Desk Tour: Morgan Pager
See the home office of NYC Book Girl!
Welcome to Desk Tour, a series where I interview creative folks about their desks and workspaces. In case you missed it: My desk tour from last time. You can also browse the entire catalog of Desk Tours.
If you love books, then you probably love
AKA the creator behind nycbookgirl on Instagram. Morgan likes to say she is a “professional bookworm,” which is about as close to a dream job title as I can imagine. Not only does Morgan work in publishing as the Director of Marketing and Social Media for Atria books, but she is also a talented author. Her delightful debut novel The Art of Vanishing publishes on July 1. It’s a magical story about a museum employee who discovers she can enter the worlds of the paintings by climbing through their frames and falls for a man in one of the masterpieces. Like I said: Delightful. You can pre-order it here.
OM: Describe your workspace.
MP: My workspace is a small room off of our kitchen, which I share with our cat, Cleo. I have a large white standing desk that faces one of the walls. For some time, it was in the center of the room, facing the small window, but after reading Stephen King’s On Writing, I moved it to one side at his advice. One wall has a geometric design of pink, red, and gray stripes that I painted when mural walls were the peak of my pandemic hobbies. Underneath my desk, I have a foldable walking pad that I bought three years ago on black friday and I love it.
OM: What are your three favorite items on your desk right now?
MP: My grandfather writes me a postcard every week and I keep a stack of those on my desk, as well as my collection of blank postcards to write him back.
I have a rotating collection of candles and that’s my favorite way to start a work from home day or a writing session. My current go to is a candle I made (!!) with the Catskills Candle Studio that I named “Christmas Cider” so clearly I do not follow seasonal scent guidelines.
I can’t remember where I got it, but I have a mini Papier mood calendar that I flip around every few days. There are options like “I feel confident”, tired, content, happy, frustrated, grateful, sad, etc… When I first put this on my desk a few years ago, I was in a period of intense anxiety and depression and most often chose sad, frustrated, tired, anxious. In the season of life I’m currently in, my mental health is so much better and I flip between confident, content, happy, excited. It’s been a subtle shift that has been so much more noticeable in hindsight because of this silly little mood calendar.
My grandfather writes me a postcard every week and I keep a stack of those on my desk, as well as my collection of blank postcards to write him back.
OM: Do you keep anything specific at your desk that you use as inspiration to stay creative or positive?
MP: The desk above my monitor is a happy little shrine to all the pieces of my career. There are two miniatures of paintings inspired scenes in The Art of Vanishing. There’s an LED nycbookgirl sign that was a gift at the surprise party that my friends and family threw me when I hit 10K followers on Instagram in 2018; it’s lived in four different apartments with me. There’s a custom cross stitch that features a little nycbookgirl bookstore storefront that my friend Ben gave me as a Secret Santa gift a few years ago. It is thousands of stitches and took me a year to complete. I love it so much. And lastly, there’s an illustration of the spines of some of my favorite books that my husband gave me for my birthday five years ago.
On the wall behind my desk, there’s a little shrine of stickies that feature my words of the year: “joy” for 2023, “abundance” for 2024, and “brave” for 2025.
OM: Is there anything you absolutely HAVE to have at your desk/workspace or you can't be productive?
MP: I live by my Papier planner. The format I use has been somewhat redone – it used to be called the “productivity planner” but the new productivity planner layout has fewer lines for to-do’s (probably healthier for the average to do list, but unlikely to suit my life). Anyway, I worried they were taking it out of stock, so I bought four of them last year and don’t need to worry about this update until later this summer. But my whole life is in this planner: notes from my meetings, content plans for my social, to-do lists for work, meal plans for the week, and more.
OM: Is there anything you'd change about your workspace? If so, what?
MP: This is, after all, a New York City apartment and I would love more storage space. The bookshelves behind my desk contain everything from every crafting hobby I’ve ever taken on to my manicure supplies to Cleo’s automatic feeder.
I also would love to add a big window. There is just one small window in here that looks into an interior courtyard, so it gets no natural light. On the flipside, I never feel FOMO for the outside world when I’m working in here, so maybe it’s for the best!
OH, and my printer doesn’t work. Probably because the ink I have for it is too old. I bet it would work if I got it new ink. This is something I could change.
OM: Describe your ideal work day at your desk.
MP: I work from home 2-3 days a week, but the weekends are when I get to write, so let’s describe a Saturday. An ideal Saturday doesn’t actually start at my desk; it starts with me reading for 1-2 hours in bed. I always need to read to get my brain warmed up for the day. Then I’ll get up, go to a workout class, pick up a breakfast sandwich or a bagel, take a shower, and make a matcha. At that point, I’m ready to sit down.
When I sit down to start the work day, I’ll get started by opening my planner and setting out my goals for the day. I normally will start with something less brain intensive, like finalizing and sharing a social media post or catching up on a few emails. Then we get into the draft. I keep a writing diary in my notion, so I’ll check the last entry to see what I did in the latest session and what I planned to do next.
Next, my phone has to leave the room. I’ll set an hour long timer on the forest app and deposit my phone in the kitchen, far from my sight. I hit shuffle on a playlist that’s made up of classical music and film soundtracks, and I’ll plug away. I try to get through about 2,000 to 3,000 words in a weekend writing day, taking breaks every hour to stare at my phone. If I hit a wall, I’ll work on researching for a bit or re-read some of my outline notes.
By 4 PM, I have definitely made myself a cup of tea – peppermint if I’m feeling energized, earl grey with a splash of oat milk if I’m dragging. I also probably have consumed 3-4 mini dark chocolate peanut butter cups from Trader Joes. I keep them in my freezer and serve them to myself in tiny cat-shaped bowls.
By 6:30 PM, I’ve hit my goal and am free to go join my husband wherever he is in the city. We are probably off to see a show or have dinner with a friend (or both).
OM: Where can people find you on the internet?
MP: They can follow me on Instagram and TikTok @nycbookgirl! I have a substack as well that I update when the mood strikes. And they can preorder my book from any retailer, but if they want a signed copy, I recommend Books Are Magic: order here.
Note from Olivia: Postcards from her grandfather? Are you kidding me? I am still crying at this.
Be sure to check out all the past editions of Desk Tour!
PS: One last thing before I go… you can order my first novel NOW! If you’ve already read and enjoyed, I would be honored if you would leave a kind review or rating on Goodreads or Amazon. It makes a world of difference. I appreciate your consideration, time, and support immensely.
A portion of June’s subscriber proceeds will go toward the The Trevor Project, an American nonprofit organization focused on suicide prevention efforts for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning youth.
"My grandfather writes me a postcard every week" has derailed my entire day. This is SO CHARMING.
Not to be a giant creeper but do you ever read about someone and think, "Wow, this would be one of my people if I ever met them in person"...? Because that's what I thought when I read this sentence: "I also probably have consumed 3-4 mini dark chocolate peanut butter cups from Trader Joes. I keep them in my freezer and serve them to myself in tiny cat-shaped bowls."
Also at the risk of being obnoxious and annoying (omg yay wow society has made me love myself so much), do you think it would be too much to ask Morgan for her links to the Papier productivity planner and the film score playlist?!
Anywho, I love this series, Olivia—thank you!