In 2006, Rita Arens of Surrender Dorothy approached me with a huge idea, an exquisitely organized binder and an adult beverage.

The result? Sleep is for the Weak, an anthology of superb blogging by parents edited by Rita Arens and starring the 23 parenting bloggers listed below. The first piece is a very personal foreword by Stacy Morrison, editor-in-chief of Redbook.

Let it be said that without Rita's perseverence, cajoling, bartending skills and chutzpah, BlogHer's first book would not exist (and a parenting is just the beginning of Rita's grand plans for BlogHer anthologies!)

Now we contributors are kicking off a signing tour for Sleep is for the Weak, beginning on July 19 at BlogHer Conference '08 in San Francisco. Immediately afterward, we begin scheduled August, September and October visits to the 13 cities listed in this widget. We hope you'll join us! Amazon's already taking orders. Like my mom's.

Editrix Rita selected these blog posts to help moms and dads find solace in other parents' naked narration of Life After Children. That's how Sleep grew to embrace a wide range of viewpoints and issues not often discussed in mainstream magazines and parenting books — from dealing with rage to negotiating sleeping arrangements to experiencing the frustrations and joys of parenting a special-needs child. Not to mention pooping, puking, feeding and The Talk.

I can't speak for the other contributors, but I'll tell you I am so proud to be part of it. This first BlogHer book is snort-Diet-Coke-out-the-nose funny at times, poignant and bittersweet at others. But don't take our word for it -- take theirs:

Editorial reviews

• "A lively compilation of honest, funny, real-life writing. Parents will find reassurance, heart, and a lot of humor in this collection. A very entertaining read!" —Christie Mellor, author, The Three-Martini Playdate
• "From the foreword to the final essay, this is a collection of some of the best writing out there on the topic of modern motherhood." —Amy Keroes, founder & CEO, mommytrackd.com

We hope you join us -- on our book tour, on this site and on our contributors' blogs. Here's how:

Amalah
www.amalah.com

Amy Corbett Storch is a freelance writer and semiprofessional blogger in Washington, D.C., who also writes for MamaPop and Alpha Mom.

Binkytown
amywojo.typepad.com

Amy Jo Jones lives with her family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee with a degree in English and a minor in women's studies.

Birdie Jaworski
www.birdiejaworski.com

Birdie Jaworkski writes a weekly human interest column for the Las Vegas Times, and her writing has appeared in many online and print journals.

CityMama
citymama.com

Stefania Pomponi Butler—founder of CityMama, KimchiMamas and MOMocrats—is a Palo Alto, California-based writer and blog editor/producer whose work has appeared in Redbook, Good Housekeeping, KoreAm Journal and on NPR.

Finslippy
www.finslippy.com

Alice Bradley has been featured in the New York Times and on Good Morning, America! and writes for Alpha Mom.

Friday Playdate
fridayplaydate.com

Susan Wagner writes Friday Playdate, which was featured in the magazines Nichols Hills News, Norman Living, and NW Style.

Fussy
www.fussy.org

Eden Marriott Kennedy has been featured in the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Newark Star-Ledger.

IzzyMom
izzymom.com

Izzy Dean writes IzzyMom and contributes to Cool Mom Picks, Mamapop, Blogger Chicks, and 9 Rules, and her work has been published on the Huffington Post.

Laid-off Dad
laidoffdad.typepad.com

Doug French of Laid-Off Dad has been featured in Parents magazine, and Laid-Off Dad was chosen as the Best Daddy Blog in the 2005 Best of Blogs awards. (Editor's Note: He's also our token male, because he's that cool.)

The Modernity Ward
http://leerypolyp.blogs.com/the_modernity_ward/

Joanna Polyn was featured in the book Blogosphere: The Best of Blogs (Peter Kuhns and Adrienne Crew).

Mom-101
mom-101.blogspot.com

Liz Gumbinner has garnered attention from the New York Times and the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and is the editor of the shopping review site Cool MomPicks.

Mommy Needs Coffee
www.mommyneedscoffee.com

Jennifer Satterwhite has been featured on the nationally syndicated radio show Kidd Kraddick in the Morning and in a nationally syndicated television news segment on mommyblogging.

Motherhood Uncensored
motherhooduncensored.typepad.com

Kristen Chase is the author of Motherhood Uncensored, co-founder of Parent Bloggers Network, the other half of Cool Mom Picks and a sex columnist for parents (as the "Mominatrix").

Not Calm (dot com)
notcalmdotcom.typepad.com

Jenifer Scharpen began writing Not Calm (dotcom) in July of 2002 and is part of the force behind the BlogHer Ad Network.

Paper Napkin
papernapkin.typepad.com

Sheryl Patten is the author of Paper Napkin, which was among Technorati's top five parenting blogs in 2006.

Rancid Raves
rancidraves.blogspot.com

Kelli Oliver George retired upon the birth of her son in 2005 from various positions in the workplace, including CPA, auditor, business systems analyst, and data security analyst.

State of Grace
gracedavis.typepad.com

Grace has been featured in the New York Times, spoken on panels at the South by Southwest Interactive Media Festival and was on the keynote panel at the 2006 BlogHer conference.

Surfette
surfette.typepad.com

Lisa Stone, BlogHer co-founder, has written for The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and The Oakland Tribune, and launched Web programming for BlogHer, E! Online, HBO's Sex and The City, Bloomberg and Hearst and Rodale magazines.

Surrender, Dorothy
www.surrenderdorothyblog.com

(Editor) Rita Arens has been published in the Kansas City Star, Austin American Statesmen online, Businessweek online, Silicon Valley Moms Blog, Mommybloggers, and Guy Kawasaki's list of ultimate mommybloggers.

Sweetney
www.sweetney.com

Tracey Gaughran-Perez was a speaker at the 2006 BlogHer conference and at the 2007 South by Southwest Interactive and co-authors MamaPop and We Covet.

Karen
http://thenakedovary.typepad.com/cheek/

Karen authored The Naked Ovary until she adopted her first child in 2006; she reappeared online in late 2007 with Cheek.

Three Kid Circus
www.threekidcircus.com

Jenny Lauck is the co-founder of Mommybloggers.com and spoke at BlogHer 2005.

Woulda Coulda Shoulda
wouldashoulda.com

Miriam Kamin has been featured as a Yahoo! Pick of the Day and a Feedster Feed of the day, as well as being highlighted in Blogosphere: Best of Blogs (Que, 2006), the Today show and the April 2007 issue of Parents magazine.

Risa Green
mommytrackd.com/features/risagreen

Risa Green is a critically acclaimed author who has written two novels, Notes from the Underbelly and Tales from the Crib.

Hope to hear what you think!

Best,
Lisa Stone, BlogHer Co-founder