Fractured Ink: Writing In Life's Chaos (audio)

My Cyber Monday: a Scriveiner Pen, Research Books, Pen Protectors

• Diana Dirkby

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Here are my Amazon Affiliate Links for this episode. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
1) Scriveiner Silver Chrome Fountain Pen, visit: https://amzn.to/48Ina7y
2) Travel case for Kindle Fire Max 11, visit: https://amzn.to/3KnPL8Q
3) Jankow leather pen case holders, visit: https://amzn.to/4ooZxWc

4) Stylus pen for Kindle Fire Max 11, visit: https://amzn.to/4roUcBb

A good tool can change how a story unfolds. Today I share the small but mighty upgrades powering my writing routine: a new medium‑nib fountain pen for smoother longhand sessions, a tougher standing case for the Kindle Fire Max 11, and its simple stylus that makes highlighting and quick notes painless. None of it is flashy for its own sake; each choice solves a real problem and helps me move faster from spark to finished page.

The heart of my novel in progress is inspired by my grandfather, who grew up in foster care in Australia around 1900. To bring that world to life, I’m building a research stack that goes beyond a single source: one excellent book led me to its bibliography, and today I picked up three related titles on discount to deepen context—policy, daily life, and the social fabric that shapes characters and conflict. Historical fiction needs this scaffolding; even when the plot is imagined, the streets, customs, and pressures should feel true.

I also break down where analog and digital meet. The medium nib opens line variation that keeps ideas flowing with a different rhythm to a fine point, while sturdy PU‑leather protection and slim pen sleeves keep both fountain pens and styluses safe in a bag. On the tablet side, the Fire Max 11 stylus won’t replace a Kindle Scribe’s premium pen features, but paired with a reliable case, it becomes a research board I can prop up, annotate, and carry everywhere. Throughout, I’m honest about what counts as a necessity—research books, travel protection—and what’s a personal indulgence that still earns its keep.

If you want to explore the exact items mentioned, I’ve included affiliate links in the show notes, which also help support the show at no extra cost. If this resonates, subscribe, share the episode with a writer friend, and leave a quick review telling me your favorite tool for first drafts.

#CyberMonday #AmazonCyberMonday #AmazonDeals #ScriveinerFountainPens #Kindle #KindleFireMax11 #KEFBWAOKindleCase #LuxuryFountainPens

My published books

“The Overlife: A Tale Of Schizophrenia,” by Diana Dirkby (visit https://amzn.to/454WgW6.) #ad #commissionsearned The link is an Amazon Affiliate Link. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases)

“Three Kidnapped, Three Siblings, Three Furies,” by Diana Dirkby (visit https://amzn.to/42Z81KY. )#ad #commissionsearned The link is an Amazon Affiliate Link. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

My Website and Social Media:

https://dianadirkbywrites.com

 My Instagram: @dianadirkby_writings (https://www.instagram.com/dianadirkby_writings/)

My Facebook Page: Diana Dirkby Writings (https://www.facebook.com/DianaDirkbyAuthor)

My X-account: @dianadirkby (https://x.com/DianaDirkby)

My YouTube channel @DianaDirkbyWrites (https://www.youtube.com/@DianaDirkbyWrites)


SPEAKER_00:

