The Writer's View: Jody Vitek


This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Jody will be awarding a small gift of scented bath items, which are tied to the story, to a random commenter at each stop. One randomly drawn commenter and one host will win a prize which includes a CD, again tied to the book, with scented bath items, to an overall commenter and a host. She will also have bookmarks for any commenter who would like one and included in each of the gifts.

Judy, thank you for hosting me as a guest blogger today at My World of Dreams. It’s a pleasure to be here. My dream of becoming a published author have come true with the publication of my debut novel, Florida Heat, by Melange Books, LLC.

I chuckled when you asked me to talk about the view inside my writing space and the view outside my window. You see, I have an office dedicated to my writing but I rarely use it. Located in the basement of our house, it has no windows and the room temperature is frigid. Over a year ago, I repainted and reorganized trying to make it feel more like my space—my office. The outcome was great as pictured below, but I can’t fix how cold the room temperature is. I made the choice to get rid of my office chair years ago and now sit on an exercise ball when in my office.

Look for the glass cherry. Did you find it? If you look closely at the bulletin board, you can see the pictures of my hero and heroine in my current work in progress.
You will usually find me upstairs at the dining room table. It’s warmer and I have a view on two sides of where I plant myself. I dream of having an office with the view Maggie, my heroine, has out her windows of the ocean. At the dining room table, facing east, a large elm tree fills my view of the sky during the summer months. The large deck, which wraps around the side of the house stares at me, beckoning me to come sit on it. Calling for me to take care of it, as it’s in dire need of a good power washing and re-staining. The deck can keep talking because the words fall upon my deaf ears.

Is the deck calling out to you for help? Ignore it. It will get help some day. Look at all the green around me. Isn’t it wonderful.

In the fall, my view is filled with varying shades of red, orange and gold leaves, and the unfortunate browning of green grass. Winter brings the beauty of glistening white snowfalls. When I look to my right, out the patio door, I can measure the depth and see the layers from the past snowfalls. With spring, the windows and doors open to let in fresh air and help the stale air exit from the house.

When I do find my way to my office and work in there, the lack of view can be a plus because I don’t have the distractions you find out a window. In the basement office I’m surrounded by reminders of what I’m working on, what I’ve achieved and who’s helped me get there. Right now I’m working on a story that takes place in Minnesota and I have pictures up on a bulletin board for visuals. I did this for Florida Heat as well. The glass cherry on my desk shelf is from Ms. Cherry Adair. I attended a workshop and she gave a few away to watch over those who needed her to watch over them. She watched over me while I worked at polishing Florida Heat for publication.

Trent, my hero, has two offices in his home. One he runs the ranch business out of and you see in the second chapter when Trent meets Maggie, my heroine, for the first time. His second office really isn’t much of an office and Maggie shows you while taking a tour of Trent’s home in chapter eight.

I’m interested in hearing about reader’s offices. Do you have a designated home office? Does the office hold more than office items, i.e. exercise equipment? Are there others like myself who have a designated space but go elsewhere? If you have a view, what do you see? Please feel free to ask any other question(s) you’d like. As a thank you for visiting me today at Welcome to My World of Dreams, I will be giving away a small gift of scented items, which are tied to the story, to one lucky random person who leaves a comment.

All commenter’s from my Goddess Fish tour will also be entered into an overall commenter drawing. This gift includes a CD, again tied to the book, with scented items.

If any visitors today would like a bookmark, they can email info@jodyvitek.com with their mailing information.



About the Author:
Born and raised in Minnesota, Jody has remained close to home living with her husband of twenty plus years, three children and a cat named Holly. Growing up, she enjoyed reading V.C. Andrews' the Dollanganger series, starting with Flowers in the Attic, S.E. Hinton, and Stephen King to name a few.

She has traveled throughout the United States, to the Bahamas and Cancun, Mexico. Between watching soccer games, scrapbooking and being the COO of the Vitek household, she writes contemporary romances.

Find Jody online at

Website: www.jodyvitek.com
Facebook: Jody Vitek Author



Scarred by her ordeal, Maggie Carlisle leaves her ex-husband’s drug life back in Texas. A man from her past seeks revenge, just as she meets and falls in love with Trent Randall.

Trent Randall, owner of a horse ranch and powerboat driver, loses focus of his life when Maggie shows up. After an accident, he wonders if she's worth the danger. However, his heart leads the way when he finds out she’s in trouble.

Comments

  1. Thank you for hosting Jody today.

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  2. Thank you again for having me today at My World of Dreams and good morning, Judy.

