#WritersForHope Take Three!

Hello, friends!

I am over-the-moon excited to announce that the 3rd Annual Writers For Hope Online Auction is officially in the works - and shall be held on Monday, April 4, 2016 from 12:00am - 11:59pm!

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The donor list is growing (by the hour!) because book people are the best people. We have lots of Writers For Hope returners, as well as some exciting new faces. 

I, very honestly, don't know that I will ever get over the extreme generosity of people - not just a willingness to give, but an excitement over it. One response I received to a donation request began simply with "YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES!!!"

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This year's auction is going to work the same as previous events. Readers, writers and book lovers get twenty four hours to bid on this year's fantastic items. The only difference is that this year, the auction will take place at the brand-spanking-new Writers for Hope website! Meander on over and check it out. 

I'll be listing updates there and here, plus don't forget to follow #WritersForHope on Twitter. And, for all those of you who are interested in donating to a fantastic cause, but can't wait for the auction - you can donate here at any time!

Finally, THANK YOU, to everyone who has made this event so successful in the past and to everyone who's planning on participating this year.

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You've left me no choice...

Do you ever have one of those days where you just want to be cynical and world-weary? To soak in the pool of curmudgeonisity until your skin is as wrinkled as your pruney little heart? 

'Cause I do. 

And you know what really pisses me off? You people make it impossible. 

Every time I turn around, one of you is there being all illustrative of optimism and positivity and hope. It's enough to make anyone's heart grow Grinch-style. And since, despite my best efforts, my heart is a decent size to begin with, this three times expansion rate pretty much makes it explode. And not like a cool, gory movie scene explosion, but one of love that pretty much leaves everyone around me covered in a splatter pattern of glitter and happiness. 

It's a mess. 

But you know what they say, something about sour fruits and beverages that don't make sense to drink while it's still this freaking cold. 

What I'm trying to say is: Fine. I give in to your smiling faces. I surrender to your infectious laughter. 

I decided just yesterday that I wanted to do another fundraising event, this time virtually. I sent out a few emails, to test the waters. No sooner had I hit send than my brain started reminding me that these things can be hard to pull off. And that people are busy. And that maybe it's too last minute. And - well, look at all those positive responses rolling into my inbox. Wait a second, not only are people offering their time, but they're thanking me for the opportunity to do so??

You know, it makes it really challenging to fill out the "con" half of my list, when you people insist on being so awesome. So now my paper looks all lopsided. And that's on your heads. 

To get to the point of this morning's mental meanderings, on Wednesday, April 23rd I will be hosting a truly fantastic event here on the blog. Some wonderful editors and agented/published authors are donating their time for a great auction. Current prizes include signed books, query critiques, first five pages critiques, first chapter critiques and a full manuscript critique - with some more in the works!

All proceeds of the auction will go to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. 

I will be posting updates and rules and whatnot over the next few weeks. Please tell all your writer-type friends about the event. And if you don't happen to be a writer-type yourself, but know one who has a birthday coming up, or who you just like a real lot, feel free to bid. All the prizes would make great gifts. 

Will your help, this event will be amazing. And considering you've already proven yourselves to be completely incapable of anything less than scrumtrulescence, success really appears to be the only option. 

RAINN Down Hope

When I first thought about organizing a fundraiser to benefit the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN) back in September, I figured it would be a great way to start the holiday season. I hoped to get maybe 60/65 people to attend and I was determined to go door to door to businesses until I'd gotten twenty donations. If things went really well, then maybe I'd do it again next year and aim to make the event a little bigger.

It's safe to say that I underestimated the massive generosity of people.

Saturday night over 140 people came to Molly Malone's to buy raffles for 69 donated baskets and 22 door prizes. By the end of the night, over $7500 was raised. When combined with the online donations, that is a grand total of $10260 (more than twice my original goal!) raised for RAINN.

Throughout this process I've been truly blown away by the response I've gotten. I've always believed that good outweighs bad in the world, but if I ever needed proof, I've got it.

First, the number of local and national businesses, as well as individuals, who made basket donations was staggering. If you're in the midst of holiday shopping and still looking for ideas, I'll be posting a list later this week. These authors, artists and stores all have wonderful products and are certainly worthy of patronage.

Then, there were the auction's attendees. There were a number of different groups, people from all different stages of my life, as well as some who I was meeting for the first time. They came from a variety of distances, from Maine to Pennsylvania to Virginia. I tried to speak with everyone for at least a little while and every single person who I spent time with expressed constant love and support. I was even stopped by members of the waitstaff, for handshakes and words of comfort.

Despite the darkness of the inciting incident that led to this event, Saturday night was all about the light. People cheered when others won auction baskets, regardless of whether or not they knew the winner. There were no cross words, no grievances. I was privileged to watch all these wonderful people give of their time and money, but even more impressively, of themselves.

 Getting ready for ticket sales! (Photo by Ed Johnson)

First table of baskets (Photo by Ed Johnson)

(Photo by Ed Johnson)

Long rows of generosity (Photo by Donna Schramm)

Mingling guests (Photo by Donna Schramm)

Scariest part of the evening for me. Was terrified I was going to throw up, but made

it through public speaking vomit free! (Photo by Donna Schramm)

Lucky raffle winner! (Photo by Donna Schramm)

I'm finding myself desperately searching for something bigger to say than "thank you," but I don't think the phrase exists. (Yet. I'm working on it, stay tuned.) So, again, thank you, thank you, thank you to all donors and attendees of the first RAINN Down Hope dinner and auction.

I have never been more inspired to truly embrace the spirit of the holidays.

And to answer a question I received many times the other night, we'll definitely all be getting together again next year.

The First of Many Thanks

Hello, all!

Sorry for the radio silence recently. Fundraisers and babies and weddings, oh my! I can not believe that the dinner auction is in less than two weeks and one of the weeks contains Thanksgiving. It’s a wonderful kind of insanity.

Also, having the holiday coincide with my preparations is fairly appropriate. I have a whole lot to be thankful for this year, not the least of which is the amazing generosity of all the people I’ve dealt with in this process. Since some of said lovely folks are reading this, a monumental thank you for the signed books, gift certificates, artwork, and other wonderful donations. This auction is going to be beyond anything I’d imagined when starting. The baskets are taking on an awesome life of their own.

And counting!

So, thank you! I can’t wait to fill you in on all the details after everything is said and done.