We’re delighted to share some very good news with you: our own Colleen Patrick-Goudreau’s first book has been released. The Joy of Vegan Baking: Compassionate Cooks’ Traditional Treats and Sinful Sweets, according to the publisher, "puts to rest the myth that vegan baking is an inferior alternative to non-vegan baking, putting it in its rightful place as a legitimate contender in the baking arena." As Green Options readers might expect, Joy is more than a cookbook: Colleen adds "tidbits, food lore, and baking tips" to a wide range of recipes.

If you’d like to get a sneak preview of the book, check out its website, where you’ll find a table of contents, a plethora of great reviews, and even some sample recipes (including chocolate cake — woo hoo!). Colleen will be on the road over the next few months promoting the book, so also check out the list of events to see if there’s one near you.

Congratulations, Colleen! We’ll be expecting that batch of vegan brownies in the mail any day now…

As Noel pointed out last week, Green Options now provides all registered users with a blog. If starting a green blog has been on your to-do list, now you’re only a mouse-click away from adding your voice to the "green blogosphere."

We’re pleased to see that a number of members have already started using their blogs, and we hope you’ll give it a shot, also. We’ve made sure that GO user blogs are fully functional, so you can:

Add images: It’s easy to add photographs and graphics to your blog posts — we’ve created a video (originally for our writing team) that walks you through the process. Keep in mind that many images may be under copyright, so be careful about using other people’s images — at minimum, you should give credit and a link.

Add links: Linking is also easy to do… see our "Blogging at GO" overview for instructions.

Add tags: Tags allow you to categorize your posts beyond the standard options available through the normal category structure. Your tags are also submitted to blogging megasite Technorati.

Use HTML: If you’re an advanced web author, you can add HTML tags through the by clicking on "disable rich text" below the "Body" text field.

Promote your blog: We’ve added widgets that allow you (or your readers) to easily submit your posts to social bookmarking sites StumbleUpon, Digg and Reddit.

Got questions? Check out our "How To" doc… and then blog away!

We’ve been working hard lately to reach out through some of the web’s most popular social media sites, but, until now, we were MIA from 800 lb. gorrilla in this space: Myspace. We’ve fixed that, though, and are pleased to unveil the GO Myspace page.

If you’re a member at Myspace, please add us as a friend, and ask your other friends to do so. We’ll be highlighting chosen content there, as well as keeping users in the loop about devlopments at GO.

As always, let us know if you have suggestions. We’ll see you there!

As you might imagine, the process of getting GO launched, running and successful has been a learning and growing experience for all of us here. We’ve all had our little victories, and made our mistakes along the way. We’ve discovered things about ourselves and each other, and in the case of our partner Shea Gunther, those discoveries have included a need to move in some different directions. Shea will be leaving his duties at GO and our sister site PlanetSave to focus his energies on other projects, including a full-time effort on what was once the GO Home, and a writing stint at Treehugger.

For details on what Shea will be doing with his time in the near future, you can read his farewell note on PlanetSave. We’re sure that he’ll bring energy, enthusiasm and insight to all of these projects. And we look forward to reading his contributions to TH.

Join us in wishing Shea farewell and good luck — GO won’t be the same without him.

That’s right: we’re finally jumping on board the Twitter bandwagon. If you’re scratching your head right now, Twitter is an instant notification, "micro-blogging" system that allows users to broadcast short messages to other users that have chosen to receive them. By signing on to "follow" GO’s Twitter posts, you’ll find out about new articles and features as they’re released. We’ll also throw in some of the fun and interesting items we come across every day.

Twitter is a free service, and it’s easy to sign up. Let your friends now what you’re doing right now… and be among the first to know what’s new at GO.

Are you a Facebook user (or even junkie)? Are you tracking your carbon emissions at MakeMeSustainable? Or, are you a lensmaster or frequest visitor to Squidoo? If so, come by, say "Hi," and join our groups and efforts at these popular sites!

The GO Facebook group is open to all members of the GO community. Join us, and add your comments to our wall, or your ideas to our discussion board. We’ll get photos and such up as we get them…

The GO MakeMeSustainable group is also open to all members of the community. We’ve set a goal of reducing our carbon emissions by 30% (though we’re already well beyond that), so add your cuts in CO2 to our effort.

At GO’s Squidoo space, you can keep a close eye on some of your favorite GO series, including:

• Green Myth-Busting
• Green Style Spotlight
• Red, Green & Blue
• Weekly DIY
• Weekend Grub
• Weekend Review

Remember: anytime you click on an ad on a GO Squidoo page, the money we earn goes directly to Dos Margaritas.

We’re just getting started with making our move into various social networking spaces… stay tuned!