There was an old typewriter in the house where I stayed during a travel nursing assignment. It was dusty, the kind of thing others might overlook, but for some reason, I was drawn to it.

Later, I learned that it was an L.C. Smith No. 8, a model dating back to the 1920s. That made me even more curious. I wondered who had used it before, what they had written, and where those words had gone after leaving those keys.

That house also became the place where I wrote my first book. There I was, working on my own pages while this old No. 8 sat nearby, having done its share of putting other people's thoughts on paper long before I showed up.

An idea doesn't have to stay an idea. It can become a book someone reads, a guide someone uses, a notebook someone fills, or something else entirely. Typewriter No. 8 is where I get to find out what some of mine will become.

Some will grow out of things I've learned or experienced. Nursing will find its way in here too. Years ago, I made myself a promise that someday I would give something back to the profession that had given me so much, and I intend to keep it.

But I have other interests, other ideas, and no intention of making this store behave itself by staying in one category.

I just want to make things that have a reason to exist.

As for the name? After all that, calling it anything else would have been a little strange. Besides, “Random Things Elena Decided to Make” was a bit long.

— Nurse Elena