Drumroll, please . . .

Hey, y'all (yes, I am a Texan, but even if I weren't, I'd fight for "y'all"--other languages have "you" plural, so why don't we?)--

I'm excited to hint at a new venture I'm going to be a part of: The Gatekeepers Post, a new social-media book-publishing community. It officially launches on Tuesday, February 1, and I'm supposed to be keeping somewhat mum about all the official details till then, but when it does launch expect to hear from me there as well as on L'Editrice. (And, yes, the title and concept do bear a resemblance to The Huffington Post, which y'all know how I feel about, but I'm pretty sure they're just mimicking the good parts of it.)

See you there soon . . .
- L'Editrice

Let it snow . . . books!

I'm thrilled to let you all know that two of my authors just released their books this week--and interestingly, both are going the self-published route, and offering traditional and digital options.

They are . . . Eric Robespierre's hilarious and poignant memoir Cracking the Walnut: How Being a Little Nuts Helped Me to Beat Prostate Cancer and Neesha Meminger's boundary-breaking YA novel Jazz in Love. As you can probably already guess, they are very different books, but what they have in common are authors who told a story only they could tell--and to awesome effect. I'm so honored to have worked with these amazing writers.

Speaking of self-publishing, I thought this story was pretty cool and inspiring. I'd already been very interested My Princess Boy just because of the subject matter, and then reading about My Name Is Not Isabella made my to-read list even longer.

In other "Cool People I Know" news, my friend Sarah Pitre is featured in this article, giving me even more reason to want to emulate her (and her awesome fashion sense), as I have since I first met her in college.

Finally, on a non-book-related topic, if you haven't yet come up with any New Year's resolutions (or already let yours slide), how about resolving to be nice/polite to telemarketers? I've always thought this was so important (they're people, too, no matter how annoying it is that their jobs force them to interrupt your dinner), but an incident today really drove this home for me. I promise, civility is the gift that keeps on giving . . .

Bittersweetly,
- L'Editrice

Coulda, woulda, shoulda

There are loads of books that I wish I had written because they're awesome and brilliant and define why I love literature. But there are only a handful that I feel I could/should have written--because their subject matter, sentiments, etc. are so in line with what I think I would write about and how, if I someday just got around to it--and some other writer beat me to it.

That's not to say I'm jealous--in fact, it makes me happy to feel I have kindred spirits in these writers. . . . and that they are much more disciplined than me and do rather than just thinking about it. (And honestly, I am more than happy editing others' great writing!) Here's the list:

- Good Enough, by Paula Yoo.
- Boys, Girls, and Other Hazardous Materials, by Rosalind Wiseman.
- Acceptance, by Susan Coll.
- The Avery Sisters trilogy, by Rachel Vail: Lucky, Gorgeous, & Brilliant. (Super-cool concept that I can't explain well here, so just read them. It is also slightly freaky how much the Avery girls mirror my sisters and me, and I love how they show that the role you--and others--feel you fit in your family does not actually define who you are.)

Although I have a Kindle now, there are always going to be books I want to own and put on my bookshelf, and these are definitely on the list.

However, if you have tons of shelf space to fill, maybe you should check out this article. I thought this quote was especially fascinating: " 'The more that objects become replaced by digital virtual counterparts--from records and books to photo albums and even cash--watch for people to fetishize the physical object. Books are being turned into decorative accessories, for example, and records into art.' "

Thoughts?

Bibliophilically,
L'Editrice