An Enchantment of Ravens Author Margaret Rogerson’s Writing Life in Pictures

This debut novel centers on a young portrait artist who specializes in painting the dangerous Fair Folk. Isobel lives in the enchanted town of Whimsy, right at the edge of fairyland. There, she practices her Craft alongside other artisans, all of whom trade their creations for fey enchantments, ranging from the foolish (bright eyes at the cost of an early death) to the practical (in Isobel’s case, inexhaustible eggs and firewood). When she makes the mistake of painting human sorrow into the eyes of Rook, the Autumn Prince, he drags her away to stand trial for the crime. But on the way to his court they encounter even more-deadly threats, from faerie beasts to the promise of immortality granted by the Green Well, where the fey’s favored craftspeople drink. And the most dangerous threat of all? Falling in love, which would make their lives forfeit.
Here’s Rogerson to share the crucial elements of her writing life—from caramels to cats—in photos.

First off I have to confess this picture is a lie. While technically that IS my desk, and all of those objects do belong to me, their tidy configuration and general lack of crumbs, stains, wrappers, and occult paraphernalia is misleadingly out of character. However, I trust your imagination can fill in the gaps.
If you look closely you can see a snippet of something I’m writing, as well as the harrowing number of unread emails in my inbox.
Additional objects of interest:
-Bowl of essential, life-sustaining nutrients—that is, caramels
-Vitamins I never remember to take, except for the gummy ones, like any self-respecting adult
-Current read, A Poison Dark and Drowning, by Jessica Cluess (it’s fantastic)
-Taped-together Wacom drawing tablet that has served me faithfully for twelve years
-External SSD for gaming
I do actually sit in that wooden chair for most of my writing day, which somehow didn’t strike me as unusual until one of my friends pointed out that it’s a horrible, comfortless torture chair. Let it be known that I suffer for my art.

And here’s my bookcase. I began reading ebooks almost exclusively from college onward, and got rid of a lot of my older physical copies when I moved, so my collection is pretty small. But in case you’re curious, the ones hidden by the photo on the top right are Titus Groan and Gormenghast, by Mervyn Peake; A Conspiracy of Kings, by Megan Whalen Turner; The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife, by Philip Pullman; Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman; and The Homeward Bounders, by Diana Wynne Jones. Those are some of my favorites, so I think I need to move the photo somewhere else.
You can also see my shrine-in-progress for An Enchantment of Ravens on the second to highest shelf. The gorgeous print with a hand-lettered quote from the book was sent to me by a reader, Brittney (@reverieandink on Instagram). I pause to admire it every day.
Finally, if you zoom in on the bottom picture, I’m making a super weird face.

Look, it’s me, writing! Or at least pretending to write with mascara on, hoping the photo will turn out halfway decently. Usually I look like I’ve just crawled out of a cave after eating nothing but vanilla pudding for a month straight, which is sort of true, unfortunately.
The highlight of this picture is probably the painting, which is the only oil painting I’ve ever done. I made it in high school, and my art teacher gave me a B. What do you think? If you have any opinions about my high school art teacher’s completely unfair grading policies and egregious anti-fish bias, feel free to weigh in below.
I usually listen to classical music while I write. Lately, I’ve been listening to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons recomposed by Max Richter, which is absolutely incredible. If you enjoy classical music at all (or even if you don’t), I highly recommend looking it up.

I’ll be honest with you: the main (only) reason why I leave home while writing is to fetch more snacks. This time of year, I always get sidetracked by Halloween decorations. I mean, look at all those skeletons! For your enjoyment, I selected the most embarrassing picture from my Target expedition today. I’m not sure what that face is. Please scroll down quickly in order to cleanse it from your mind.

On a more serious note, here’s a photo from one my favorite parks, Cowan Lake. I love writing there, especially in the fall. I cheated a little with this picture, because it’s actually from two years ago, but I decided to include it anyway because it was taken on the day that I wrote my favorite scene in An Enchantment of Ravens (hint: it’s the scene with the teapot).

Finally, what would a photo post be without a cat picture? Much of my best writing has come about with his lordship sprawled on his back beside my computer. He lies that way because he loves tummy rubs. His other hobbies include drooling, pooping where he isn’t supposed to, and murder.
Thus concludes my writing life in pictures. Thank you for joining me!
An Enchantment of Ravens is available now!