"How many people are coming to the shoot? I'm baking cookies and want to make sure there's enough for everyone!" The mere mention of dessert and we're there! Ever the gracious host, American writer, editor, and podcaster Rebecca Thandi Norman—who you might know from a popular online publication called The Scandinavian Standard or her podcast Book Imprint—left Copenhagen after 13 years, and has settled into a textile-filled bungalow in Roskilde, her husband's hometown, along with their two boys. Exuberant yet gentle, Rebecca weaves stories throughout everything she touches—on the page, in her community, around the dinner table, or in the slow bloom of her future tea garden. She reminds us that creativity isn’t about waiting for inspiration, but about showing up and doing the work.

For those who don't know you, how would you like to introduce yourself?

I am an American writer and editor based here in Denmark. I live in Roskilde and was in Copenhagen for 13 years before that. I have two kids. I'm married to a Danish man, and have a radar on both the brand side of things as well as editorial side. I've written my first book as well, and I am hosting two podcasts, one about Agatha Christie called Tea and Murder, and one that is a literary podcast called Book Imprint. It's about books that changed your life before the age of 25.

What brought you here and what made you fall in love with Denmark?

I studied here in 2008, during which time I met the man who is now my husband and we moved around a little bit, we went to Cape Town, we went to London, and we settled back here in 2011 and got married in 2013. I kind of have the sense that sometimes you click with a city the way you click with a person - you just immediately are like “this makes sense” and that's how I felt about Copenhagen. The the pace of life, the way the city is set up in terms of walkability and ease of getting around and it's just the aesthetics that really appealed to me and I felt that way very, very quickly. So even in 2008 before I realized I would be staying, I felt like I could stay.

What was the process of turning the house into a home? and are there any essentials that make you feel at home or how do you create that?

The first step when we bought this place was to make it functional - we needed a kitchen, and we needed to make it the space that we could use, so we added another bedroom. And then the comfort element, like our Formel A couch, for example, to have things that you feel comfortable sitting on. And for me a dining room table is incredibly important. It needs to be a place where you can sit and eat and chat with people. I grew up not as a living room family, but as a kitchen family, so we were always sitting in the kitchen, and I wanted to create a space just like that - it’s why we have a kitchen island, a place where you gather around together. And then adding art, we had so much art in our old apartment that never even went up on the walls because we didn't have any walls. We had a tiny apartment and getting to actually hang stuff in this house is so exciting. So exciting! I think for me, having things that remind me of my family and of people that I love is really important, so I have a lot of things from my grandmothers, my parents, I have art for my great grandmother who I never even met. Little ceramics from a cousin who I'm really close to and a little flower vase from my best friend back home. It’s just things like that, when it catches my eye, brings me some memory or some sense of comfort.

We know that you've lived various places around the world, what are your secrets for finding hidden gems or where would you recommend to hunt for vintage treasures in Denmark?

For the finding of hidden gems, there is nothing that beats walking around the different neighborhoods. There is no amount of telling you about a place I can give that would equal just choosing a neighborhood, like choosing Nordvest or Nørrebro and just spending the day walking around and finding those places. I will say that the little area of Nordvest, which is right on the border of both Nørrebro on one side and Fredericksburg on the other, it’s called the Fuglekvarteret is so full of hidden gems in terms of vintage. And I would really recommend people go around that area, lots of little shops that have great stuff and good prices. It was my favorite thing on a Saturday, to just go in this little square that I had created for myself and and find little treasures.

As a writer, editor, where do you find inspiration or what stimulates your creativity?

As a writer and editor, I don’t really believe in creativity in the sense that I don't think you can wait until you're inspired by something. I just I have to write every day because writing is my job. So, for me, my favorite motto is (and literally it's on my business cards): a first draft only needs to exist. It’s like being a sculptor. You bring this stone into your studio and of course you can chip away at it later, because you have to make the sculpture - and that's the hard part. It's going to be really heavy and it's gonna feel impossible, but just get the stone in the studio, the rest will come to you. So for me, I don't wait for creativity. I don't wait for inspiration. I write and write and write, and eventually sit back and edit at it. And that's when it becomes real. But I also think no artists really work that way. When you look at professional artists of any type, whether they are photographers or painters, they just get in there and do it. Every single day. Your practice is what makes you an artist and I think teaching, especially kids, that what art is, is waiting for this volt of creativity actually prevents them from becoming artists, because they're like, well, I've never been inspired. You don't have to wait to be inspired. Just make something - if it's good, you'll be happy about it and if it's not, you'll change it to be good.

