Saturday, September 21, 2013

The Dallas Pen Show

Back from the Dallas Pen Show! Yes, I went to a pen show...

I met so many wonderful people there who were very excited to hear about all of the students signing up to write during NaNoWriMo. And thanks to the Andersons, I have 40 Preppy fountain pens to give out to the writers! These pens are great for beginners, and experienced fountain pen users as well (I have 6 or 7 of them myself). I'll post some pictures of the different pens I saw and people I met this week.

Also thank you to Pendleton Brown for the great work on my Rotring 600 (I finally can use it!) and the donation of the Rotring Skynn fountain pen for a student. As we stand right now, I have 77 fountain pens to award, 70 Zebra Zmulsion pens, 72 Faber-Castell Dot Grip pencils, Field Notes journals, Doane Paper journals, and Franklin-Christoph and Rhodia journals... This years NaNoWriMo is going to be awesome!

Stay tuned for pictures coming soon!

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

An Open Letter of Thanks

Thank you for your support. I don’t think there is anything I can say beyond that to show my gratitude. Not only have you supported me in ways I never expected, but you have supported and encouraged my students as they take on challenges which most students would never accept.

I sponsor a group of middle school students who take on the NaNoWriMo challenge, to write a novel in just 30 days. These young men and women are putting their heart and souls on the page for people to read, and -- as scary as it is -- critique. Through the generous donations of pens, pencils, and journals from throughout the writing community, many students are excited about putting pen (or pencil) to paper to write their own novels.

I get excited every year as November draws close, to see all of the returning students as they prepare for their writing challenge. Even more exciting are the new writers who crowd around my office windows, staring in amazement at the pens displayed there. They plot and devise ways to win the pen of their choice, and ask questions about the pens or how to get one.

Your donations mean the world to these students, some of which may never have had the opportunity to own something as nice as what you all have given. You are helping me to make new, lifelong writers and learners out of these students. Thank you. I could never do what I do without your help.