Hello, dear writer,

I’ve made my ideal reading bed, and now I’m lying in it (as often as I can).

The idea came to me from my friend Jo. She moved into her house and immediately decided to knock down some walls (she’s that kind of person). The large kitchen looked out to the best view, but there was no way to get out to the view, so she put in a whole deck and two sets of sliding glass doors, and then, astonishingly (to me), she put in a bed nook.

A bed nook! Right there in her huge kitchen!

It was big enough for a queen-sized bed to sit under the large new windows. She added pillows and a shelf and (of course) a chandelier.

I didn’t know we were allowed to want that, let alone DO it.

At home, I reassessed my office. It’s technically two small rooms, one teensy glassed-in room that holds my desk and a chair and one bookcase, and the other room is a tiny guest room, known as the cats’ room.

I tried for so long NOT to call it the cats’ room, but it held their litter box and their cat tree, and of course, both of them most of the time, so it was inevitable. When they were kittens, the room was blocked by a baby gate, and it was their safe space away from our dog, the boisterous Junebug.

The room also held a sofa-bed loveseat.

On the exceedingly rare occasions that a family member has come to stay, it’s been the most gigantic pain in the ass to move enough furniture out of the room so that the sofa-bed can open. It takes at least thirty minutes to get out enough bedding to make it comfortable and at least an hour to vacuum seal that same bedding away when the guest (and their sore back) departs.

The thing was that I’d always wanted a sofa in my office, NOT a guest bed. I thought a bed was a silly thing to sit and read on when I could have a wee couch.

After I saw Jo’s KITCHEN bed, I knew I was wrong.

I sold the sofa-bed on Marketplace, and with the money I made, I bought an old king-single dark wooden frame, extra long. I bought a new duvet and cover and a couple of new pillows (and actually came out $40 ahead, which pleased me way too much).

And now I have a READING BED.

A reading bed!

I was completely wrong about a bed being a silly place to sit and read. Not only is it incredibly comfortable, but the best part is that you don’t have to remain seated, like you do in your run-of-the-mill chair. You can slip down and down and down until you’re prone, which is, to me, the best position of all in which to read.

Now, I read here every morning before I write. Only once has this morning reading turned into all-day reading (yesterday, in fact) and those aren’t bad odds.

A major bonus I didn’t see coming is that sometimes I suffer from insomnia and at the same time, Lala suffers from restless legs. HELLO MIDNIGHT DESPERATION. Now I have an escape! I’ve only used it once in the month we’ve had it, but what a kind gift to give to myself: instead of lying in bed hating everything in the universe with every fiber of my being, I just get up, toddle off with my beloved buckwheat pillows, and slip into the clean sheets of the other bed for the last few hours of the night.

Your Reading Spot:

I do know how lucky I am. You may not have enough room to even store a book, let alone carve out a specified reading spot in your house.

But could you make one, even if it’s tiny? A rug next to your side of the bed, where you lie down with soft pillows and hide from the others in the house? A camping lounge seat in that weird corner of the living room? The bathtub is a favorite spot, (especially when you use it for reading, not phone time).

Or can you claim a place out in the world if you can’t find a spot at home? Even 15 minutes at a cafe or in the back corner of the library once a week can do wonders for the heart of a reader.

All writers are readers. We have to be. If you need a permission slip to find a reading spot of your own, this is it - it’s your job to read. Literally.

Where’s your favorite spot?

Onward!

Rachael

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PS - At WorldShift: The SpecFic Writers' Conference 2026, I’m speaking on Why You Don't Write and What to Do About It, and it’s FREE to attend! The lineup is incredible, and includes speakers like KM Weiland, Gabriela Pereira, and Alison K. Williams. Grab your free ticket HERE. Aug 17-22.

PPS - I’ve added a private, super secret monthly Ink in Your Veins episode to my Patreon, and this month I’m talking about my favorite writing tracking tool!

PPPS - Screw sofa-beds. Have they EVER been comfortable? Why do I fall for them every decade or so? I’m happy to report that I sold the sofa to two baby dykes who were thrilled that it was the exact model they’d been looking for. I confessed, “It kind of has a bar that hits right at the small of your back, but you can cover it with a mattress topper and..” They looked sideways at each other. Finally one said, “To be honest, we have a spare room where the sunshine comes in, and our dog loves to lie there. We’re just getting this for him.” Then they TOOK IT APART AND FIT IT IN THEIR HONDA HATCHBACK. The kids are all right.