plot ideas or character studies. I found sketches for the videos. I found a list of possible ship names. I found a list of Amazon rankings for Outsider (the highest is 241,491 and the lowest is over 2 million).

Not all of it was book-related. I found a great photo of my co-workers (taken two years ago), some Dilbert cartoons, a scribbled note about an elliptical machine I was considering two or three years ago, a Kansas bird list and a nice postcard of the Colorado Rockies.

It was pretty easy to shove all of it in drawers or a bag before the window guys arrived. It wasn't so easy to take it all out and decide what to do with it after they left. In fact, the bag sat in the living room for a week before I worked up the courage to open it.

I recycled a lot of it. I filed some of it. And I started a new stack of "I don't know what else to do with this" items on the corner of the desk.

There's a lot less clutter than there was before. Let's see how long that can last.
In the meantime, if I need a new ship name, I know where to look!