Independence. It’s one of my favorite words and state of being, so I’m always delighted to champion others in their quest for personal liberation. Occasionally, they’re kind enough to allow me to talk about their journey.
When Jen finally got around to showing me her newest blog, Sex, Mortality, Age, and Illness: I’m in my 30’s, I was captivated. It takes a lot of courage to share the intimate details of a chronic illness with the world at large, especially without coming across as pity poor me journalism.
I immediately volunteered to build her a new blog, and watched proudly as people discovered the stories waiting for them at the freshly launched and retitled A Life Less Convenient site. Right from the beginning, this was different than Jen’s other sites; her extensive use of photography from Flickr to illustrate each story made it both visually appealing and edgier.
The tremendous support from the community and readers growing up around A Life Less Convenient helped Jen make a major leap of faith - she agreed to release a limited edition book, complete with new, unpublished letters.
In the same spirit, the print edition of A Life Less Convenient, Letters to My Ex will also feature the original full color artwork and photography of seven amazing photographers (all Flickr regulars) whose work has previously graced the blog. The artists featured include:
Chris Koelbleitner (Bekon)
Camil Tulcan
Machine
Duncan Gold (Autowitch)
Hans Proppe (Shadowplay)
Sara Lando (Rent-a-Moose)
Fernando Montiel Klint (Ferklint)
A Life Less Convenient, Letters to My Ex goes on sale August 15, 2006 via all the usual places. Congratulations to everyone involved in making this project a reality - it’s always exciting to see dreams take form.
