When I was younger I was fascinated by the idea of a pen pal. Exchanging letters with someone from a different place, and learning about their life thanks to a seemingly silly pen and paper. Then technology came along and made all that possible with things like: phones, texting, social media, and e-mails. Nowadays, when most of us receive a message we look at some sort of screen. When was the last time you opened an actual letter? Well, The Rumpus, and some pretty awesome authors are trying to make sure the answer you give is a little more recent.

That’s right! The website started a movement, “Letters in the Mail.” The site basically designed it to, well, make sure people get just that. In an age where technology is usually the No. 1 choice of communication, the art of the letter is something many of us have lost. If the idea of pencil pushing isn’t something that’s all that appealing to you, maybe this will help reignite the flame, or help you ignite the spark. For just $5 a month, you can subscribe and get an actual written letter from the participating authors. Some of them being: Tao Lin, Jonathan Ames and the often comical David Eggers. The best part? If they give you a return address, you can even write them back! [via msnbc.com]

Personally I’m pretty excited about this. Maybe it’s the nerd in me, but as someone who loves to write, the chance to receive a letter from a favorite author and the chance to ask them questions would be pretty cool. Jodi Picoult, I’m looking at you. Either way, even if writing to an author doesn’t really interest you, maybe it will just motivate more people to start writing letters again. Which would be good, right?

How do you guys feel about this? Do you think this could be the “revival” of the written letter? Any authors you’d like to get letters from?