Laura Barcella is a San Francisco-based writer and editor who has been obsessed with Madonna for as long as she can remember. She has written for more than 40 magazines, newspapers, and websites, including  the Village Voice, Salon.com, Time Out New York, ELLEGirl and the Chicago Sun-Times. As a child, Laura had Madonna-themed birthday parties with decorate-your-own puffy-paint T-shirt stations. As an adult, she has fought bitterly with boyfriends about Her Madgesty's feminist cred. She has also bought almost every album Madonna's ever made, despite her college-honed gravitation toward mopey indie rock.

The idea for an anthology of essays by women writers about Madonna -- what became Madonna & Me -- came to Laura in the middle of the night. She posted an online call for submissions and was flooded by essays from female writers across the globe. (She also fielded queries from a few disgruntled male Madonna-lovers who wondered why she wouldn't let them submit. Sorry, boys -- you'll have to sit this one out.)

The book features 39 essays by both established and emerging writers, including Cintra Wilson, Gloria Feldt, Caroline Leavitt, Bee Lavender, Wendy Shanker, Lesley Arfin, Lisa Crystal Carver, Courtney E. Martin, Amanda Marcotte, Susan Shapiro, and Shawna Kenney.

For info about Laura's other writing and editing projects, check out her website. Questions about Madonna & Me? Write to madonna.book at gmail dot com.