Legal Tender Sender

I recently went to a party hosted by a new friend, who mentioned he's into letter writing and mail art. So of course I sent him a pretty fancy thank-you for the evening's fun (and I'm kicking myself that I didn't photograph it, because it was my first fine piece of my own mail art in 2014, but oh well), and he wrote back immediately with this creative offering. It's a letter on a two-dollar bill! I got one heck of a kick out of that fun idea. I've received a lot of letters on lots of different items, but this is my first time getting a letter written on currency. Cool.



He decorated the envelope quite nicely as well, with random little cut-out quotes. This was a literary sort of party, you see...



... and he included this lovely postcard. It looks to be original artwork, hand-drawn and painted, and I wonder if he did it himself. I'll have to ask him, in my response.

Revolutionary giveaway, and readings in DC in Boston

I recognize I've been crowing on and on about "Revolutionary," my husband Alex Myers' first novel, and I thank you for your patience as I share a little bit more news.

Giveaway: Goodreads is doing another giveaway. You can enter to win one of 10 free copies between now and January 24. Woo hoo!

Readings: Alex will be giving readings at bookstores in DC, Boston, and Cincinnati. I will be joining him at the readings in DC and Boston (but am unable to travel to Ohio with him, alas). Here's the info:


Washington, DC
Sunday, January 26, 1pm
Politics & Prose bookstore
5015 Connecticut Ave NW


Boston (Cambridge/Harvard Square), MA
Friday, January 31, 7pm
Harvard Bookstore
1256 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge MA


Cincinnati, OH
Wednesday, February 5, 7pm
Joseph-Beth Bookstore
2692 Madison Road


All of these readings are free and open to the public. Any additional readings and events will be posted under events on AlexMyersWriting.com. I know I have a lot of blog reader and pen pal friends in Boston and DC in particular... if you are in the area, please come by and say hi!

Today is publication day for "Revolutionary!"

Today is the very big day that I've been waiting for and crowing about for years: publication day of "Revolutionary," my best beloved Alex Myers' first novel!

"Revolutionary should now be available at your favorite local bookstore, along with fine internet retailers, including Amazon, IndieBound, and Bookish.

I am also bursting at the seams to report that the novel is off to a very good start: it got an excellent review in yesterday's New York Times! Check out "A Personal Revolution Is Set Amid an Epic One" in the Times online.

And, of course, the novel has an epistolary element -- even more reason to love it!

Fabulous mail to kick off 2014

Already 2014 is a fine mail year. I've spent a good chunk of my free time writing, and have received some spectacular mail in return.

Above, a handmade gocco postcard from the fabulous Carroll, whose mail art and artwork always just astounds me. This postcard is going up on my bulletin board right above my writing desk! Have a look at her own photo of this artwork, which she sketched from her ink storage shelf.



Next up, brilliant bat mail from Donovan of the Letter Writers Alliance. Wow, does she ever know me, and is she generous, or what? It's a light wooden bat ornament, which is probably also going to somehow fly from my writing desk bulletin board. It came beautifully and soundly packaged, and I was able to preserve that loveliness with some fancy fingerwork with my special craft knife, which I had to use to open it. I love mail challenges!



Finally, I have acquired a new pen pal. Normally my pen pal roster is closed, but the 3-year-old 4-and-a-half-year-old son of my dear first cousin wrote to me. He actually wrote me FIRST, out of the blue, and I haven't even seen this fine young fellow in more than a year. So of course I wrote back, and he's now written me a couple of times, most speedily - and he always mentions cats (which just wins me over even further). Here is one of his annotated illustrations from his latest missive.

And now... off to write some letters!

Revolutionary, in less than a week!

Happy New Year, everyone! 2014 is an extra-special, super-exciting year in my household, because "Revolutionary," debut novel of my best beloved, Alex Myers, will be released. It will hit bookstore shelves in less than a week, on January 14, 2014. Hooray! Please take a look at his fabulous author website, which will tell you more about the book, and has all kinds of other excellent background information on the book and on Alex.

I will try to refrain from kvelling in my excitement about seeing the actual book in print - Alex got a few author copies a little bit in advance of the publication date, seen in boxes in the photo above - and instead tell you other, more practical things. First, for letter writers and mail enthusiasts (and really, why would you be reading this blog if you weren't a letter writer or mail enthusiast?), the novel has an epistolary element that I will not spoil here, except to say that letters play a very important role.

