The L.A. Writer at Home
- Becca Hochman
- 2 hours ago
- 9 min read
Five Los Angeles writers — Lore V. Olivera, Shy Watson, Brittany Menjivar, Belinda Cai, and Maryze — and the bedrooms that have shaped them.
In Los Angeles, the literary scene is currently thriving, with readings, book launches, and endless Partiful invitations. These events are always dedicated to showcasing work, sharing finished pieces that take time, dedication, and inspiration to complete. The writing itself is done in cafés or behind closed doors — in the bedrooms of the Los Angeles Writer.
The interior decor of the writer is, by necessity, multifunctional; a writer’s room must be aesthetically pleasing and functional, but it also has to inspire. To understand what is inspiring these writers at home, we spoke to five writers living in Los Angeles and working across mediums.
Lore is a screenwriter and director who’s written for Netflix (WEDNESDAY), MGM/Amazon (VIGIL.A.NTE), and collaborated across film and television with companies including Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, and 21 Laps.
BH: How long have you been in L.A. for? And how long have you lived in this particular space?
LO: So I just moved to this house [three weeks ago]. Like, I just wrapped decorating. But I’ve been in Los Angeles since 2022, on and off.
BH: What are you drawn to when you’re looking at pieces for decor, or overall, how would you describe your aesthetic or interior design sensibilities?
LO: It’s a lot of retro style or things that have a story… I have a photo of nuns [smoking], because I went to Catholic school, and it feels a little transgressive religiously. Anything transgressive I’m always drawn towards because I’m like, “Oh, this would make [the nuns] so mad.”
BH: It seems like you’re drawn to pieces that speak to cultural ideals flipped on their head?
LO: Yeah, exactly. I think storytelling-wise, that's definitely something I gravitate towards. Like, I love looking at something that's normal and common and that you've seen a hundred times and [now] there's something odd about it. There's a twist.
BH: Are there any items in your room with a strong sentiment or meaning attached to them?
LO: I [also] have to mention my altar. [It has] my mom playing the guitar… My grandma gave me two saints because she thinks I need the Bible… I got a Talavera [bowl] in Puebla that I use for candles... My friend gave me The Witch’s Spell Book, which I thought was really cute. I got this [figure] in India…It's like literally all the religions that you conjure up to balance the energies. Again, I think that this is something that would freak out the nuns from high school.
Shy Watson runs Triptych readings at Stories Books & Cafe, has authored two full-length poetry collections (Horror Vacui, Cheap Yellow), and is a PhD candidate in Creative Writing & Literature at the University of Southern California. She has recently completed a novel and is represented by Mina Hamedi at Janklow & Nesbit.
BH: How long have you lived in L.A. for, and how long have you lived in this space?
SW: I moved to L.A. in May 2025, and I moved into this apartment on August 31st, 2025… I really love this little alcove area between Echo Park and Chinatown. There's Alpine Court down the way, which has little bungalow businesses… and there's a really good view of downtown, too.
BH: The view is amazing. I'm wondering, since you've moved to L.A., have you noticed your style shifting at all?
SW: Actually, it has changed. When I lived in Virginia, we had a collage style of paintings, an array in the living room. There were all these paintings everywhere, very “cottage-core.” And since I moved here… well, I work at Night Gallery and just being surrounded by a contemporary art environment has made me want something more clean and adult… So I've kept my decor more sparse. and minimalistic and simple since I've moved [to Los Angeles].
BH: Are there any particular pieces that have significant meaning to you in your home?
SW: I bought a painting from an artist who was having a show at Night Gallery recently. It was my favorite show that we've had at the gallery. Her name's Kayla Witt and she's based in Los Angeles…. She did a psychic shop poster series as part of the show, and I purchased one of those [paintings]. It's my first piece of fine art, and it means a lot to me because I think that the West Coast and California in particular [have] this lineage of “magical thinking.” There [are] celebrities who hire psychics and people who want to keep their body temple clean… It feels, like, specifically California to me. And it's something that I lean into whenever I'm at a turning point in my life, even though it's consistently failed me. Horoscopes and spells and magic… It's never worked out, but still, there's some childlike part of me that wants to have faith that I have some kind of control over outcomes.
Brittany Menjivar is the author of the poetry and prose collection Parasocialite, the co-founder of literary reading series Car Crash Collective, and the Co-Writer of the New Millennium Boyz film adaptation currently in pre-production at Muse.
BH: Have you noticed a shift in your interior design motifs since you've been living in Los Angeles?
BM: I used to have a very maximalist decor style when I was a teenager and in college. My dorm would be decked out with posters and all of that. I think since moving to L.A., I've been out and about to an entirely new degree and have relocated apartments fairly frequently … so I haven't had the time to settle into a place and make it look exactly the way I would want it to be quite yet. We [just moved] into this apartment and signed a 16-month lease, so I'm hoping that I will get to deck it out to my heart's content.
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BH: Are there any particular items in your room that have significant meaning to you, like a favorite piece of furniture or trinket?
BM: Yes... I have this scimitar-horned oryx figurine. Scimitar-horned oryx have been my favorite animal ever since I was three years old, since it was a prominent fixture at both the National Zoo and also the Natural History Museum. I literally wrote my college admissions essay about how much I love these guys. I think they're just so majestic. I call them the “unicorns of the Savannah.” And one of my best friends from college got me this as a Christmas present, and it's one of those little things that I keep on my desk to remind me of the little Brit that I'm always trying to… I don't know, impress? It reminds me of childhood whimsy.
BH: Do you notice any motifs that pop up in how you curate your space and your writing?
BM: Well, going back to the scimitar-horned oryx, I feel like strange animals are featured in a lot of my work. When I was a kid, I had an obsessive fascination with wildlife and zoology – and I feel like that has translated into a lot of my stories. In Parasocialite, there's one story called “Elephant Crossing” where the protagonist's neighborhood is overrun by wild animals that have potentially escaped from a local zoo.
BH: Is there anything else that feels important to how you've curated the space, or maybe what you hope to include in the future?
BM: I'd like to note that my room has no windows, and it has this, like, weird sliding barn door. Sometimes I refer to it as the “stable.” A lot of people would mind this, but not me. I'm kind of a vampire, and I'm often working in the wee hours of the night anyway… so I get to just shut myself in this bizarre cave and get a lot done. I love it.
Belinda Cai is a writer and musician who received her M.S. in Journalism from the University of Southern California. She has contributed to VICE, NPR, Tinder, Hobart, Car Crash Collective, Dream Boy Book Club, and more.
BH: How long have you lived in L.A., and how long in this particular space?
BC: So, I’ve lived in L.A. for nine years this September…[and] I’ve been in this apartment for about four years now. I will be moving out this summer to an apartment with my partner and then moving into a house down the road. I'm really excited to finally leave a studio, but there also is a certain charm [to it].
BH: As you've lived in this space, how have you seen your sense of style and your sense of design choices change? And do you think that you'll keep a similar style as you move into your new home?
BC: When I had my first studio here in L.A. almost nine years ago, I was very “Ikea-core” both due to budget and just not really knowing the aesthetic I was going for was… [I had] a lot of minimalist, cheap white furniture. And I think over the years I've started to really be inspired by more vintage designs … I actually have this great book called “A Century of Color and Design,” and it shows really beautiful furniture pieces that I certainly can't afford… but is just good inspiration. I really like the playfulness of the mid-century modern era, just like the fun pops of color and quirky designs… I want to incorporate just a wider range of vintage, too. I really like Victorian [pieces], which are such a stark contrast to mid-century. [Victorian style] is very detail-oriented, lacy, and intricate. It’s a little feminine and kind of spooky… I'm trying to figure out how to marry multiple kinds of vintage styles together and see where that takes me.
BH: I also wanted to ask you about how your curation ties into your work. Do you feel like your personal decor style is reflected in your artistic sensibilities?
BC: I would say so. I am very inspired by the books that I have on my bookshelf and draw a lot of inspiration from them, [and] for my memoir that I'm working on. I use them as research. I have, here on this wall… two pieces by my mom, and this is by [my partner] Eric… and a collage I made for an album cover [for] my sister, Kelly, who passed away in 2020. So these [pieces on my wall] are all very personal, either from someone I love or of someone I love, because I write a lot about my personal life as a memoirist and nonfiction writer. I think it tracks that I have these personal pieces of art that I feel attached to and are sentimental. They’re reflective of how I convey myself as a writer.
Maryse Bernard is a Canadian-French musician, writer, and model based in Los Angeles. She served as Editor-in-Chief of Recording Arts Canada, and her writing and translations have been published by the CBC, Bitch Media, and Also Cool Mag.
BH: I wanted to start by asking how long you've lived in L.A. for, and how your sense of style has changed since?
M: We moved here from Montréal eight months ago, and I was coming to L.A. back and forth for two years before that. I've always liked to have everything kind of appear like a whimsical, witchy garden, and that has not changed. But having an outdoor space, which I never had before in Canada, has helped bring the greenery inside… Being able to have windows that act almost like a painting… is really nice and helps me drift further into that inner fantasy garden world.
BH: As you’ve been delving back into writing and concurrently building your space, are there any ways you've noticed those two processes interplay?
M: Yeah, I think [it’s important] to find places that feel like my own. I've been doing art my whole life, but I always feel self-conscious, just with music, with singing, with anything, when someone else is around. But even just sitting and being like, “This is my little corner.” [I believe in the power of] making little corners that feel beautiful or inspiring, kind of, regardless of how small they are. I guess I'm superstitious, so [I believe in] having your talismans, your lucky items around and kind of locking in when you're sitting in front of them and being like, “okay, this is where I am when I come up with ideas.”
BH: And then I'm also interested, what items in here, in particular, would you say you have the strongest attachment to?
M: Things from my grandma, her sapphire-eyed cat [figurine]... a French music box … stuff that doesn't have any real monetary value. I've carried them in every place I've ever lived… Vancouver, Québec, Montréal, any time that I've been anywhere outside of my house for more than a couple [of] months, I've always brought them. So I've seen them kind of exist and live in all these different homes. Even if a space is unfamiliar, it just makes it feel more like home.
Los Angeles writers are not a monolith, and neither are the styles and decor that inspire them. Some fill their space with spiritual protection – talismans, candles, and tarot. Some aim to achieve specific aesthetics – whether it’s midcentury modernism or minimalism. Some appreciate the California sun; others feel it hinders the creative process.
Yet despite the stylistic and creative differences, each writer seeks to curate a space that feels uniquely personal; each includes pieces gifted by friends, family, and lovers. Some draw on these personal connections in the work, and others use the pieces as a continual reminder that Los Angeles is their creative home. 🌀
Becca Hochman is a writer & filmmaker based in Los Angeles; she covers media and culture, and is interested in what interests you.