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Janet Orsi Best place to just damn well sit: Sonoma State University professor J. J. Wilson has created a writer's paradise at the Sitting Room. Room of Our Own WHEN VIRGINIA WOOLF wrote about the necessity for a female artist to get her hands on a few guineas and a room of one's own, she might well have presaged Cotati's Sitting Room--and saved the guineas for the laundry. A free service offered by Sonoma State University English professor J. J. Wilson and her colleague, Santa Rosa Junior College librarian Karen Peterson, the Sitting Room is a woman writer's fantasy come true, especially if she's deceived herself into thinking that she can write and manage the children at the same time. For those of us who have spent hours typing in words of true brilliance and luminosity while a child twisted unhappily in our laps, the Sitting Room--with its honor-based lending library, softly lit reading rooms, literary journals, and available typewriters--is as close to a room alone as one could wish for. Not exclusive to women, the Sitting Room expects visitors to be on their best behavior. Wilson and Peterson haven't been disappointed in the 17 years that they've been maintaining this space. "Pretty cool, huh?" Wilson giggles. The Sitting Room, 170 E. Cotati Ave, Cotati. A key will be freely given upon request at North Lights Books when they move into their new store next to Oliver's Market; or call Wilson at 795-9028. -G.G. [ Sonoma County | MetroActive Central | Archives ]