What writer or artist do you admire and why?

Okay, so an artist, I've been really obsessed with lately is Faith Ringold. She's an American artist who also wrote children's stories (Tar Beach being her first), which she came too much later in her career, but she made these things called story quilts and brought in traditions of African American women that had been passed on from generation to generation. She was an activist, and pushed for both women and black artists to have their work displayed and to be taken seriously by museums. I just find her to be incredibly inspiring and to be an artist and an activist at the same time and working not just for your own art, but for other people's art, is amazing. She takes many viewpoints and kind of funnels them through her own lens and I think, yeah, she’s the kind of person who makes you wonder,
 “whose life is art?” To me, she is a person whose life was art.

At this point in life, what's the dream?

I want to publish a book, I want to publish my book. That's the big dream, and I don't ever really expect to make all my money from book publishing because books are basically just expensive business cards these days. I love it so much that to be able to contribute to them to have a book, is really my dream. I hope with all my heart one day that there will be a book that I have written that is published. It doesn't mean if that doesn't happen, I've failed in life - that's how I feel. I'd love for Book Imprint podcast to continue flourishing. We've only just started, so we’re really, really young days, but I love podcasts and I love talking to people about books. So, to get to do that in any capacity is so fun for me and I find it really relaxing and interesting. And I think moving to the suburbs has really allowed my kids to flourish and for us to have a much gentler family life and I want to continue to keep watching them grow, see what they're interested in. I find watching my kids find their interests to be really rewarding and exciting and just giving them the space to do that and have our family grow in that way is really what everything is all about - all the other stuff is just stuff. If I get to create and if I get to watch my family grow, those are the things that matter. I'd also love to have a really beautiful garden. We just moved in, we haven't done anything to the garden yet and I have so many plans! I really want to make a tea garden and I have all the seeds for it. Bergamot, camomile, mint, like different things that you would make into teas. So I would really like to have my little tea garden and make my little tea.

My home must be …

warm, soft, secure, where the music is playing, where my kids are.

If I had to sum up my interior style in three words, they would be…

the eye travels.

My best vintage furniture purchase ever is…

my office chair, which is a big, soft leather chair on a chrome base. I got it at a secondhand shop for 80 DKK and carried it home in my arms. I use it every day and it's so comfortable, plus I love the burgundy color. 

The one item in my home I’d keep forever is…

a 1928 painting by Arne Johannessen and my Formel A sofa by Sigurd Larsen. It's a classic, and the navy blue wool is forever-chic.

When I need to change scenery or clear my head, I...

typically do not have the time to fulfill that need. A cup of tea while walking barefoot in the garden is a good start. Otherwise, get me to the beach! 

On my wish list is…

the Salty Interiors Flowy coffee table in oak!!

The city I'm excited to return to or visit gotta be …

always Boston, to see my family. I can't wait to visit Palma, Mallorca, where we are going to celebrate my husband's birthday this summer. I've never been there before. Top of my wishlist for the future are Tokyo and Mexico City

By the end of 2025, I hope I’ve…

signed with an agent, or sold my first book.

Where’s your favorite place to…

enjoy your coffee? 

on my window seat in my kitchen, looking at the garden. If there's a sunrise, even better! 

hang out with friends?

a drink at Deco, a meal at Goldfinch, a day spent at Hotel Skodsborg for swimming and spa - all luxuries, but the best time! But usually, a day sitting in the sunshine in the garden, with some homemade iced tea and snacks, is perfect. 

go for vintage shopping?

for vintage furniture, GenFund in Nordvest and for clothes, Time's Up Vintage (fancy) and Episode (basics)

explore architecture/art?

architecture, well, cycle or walk anywhere in Copenhagen! I'm partial to a nice walk in Frederiksberg for my fill of beautiful architecture. I also love the centre and harbor of Roskilde, where I live. Art, it's gotta be Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. I also adore Alice Folker Gallery and Nina J Kunsthandel.

take your children?

we have a fantastic library in Roskilde, so that's one spot, and the kids' art workshop at SMK is always great for a rainy day.