Suspense author Cheryl Kaye Tardif's new office...and the office boss

 Now that we're settled into our new home, a custom build by Coventry Homes in Edmonton, I've been able to unpack everything and get to the fun stuff--decorating--and my office is finished, for the most part. Now I finally have some pics to show you. If you want to enlarge any photo, just click on it. I apologize that the quality is a bit poor--these were taken without a flash, with my iPhone. :-)

My new office has a huge picture window that faces a quiet street.This gives me a lot of light during the day.

The room is huge, like an oversized bedroom with 2 large closets that have shelves across the entire wall. I have managed to hide all my packing material, book-keeping books, paper and supplies etc in these closets, something my husband didn't think would be possible. It's amazing how much stuff an author needs! I have one bookcase in the room. It holds the paperbacks of my books--the ones I have available for sale. The walls are painted a periwinkle blue, though my photos don't really do the color justice.

One day I'll replace my office furniture with a custom wall of cabinets and built-in desk, but for now, here's what that wall looks like. I will be switching my laptop with the PC as I prefer sitting at the bigger desk while using my laptop. The PC is my backup.

Above the furniture are 3 gorgeous prints by one of my favorite artists, world-renowned artist David Miller. You'll recognize the painting on the left as the one used in the background of the cover for Whale Song. All three prints are personalized with my name and signed by David. One day soon I hope to purchase two of his paintings--My Polynesian Dream and Key to Paradise. I'm also hoping to visit David and his lovely wife Nancy in Florida one day.

On the other side of the window is my "Zen Corner". This is the place where I can de-stress, unwind, think, let my characters "speak" to me and basically meditate. The small waterfall gurgles quietly over pebbles and shells, adding to the ambiance. The "Dare to Dream" saying above the plush armchair is something I've been saying for years. It's my motto, and a very good friend and fellow author had this specially made for my new office. Thank you, Kelly!

I bought the print above the chair from one of my other favorite artists--Aynsley Nisbet. The painting is called "Whale Song". Yes, it's the same name as my novel; that's because she was inspired by my novel to paint it. If you read the new trade paperback edition of Whale Song, you can read her full story. I promise you, it's very inspiring.

I have two other prints by Aynsley, plus a painting that I commissioned her to paint specially for our new home. In this painting, Aynsley painted our family--represented by zodiac signs, with the exceptions of the two dogs in the upper corners. I'm the woman in the upper center and if you look carefully, you'll see a regal lioness within--I'm a Leo. The salmon represents my husband Marc who is Pisces. The boy and girl represent my son and daughter, who were both born in June--Geminis, sign of the twins. The white dog represents our longtime family dog, Royale, a miniature American Eskimo who died a couple of years ago. The other dog is Chai, our Pomeranian princess.

Chai has many nicknames. Chai-Chan is her official name, though I like to tell people her name is really "Venti Chai tea latte with two shots of cinnamon dolce". Yes, she WAS named after my favorite Starbucks drink. lol Chai is never far from me. She follows me everywhere and has to be where I am.

Though she has a bed on the floor, she prefers the armchair.

Chai likes to think of herself as my "Overseer" or "Boss".

She may be right...

EHM: Coventry Edition - Day 61 A roof & windows

It's Day 61 of my Extreme Home Makeover: Coventry Edition, the unofficial name of the building of my new home by Coventry Homes in Edmonton, AB. Though we did have more snow a week ago, most has melted. Thankfully the spring rains haven't come yet--a good thing since most of the roof is on but there are still some openings.

In two months, my home is starting to become recognizable, though there have been some surprises. On paper, the house looked to have a decent amount of space between the right corner of the garage and the city fence. This is the space we need to be able to get to our front door. It's a bit tight! We're considering asking the city if we can remove the last 2-3 panels of the fence. Don't know if they'll do it or not, but it sure would make life easier.

Luckily, the garage has a door into the house. It leads to an open hallway that goes both straight and to the right, which will give us the room we need to move our furniture into the various rooms.

The windows have been installed on the entire main floor. What I love are the windows in my dining nook, and the sliding glass door that will lead out onto the deck, where our hot tub will sit. These windows are tall and large and I'll have beautiful morning sunlight in my dining & kitchen area. I love the morning light.

The front door is also in. There's a window at the top of the door and another one above the door as well. My office window looks out onto the front porch. Not my ideal view, but it'll work for me. I like to have natural light in my office during the day.

The basement windows aren't in yet and there's a lot of work to do inside the house. A staircase has been built to the basement level but right now I have rocks down there. Soon, they'll be adding the floor. Then they'll be framing the basement rooms.

For now, I'll be content in the nice home we're renting. We sold our old house just over a week ago. We had a week to find a place to live and move. It's been crazy busy with packing, moving and unpacking, along with cleaning the old house. I also visited some of my old neighbors to say goodbye and thanked them for being so wonderful. I still have a few others to see. Of course, we haven't moved far so I expect I'll see them around.

Here's Chai, our 2-year-old Pomeranian, claiming her space in the rental. Doesn't she look like quite the princess? Her full name is "Venti Chai Tea Latte With Two Shots of Cinnamon Dulce". I named her after my favorite Starbucks drink.

Ok, not really. Her name is Chai-Chan. Wherever I go, Chai follows.

And this ends Day 61 of my Extreme Home Makeover: Coventry Edition. If you're considering building a new home in Edmonton, I highly recommend Coventry Homes.

My puppy neckwarmer thinks she's helping me write

A few months ago, I wrote about the sad passing of our miniature American Eskimo dog, Royale. We had her for 13 years; she was a great dog and not too demanding. R.I.P. Royale. We miss you.

We have a new puppy now. Chai-Chan is a Pomeranian, almost 6 months old. Almost from day one, she has found her special spot--right under my chin--to lay. The first few weeks I'd get up with her early in the morning and lie down on the couch. She'd lay across my neck, just like a scarf or neckwarmer.

In the evenings we have our "cuddle time" on my bed. Chai usually curls up next to my face or against my back. She loves contact, that's for sure.

Shortly after we got her and after we started allowing her on the bed, she'd come into our room and bark. Once. I'd say, "Up?" and she'd bark once more.

Within a few days I noticed her bark's tone started to change. It now actually sounds like she's saying "up!" She barks "Up!" and waits for me to pick her up and put her on the bed. She has other barks for other things, but this one is consistent and distinct.

Lately, Chai's gotten into the habit of wanting cuddle time while I'm writing. She'll jump at my legs while I'm sitting at my desk. Most times I give her a chewie. Occasionally I'll pick her up.

Today, after her first bath and after she was dry, she came into my office and barked "up!" She was obviously feeling a bit out of sorts after her bath (which she was very good for). So up she went. And now she's draped across my neck.

She thinks she's helping me write, but I won't tell her about all the typos I've had to fix or how awkward it is trying to type while balancing a dog across your neck.

She's now climbed up to my shoulder for a more secure spot. Apparently my typing is annoying her. And my face needs washing...and I smell like wet dog. Gotta love her though! :)

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif