Software

• Scrivener(http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php): For actual writing, manipulation, etc. It is an IDE for writers, for all you dorks out there. For you non-dorks, it lets you write you work in logical chunks and then manipulate it into shape before rendering it to a manuscript. Basically, it gives you all the normal tools (spell checker, grammar checker, footnotes, fonts, etc.) and some pretty cool ones (target tracking, name generators, etc.) that let you detach writing from formatting. Work flow here is: rough draft created directly in the editor, then as I move through various drafts it helps me move things around and all sorts of things that would suck if it was in one big Word doc.
• nvALT(http://brettterpstra.com/project/nvalt/): Note management, search, etc. I make lots of notes, save lots of text from webpages, have crazy ideas I would like to look at later, and nvALT gives me a great way to manipulate them. My workflow is create note (on iphone, pc, mac, etc.) and save it as good old plain text in a folder in DropBox. Later when I am on my writing machine (MacBook Pro), I tag the note and done. Later when I need the note or am looking for something on a subject or idea or whatever, nvALT has a nice, quick search. Has other features I don’t use like note export or markdown, but my only complaint is no ability to tag notes outside nvALT.
• Evernote(http://evernote.com/evernote/): image storage, basically just for storing webpages that have impressive or inspiring images.
• EMACS (http://emacs.org): The beast, the old school of old school text editors, not so much an editor as an operating system disguised as a program. I move from Windows, to Mac, to Linux on a regular basis and Emacs gives me the tools I want and need consistently across each OS.

Web Services

• Pinboard.in(http://pinboard.in/u:lm3m): Keep track of all my links.
• Google Reader (http://www.google.com/reader): All the websites I skip reading.
• TweetDeek (http://www.tweetdeck.com/): All your social stuff in one place, lets me read Twitter and Facebook with out using either website. Also, makes twitter lists actually useful.

Hardware

• MacBook Pro 13″, late 2011 (http://support.apple.com/kb/SP645): Have 8gigs of ram and a reasonable hard drive. Fast enough to compile stuff on, and not too big. Thinking maybe a ssd, but gonna wait till she feels really slow.
• Pentalic Notebooks (http://www.pentalic.com/html/sketch.html): Recycled Traveler Pocket Journals, I have a big one and a little one. Over time I have found I like thicker blank paper. So, sketchbooks work better.
• Pentel Sensi-Grip 0.9mm Mechanical Pencil (http://www.pentel.com/store/sensi-grip-mechanical-drafting-pencil-3): I have found the 0.9mm pencils to be my favorite, and this one is my favorite right now.