Resources

Community Links

I'm not against social media but do try to balance the time spent there with reading longer posts and articles, mostly via an RSS reader. Here are three sites in our community that in addition to their own posts (which I also recommend reading!) will collect and share interesting links every week. These have been my primary sources for discovering what gets added to my RSS list.

• The Well-Appointed Desk: Link Love
• The Gentleman Stationer: Sunday Reading
• The Pen Addict: Misfill

On a personal note, I am always extremely appreciative and grateful to find any of my posts included on these lists. ❤️

The Pen Addict

The Pen Addict podcast being part of the Relay podcast network (which hosted other podcasts I was listening to), and other Relay podcast hosts who use fountain pens, were my initial exposure to the current fountain pen world.

Brad Dowdy is the titular Pen Addict of the long-running podcast with co-host Myke Hurley, and of penaddict.com. Since discovering the Pen Addict, it's been my privilege to get to know Brad and become part of the Pen Addict community.

• With over 12 years of The Pen Addict podcast episodes available, where do you start?
  • I generally recommend starting with #400: Pen Addict 101 and #401: Can I Touch the Pen? which give a relatively concise overview of various types of pens and the history of the podcast up to that point.
  • From there you can start listening to more recent episodes, and search for specific products or topics like attending a pen show that you are interested in, etc.
  • Episode #500: Pens! is a fun one—once you're a bit more familiar with the podcast, and all the names of popular brands and products stop sounding like word salad.
• The Pen Addict website is the home for exploring all things Pen Addict including the blog with regular posts from Brad and other contributors, top 5 lists, the shop, business partnerships, and more.
• You'll often find me hanging out in the chat when Brad is streaming on the Pen Addict Twitch channel (usually Tues & Thurs at 10am eastern, and after the live podcast recording on Wednesdays).
• There are lots of great perks to Pen Addict Membership, but in particular I really look forward to reading the Refill newsletter Saturday mornings and listening to the Friend of the Show episodes when they drop.

The Well-Appointed Desk

Seeing dozens of fountain pen ink colors swatched onto Col-o-ring cards was also a critical step in my desire to figure out what this fountain pen thing was all about, especially this part with all the colorful bottles of ink. These Col-o-ring products were designed by Ana Reinert and her husband Bob, and Ana is the creator of The Well-Appointed Desk which includes a well established site of posts and reviews from multiple contributors, a shop with a mix of original and curated stationery and accessories, and a Patreon community.

I had the pleasure of meeting Ana at the Atlanta Pen Show in 2023 and our conversation kicked off my Col-o-dex swatching/sketching project, and shortly after that I joined The Well-Appointed Desk patreon group and really look forward to our monthly zoom meetups about pens, stationery, and books!

• Pen Show Schedule
• Col-o-Ring Products
• The Well-Appointed Desk Patreon
• The Well-Appointed Desk: Link Love

Inkdependence

I probably first encountered the Inkdependence YouTube channel because of Mike's live pen show tours, which are so helpful when you are thinking about visiting your first pen show, or want to see what different pen shows are like or what you're missing when you wish you were at the show.

• I regularly watch InkdependenceMike on Twitch, typically streaming live on Tues & Thurs from 12 - 2pm eastern. Streams often include ink swatching and cats, two of my favorite things.
• Check out Mike Matteson on YouTube for pen and ink reviews, unboxings, live pen show tours, and Friday hangouts with Mike and Audrey at 5pm eastern.
• Visit Inkdependence.com for everything else Inkdependence, including links to the shop with exclusive inks and Patreon membership (which grants access to a chill Discord community).

Middle Tennessee Fountain Pen Community

I live in Nashville and am very lucky to be part of a local fountain pen club and have access to multiple pen and stationery retail options in the area.

• The Middle TN Fountain Pen Club can be found on Facebook groups and typically meets every Saturday for a casual lunch hangout at 12:30pm, alternating between locations in Nashville West and Brentwood.
• The Gentleman Stationer recently opened a physical shop in south Nashville near 100 Oaks.
• Butler Stationery is located south of Nashville in Columbia, TN.
• Paper and Ink Arts is in the Donelson neighborhood of Nashville and has a lot of calligraphy and art supplies, plus some fountain pens and inks.

Getting Started Resources

I'd like to create more "Fountain Pen 101" resources, but here are a few existing posts that might be helpful as a start. I'm happy to try to answer questions or demo things anytime I'm streaming on Twitch.

• Ink Swatching Tools
• 10 Useful Things
• Pen Meetup Toolkit