Why new graphite?

Several years ago, when I hosted Tom Robbins at Elliott Bay Book Company for a reading of his novel Villa Incognito, he talked about writing his books by hand with simple paper and pencil. It was a statement that made my Luddite tendencies stand up and cheer.

I grew up in one of the first generations in which computer knowledge was compulsory. Despite ubiquitous screens and keyboards I was deeply influenced by the world of my grandmother, who kept decades of journals in her distinctive curly handwriting. Though I have been taught computer skills since Junior High School, I am drawn to the texture of the word written on the page and so I always carry a pencil and a book of blank paper with me.

Of course, the convenience of computers cannot be ignored and in recent years I have embraced some of the creative avenues they make available to us. We now have instant access to communities of people from around the world and the ability to share ideas, photos, films, music and writing openly with one another. I do miss the chance to see the shape of handwriting and the soft furrows a pencil makes on a page but hopefully we can find ways to reveal similar bits of our character through the words themselves.