Italian author Robert Bernocco can text better than a caffeinated tween. Instead of texting friends to avoid having to talk to them like the rest of us do, Bernocco used the T9 function on his cell phone to write his 384-page science fiction novel, Compagni di Viaggo (Fellow Travelers), available on Lulu.com.

“Only a few years ago I would have struggled to find both the time and the publisher to enable me to create this book,” Bernocco said in a release. He wrote the book during his train commutes to and from work and later downloaded his paragraphs to his home computer for revision. “Thanks to my Nokia and Lulu, I am now proud to be a published author.”

Texting a novel is cute and all, but will it spark a new trend? Will text-happy teenagers feel inspired to write their own angst-ridden novellas? Sources say no.