(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!)
Dearest pen friends, this week is my 10th anniversary writing for Brad here at The Pen Addict blog. Ten years ago, Brad put out a call for additional help writing posts for his site and asked folks to email him a letter of interest with the subject "I want to write!" I sent in my bid and crossed all my fingers.
At the time, I was a full-time freelance writer. I had just moved to Wisconsin from Colorado. I had been collecting pens for over a decade by then and I was an avid listener of The Pen Addict podcast. I could not think of a better writing gig than reviewing the stationery that I loved! Brad hiring me was one of the best things that's ever happened to me, and I am eternally grateful for the last ten years of pen friendship.
I call Brad BestBoss, because he is. If you were to meet him for even ten seconds, you'd be able to tell that he's both capable and compassionate, supportive and fun. This is where I'd reassure you that he's not paying me to say this, but I guess he technically did! He just didn't know I was going to say it. I've written for dozens of platforms for over twenty years, and this is the only time I've felt like more than a word factory. Working for The Pen Addict feels like being a part of something great. Sure, we're niche, and most folks have never heard of us (and are surprised such a thing exists when they do hear about us), but we're also a vast, diverse community that celebrates our common interest. I love you all dearly.
It has been an honor to be a part of such a wonderful project for ten awesome years. That's about 500 blog posts! And I hope to stick around for another ten years, and beyond.
I'll be absent for the next few weeks, though, as the actual moving part of moving is happening next week, followed by the final phase of moving my parents across the country into nursing care near my new home. But wasn't I blogging about doing that a year ago? YEP. It has taken a year and it was very hard. This difficult chapter is finally coming to an end.
That does also mean that in a few weeks, I will finally be able to unpack all my stationery that has been in storage for months! Organizing it all from scratch is both exciting and daunting. I can't wait. And I'll probably blog about it.
Thanks for reading my posts, pen fam. Whether I'm reviewing, traveling, or writing about writing, it's nice to have you with me.
xoxo Sarah
