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https://www.facebook.com/groups/136521267035715/ This is a brand new group The Mighty Nicholas Gold was instrumental in creating of this group so respect to him. This is a facebook fountin pen group for Aussies and Kiwis. Please invite your fountain pen enthusiast from Au or Nz to help the group grow. If there are any questions regarding this group or me please feel free to DM me. This group doesn’t have much moderation as long as it’s on topic, I really appreciate anyone who joins it really helps me, and again thanks for joining and enjoy your stay. *Please no more drama/posts about what happened in the past.

Hullo everyone! I am a Lower Hutt left-handed author who likes to write her first drafts long-hand - with fountain pens, of course. The 158,840 word first draft of Restoration Day, my recently released fantasy novel, was written with Diamine Majestic Purple in an old green piston-filling Faber-Castell. (Are there any phrases in the English language more mellifluous than 'piston-filling fountain pen'?) Being left-handed, it was a revelation to find that fountain pens leave my hands unsmudged where ballpoints lavish them with ink. I have a small collection of inks (mostly Diamine), but my everyday one is Waterman's Havana Brown. Most of my pens are old ones inherited from relatives, though I also have a TWSBI Diamond Mini Clear (I have small hands - I use it unposted) and an ornate rosewood-barrelled modern pen (with kitset inner workings). A glass dip pen with a nib like a needle I use mostly for decoration. My knowledge is limited, so I'm hoping to learn more about the pens I have and how to use and care for them properly. For example, how do you know if your rubber sac is losing it? How do you fill a pen whose mechanism appears to consist in its entirety of a rubber sac armoured in steel? (How do you change a profile picture when you can only upload from a url and when you do it says member_profile_disabled?) But perhaps these are questions for elsewhere on this as-yet undiscovered bourne. Being a lover of old technologies, I knit a lot in my spare time, so you can also find me on Ravelry as MrsMakarios.

Several months ago there was a thread (which I can't find right now) about the release of De Atramentis Bookworm ink: a muddy green ink that smells of old books. *sigh*. I hunted high and low all over the world for this ink but couldn't find a stockist. In the end I asked the great people at larrypost.com.au (no affiliation, just a satisfied customer) if they could get me some and they promised to add it to their next order. Well it has arrived and my 3 bottles are on their way. So if you're in the antipodes, love the smell of old books and like green ink, head over to the good people at larrypost.com.au and get some before I buy it all!

I was talking to the lady at the University of Auckland bookshop and she told me that they'd have the Kaweco Sport fountain pens, pencil (mechanical not lead holder) and rollerballs in stock within 1-2 weeks. As someone who prefers to purchase locally, this was great news! ~$35 for the roller ball and ~$50 (can't remember if it was 45 or 54) for the fountain pen. It comes with the clip in a metal tin. I don't think I've seen Kawecos at any other brick and mortar store in Auckland. I'm seriously impressed with the stationery range at the university bookshop, especially as far as inks and papers go. I much prefer it to Whitcoulls. Keep in mind that New Zealand has a very limited supply of stationery products compared to other countries. Just thought that I'd let people know, since I found this to be great news!