The spiral notebooks they use in heaven.

Cue the celestial choir! I've located the ultimate spiral notebook -- and of course it's made by Clairefontaine. They call these Linicolor Spiral Notebooks, for some reason.

They're very cool. They come in various sizes but this is the one I like. It's 6 3/4 inches by 8 5/8 inches -- just the right size for tossing into a bag or briefcase. And of course the notebooks contain excellent, thick, smooth Clairefontaine paper that is more than suitable for fountain pens -- it's heaven. Best of all, the plastic covers are slightly semi-transparent, so you can see your handwriting on the top page. And wait till you feel the cover! It's got a ribbed design that you cannot stop touching. It's literally fun to drag your finger across the plastic.

Truly, these are the notebooks they use in heaven. They seem to be permanently on sale at writersbloc for $6 instead of the stated $10 price. Six bucks is totally worth it. You must buy one right this second! Here's the link. They come in five bright colors but you can't specify which one you want. It's a grab-bag thing. However, if you buy five, they give you a pack containing one of each color.

Hurry, go buy some!

Fountain pen heaven

I broke down and bought some of Levenger's new paper for Circa notebooks. They sold awful paper in the past but have apparently changed course.

The new Rhodia paper is sold in Circa notebooks that go for $26. In two's they cost $22 each. I bought only the Rhodia paper itself to use in my leather Circa notebook. A pack of 300 sheets costs $41. 

This paper is incredible! It's the paper that fountain pens have wishing for all their lives. It's so thick it almost doesn't seem like paper. You can easily write on both sides with no danger of show-through. But you have to feel this paper to understand how smooth it is. It's like touching an ivory piano key. 

And the joy of putting ink on this paper! I was able to lay down the finest line I've ever seen my pens produce. Ink perfection. The finished page looks like a hi-def version of normal fountain-pen writing. It's gorgeous!  So precise! I immediately found myself writing just for the joy of it. The pen glides across the paper.

And why is it so wonderful? Because it (like Rhodia) is made by the goddess of paper, Clairefontaine! This is the same paper I use in my other notebooks. I can't speak too highly of it.

Because it has that great column on the left (called "annotation grid", for the formal-minded) it makes a perfect scene book. I can't wait to use it for new scenes. Jot a header on the left and put your notes on the right -- it's simple to view and makes it much easier to locate a particular note.

I could not be more pleased. Here is a link to the Rhodia notebooks. They'll do for starters. And then you can buy a leather notebook after you fall in love with the paper. (Note: this paper is only perfect for fountain pens, gel pens and liquid-ink pens. If you're a ballpoint lover, this is not the paper for you.)

Make sure you don't buy their dogawful, standard paper (which I'm not even sure they still sell). They should be ashamed that they ever sold it. It sucked the ink out of fountain pens and spread it all over the place. You want the Rhodia notebooks or Rhodia refills. And here's a link to the paper refills if you've already got a Circa notebook. Good stuff!