Dear Reader,
Once a week I invite a guest author to the book club. Let me introduce you to author Michael Jecks. He's written almost fifty novels and he uses many "different inks" to plan them. Let me explain. Michael has a streaming channel where he reviews pens, paper and ink, and you can watch and listen in at writerlywitterings on YouTube. His latest novel, Death Comes Hot, the fifth in the Bloody Mary Tudor mystery series, will be available in December.
Please welcome Michael Jecks to the book club. Authors do indeed feel blessed to hear from readers. Email Michael.
FOUNTAIN PENS AND WRITING
I have an incurable addiction.
Many years ago, when I was a computer salesman, I realised that although I loved my Cross ballpoint pen, its slimness and elegance, there was something about it that didn't work for me. My writing, basically, was the issue: it invariably looked as though a drunken spider had fallen into a pot of gooey ink and tried to make its way across the page before expiring.
One day, I happened across a counter in a department store, and rediscovered the joy of writing: I bought a Cross fountain pen.
And my incurable addiction began.
That Cross led to a second. One had a medium nib for writing and planning, the second a fine nib, so I could edit between the lines. And then I started writing novels, and began bingeing like a drug addict. Pens are, after all, like any other addiction. You learn about the subject, and are led down dangerous paths that tempt you beyond endurance. I developed an unhealthy interest in Kaweco pens. The first was a delightful little AL-Sport--light, tiny in the pocket, but full-sized in the hand. Perfect for everyday use.
More Kawecos followed, especially the fabulous Liliput with its wonderful slenderness, there was a newer Cross, a Sheaffer--and at last I drowned in the glory that was Conway Stewart.
I acquired my first Conway Stewart when I was Chairman of the Crime Writers' Association. The Churchill really appealed to me. A good capacity, but with a style that was pure Edwardian. I loved it, so much so that I collaborated with Conway Stewart in designing pens.
But now I was led astray. Dante del Vecchio, a wonderful genius, worked with me to design a prototype. This Visconti pen is one I have used almost daily for five years. It holds more than five times the ink of even my Churchill, which means I can write all day without having to refill it. Now, I am fortunate enough to own four different models of this, the Homo Sapiens from Visconti.
But these pens...well, I don't write books with them. I've tried, but I can't! But the pens, my addiction, are used every day for making notes, for planning and outlining.
I am now in New Zealand, in quarantine, as I write this. I first outlined with my Conway Stewart Indiana Jones--it's perfect--and now I'm going to attack a plot with my Visconti Crystal Dream.
No. I don't want addiction therapy. I want more ink.
--Michael Jecks
Email Michael
Enter this week's special giveaway sponsored by Ink & Willow. Ten winners will each receive two gifts. To view the items and to enter, click here.
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
This month's Penguin Classics book is The Cancer Journals, by Audre Lorde, with a foreword by Tracy K. Smith. I have a copy to share with you, so start reading and enter today.
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