Two of my cobloggers -- Pippa Jay and Greta van der Rol -- and I want to remind you that time is running out on helping to support ALS Research via our Blue Book Cover Brigade. Our fundraiser ends the last day of May.
Long story short, there are several ways you can help, and we'd be grateful for whatever way you decide you can chip in.
Here are six different ways you can help us raise money to fight ALS right now:
- Buy Inherit the Starson Amazon. For every e-book purchased, I'll donate a minimum of 25% to the ALS Association, so you get a great book to read at $3.99 and at least $1.00 of that will be donated. If you prefer your books in hard copy, I'll donate a minimum of $5 for every print book sold.
- What's that? You've already read it? No problem! You can also buy any of my peers' books. See the Blue Book Cover Brigade Pagefor all participating books and links. Same deal. They'll donate a minimum of 25% of their sales.
- Make a direct donation by credit card on my ALS Associate Blue Book Cover Brigade personal page which you can find right here: Laurie A. Green. Look for the red button in the upper right that says "Donate Now." No amount is too small.
- Or, make a direct donation to any of my peers' pages. You can find their names listed HERE. Click their name for the link to their personal campaign page.
And if you've already donated, you have my sincere thanks! This campaign is very special to me for many reason, but I explained two important ones in this video.
Today is the first of May and Beltane, a day symbolising the start of summer, the end of the chilly weather *stares out window at galeforce driven winds* okay, in theory, and for me a celebratory month. Today also sees Romancing the Genres celebrating its 7th Blog-o-versary. The topic is surprising things people don't know about us that have happened over the last seven years, and we've been encouraged to do giveaways! My post will be on the 18th of May, and you'll have to wait until then to know my surprising fact and what I'll be offering up, but I also have an extra post on the 5th of May with what I'll be celebrating this month and why May is so very special to me.
Bonfires are of special significance for Beltane - deemed sacred - so you may be wondering why my ring of fire above is blue. Well, as Laurie posted yesterday, we are going blue for May!
Looking for Blue skies and smooth sailing to cure ALS
May is ALS Awareness Month and twelve sci-fi/paranormal/time-travel romance authors have joined forces to donate 25% of their May book sales to the National ALS Association! Help us raise money to support the ALSA in their mission to provide care for ALS patients and continue their research to find a cure for this heinous disease.
Look for these hashtags on Twitter to find and help support our efforts:
Pssst, if you already have Keir I've decided to donate any proceeds from sales of any other of my blue cover books, so even if you just opt for my short story Reboot at only 99 cents, you'll still be contributing to the cause! Just click any of the covers below to go to the sale links, and be sure to check out all the other authors books by going HERE: http://www.leakirk.com/supporting-als.html
And May all your skies be blue! Chook Update
Goodness, it's been a while. Not sure where we got to. So...
Phasma in the snow...just over a month ago
New girl Phasma has laid her first eggs! It took us a while to figure out it was her as unlike the Pekins she doesn't perform the loud and proud egg song after laying. Instead we get a mournful banshee wail if she can't get in to lay - chickens have this weird thing that no matter how many nest boxes you provide them with, they all want to lay in the same one (and often all at the same time!). Or in the case of mine, the corner between the two nest boxes, and they will all try to squeeze in (or stand outside complaining). However, she's now gone broody and a savage one at that. I have to wear gardening gloves to turf her out of the nest box so the others can lay! Oh, well...
Kairu with Scoop in the background
More surprising was catching old timer Kairu back to laying eggs. At almost five years old and after she struggled at the end of last year, we thought her egg days were over (garden hens average 5-7 years in age, and grand matriarch Scoop, who is 6, stopped laying at age 3). But nope.
Saffie considering a cooling dip during a brief heatwave!
And then new girl Saffron started laying too...which is just as well as baby Firefly went broody for the first time after laying for just four weeks. But that's a good thing because...
Hatching eggs! Yup, having hatched Firefly last year - the only surviving hen out of 12 eggs - she's about to become a surrogate mum herself. As I don't breed my own, I'm concentrating on the passing on of skills. Firefly's surrogate mum Pitch (who sadly passed away recently) was a master forager, a fiercely independent and curious soul, and Firefly inherited that. So I'm really hoping her chicks will too. These are Barbu d'uccle eggs - also known as the bearded bantam. They're even smaller than my sablepoots (with which they share some genetics), with a neck ruff and feathered feet. They're reputed to be super friendly, and popular with children as their small size makes them easy to handle. Since my sablepoots have gone from refusing to hand feed to being constantly under my feet in the space of two months (compared to my Pekins, some of whom still don't want to know years down the line), and are related to d'uccles, I'm hoping for some really sociable girls. Nine days to go!
