Get To Know: Grace Barkley

Grace Barkley of Runs With Markers.

Grace Barkley is one cool character. She's a local writer+designer+blogger and pens one of our favorite blogs ever, Runs With Markers.  Whether she's informally endorsing BIC Roller Pens, below, or preparing to take over the Young Adult readership of the world (she would marry J.K. Rowling, too)...we're big fans. Get To Know a little bit about Ms. Barkley below!

CLUTTER FURNISHINGS AND INTERIORS: What is Runs With Markers, how do people find it, and how do we get more of RWM in our lives?
GRACE BARKLEY:  Runs With Markers is my little page on the internet where I write about design, generally weird things and generally weird design. It started out as a more visual publication, but now I have incorporated more of my writing. My peanut gallery says they enjoy seeing more of me in the blog, so you’ll see personal reflection from time to time. You can find it directly by hopping over to runswithmarkers.com or following me on Facebook (Runs With Markers) or Twitter @runswithmarkers.

CF&I: As a writer, who are your literary inspirations?
GB: Right now I love memoir writers like Margaret Sartor and Jeanette Walls. I’ve always loved the cadence of Hemingway’s voice as well as that of Willa Cather.

CF&I: What is your writing tool of choice…pen/ink, typewriter, Mac?
GB: This is a toughie. I am definitely a Mac girl but I always keep a pen and notebook in my purse at all times. I am also a connoisseur of office supplies so it can’t just be any old pen and notebook. Right now I’m obsessed with BIC’s Z4+ Roller Pens. (Not a formal plug, just a recommendation to my fellow writers.)

CF&I: What advice do you have for aspiring young writers?
GB: Don’t stop writing! One of the best suggestions I heard recently is “Begin. The rest is easy.” Never change your plans because someone tells you that you “can’t do it” or you “don’t have time.” Just take things as they come and make sure you save a corner of your life for trying new things and being creative.

CF&I: Speed Round: What is your favorite book?
GB: My Antonia.
CF&I: Shag, Marry, Kill…Hemmingway, Faulkner, J.K. Rowling?
GB: Shag: Hemmingway, Marry: J.K. Rowling, Kill: William Faulkner
CF&I: If you could be besties with one lady writer, past or present, who would it be?
GB: I would want to hang out with Gertrude Stein in Paris in the 20s, for sure.

CF&I: What is your guilty pleasure?
GB: Don’t tell anyone but I’m a closet couponer. Coupons aren’t just for moms. They are for poor grad students, too.

CF&I: Describe Runs With Markers in five words.
GB:  The journal I never had.