Skip to main content

Bookcase Showcase: Author KM Lockwood


Author K.M.Lockwood http://kmlockwood.com/

I’ll start this happy little tour in my study upstairs – where the work happens. These shelves hold books I refer to a lot. There are a fair few How-Tos and books from my MA in Creative Writing at West Dean College. I always have to have my old Etymological Dictionary and a Thesaurus to hand.
I should think you can spot that my work-in-progress has something to do with the Jane Austen era, Chichester and Sussex.





At the other end of the shelf, there are ghost stories and Polish folktales related to The Wedding Ghost, (http://the-wedding-ghost.blogspot.co.uk/) and below them plenty of Selkie books for my MA novel. The shelf itself was made by my wonderful Other Half way back in the 1980s when we were first married. You’ll see its sister later.



The bizarre mixture of ornaments and trinkets on top houses hundreds of memories. I have a shrine with photos of my family and related souvenirs at the top of the stairs – my glow-in-the-dark Our Lady of Lourdes looks after them.
This bookshelf stands at the left of my desk and holds books on demons, fairytales, poetry, eccentrics, place names and folklore. These are essential source books for my imagination to feast on. Geek alert: yes, the two greeny-grey things on the top shelf are the Argonath from The Lord of the Rings.





So here we have the Big Sister Bookshelf who lurks in our bedroom (the bobbly thing is a bedpost). There’s a mixture of His’n’Hers here – and the tiny books on top. They just squeeze under the sloping roof: our house used to be a holiday cottage.




Downstairs now –and into the Library. This really is overflowing as my youngest son lives there temporarily. The books are mostly in alphabetical order by author. This throws up some pretty strange pairings: Mr Darcy, Vampyre next to The Wind in the Willows, anyone?
The champagne on the top is waiting for publication day(s).




There are three bookcases along the wall, and one shelf holds a special Venetian collection. I have rather a passion for La Serenissima. It’s like the Grand Canal:  Michelle Lovric, Marcus Sedgwick, Susan Hill and Cornelia Funke all jostle together.




Finally, the Sitting Room: talented, gorgeous Other Half made this one too. It marks the divide between the fireplace and the pool table end. Here you can find an ocean-scale collection of books about the sea. What started as a few maritime bits and pieces to amuse guests did the grit-in-the-oyster shell thing and became this fabulous resource. I won’t claim to have read absolutely all of it, but it’s had many a good browse.





I’ve loved doing this – thank you for asking me, Kirsty. Any questions? Just ask @lockwoodwriter on Twitter.







Comments

jongleuse said…
And I thought I had a problem...your OH obv more understanding than mine, who rather pointedly bought me a Kindle for Christmas!
Jo Wyton said…
I'm with jongleuse! I moved house recently and had to haul too many book-filled boxes up and down stairs - fingers crossed you don't ever have to move house!