Hello, uh we are in the midst of uh Cyber Monday at Amazon.com. Cyber Monday was yesterday, today, and of course tomorrow. Tomorrow's Monday. And uh I was tempted to do a little bit of shopping today. Uh rather modest items, but still things I'm pleased to have. Uh I went for uh another scravina fountain pen with a very nice finish. So you recall I uh did a session on uh well you may recall, if you've seen it, you'll you'll know that I did a session on this scravina fountain pen, which is gold covered and fine nib. And I mentioned that the nib actually writes finer than I expected. So this is not a necessity. I'm actively uh um collecting these fountain pens, but uh they are lovely to write with, and you don't always want the same uh the same nib for every occasion, so I decided to get a medium nib fountain pen with a silver chrome finish uh touched with gold, and all I can do at the moment is show you the picture from Amazon. Okay, and uh I will put the affiliate link to it in my episode description. So all these products that I talk about, uh I I always provide the affiliate links in uh the episode description. So, in particular, if you're listening to the audio only version, you will find those uh affiliate links uh in the episode description, and you can uh click on them and get to the product I've been talking about. Similarly, uh with the uh version on YouTube, you can uh find the affiliate links in the episode description and through those go straight to the product. So, of course, I want you to use my affiliate links because as an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases, so it's kind of like buy me a cup of coffee type thing. Um, so yes, I bought the pen and I'm currently writing, I've begun a novel uh on uh based on the life of my grandfather, who was a foster care child around 1900. And I've been very lucky uh to uncover a wonderful research book on it, which I bought from Amazon.com uh uh some weeks back. And today I took advantage of discounts to buy three very much related reference books from the bibliography of the first book. So I can't tell you about those books because I haven't read them yet, but I'm finding the current book, the original book that I found to be extremely helpful in giving uh a factual background to what's going to be another fiction novel. Just because a novel is fiction, that gives you freedom with the characters, but you know, unless it's going to be science fiction or something like that, you have to get the environment in which the action takes place. You have to get it reasonably correct. Um, so you need to do research, and uh as I've already said on uh another podcast, uh, you also need to keep learning from people about how to write. So, what to write and how to write. Uh, these this is research that never ends. So I was really happy to get these books. I got a chance uh to try out so uh as part of uh uh my purchasing in these discount days has been uh a K E F B W A O Kindle cover. So I can't pronounce that word, so I've just spelt it out, and it's for the Kindle Fire Max 11 that I also bought during these the sale period on Amazon.com. So I had a chance to try it out, so you'll see the Kindle on the cover instead of my face in a moment. So you can see it's a standing arrangement that you can have if you want, or uh you can just uh lie it flat, okay, and it's tougher than it looks. I was at first a little bit disappointed because I thought, oh, it's just flimsy plastic type stuff, but inside the black surrounding the Kindle, that's PU leather, and it's actually very, very strong, and it's shatterproof. Okay, now I also tried out the uh stylus that I bought for uh the Kindle Fire Max uh Max 11. It doesn't have the uh versatility of the Kindle Scribe uh premium pen, but so far I found it very, very useful for um highlighting and uh making small notes, okay. But it's not you can't expect uh there's no toolbar for it or anything like that, like there is in the Kindle Scribe. Um, but the case, no, the only problem with the case is you see the this pan is on the outside, okay. Now I solved that problem for the Kindle Scribe by buying um a Kobec uh travel case for it, but I didn't find a similar product uh uh on Amazon to protect to protect that pen. So I protect my fountain pens with these uh Jan Cow leather uh pen cases that I've told you about before. So there's my gold um scrubiner pen. And uh so I decided just to buy more of these. One for the silver pen that's coming, and one for the uh for the stylus for the Kindlefire Max 11, and I already had this one for the uh for for the gold um fountain pen. So I I consider the travel case for uh the Kindlefire Max 11 to be a necessity because the uh keyboard case uh that comes with it is rather fragile. Okay, so um, and I consider, of course, the research books to be necessities, and I'm pleased to get them at a discount. The uh fountain pen is not a necessity. I'm buying that for me because uh when I'm not uh typing at the keyboard writing my novel, I like to write uh in fountain pen. And um I do a lot of writing by hand also. So despite the fact that I tout uh these Kindles, there's a place for all of them, and writing by hand is still a big part of my life. So uh I hope that you take the plunge and go shopping and look for things that you really want, and especially look for things that you might need. And I hope you'll take into consideration some of the products uh that uh I've mentioned. And as I say, the uh affiliate links, uh, my affiliate links to those uh objects. So you click on the link and you get straight taken to uh Amazon.com, you get taken to the page uh of the product. Uh they are in the episode description. Uh of course I hope that you'll uh use them to explore the product. But most of all, just think of yourself. What is it that you want that you you know you really need? And you know, it's possible that it might either run out or that it's on a great discount now, but that discount might be there on Tuesday. And without spending more than you can afford, I'm sure you'll find something uh during the Cyber Monday deals that will uh that will be a joy to buy. Okay, so that's all for today. I hope you have a great day. And uh don't forget to subscribe uh to my videos uh to um like them and to comment. Okay, so have a great have a great day, you guys. Bye.