The Lost Steersman Journal for Con or Bust!
I’ve been making hand-bound blank journals for years. Back when I was writing The Lost Steersman, I got the idea to take it a step further, and tried making my own paper for the journals.
I made the paper out of recycled materials, and at that point, a lot of what I was recycling were printouts of early drafts of the The Lost Steersman.
At some point it occurred to me: instead of completely pulping the paper I was using, what if I kept some bits of shredded draft un-pulped? And let random words show up in the newly-made paper? How cool would that be?
Pretty cool, as it turned out.
But in the end, making my own paper was too time-consuming, and after a while I set it aside, and never used the pages I made.
The other day, I found them again. I wanted to do something special to donate to the Con or Bust auction, so Aha! said I.
Here’s the result:
click to embiggen
Ribbon is real silk, just like they make in Alemeth!
I love the way this turned out.
The book is 4 1/2 inches wide by 6 inches tall.   The shredded bits toss up random words within the paper.
mysterious fragments of words
I love the paper – it’s interestingly rumpled.   It works pretty well (if bumpily) with a fountain pen, but not well with a felt-tip.  I think a dip pen would work.  Ballpoint is not good at all. But colored pencils are very good — the paper has some bite to it. I have not tried watercolors, but the paper has been treated to be not overly-absorbent.
What would YOU put in it?
So, hey — this could be yours.  Head over to the Con or Bust auction site and bid!
Also:Â I’m including two loose squares of the same paper, so that you could test your writing implement or artistic medium before committing to marking the actual book.
And:Â Bonus copy of The Lost Steersman itself!
All this for — well, you decide.
You can’t buy it here, you have to go to the Con or Bust Auction.
gold-trimmed little snail embellishment
