SWEET KINDNESS

On the occasion of a recent celebration on my behalf, a dear friend contacted a woman who not only makes the best sugar cookies, she also specializes in custom decorations. My friend ordered two dozen cookies, telling the baker that I am a writer and suggesting she decorate them with writerly things like quills or a typewriter or other icons that represent my love for creating stories. The baker asked my name and my friend shared Jayne Ormerod. Isn’t that a thoughtful surprise?

When my friend picked up the cookies, the baker was so excited to share her beautiful creations reflecting images of my book covers. The sweet woman had gone above and beyond to look up my writerly profile and decorate the cookies accordingly. Isn’t that a delightful gesture?

THE WRITERLY LIFE--Pen Musings

Ballpoint pens. One of those things you probably use every day but don’t give much thought to. As a writer, I am (seemingly by definition) a ballpoint pen collector. At any given moment in time, I probably have more than one hundred in my inventory. (It’s not “hoarding” if you actually use them, correct? Just checking.)

Pens are everywhere! Tucked in spines of notebooks and journals; stuffed into coffee cups throughout the house; MIA somewhere in my car (I usually harvest at least twenty from underneath the driver’s seat every time I go fishing for a dropped French fry); and often i have at least one jammed into a sweatshirt pocket—which I will hopefully remember to remove before sending the shirt through the laundry.