Writing Update
Um, don't even ask...
Cosplay Update
Youngest's Plague Knight costume is coming along...
...while I bought a couple of pieces for a quickie Tenth Doctor cosplay for eldest. Middle child's X-men Quicksilver just needs some gadgets made for his belt and his trainers painted silver.
Meanwhile it looks like I'll still be wearing my Anakin outfit, since I never seem to get time to do myself a new one. Sigh.
Last day of April 2018. Hard to believe, isn't it?
And May is looking to be a very busy and productive month!
A cover waiting for
its book.
I'm currently working on revising or creating new scenes, dialogue and elements for my series story, StarDog. When I originally wrote the book for the first Pets in Space collection, I was constrained by word count limits, so had to keep the scene-building brief and tight. Now I have the opportunity to explore more of the characters, backstories and politics as tensions soar in the months leading up to events in Inherit the Stars.
This is Taro and Adini's adventure, and both will make appearances in future books (as well as the title character, my feisty little StarDog). A few familiar faces from the novel also have a part in this prequel.
It's been FUN! to work on these story embellishments, though admittedly, it's also been a challenge.
I also have a couple of other things going on...
Book Fair -- 99 Cent Books
ONLY THROUGH TODAY, there's a huge selection of multi-genre books available in a big Book Fair special -- including Farewell Andromeda -- all at 99 cents! There are Fantasy, Historical, Mystery, Young Adult, Science Fiction / Science Fiction Romance and more.
But it's ONLY THROUGH TODAY, so hurry!
Here's the landing page where you can do a quick scan of the offerings: BOOK FAIR
Blue Book Cover Brigade to Support ALS Research
Beginning tomorrow, May 1st, I'm joining ranks with several other authors, including co-bloggers Greta van der Rol and Pippa Jay, to participate in the ALS Association 2018 Napa Valley Ride to Defeat ALS and Walk.
Author Lea Kirk organized and coordinated the event, and put together a group of dedicated authors for this very worthwhile cause. We're all involved as virtual participants and we'll be donating 25% of our book sales during May to the cause.
But even if you don't want to invest in some great reads, there are other ways you can help. A straight donation can be done through my page on the site. Click for: Laurie A. Green's Page. Here you can make a direct donation via credit card in any amount (anonymously or not) and it will go to the ALS Association for ALS research. You can also designate the name of a person in whose honor you are making your donation.
Check out our Blue Book Cover Brigade Page to see the other authors involved and what books they have in the project.
And here's a special "no fanfare" offer. To get this kicked off, I'll gift a copy of Inherit the Stars via Amazon US to the first three people who comment below and include the words - Blue Book Cover Brigade to help ALS - in their comment. Then I'll donate 25% of the price to the cause.
I have a couple of very special reasons for wanting to get involved this year. And since I'm now dabbling in creating my own videos, I put together this short (1:30) clip on why this event is an important one for me. Let me know how I did.
Thank you all!
Big Week on the Horse Front
And last, but not least, this is the big week in my "other" profession. The Kentucky Derby will be run this coming Saturday, May 5th.
It's Cinco de Derby this year!!!
My Derby T-shirt for 2018
And there's always speculation about which horse is going to win the Run for the Roses. One of the top contenders is a horse named, ironically, Mendelssohn. That's only a couple of letters off from the name of the central family in my series--the Mennelsohns. (Also, one of the actors in Star Wars: Rogue One was named Mendelsohn--just one letter off.)
Our 3YO filly, Inherit the Stars (familiar name? haha), is prepping for her first race after being laid up due to a walker accident (no, not the Star Wars kind of walker--this was a mechanical horse walker) last fall as a 2YO. Another irony. One of the jockeys who frequently rides for our trainer has a first name of Ry--who is also the name of a character in Inherit the Stars, the brother of Captain Drea Mennelsohn, the heroine.
So I'll report back if Mendelssohn (the horse) wins the Derby, and if Ry (the jockey) is ever matched up with Inherit the Stars (the filly).
On the home front, we had two very strong 2nd place finishes in April by horses we own or bred (Endless Thyme and Blazing Away), so we're looking forward to an exciting summer season ahead.
