So the reason that my favorite medical books have been on my mind recently is that, like I mentioned before, my editor has been sending out advance copies of my book for people to blurb. Early responses have been pretty good (no book burnings yet that I'm aware of, at least), and so I've been trying to put together a fantasy wish list of all the people I would love to take a peek at the manuscript before it comes out. Certainly if any of the authors on my top five list even leafed through my book (yes, I know Randy Shiltz died, but, you know, the alive ones), my head would explode with happiness, and it seems unbelievable to me that something I wrote might possibly be looked over by these authors whose works I've read and loved for years.
My editor feels like personal note tucked in with the advance copies might be that extra touch that adds so much (as opposed to a my-people-will-call-your-people sort of situation, I guess...not that I have people, but I'm sure the other authors do, because they are famous and also AWESOME) which is why I've been writing fan letters to Anne Fadiman and Atul Gawande. And also why I finally got some personal stationery. I have been writing notes on ripped out pieces of notebook paper for far too long, but now I am thirty-two years old, which seems like an age that having plain notecards with your name printed across the top might no longer be exceptional, but expected.