Glass Dip Pen!

I got a glass dip pen, partly because of the new upcoming book that’s coming out after Kinetics, partly because I always wanted a glass dip pen. They’re pretty!

I remember staring at more traditional glass dip pens in Barnes & Nobles when I was a teenager. It was clear with a peach-ish pink swirling, twisting band that stretched into the thin, swirly wisp of a tail and a spiral clear tip. I thought it was the coolest thing evarrrrr. I had dip pens when I was a teen but they were traditional metal nibs, complete with the holder. My holder was black but with silver sprays on it, bought from Blick art store. I liked it but glass dips look so unique and fanciful.

This pen is going to be used for signatures and signings primarily, if not only. I used to have this super romanticized idea of writing a story with a dip pen because that’s how it has been done for centuries … but I straight up can’t. Simply don’t have the brain for it. How Phyllis Wheatley and Charles Dickens could do it is beyond me. I have used quills before, I have used dip pens before, it really doesn’t suit my brain with the fact I have to dip my pen so constantly. Write a small few lines, dip. Write a few more small lines, dip. Not great for if I’m focused on a scene or I don’t want to be bothered with it running out mid word. I rather my fountain pen, which stores over 60 pages of ink in a single fill. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better. I need pens that can go like the Energizer Bunny – for a very, very long time with only one or two (very fast) refills in between. Efficiency is the name of the game for me. But for signing books and such? Sure, a glass dip is perfect.

I can do several books back to back on a single dip with a glass dip. I got a Moonman/Majohn (I call it “Moonman” because that’s what it is to me, and because ink company Kaweco did them dirty by trademarking the name “Moonman”, knowing they’re competitors. Traaaaaaaaaaaaaaash) because the glass dip has a cap, which is a big selling point to me. I don’t want to have to worry about the state of my pen when it’s not in my hand. The cap doesn’t sit on the back of the pen (doesn’t post on the pen), it just sits wobbly and loosely so that’s a concern but it just means I have to hopefully not lose the cap. Also, I can use my shimmer inks with total impunity without worrying about how it affects my pen. I want my TWSBI Vac700R Extra Fine pen to work with shimmer inks – and it does!.. a little – but it still clogged once and worries me all the other times I used it. No bueno, y’all. With a glass dip, there’s no worries whatsoever. This also means, for the most part, books are going to be signed with shimmer inks until they run out. I’m not currently signing books at the rate Neil Gaiman does so I should be ok for quite a while. I only have two, Ferris Wheel Press’ Stroke of Midnight and a custom ink from Kiwi Inks. I plan on using Stroke of Midnight, to be honest. I just poured some into a small sample vial so it’s easy to grab and use, esp. since I have to shake the vial often to make sure the shimmer is throughout the ink instead of sitting on the bottom.

That’s for when I am signing books in my apt. When I am out and about at a future book signing where I have to sign right then and there (I currently prefer to pre-sign books, gonna get to that in a minute), I plan on using a different ink all together, most likely a shimmer sample vial, as my “outside” ink.

I have talked about this a bit in the past but I do have to be mindful of my disorders. It’s a pain in the neck to worry about how a disorder affects me or how my environment affects my disorder – and, in turn, me. I don’t take any of my ink outside because it is “book writing ink”. Including my shimmer inks. That means they stay in. I don’t want to have a bad experience while toting my pretty valuable ink around. Plus, ink bottles are usually glass, not exactly travel friendly. Most of my ink bottles are glass. Either way, pens stay in, ink stays in. I may carry my glass pen out – or get a “travel” one, depending on what my brain decides – but either way, I rather pre-sign my books with my stuff together all in one place and when it is easier to cajole my brain into doing so.

Besides, we’re still in a pandemic, holding an event should be few and far in between. I don’t want to catch covid (never have, yay) and I don’t want to risk others to get it just to grab a book. There is that extremely salient fact to consider. Even with my in-person book signing, I still had a digital, livestreaming version.

Either way, I’m very excited for this very pretty glass dip pen. So, any books that are done for giveaways or book signings, it is most likely going to be done with a glass dip pen.

By the by, the audiobook for Kinetics is still getting worked on. It is nearly done, my disorders are basically what is slowing it down. Well, the treatment of them, which requires a lot of time. Either way, it is getting worked on. Should be hopefully out by end of December. Especially so that I can go on full break between books. After Kinetics is my first ever novel to come out, The Glassman, in Sept 2023.