Notes from the Studio

My head is swimming today with all these little pieces. First of all, the books are in, and pre-ordered copies are shipping today. Hooray! I am bringing these to BlogHer next week so you can buy yours in person if you're there, and I would love to inscribe a copy for you while we chat. I am happy to sign copies purchased online as well, so please let me know if you would like them signed or inscribed, for yourself or as a gift. (I don't know if you can add a message when you're ordering, or if you just need to shoot me an email--let me know how that goes.)

Some friends last night at The Moth got the first peek at Fortunes (and Karen saw a proof last week when she was in town), and the response so far has been really positive. In case you didn't notice in the description, this 5x5 format is about the size of a CD, designed to fit easily in a purse or large pocket for easy gift-giving or reading on the go, and it would be so nice on a nightstand, offering you one little sip before sleep. The full-color images give it a gallery-on-the-go feel.

Now about the words. I guess they're a bit like me--intense and a little raw. I'm holding nothing back here--I'm giving you the gold. But I'm not thinking about this too much, because I'm trying not to feel self-conscious about dropping such intimate things into a faceless mailbox. It's much easier just to think of them in the hands of already- or not-yet-friends. I think you will know what I mean when you read it, and I think it will make you feel . . . trusted. As you are.

When you receive your precious copy, you will first be so glad, then you will read it, and then you will have thoughts about it. I invite you to send those thoughts my way, either on the contact form I just added to the top navigation bar, or directly to jen (at) jenlee (dot) net. If you love it, would you consider leaving a comment on the Fortunes page, or even spreading the word by sporting this lovely button on your site?

To embed, copy and paste: <a href="http://jenleedotnet.squarespace.com/home/introducing-fortunes.html"><img src="http://www.jenlee.nethttp://static.squarespace.com/static/4f5239d224acf21264fbcc19/5011864ae4b051ffa2215049/5011864ce4b051ffa2215b3c/1247604877847/1000w" alt="" /></a>

In other button news, the website move broke all the Portfolio Project links. I'm terribly sorry about this, and about the fact I can't seem to get the new PP archive organized in anything but reverse chronological order. Ah, well. I'm calling it, Close enough for jazz, for now. Maybe I'll come up with something better by the new year. If I broke your Portfolio Project button, here's the updated code for its quick repair:

To embed, copy and paste: <a href="http://www.jenlee.net/home/category/the-portfolio-project"><img src="http://www.jenlee.nethttp://static.squarespace.com/static/4f5239d224acf21264fbcc19/5011864ae4b051ffa2215049/5011864ce4b051ffa2215b3d/1247655693957/1000w" alt="" /></a>

Most of the work in this new collection came out of my Portfolio Project earlier this year, and because so many of us were creating side-by-side, hand-in-hand (in a virtual kind of way) during that time, I really feel like this community has held the space and infused every step of this project with belief and magic. Not a word of this was written from a solitary place. This is every bit the expression of a girl who got to be as brave as she dreamed of only because she was first loved in an extraordinary way by dear souls near and far. The actual nuts-and-bolts work of publishing such a project is grueling and largely outside my areas of strength. But I've been passionate about doing this, finishing this, if only as a way of thanking you for who I've gotten to be in this community. Loved. Known. True.

Thank you.