I'm currently in northeast Florida. My father used fine point Shaeffers when I was little, so I was introduced to the joys of the nib at an early age. Then 5th grade penmanship class sent us to the local store for cheap Shaeffers and any color cartridge we liked. Alas, it never occurred to anyone that my sprawling scrawl cried out for a broad, so I didn't discover the perfect nib for me until a few years ago.

I'm addicted to Viscontis, Waterman Carenes, Marlens and, thanks to rave reviews on here, Krones. Given my budget, they're usually eBay finds, garage sales, estate sales or the occasional bout of madness at FPH. Thanks to everyone on here who convinced me to take advantage of the sale on the silver overlays!

Having made my living writing [technical and legal], I'm now attempting fiction, which gives me an excuse to use my obsessions for hours on end.

Welcome from southeastern Louisiana! Just sent my Waterman Carene fine nib off to exchange for a medium. Can't wait to get it back. Enjoy FPN!

Judybug

Welcome to FPN from Kentucky.

Welcome! Sounds like you can contribute a lot of tips on finding good pens in the wild.

Welcome! I'm in Mobile, right along hurricane alley as well!

they'll never get me fountain pens though, yeargh!!

Thanks for the warm welcome. I finally bought a nice leather holder to keep my pens in so I can snatch them up for evacuations. With all the fires lately, I need to be able to throw pens, paperwork, jewelry and the cat into the car at a moment's notice to depart the area.

Judybug, I hope you enjoy your Carene as much as I do. They're my workhorses when I need to go portable and don't want to flash pens that'll get me mugged.

And for those here in the states that live near Tuesday Morning stores, I've found incredibly good leather bound, made in Italy journal books marked down from wildly out of my price range to merely expensive. Just haunt the aisles until a new shipment comes in. I've found both hard and soft cover over time.

Wow we have the third coast pretty well covered! We'd stop at Daphne for lunch on the way overto Destin.


Kurt

near NOLa

Does this mean pens are another Southern thing?

how many pen stores do you know on the coast... that indicates it not quite a sweet tea sort of thing

Welcome to FPN. We all have our favorite nibs for our own writing styles.

Thanks, Mike.

Welcome! Hope you don't need to evacuate anytime soon!

Hello and welcome to the FPN!

Hi! Nearest fires are about 38 miles away. Not a good time to live in a wood frame house!

Welcome from Western Canada.

Welcome from an Arkansan who once lived in Pensacola (and wishes he was on a beach in Fla right now!) I lived in Mississippi when hurricane Camile came thru and was on a cruise ship off of Florida and passed thru Gloria. Had my fill of hurricanes so I moved way inland (into tornado alley). Hope the upcoming hurricane season is kind to you.

I hope you enjoy FPN there are a lot of great people here.

Perry

Thanks! We could use a good hurricane right now with the drought. Hope the worst of the tornados finished with Kansas this year and you don't get any.

Hi to the Canadians. Y'all sent cold air all winter, don't stop now!

I actually work in Daphne. I'm here right now! Should be working, I suppose. But instead I'm on FPN.

"stuck inside of Daphne with the Mobile blues again"... wish I was at home.

Y'all getting any of the fires that have me surrounded?

Welcome from Missouri. No hurricanes here, and if there were any, I'd be severely worried. We like to stick with our unpredictable tornados around these parts.