Posts filed under Travel

A Whirlwind Away from the Whirlwind

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available for pre-order!)

I was able to escape the tornado wreckage for a week to attend the 2024 StokerCon convention--the annual gathering for the Horror Writer's Association. I go every year, mostly to see my spooky fam, the Halloween People, as my friend Kevin's children named us. But it's also a wonderful opportunity to network, gain new education and skills, and a place to meet your heroes. This year's convention was particularly good, and the biggest one to date. And it didn't hurt that it was held in San Diego, which is a very beautiful place.

At the convention, I gave a reading, a signing, participated in two panels, and helped to hand out awards at the Bram Stoker Awards ceremony on Saturday, June 1st, which also happened to be my birthday. Best birthday party ever! The ceremony is one of the convention highlights. We call it Horror Prom, or the Horror Oscars, and everyone gets dressed up and has a lovely time. My short story collection Root Rot was nominated for an award this year, and while it didn't win, the award went to one of my biggest heroes, Gemma Files, which absolutely delighted me.

I signed a lot of copies of Root Rot over the weekend, and I had some thoughts about the best pens for book signing. I sometimes had to sign with ballpoints, which just felt wrong. My fountain pen I brought for signing ended up way too feathery for the task. I did a lot with a regular Sharpie, which is the pen of choice for most authors, and it worked quite well. But the best one--the most ideal pen I found for book signing--was a Metallic Sharpie. The Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore was the official bookseller of the convention, and they had a tower of copies of Root Rot for me to sign. They let me pick from a selection of Sharpies, so of course I went for the sparkly one. And it was perfect. So much so that I'm going to get some for myself for this very purpose. My new book, The Atropine Tree, releases in just four weeks, so I'll be signing more towers of books soon!

That's really the only stationery thought that I had for the whole con. I was so busy I never even got my notebook out of my backpack, otherwise. But while I was running around the convention like a fast zombie, I did manage to escape a few times.

I wasn't going to go all the way to San Diego and not see the place that claims to be the most haunted house in America. That would have been silly. The Whaley House was indeed lovely, but not as spooky as I'd hoped. Still a fantastic museum, well worth the visit. I also wasn't going to come all the way to California and not see the ocean, so I spent an hour strolling along Mission Beach, watching waves, observing strange seaweeds, and eating what can only be described as California food, which I didn't know was a thing until this trip. Very enjoyable.

And then it was over, like a whirlwind, and it was back to my home, which is still suffering from the whirled wind. But progress is being made, and there are signs that I might be able to return to my hobbies again soon! Which is good, because the writing deadlines only ever seem to speed up, and my notebooks are calling.

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Posted on June 13, 2024 by Sarah Read and filed under Travel, Writing.

Stationery Travel Diary, Librarian Edition

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And her latest book, Root Rot, is now available for pre-order!)

The Public Library Association's conference was held in Columbus, Ohio last week and it was immediately followed, for me, by a Horror Writers Association Wisconsin Chapter writing retreat near Milwaukee. That meant packing stationery for educational, professional, and recreational purposes! It also meant stopping in to a Columbus stationery store, On Paper, which was conveniently/dangerously close to my hotel.

For the conference:

My main stationery for notetaking at the conference was my Plotter Bible size with a CW&T Pen Type B in Brass. These weren't tools specifically chosen for the conference; they're my everyday carry writing tools that are never out of reach. They weren't perfect for the job. I could have used a gel pen to write more quickly and a larger page to expand my notes, but these were handy and portable--which were essential features for running around a massive conference.

Columbus was awesome. I got to explore a new city, reconnect with some local friends, and hang out with roughly 7,000 colleagues who were doing brilliant and amazing things. I visited two bookstores, Prologue Books and The Book Loft. Both were lovely, but I think I could live at the Book Loft. You know a bookstore is good when you're at a conference where publishers are literally throwing free books at you, but you still end up buying two books. Oops? No regrets. Okay, one regret. I regret not buying some of the cool t-shirts, too.

One highlight of Columbus is, of course, the stationery shop. On Paper is located right on the High Street, with lots of fun boutiques and coffee shops and restaurants nearby. The shop's interior is quaint and tidy, with antique furniture for displays and a fun assortment of cards, papers, notebooks, wax seals, bottled inks, and desk accessories. They had some lovely Retro 51 pens and some Kaweco fountain pens, but the majority of the focus was paper. They are my people. The vibe reminded me a lot of Papier Plume in New Orleans, minus the gothic flair of its distant cousin.

