We writers all need a special place to write in, even if it's just a little corner of the house. 

As a child, my special places were high on the sturdy branch of an old oak tree or on a blanket of primroses beside a little stream. Later, as a working mother, I used a credenza in our living room. This held my writing material, magazines and books. It opened up with a writing surface but could be locked away from prying little fingers. I didn't even own a typewriter then. I typed my stories in lunch breaks at work or when the boss was out! 

Now that I help my husband run our family real estate business, Knowles Realty, from a small apartment, where we also live, I've had to be quite creative in making space for my writing. 

I usually write in the evenings on my laptop, using a computer lap desk. My laptop is a "place" to write too, as I keep that exclusively for my writing. Any real estate typing is done on my company p.c.

Once, in two hours, sitting with my laptop watching television, I managed to write an 800-word article, "Happy New Year from the Bahamas", which was emailed out the next day in our monthly real estate newsletter. 

Occasionally I stay up late to work on a story and my writing takes on new meaning in the quiet of the night with no one around.

At the weekends on waking up, I often write furiously in my notepad, while my husband considerately brings me a cup of tea to nurture the muse. Writing pads, pens, writers' magazines and books are all within easy reach and I can spend a good hour happily writing and reading before I get up. Afterwards, as soon as possible, I type the ideas or story beginnings from my notepad into my laptop.

I kick myself if I'm stuck in traffic and don't have a pen and pad. It's a great opportunity to scribble a few paragraphs. Doctors and dentists' waiting rooms are also excellent places to write in. They're usually quiet and the other patients are normally too preoccupied with their visit to notice you biting your pen in deep thought.

Once I got stuck in an elevator on my own for an hour. Not only did I have no one to talk to, I had no pen and no paper to write on. What a waste of writing time!

Long flights or airport delays are golden opportunities too for elaborating on a novel, poem or story. Relaxing on a hot, sunny beach with notepad and pen can also be quite productive if you don't mind the sweat and sand!

Many writers use a garden shed for their writing place, others a closet or hallway. Mary Higgins Clark said she wrote at her kitchen table as her five children were growing up. Some really lucky writers have a den or office of their own to write in. That's one of my ambitions.

Of course, I also picture myself on the balcony of an island cottage that we'll build one day, gazing down the ocean and swinging in a hammock, writing!