Show Us Your Sanctum - Erik Gumeny

Eirik is here today to show us that a sanctum doesn't have to be it's own room. A sanctum can be wherever you set your Rancor.

What was it before it was your sanctum?
My sanctum was, and is, part of my wife's and my bedroom.

Show us around. Tell us what you’ve got on each wall.
Wall 1:
Here it is, the ten feet or so that I call mine.

Top shelf on the right is books; middle shelf is scrap paper, rough drafts and scrawled story ideas; bottom shelf is miscellaneous crap.

The desk was salvaged from my wife's parents' garage. I think she used it in college. The Futurama toys were given to me over many years by my friend and fellow writer Stephen Schwegler. The Garden State Parkway sign used to actually be on the Garden State Parkway. The brilliant, nebulous white spot on top of the desk is a lamp. It looks more like a lamp in real life.

Other space:
During the 85% of the year that it's sunny and above freezing, if I get tired of my desk, I will often take advantage of New Mexico's many empty picnic tables and scenic overlooks.

Like here.

Or here. (That's a volcanic cone, by the way)

Or here. (That tiny bird running away is a roadrunner. Warner Bros. lied to us.)

What are you hiding from?
The world. And the sun. Unless I'm outside. Then it's just the world.

Any defenses?
This guy.

I am, of course, operating on a Small Soldiers/Toy Story/The Christmas Toy-based theory wherein all the other action figures come to life when I'm not around and for whatever reason try to destroy my laptop. The rancor is the only thing protecting my hard drive from complete and total imaginary doom.

Any secret doors?
Sadly no. At least not that I'm aware of. I haven't checked under the carpet yet, though.

What kind of gear do you have in there? (What are you listening to, watching? You got a ham radio?)
Gear-wise, I've only got the laptop (a Dell something-or-other) and some pretty fancy speakers. Well, they were fancy a couple years ago when I got them. They've got a subwoofer. I don't know if that counts anymore.

Mostly I listen to mp3s, though I'll sometimes throw on Pandora if I get tired of the music I own. As I type this, it's "Radio Gaga" by Queen. Before that was "Borne on the FM Waves of the Heart" by Against Me!. I've got it on shuffle, though WinAmp apparently has some kind of theme in mind.

Any plans for expansion?
My wife and I are in the fanciful daydreaming phase of house hunting right now, but a separate office is on the "must haves" list. A couch and more bookshelves are on the "if we find a garage sale that isn't expecting a lot" list.

Any prized possessions?

I've got a photo of Boba Fett signed by Jeremy Bullock (the guy who played him). He was extremely nice. He had the craziest old man eyebrows I'd ever seen. You know, until I saw Jamie Hyneman from Mythbusters. Good lord. That man has the eyebrows of a madman.

And a McFarlane Toys King Kong. I originally bought it for my brother for one Christmas or another, but he left it in the apartment we were sharing when he moved out. Sucker. I've actually got a lot of King Kong memorabilia, but most of it's in a box under the bed because there's no space for it.

Eirik Gumeny is the author of the Exponential Apocalypse series and has a chapbook of short fiction forthcoming from Kattywompus Press. His work has been published online a lot, in print occasionally, and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize at least once. His website is egumeny.com.

And be sure to check out his hilarious book