    Do you have a designated home office? Does your office contain more than office items? Do you have an optional workspace and if so, where? What is your view like?

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  3. Good morning, Jody. I kind of move around too with my laptop. Since we moved to the small farm and share a space with our son and daughter in law, my office became a corner. I have it crammed with meaningful things to inspire me. But a lot of the time I take my laptop to the kitchen island. I can look out the kitchen window to the mountains. Best of luck with your book. I've read it and it's a good one!

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  4. Thank you Brenda. Oh, to look out at mountains. Sometimes I think being out of the city would be a good thing. Less distractions. It's good you have a designated corner where you can have inspirational items.

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  5. It's so interesting to see photos of where you work. An office needs to have a certain 'feel' for me. If the space is cluttered, so is my thinking.

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  6. It is always so nice to see where authors do their writing. I would always be looking out the window. Jean
    skpetal at hotmail dot com

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  7. Trust me. You're better off working without a view. Otherwise you spend all day looking out of the window!

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  8. @Joyce, my office isn't usually clutter because I have a little OCD. I've very neat and organized. Everything has a place and everything belongs in it's place.
    @Jean, I'm with you on wanting the window to look out. I believe that's why I sit at the dining room table most of the time.
    @Jenny, I don't get too distracted with the view I have. And if I do, it's only for a second or two.
    Thanks for commenting today ladies!

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  9. When I first started writing, I often drafted at my (work) office desk. Then I evolved to sitting on my couch with a laptop. That's worked pretty well... when I make the time to write.

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  10. Welcome Ro! Writing while at work? I've heard of writers doing this. Looking back to when I worked a day job, there would be no way I could've done this. I was too busy.

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  11. Hi Jody!
    You know I love your office, and I stole your whiteboard idea. Even though you don't spend much time in your little space, it's lovely :-) I do have an office--my daughter's old bedroom. It's been painted and decorated for me -- and has random junk in it I love, like my bobblehead Einstein and Spock. And my whiteboard :-) I do share my office with my sewing machine and stashes of fabric. That's not ideal, but it's working at the moment. And, it keeps the IRS off my back because there's no way I can try and write off my office as an expense! Thanks for the fun post.

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  12. Since my laptop has died I'm not in my office :-(. Usually I can look up and see my dry creek bed with lovely plantings. Or look out the side window and watch birds and squirrels in the ash tree. (So does Waldo the cat.)
    Right now I'm looking at piles of paper in the home office. Sigh ... and I made the mess.

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  13. Thanks for stopping by Liz! Writing and crafting all in the same room works for me. It's all about the flow of the creativity. Sometimes when the writing isn't working, I find if I work on something, like my scrapbooking, it renews the otherside of the brain.

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  14. Nan, don't like hearing about a writer and the loss of their computer. May you have your mobility back soon. The squirrels are distract when the frolic in the spring and fall and I can watch them 'gracefully' jump from branch to branch. My cat Holly loves when they scamper across the deck. Your dry creek bed sounds very interesting. Does it ever have water running or standing in it?

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  15. As a library manager, I seem to be spending more and more time in my office at work...so much so that I have NO home office. If I bring work home, I do it on my laptop in my red leather Stressless chair (which I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE) in front of the TV. My view is through two sets of French doors, into the enclosed "Carolina room" and out to our beautifully landscaped backyard. My hubby is self-employed as a yard guy/landscaper so our big backyard is a lush, private showplace. GOSH, now that I write that out loud, I realize how darned lucky I am...LOL!
    catherinelee100 at gmail dot com

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  16. bn1008:11 PM

    Nice post. I have an office with a view of the yard.

    bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  17. Catherine, to have a beautifully landscaped oasis would be heaven. I don't know as if I'd want to go anywhere else. You are a lucky woman. And although you don't have an designated office at home, that chair sounds awfully cozy. ;^) Thanks for sharing your view with me and stopping by.

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  18. BN - your view sounds similar to mine. It's not bad, but from what others have posted today we know there are better views out there. Thanks for stopping by.

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  19. Using Random.org today's lucky commenter is Ro! Congratulations, Ro!

    Thank you to everyone who stopped by to visit with me. Thank you for hosting me Judy. I had a fun time at My World of Dreams.

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  20. Judy, you won the Host drawing for my Goddess Fish VBT! Congratulations! Please contact GF with your mailing information or email me at info@jodyvitek.com.

    Again, thank you and Congratulations!

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