The book is available in eBook and hardcover on many fine internet retailers, including Amazon, IndieBound, and Bookish.

Facebook: please check out Alex Myers' author page on Facebook. Please like it. Show him some love. The power that Facebook likes hold in our strange modern world is mystifying, but if you're on Facebook, it would be ever so marvelous if you'd like his author page.

Twitter: he tweets some great stuff on writing, the Revolutionary war, feminism, gender and trans issues, and more. Follow him on Twitter at @MyersWriting.

I recognize that, being madly in love with and married to the author for many years, I am not entirely unbiased, but I think that this is a really brilliant, special novel, and if you are a fiction reader as well as a mail enthusiast, I think you'll enjoy it and highly encourage you to check it out.

P.S. I hear there is a movement afoot to get Deborah Samson on a U.S. postage stamp... you know I'm game for that endeavor!

Giveaway: Edward Gorey Evil Garden 2014 calendar

What better way to end the year than with a giveaway? One lucky blog reader will win this 2014 Edward Gorey Evil Garden Calendar. There's nothing wrong with it except for a slight rip in the plastic wrap (which you can see in the photo above), but it's still in its original packaging.

Why am I giving it away, you may wonder? Well, my mother-in-law is awesome. She knows me and my taste so well that she gave me the gift of this calendar, which is the very one I had already purchased for myself. I am looking forward to hanging my copy above my writing desk on January 1, and this one is for someone else to enjoy.




THE INEVITABLE RULES

1. HOW: To enter the giveaway, leave a comment on this post. One comment/entry per person, please.

2. WHO: No anonymous comments will be approved. You need a blogger profile to enter this giveaway (simply because I need to know who you are - I'm not going to count through "anonymous #7"), and if you don't have a blogger profile yet, just make one. It's fast, easy and free, doesn't require a blog, and I think only requires a valid email address. Also, you must provide a valid email address in your comment. If your comment/entry doesn't have a blogger profile with a valid email address, it won't even get approved, lest it throw the numbers off for the random number generator when I do the final pick. Lastly, keep your eyes peeled for this magical phrase after you submit your comment/entry: "Comments will be visible after blog owner approval." If you miss that and comment twice, or three times, or more, I'll delete duplicates.

3. WHERE: Due to postage costs, I must restrict this to USA only. Apologies to my international readers... I will do a giveaway JUST FOR YOU sometime in the future, but not this one.

4. WHEN: I'll make the selection on Monday, December 30, 2013. Get your comments in by 12pm EST that day.

Good luck! I'm so glad to pass this on to another Gorey lover.

UPDATE: Winner selected, congratulations to #2 - lucky Ambrosia - and thanks so much to everyone for your interest! I am deleting comments so your email addresses will not remain visible.

I missed my blog's 5th anniversary!

OOPS - how did this one slip by me? This blog turned 5 years old on December 16, 2013. I do not have a fancy graphic, or anything else fancy to say, except that I just noticed it and felt I should acknowledge it!

Time is a strange thing. In some ways I feel like I've been doing this blog for ages, but mostly I can't believe it's been 5 years.

To celebrate, I'll share a random selection of a few of my favorite posts over the years:

Why not use a return address?

2011: a year in mail

Dialing for stamps

Last mail art of 2012

Mail art thank-you

The amazing cat pouch letter

Envaccordion!

Curb your dog

I am also nearing my 1000th post, and if I can get off my duff and post more than twice a month, I should achieve that in 2014.

Finnish Postcrossing stamp

Here's another fine postage stamp I've received via Postcrossing: the new Finnish Postcrossing stamp! As far as I know, two three countries have an official Postcrossing stamp: the Netherlands, Finland, and (in a week) Belarus. I've gotten quite a few fine Dutch Postcrossing stamps (have I never blogged about these before??) but this is my first Finnish Postcrossing stamp. You can read more about them on the Postcrossing blog. Not sure what I think of the one with the mouth...

I think it would be wonderful if the USA would issue a Postcrossing stamp, but I somehow doubt that is very likely to happen.