The Erasable Podcast Episode 228: We All Have a Little Graphite In Us (with special guest Allison King, author of "The Phoenix Pencil Company")
Jul 22, 2025
Allison King, a novelist and software engineer, shares insights from her book 'The Phoenix Pencil Company,' which navigates themes of data privacy, family history, and LGBT love. The discussion highlights a fictional family's unique connection to pencils, merging nostalgia with the darker implications of surveillance. They explore identity through generational narratives and the role of technology in storytelling. King also delves into the art of pencil manufacturing and the balance between digital and analog identities, blending creativity and craftsmanship.
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Childhood Stationery Stores Shaped Her
- Growing up, Allison spent summers in Taiwan exploring stationery stores with writing pads and samples that filled her with wonder.
- Those childhood trips solidified her love of pencils and connected her to her grandparents' homeland.
Engineering Framed The Data Privacy Thread
- King merged her software engineering background into the story to explore data privacy in a modern arc.
- She framed technology as another language for characters to process grief, memory, and surveillance.
Let Characters' Lenses Drive Tech Details
- King writes characters through the lenses they naturally use: Monica thinks in code analogies while Louise thinks in pencils.
- This lets technical details feel organic and deepens character perspective without heavy exposition.
