Pens and Other Answers

Thought I might as well answer some of the questions from my previous post with a new post because the comment sections tend to get messy with ads. 

First off, it has been mentioned that I am working on a new trilogy I tentatively entitled the Rise and Fall. The three novels are entitled: Nolyn, Farilane, & Esrahaddon, and they encompass the span of time that connects the Legends of the First Empire to…well not Riyria exactly, but to the fall of the Novronian Empire. Um…spoiler alert? Sorry, I guess. And ahh…sure the picture in my previous post has clues to..ahh…who Yolric is. Sure, why not. 

Second, Robin is fine. After recovering she got a test to see if she had Corvid-19 in order to see if she can give blood, or plasma. She has universal blood and usually donates regularly as a result, and now if she had antibodies that can fight the virus she defiantly wanted to give, but it turned out she was negative. Just a really nasty flu, I guess. So while she is healthy she isn't fine. Robin is disappointed that she can’t travel. For years we always wanted to travel, but we were either too busy or poor. This was the big year. We had tickets and reservations to Paris and Hamilton, and we just bought a teardrop camper to spend the summer exploring the west and hopefully visit readers on the way. But…well…you know. So Robin works in her new camper in the driveway on kickstarter fulfillment. She doesn’t say it because so many others have it so much worse, but I’m certain she’s disappointed. We're the lucky ones, but I do feel bad for her. She's never asked for much and was so excited. 

I’m a writer so I’m immune. Not to the virus but the lockdown effects. My heaven is staying home surrounded by fountain pens & Moleskines, old typewriters with fresh ribbons, an Apple running Scrivener, a cup of Pour-Over coffee in an Ember mug, and an new novel to write. Now I have a legitimate excuse to stay home and do what I love. 

This brings me to Three: the pen collection. I’m not an expert on fountain pens, which translates to: I don’t think I have found My Pen, but I’m working on it. I started with a few Watermans. Then my brother bought me a Lamy Studio, which I was impressed by. Lamy tends to be very modern in their design, which turned me off, but wow the pen is wonderful. Two years, never cleaned it, never needed to—crazy. 

A reader named Sylvia who for some reason lavishes Robin and I with wonderful gifts that we love, bought me a Conklin Empire Blue Stardust. Conklin is the pen Mark Twain used and the company he endorsed. The business went out of business in the forties, but the pen is still made. Sylvia also bought me a rare Japanese Oak-aged Glendalough Irish Whiskey, which I am saving for special occasions. 

Now whenever I go to Manhattan, (usually on publishing business) I always buy myself a new hat because New York has a great old fashion hat store called JJ Hat Company—the only pure hat store in the city I think—and also when I start a new novel I get a new notebook and pen. This time as I started “Esrahaddon”, I got two. One for brown ink and one for blue.

I ordered the Lamy 2000 (which has yet to arrive) because I like the Studio so much and—I mean the 2000 is on permanent display in a MoMA. The thing is a classic. But I also got a PILOT Custom 823, Amber Barrel. What I love about the 823 is the ink-fill mechanism. The piston vacuum fills the barrel of the pen is an instant, and the reservoir is massive. It’s great. It is also the first 14K gold, platinum-coated nib I’ve ever used. Very smooth. Rumor has it, this is the pen Neil Gaiman used to sign all those books that caused him to ice his arm. Now I am tempted to try using it to sign the Age of Empyre books when they come in this week. Usually I use a Sharpie Marker, but they run out of ink so quickly I go through boxes of them. 

Now to the fourth and final comment…

That dagger in the photo isn’t just a dagger. It is a Reddit Stabby Award—but I do use it for opening mail and packages. In fact, I used it today to open a new Moleskine where I plan to put notes for another novel I’m thinking about writing. I think I’ll entitle it Drumindor. 

Esrahaddon Notebook 4th page—no spoilers