Go buy this book right now!

So I normally just hawk stationery products and stuff you can use for letter-writing, but this book definitely falls under the umbrella of "stuff you can use for letter-writing" so I'm going to share my immediate postal excitement about it.

I preordered "Good Mail Day: A Primer for Making Eye-Popping Postal Art" by Jennie Hinchcliff and Carolee Gilligan Wheeler a few weeks ago. It wasn't due to be released until Sept. 6, but it came early and was waiting for me today.

I had reservations about whether or not I should buy this book, because I figured I pretty much know the scene for pen-palling and have my own happy style already, and some of the promo materials make it sound like a how-to guide. Also, I am a mail enthusiast but not a mail artist; I'm not much into art for art's sake and prefer the communication of a letter of postcard. (Bracing for attack from mail artists now) BUT, this book is just great for any postal enthusiast, from the beginner to the advanced. Not only does it include envelope templates and suggestions on where and how to find pen pals, but it's got great resources for supplies and other things, the writing is very witty, and the photos are inspirational and beautiful. Just go buy it. Oh, it's listed as a paperback, but the cover is kind of cardboardy and it's really more sturdy than I expected, too.

If you're unsure, definitely have some fun at their blog, Good Mail Day. (It's been linked in my "letter blogs" sidebar for a while.)

I haven't even finished reading it yet, but I've paged through it and am (obviously) just ridiculously excited about it.

Have you ever written a letter to a favorite author?

I have no photo for this post, which I know means exponentially fewer people will actually read all the words. C'est la vie.

I have often contemplated writing a letter to a favorite author. In fact, I have two specific authors in mind, both of whom are rather famous. One of them is even known to write with a fountain pen! I always thought, oy, they probably get absolute nutters writing to them all the time, and their publisher won't even forward the letter to them, etc etc. And it's not that I'm expecting a response at all, but I DO hope my words would reach them. But, through a lovely twist of fate, I am writing to a published author now whose books I've actually not yet read (though his latest sounds quite interesting, and I do intend to read it - you can check out his blog at bentpage.wordpress.com and get info on his books from there); I started writing to him through the fountain pen network, as we are both fountain pen aficionados, and his letters have become among my most interesting and cherished ones. (Gee, a professional writer who writes great letters: go figure!) Anyhoo, I just got another letter from him yesterday, and he answered my question in greater depth about what it's like to receive a letter from a reader, from the perspective of a bona fide published author. And he really encouraged me to go ahead and write those letters. I actually think I will, though I know I'm going to take ages and ages to craft them *just so*...

I haven't often turned questions on to my blog readers, but I will do so now, since you are all such an interesting and erudite bunch. Have any of you written letters to favorite authors? What has the experience been like for you? Have any of them actually [gasp] written back?

The Plug: Desperate Penpal Experiment

A while back, Wendy at A Passion for Letter Writing wrote up another one of her fun calls to action for letter-writers. In The Plug: Desperate Penpal Experiment, she told us all about a project on The Plug, a bizarre and amusing online magazine type thing ("The Pirate of Unique Taste"). Jay's oddball Desperate Penpal Experiment, Vol. II involved choosing random names from the phone book and writing them letters. He shared the story of the one person who wrote back.

I dug this weird story, so I of course wrote Jay at the Plug a wee letter (which he has now so courteously posted on a secret page of The Plug, so if you wanna click on over there, you can see my original letter to him). It took him a while, but he wrote back, in a most original manner. He sent me the little booklet you see above (along with some nice swag, a couple of big ol' stickers to plug The Plug), with his letter written inside.



It was most witty, so I'm compelled to share with you a few of my favorite pages from what I call The Book of Plug:



Wow. I'm charmed. I was chuckling the whole way through the short little letter.

Of course I wrote him back - stay tuned for more.