Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Donating Half of Novel Earnings for July to Cancer Research

Wearing a "cancer sucks" band to bring awareness to colon cancer, while resting my hand/arm on my dad's fleece blanket.

On July 11th of this year it'll be 5 years since my father passed away from colon cancer (which spread and metastasized in his liver and lungs). I won't write about this topic just yet (I definitely have something planned for the near future) but I wanted to do something special in honor of my dad.

If you haven't read the novel, skip over to the next paragraph because there are some spoiler alerts. If you've read the novel, you know that the topic of cancer is brought up in the novel. I did this because it was something that isn't really talked about in novels (The Fault in Our Stars being one of the exceptions). I won't say more because of bigger spoilers but let's just say that what one of the protagonist went through with the person in their family who had cancer was inspired by what I went through with my own father during his 7-year cancer battle. You want to know what I went through (or at least part of it; the entire thing wasn't based on real life events), read the novel. lol.

Mom and I have wanted to donate to a charity for cancer research for a while now but, due to the financial crunch we've been experiencing since my dad passed, we've been unable to. I, thankfully, have some income coming in from the novel (not a lot but some) so I decided to donate half (50% for the 5 years since dad's passing) of what I earn from sales of Will and Lina: When Two Worlds Collide. I will be using part of what's left over to hire someone for a better novel cover for the print version (which I hope will be out in autumn or at least as early winter). And, if you're wondering, yes, the sequel will be out before next summer and, yes, I plan to do the same thing next summer with the sequel.

Because mom and I are 100% pro-life, it was decided that St. Baldrick's was going to be receive the donations. My father loved children (and it's so perfect that he ended up being buried near the section where babies are buried at the cemetery) so it seemed like the perfect fit. Before anyone asks, no, St. Baldrick's is not a Catholic organization. Yes, I did look into St. Jude's Children and a number of Catholic organizations but, unfortunately, there were a number of issues ranging from embryonic stem cell research support to contraceptives being offered across the Catholic charities. Unless someone can point me to other organizations (so we can split the donations evenly) that are 100% pro-life, St. Baldrick's is getting the entire thing.

So, there you go. I'm not doing it to boost sales. I don't need the money for material gain. In fact, I will most likely not keep any of it. The other half is being spent on print novel covers and ISBN numbers (Google it; those things are expensive).

If you already have a copy of the novel, consider giving a copy to a friend. Yes, Amazon allows that. ;) And, again, it's only out on eBook right now but I hope it'll be out in print in the next couple of months. No, you don't need a Kindle to buy it. I have a Kindle app on my iPod touch and on my laptop; no need for an actual Kindle. :)

Anyway, that's it for now. I have an exam coming on Thursday (as well as the USMNT vs Belgium match coming up in an hour) and it needs my attention.

I hope y'all are having a great start of week.

As always, thanks for reading and God bless!

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