The Atlas Stationers Sidewalk Sale was one for the record books, and my additional Chicago Day Out was an epic adventure. I’ve published my recap for Pen Addict Members, and will be breaking it all down on the podcast and stream throughout the week.
Thanks again to the Atlas Stationers family for an amazing time, and to everyone who said hi and followed along with my shenanigans!
(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Bluesky. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)
I am freshly back from my latest adventure--a road trip to my home state of Colorado. Two days of driving there, a few days with the in-laws for a family reunion, then off to my parents' house, where our main goal was to pack up and clean out their house as they prepare to make the move into assisted living. Then two days driving back. There were two fun adventure days planned into the mix--one day in Rocky Mountain National Park and one day at the aquarium in Denver.
I was supposed to write a blog post about any cool stationery I found in my parents' house as we packed, but 1) Mostly I didn't find any, and 2) Turns out that's a super emotionally and physically difficult thing to do, and I forgot to take pictures of anything I did find.
But I promised Brad a trip post, so what you get instead is a list of random trip thoughts interspersed with pictures of fish. Sorry, Brad.
I brought one small Paperblanks notebook and one pocket Gravitas Pens fountain pen with me on this trip. I did not write a single word. Well, I did write a poem, but not with pen and paper. I texted it to myself in the middle of the night. It's about getting too attached to places and how hard it is when the places you love are so far apart.
A very cool thing I found in the attic: an old Topo Designs messenger bag that my mom used to carry. It's the original design of the Mountain Briefcase Backpack and pre-dates the Doane Paper edition one that I still carry to this day (it's literally my work bag right now, and I've had it for 12-13 years). How did my mom get this cool bag? We lived in Fort Collins, where Topo was born. Don't worry--this did not go in the thrift pile. I have it now. It needs some serious TLC, and then I think my youngest will inherit it.
Another stationery-related item I found was my grandmother's pencil box from the 1940s. It has her maiden name and the year 1948 written inside the lid. She would have been 18 then, and just about to marry my grandfather. There were pens inside! But just the freebie branded ballpoints you get from the bank and doctor's office. And a lot of mechanical pencils for doing crossword puzzles. It made me very happy.
I also found a lot of my mom's travel journals and flight logs, which I packed away for safe storage. Her journals are all written in nice notebooks, because I always gave her nice notebooks. And when we lived in Switzerland, we both stocked up on Clairefontaine notebooks from the local shop. Both our houses are full of those.
My dad asked if there was anything else I wanted from the house, and I asked him to save me one of his many hand-carved walking sticks he used to make from branches collected on their property. He gave me the most special one that he'd carved for himself. I couldn't even talk for a minute and I can't now, just writing about it.
Random lessons from the trip: Iowa is stunningly beautiful in summer. Home is lots of places all at once. Bears really like cat food. Get rid of most of your stuff. But not your journals--write lots of those. In good notebooks. No one is allowed to skip songs on the family playlist. Your kids will add terrible songs to the family playlist--not because they like them, but because they like to troll you. The Rocky Mountains don't look the same without their snow caps. The Rocky Mountains are losing their snow caps. If you want all the Estes Park gossip, ask in the jewelry stores. Your parents are going to get older. They probably still have their clothes from before you were born, and you can trace the outline of them through their lives, from closet to attic to garage, and then you, and they, are going to have to let all of that go.
Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.
Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!
(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Bluesky. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)
Another StokerCon has come and gone, and I'm navigating the rough reentry into the real world. StokerCon is always fun, but it was something extra special this year.
For some context, StokerCon is an annual convention put on by the Horror Writers Association, where spooky story folks gather and celebrate the genre. It's a blend of authors, editors, agents, publishers, reviewers, librarians, filmmakers, and fans.
This year, the convention was held in Stamford, Connecticut, which allows me to check another state off of my travel list. I didn't see much of the town--just the stretch between the train station and the hotel. I did take the train again this year, and while it was exhausting, I still consider it the best way to travel. It costs less than flying, and it's more comfortable and less stressful. It takes the same amount of time as driving, but you can nap and read and knit. But I digress.
By all measures, this shouldn't have been the most awesome con ever. The logistics were fraught, the hotel was.... decrepit and understaffed. There was nothing in walking distance, and the hotel was clearly not prepared for 900 Halloween People to descend upon it. But it was still one of the best, because this year we need our communities more than ever.
I didn't get to go to the Chicago Pen Show this year, and it's the first time I've missed it in almost a decade. So this excursion to StokerCon was my first adventure of 2025, and I NEEDED it. Being with my people has refilled my soul buckets.
And there was stationery there. Of course. Writers like writing and they like writing with writey things. And nowhere was that more abundant than at the Mass Author Signing, where hundreds of authors sat with pens in hand. I made a tour of the room, and I'm reporting my findings back like a good Pen Addict.
The most popular choice by far was the trusty Sharpie, which is in line with my findings of last year. It's just the perfect book signing pen. Most of the Sharpies used were plain black, which I feel was a missed opportunity. I've been using purple or the metallic brass in my books, and it's fancee.
There were, of course, also a lot of plain ballpoint pens. But there were two new trends that delighted me.
One, lots of stamps! From custom Hanko Chop stamps to fun and whimsical rubber stamps, my book was full of fun images.
Two, fountain pens! I used to be the solo pen geek, but this year there were THREE authors signing with fountain pens. And all three of them were black TWSBI Ecos. They looked elegant and were perfectly practical for their purpose. One new friend even drew me a dinosaur with their TWSBI.
None of this is pictured because my books are in the mail making their way across the country to me. You'll have to take my word for it. It's a very good dinosaur.
I guess the point of this post is that you should surround yourself in your community in these troubled times. Stay close to your people, meet your challenges, ride trains, and draw dinosaurs.
Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.
Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!
