Where Kathy Wang Writes

My writing desk is the kitchen table right now; it’s been this way since last year. I used to write in what we call “the office” in the house, which used to be “my office,” until the pandemic. Then it became the office because both my husband and I have been working from home since early 2020. That office used to be my writing sanctuary but currently is filled with laptop chargers and wrinkled sheets from tussles with the printer and general corporate debris. So now I write in the kitchen. The space has the added benefit that it’s at the edge of my house, so depending on what chair you sit in you’ll either have weak wifi or no wifi at all. So there’s only so much time I can waste with YouTube and Wikipedia.

There’s a few things that I brought over from my original office. I’m a lip balm addict, so I keep an assortment of them in this wire bowl I got in Capetown. There’s also a small travel size of Tatcha’s facial oil in there. I have super dry skin.

This Oscar the Grouch was a gift. I hope that’s the energy I give off when writing. “GO AWAY!” Unfortunately, when I was actually able to go out and write in coffee shops, it seemed my energy was much more yes, please ask to borrow my charger variety.

My kids are three and five and, like many children, very into Lego. My son made me this structure. It’s a bathroom with a toilet inside. Whenever we leave the house to go somewhere, I’m always the one yelling: Have you gone to the bathroom? Hey, who has gone to the bathroom? Does anyone need to go before we leave? Because of that, I suppose they think I am really into bathrooms.

I have a day job that’s completely outside of the publishing world so the only times I can write are in the early mornings and evenings—but the latter almost never happens, my brain is too filled with junk. At first I made grand plans to be one of those wake-up-at-5 a.m. people, but I think I’ve only managed to do that twice so far. Most days it’s mostly closer to 6 a.m. I stumble downstairs in the morning and grab a hoodie, which I usually leave on the chair the night before. Next I go to the kettle and prepare hot water for my tea.

Every time we go to Japan I like to buy a few mugs for my collection. This last trip I got this really nice cup in a lacquered wood at my favorite shop in Kyoto. But I like to drink my tea super hot, and it makes my hand too hot to grasp it! So now I put my snacks in the lacquer mug (I snack basically from sunrise to sundown) and drink my tea in my favorite Books Inc mug, which is sturdy and big and has a handle.

Even though I sometimes have a hard time waking up, my favorite part of the day is still early morning. The kids are asleep and work e-mails aren’t coming in yet and the sun is still creeping up. The entire house is quiet and I can pretend I’ve got the entire day ahead of me just like this, with my tea cooling to the perfect temperature. Even though I know it isn’t true and soon I’ll be busy with other things, in those moments it feels like I’ve got as much time as I want to write, and that’s the best mood in which to be inspired.

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