I don't usually write with a pen, but when I do, I like to write with something cute. If you write a lot, you get stuck with ugly writing instruments more often than not: weird old Bic pens from the junk drawer, leftover school supplies, swag from realtors, etc. It's a luxury to write with something that doesn't remind you that the life of a writer is not what the movies promised.

The pretty pen I'm using now has a blue glitter shaft with a pearl flower at the end with a blue heart-shaped snow globe at the top filled with tiny blue stars. It's nice because it's light. Heavy pens are the worst when you have a lot of writing to do.

In case you're having trouble visualizing that... it's essentially a rattle. Remove the ink shaft and I wouldn't hesitate to give it to a baby for that very purpose. I shake it and it makes a soothing little swooshing sound. It does that the whole time I write with it.

Like the sea... swoosh...

Oh, and I updated The Blood that Flows. You get Chapter Ten - Cupid's Castle.  

You're welcome!

Stephanie Van Orman

Novelist