When last I looked, midnight Sunday has passed, which means it’s winner, winner, faux-chicken dinner-time here. Congratulations to Llehn who won a hardcover copy of WILDFIRE RUN. Llehn, please contact me with your snail mail address and Dee will hook you up with your book.
Now, for a wee post today let’s talk about writer porn. 😀
I recently had a birthday and in an act of family solidarity, my youngest sister and mom wanted to spring for a writing-related gift. Naturally, they had to twist my rubber arm to gain my compliance. 😉
I had to think for a while about what I wanted. I lusted after Oberon journal covers, 
but I’ve become extremely picky about the size and shape of my notebooks. They’ve become a hodge-podge of brainstorming, blog posts and genuine diary entries — incredibly valuable to my process.
I prefer them to be 8″ x 10″ in size, softly bound, and in fact, I do my best work in them if I don’t take them too seriously. At $135 American — plus shipping, handling, and duty — I’m inclined to feel a whole lot of serious. I don’t think my mom and sister intended me to feel serious.
Next I considered one of Oberon’s Kindle covers, like the one to the right. Problem is, I’m not yet sure how big a role an e-reader will play in my life. Besides, I have a utilitarian cover that’s reasonably attractive and I wanted something I could use every day in my writing.
Which is why, after Kat Magendie’s showed me a photo, I settled on this:
Isn’t it purty? I love the metal case, which is charmingly retro. The pen itself is perfectly weighted and sized for my hand, and it writes like a dream. It even helped me push though my latest fiction snafu. You can imagine that’s worth a great deal to me.
Do you have a special pen or journal? Are you picky about your equipment? Or can you make do with almost any writing implement?
I love that Kindle cover. I’m a real sucker for beautiful accessories. When I bought my Asus eee PC notebook computer, I surfed ebay for a divine leather case to put it in. Pretty soon I decided the ebay ones weren’t special enough and went hunting in more exclusive waters. I discovered covers in fabulously soft leather that cost more than the machine had. That seemed a bit silly, so I collapsed in a dither, but the damage was done and the appeal of the cheaper ebay ones had worn off. The result? I still have not clothed my Asus eee properly.
Your post might well send me shopping again.
Hah! I write on yellow legal pads with a pencil (pages are shredded once I transfer to computer) and I read with my Kindle OUT of the cover. Its utilitarian cover is fine to store it in.
Roz, ooh, I’d love to know what you settle on. If you decide to get a pen, there are only two of this variety that come with the cute little box.
Laura, do you have a skin for your Kindle? Without a case, I find it too slippery and thin to grasp with any sense of security.
I am lusting after that pen! The case is awesome and your description makes it sound like something I want to tuck under my pillow.
I’m very picky about my writing tools. First, my Mac laptop second which is so beautiful and easy to write with that I can’t put it into words. My pens must be Uni-ball Roller Grip, 0.5 MM. Notebooks I’m slightly less picky, but prefer black, prefer moleskine or leather-bound, also love acid-free paper, but when ya gotta write, ya gotta write, so even a receipt will suffice.
Sorry you asked?
No skin…once I got used to it, it no longer felt precarious. 😀
I’m not very finicky about my writing tools — I have a tendency to misplace pens, so I buy a box of the rollerball ones, figuring it’ll take a while before I can lose all of them! And I generally buy a stash of spiral notebooks at the beginning of the school year, so that’ll last me til the next school year.
Of course, the most important writing tool — COFFEE — I never run out of that (or it’s vital accompaniment, half & half — I’ll go out in a blizzard for that! LOL)
Cathryn, not even remotely sorry. 🙂 I used those precise pens for a while myself, LOL.
Donna, another rollerballer fan. Do you find they write faster than a ballpoint? When I’m away from home, I use the Papermate Comfortmate 1.0mm blue ink pen. I have about 40 in my filing cabinet. My kids like them too, but they know better than to use my birthday pen.
Jan, belated happy birthday! Lovely pen!
Actually, I am picky about pens. They just are not necessarily expensive. I have had a fondness for Papermates since I was a child. Walgreen’s not sells their own brand of gel and rollerball pens that are cheap, yet write divinely! I loath fine pens, BTW.
I read both my K1 and my K3 in the cover.
I don’t have a smart phone (I work from home and spend most of my time, there, so it’s not a priority). I almost wished I had one when I saw the new Oberon Cell Phone sleeves for the iPhone. Just to die for! http://www.oberondesign.com/smartphone.php
Sorry, the not was a typo! Grrr!
My dog, woman, you are determined to separate me from my dollar bills, aren’t you? 😉 Lovely. I have a very utilitarian iPhone case, which resembles a tire tread. The front of my phone is covered with the same material which supposedly protects American tanks. That is to say, “want.” Hee.
Ain’t it purdy and grand and wunnerful! lovvvvvee mine!
Ohhhhh, that Kat knows a pen when she sees one!!! Love the pen. I don’t currently have a “special” pen per se, but I’m thinking I need to remedy that. I do have to have medium point blue, though. Very important. And I like the 6×8 ish sized spirals, in red. They fit well in my ginormous purse, and I can pull them out anywhere.
Sharla, if you get one of these pens, let me know what you think! Thank you for stopping by, and for the link. Very nice of you. 🙂