Sunday, February 2, 2020

Australia Burns: The Project


Last month, I saw a note from Stephen B. King, one of my fellow authors from The Wild Rose Press. Steve lives in Australia and has witnessed firsthand the devastation from the wildfires that been raging there.  He was asking if a few authors would be willing to donate a short story to a collection, with the proceeds going to the relief and recovery efforts. His original request was to get a dozen stories. If there was interest, he’d approach the publisher and see if they would be willing to put it all together.
 


Steve didn’t get a reaction from a dozen authors who wanted to participate.

He got more than 40.   

And editors. 

And publicists. 

And the management staff. 

And the publishers.  

What Steve was hoping for was a quick turnaround.  In less than a month’s time, 48 stories were submitted, contracted, edited, approved, and gathered into three volumes.  That’s incredible.  All of this collective talent came together in what is little more than the blink of an eye. 

This week two of the three volumes have been released. While the e-book versions will be available at the usual venues, print copies will be handled at Wild Rose Press. This allows for a greater portion of the proceeds to go directly to Australia.

My contribution was a story called “Goody Twoshoes” that appears in volume two. This is a parody on the old Sam Spade, Humphrey Bogart type of private detective stories from the fifties. It’s set in a contemporary period, but with a tip of the fedora to Bogey.






There are no royalties to the authors for their stories on this one. Every dollar possible will be headed toward the Australian Red Cross. 

So click on the link below and check it out. Here's your chance to discover some new talented authors and help a great cause at the same time.


Here’s a link to the guy behind the idea, Stephen B. King.

Music this week comes from Smokey Robinson.

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