Gifts for Writers

This year, I asked for what I always ask for in terms of Holiday Gifts (and in one week- birthday gifts).

Writer-related stuff.

Now, when I first married my husband, he bought me a box of No.2 pencils and a pack of Bic pens. This is what he thought I meant when I asked for "writer-ey" stuff. Over the years, he's learned and has been guided by me and my very bookish family on what constitutes great writer gifts.

This year, I was pleasantly surprised by the following gifts.

1. A typewriter key bookmark.

These can be found in many Etsy shops. I also received a typewriter key necklace and in the past have been given a typewriter key watch. All are very cool.

2. A shirt for my daughter that says, My Mommy is a Writer.

Love it so much. She's already worn it twice. I think my mom got it at cafepress.com

3. Boxes of Crane note cards.

There's something about the quality and the feel of Crane card stock that makes writing Thank You notes so appealing. Really, any nice paper from Papyrus, Crane, The Paper Store can be a great gift.

4. Anything from the Levenger Store. (I wish I could move into the store and make it my office.)

They have a catalog and website that I highly recommend. It's called Levenger -TOOLS FOR SERIOUS READERS).

5. A coffee mug that says "writer. definition: Someone who gets paid to sit around all day drinking coffee and making stuff up. I love my job."

6. Several notebooks that have funny writer quotes on them. (My sister got one that had the top ten annoying grammatical errors. I got one that said Careful, you may end up in my novel.) As well as leather, moleskin or any other nice designer journals.

7. The Writer's Desk Calendar by Jill Krementz. I didn't get one this year, because I think they do them every other year. I love them when I get them. It shows the desks of famous writers along with little quotes about writing from these authors. I pour over these pictures because I'm obsessed with other writer's writing environments. (Probably because mine is so chaotic and haphazard.)

8. Kate Spade day planners or desktop calendars (LOVE!)

9. This year I got the Barnes & Noble 2010 Desk Diary. I'm kind of loving it because it is leather bound and has illustrations and caricatures of authors by the artist David Levine (who illustrated literary luminaries for the New York Review of Books. There are some nice quotes and book and author trivia sprinkled throughout.

10. Cross and Swarovski Pens

(fun fact: my seven year old daughter asked for and received from my parents a Swarovski Crystal Membership. She's seven.)

I have a pen addiction. Not like my sister who falls in love with any and every pen she comes across (hotel pens, promotional pens, bank pens--you name it, she has it). My pen collection is much smaller than my sister's. (She keeps hers hidden in a huge box under

her bed.) But it consists of very nice, elegant pens. A few Cross pens, a Mont Blanc (which I received as a high school graduation gift and still use), a Paul Smith Fountain Pen and a Waterman There is something so amazing about writing with a beautiful pen. While most of my real writing is tapped out on a computer, whenever I get stuck or am starting a new project or am suffering some kind of writer's block, having a beautiful pen and paper at the ready always helps me along.

I went into the Mont Blanc store at the Copley Mall in Boston recently and had a "shock and awe" moment when looking at their pens. They were so elegant and distinctive. Even the names of the pens (the Meisterstuck Collection, the Starwalker collection, La Boheme, Etoile de MontBlanc) transported me to another world.

I don't know who can afford pens like La Boheme Royal Black & White, an 18k white gold fountain pen set with 659 white diamonds and 692 black diamonds and a cap inlaid with 19 diamonds. Plus a platinum-plated 18k gold nib for writing. It's something like 15 carats of diamonds in one pen. I have no idea how much it costs, but I'm pretty sure that most writers cannot afford it. Unless, of course, they are J.K. Rowling, Stephenie Meyer or Dan Brown.

Other pens at the Mont Blanc store included the Special Edition Greta Garbo and many Meisterstuck pens all named in honor of great artists (Chopin, Mozart, and the Leonardo Sketch pen). After drooling in the store for a little while, I managed to take home one of their catalogs (which didn't give any prices of the pens--probably to keep people from having heart attacks.) This is how I know the names and descriptions of all of these pens. The catalog is pretty cool. Maybe I'll frame it. :)

11. Designer Tote Bag/Purse - This year I received a gorgeous Kate Spade tote that is the perfect size to fit a laptop, notebook, magazines, dayplanner...whatever!

12. Kindle - no explanation needed here.

So, these were some of the things that I received that might be useful for future gifting to the writers in your life. They range from the inexpensive to the outrageously expensive and extravagant. What I received was mostly on the inexpensive end of the spectrum, but I loved them all just the same. (Although a Mont Blanc pen would have been amazing. Oh well, there's always my birthday!) :)