Posts filed under Writing

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.

2024 Notebook Maximalism

(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!)

Last year, overwhelmed with work, school, travel, and writing, I aimed to simplify my life by trying to use stationery with multiple uses. Less to carry, more versatility, everything I needed at hand. It got me through a tough year. But I missed using some of the things I love. Did the purely utilitarian approach work? Yes. Is it for me? No. I want to indulge in the endless variety of stationery glee.

This year, overwhelmed with work and more work, and writing and more writing (but no school and much less travel), I'm reverting to the more playful approach to my notebooks. Which means lots and lots of notebooks.

In this post, I'll focus on my daily carry notebooks. Because if we talk about all of them, we'll be here all day.

First up, the planner. The nerve center. The external hard drive of my brain. I'm using a Hobonichi Techo Weeks this year, which I know from extensive field testing, is the best layout for me. Seeing a month at a glance is essential, as is the week-at-a-glance page, and room on the right page to make my to-do list is the perfect time management setup for me. One adaptation I make is that I add the Weeks Memo Book tucked inside the cover for some extra blank note taking pages. In that, I do time-blocking for busier weeks and make important long-term notes that I don't need in the back of the book itself. A Weeks Mega would eliminate the need for the extra memo book, but the Mega only comes in plain, boring covers and I need the fun, pretty covers. Notably (for me), I'm not using the zippered cover for my weeks this year. I always have in the past, but I've found I'm much more likely to use my planner if it's not in a case. I've also come to realize that having my planner and wallet in one system doesn't work for me, as I need to take my planner a lot of places where I do not want to bring my wallet. I also hate how the ribbon bookmark gets shredded by the zipper. And why would I want to cover up the pretty design on this one? So far, after December and January use, it's working great.

My writing notebook right now is the Pebble Stationery Cosmo Air Light A5 notebook with a fresh sheet of blotting paper. That's where new drafts are written after they're planned. I reviewed this in the past, and I love it, but it's filling up fast, so it will be switched out in the next few weeks. The planning for these stories happens in my commonplace book.

My commonplace book for this year (and a good part of last year) is my Plotter Bible Size. I got the Plotter Mini 5 at the Chicago Pen Show last May to try them out and see if I liked the setup. I did, alas. So I went all-in on the black leather Bible Size version, and I have no regrets. I have different sections separated out with their project manager inserts, so I can keep adulting stuff apart from writing stuff apart from hobby stuff. No work things go in this notebook--I have a separate notebook just for work, currently a Leuchtturm 1917 softcover (not shown, because work stays at work!). When I do travel this year, this will be the only notebook I bring.

Lastly, and a recent addition to my lineup, is a separate reading journal. Normally, reading journaling goes in my commonplace book, but this year I wanted to give it more space, and its own space. I also found myself missing my Traveler's Notebook that was my steadfast companion last year. Last year's was the passport size, but I still have my treasured early edition regular size, from back when Traveler's Company was still Midori. I got some fresh inserts and bands from Etsy and JetPens (indulging in a few older book-related ephemera), and that's where I'll track my reading and book reviews for this year. There's a blank insert; a monthly planner page where I can track start and end dates, book club meetings, literary award jury deadlines, etc.; and a grid insert for making lists. I also picked up the zipper and pocket cloth insert for holding stickers, bookmarks, a pencil, and page flags. So far, I love the setup, but only time will tell if I'll actually reach for it. I hope I do.

Other things not shown, notebook-wise, are the three notebooks in which four different books are being written. No, that is not logical or efficient, but that's how deadlines work, sometimes. I don't carry those every day--just when I'm working on that particular project. If I have inspiration related to one of them while I'm away from my home desk, it goes in the commonplace book. The Plotter works perfectly for that, because I can remove the Plotter page with those notes and tuck it into its relevant book. I also still have my old short story notebook, because I'm still working on edits to drafts that are in that book. And then there's a notebook on my nightstand where sleepy Sarah writes things down for future Sarah (often nonsense).

I like this, enjoying a variety of tools and letting each one do just the one thing it's best suited for, rather than picking one thing that does a bit of everything but none of it perfectly. The simplicity of one tool is still appealing, but I also like that I can take just my reading journal with me somewhere, and leave the rest of the world behind. There's a simplicity in compartmentalizing, too. Even if it looks like I'm living in a fort made out of notebooks. I'm happy in my fort.

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