While I exercised an immense amount of self-control, I could not resist the "Hexes and Vexes" list pad from Open Sea Design Co. I mean. Who could? It was also the perfect opportunity to pick myself up a postcard souvenir. And I would like praise for resisting the recycled book cover journals, please and thank you.

If you're a PenAddict and find yourself in Columbus, I definitely recommend visiting On Paper for your stationery souvenir fix.

For the writing retreat:

I used my current story draft notebook, the Pebble Stationery Liberty Fabric notebook with Cosmo Air Light paper. For the pen, I used the Visconti Mirage Mythos, which I'm reviewing for next week's post. They were a great team, and between the lovely tools, the restful setting, and the quiet of the retreat center (and probably also the unlimited coffee and muffins of the retreat center), I knocked out about six thousand words of the best stuff I've written this year so far. Magic. The llamas also helped.

The two settings could not have been more different. A bustling city with far too much to do, oceans of people, and countless distractions--to a remote farm with a monastic room, an abundance of silence, and only a few other quiet writers. Okay, there was also a quilting retreat happening there, and they were... boisterous. But there were plenty of quiet corners to hide in, away from all humans. Which was exactly what I needed between a week of work travel and a week of solo parenting while my spouse travels.

April has been wild so far. Thank goodness for the writing tools that keep it all on track. Tomorrow I'm taking the day off just to write. Well, and taxi the kids around and pick my spouse up from the airport, but between those things...WRITING. I have goals, lists, deadlines, and empty pages to fill.

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Posted on April 11, 2024 by Sarah Read and filed under Writing, Travel.

Stationery Outdoors

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)

I tend to overthink what stationery I bring when I travel, but it's something I enjoy thinking about. My final adventure of the summer took place this past weekend--my first camping trip! A friend and I went tent camping for three days on the shores of Lake Superior, hiking the lakeshore and north woods all day and cooking over a fire. It was amazing! But what stationery do you bring to the great outdoors?

My carry needed to be pretty minimal. There are already way too many things to pack for a camping trip, and priority space was given to gear that would prevent freezing or starving. It would also need to be stationery that could handle some potentially rough conditions.

Pens were the easiest to choose. My Spoke Roady, which goes with me everywhere, was a given as my practical pen. For a fountain pen, I chose the Gravitas Quark, which I'm currently test-driving for review. Both fit nicely in the wee Galen Leather zip case, which I'm also testing out. And, because I brought my Plotter Mini 5, the Kaweco Liliput that lives in the pen loop also came along. I had two spare small international ink cartridges in my toiletries bag, just in case of an inspiration emergency (both the ink that was already in the Kaweco, so no wilderness pen cleaning would be required).

Paper was trickier. I had a bit of paper in my Plotter, yes, but I don't find that size good for creative writing, just for jotting notes. It was possible that I'd have quite a bit of down time, so I wanted to be prepared to work on one of my writing projects. I have three short stories, two novellas, and one novel in progress. And I'll admit, my notebook situation is a bit out of control at the moment. Normally I have one notebook that all my short fiction goes into, but juggling multiple deadlines, plus the fact that my main short story notebook only has a few pages left (so I had to start a new one for a new story), means that I actually have four story notebooks in progress, plus two for the novel. I figured I'd work on a short story this trip, but the one that's due the soonest is in progress in a very fancy/fussy notebook with Cosmo Air Light paper. CAL paper doesn't like it if you breathe on it wrong. I love it, but I wouldn't consider it outdoorsy. But I remembered I had a small Paperblanks notebook that I'd taken on a previous trip. I'd started a novella in that notebook that I've since set aside. I decided that it was small enough, but substantial enough, and also durable enough, to be my trip notebook for the woods.

So how did my choices fare on their camping trip? Well. Let's just say I don't think I ever even unzipped that pocket of my backpack. That's right. I didn't touch a single piece of stationery for the entire trip. I didn't write a word. I didn't even so much as sign a receipt. No regrets! I was too busy frolicking.

What I did do: spent a collective 17 hours on three different beaches; hiked several trails; cooked 7 meals over campfires that I started myself; ate lots of s'mores, saw the northern lights (!), and collected a handful of beautiful Lake Superior agates. I'm bruised, sunburned, mosquito-bitten, exhausted, and totally happy. And behind on my writing. Worth it. You've gotta live to have something to write about.

(Note: Some photos are courtesy of my camping buddy, Kat Rohrmeier.)

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