I haven’t blogged in a while (again) but it’s mostly been because I am getting ready to kick off the long overdue 90-day release of Blood Land with a decent-sized marketing firm and I owe them nine blogs which they are going to put out on some widely-read blogs, so if I am blogging at all (and not writing) I should really be writing those. The good news is I don’t have to write about writing at all if I choose not to (I do) and sometimes the more controversial blogs get the most traffic and attention (you know the old saying, even negative advertising is advertising—especially when you’re trying to get your name out there). One of these days they are going to freaking finish the new design of my web home (the marketing company needs that for SEO and other important things about which I’m clueless). Take a look here to see what it’s going to look like (it still redirects to the demo pages, but click on Blood Land and then on “Book Preview” <or just click here> to see the cool previewer they built for me!).
The main reason I am blogging today, however, is because a writer friend of mine is living semi-homeless in an old, old (did I mention old?) Dodge motor home nicknamed “Beauty”. Anyway, he’s attempting to reconstruct himself, begin again, and he’s having a hard time (as do we all). But what he needs now, desperately, as the cold winter in Canada approaches, are some serious repairs for Beauty. So he’s shoved his pride down where none of us will venture to find it and is asking for friends and family to pitch in anything they can. I’m a friend, and I know I have a lot of writer friends that read this blog (and a lot of non-writers who read as well and I promise if I knew you, we’d likely be friends).
You know those little signs on the debit/credit swipe at grocery stores, particularly this time of year, that might be something like $5 to help feed the homeless? I made a rule a long time ago to never pass one of those up. Sometimes it’s $3 at Petsmart for neglected and abandoned animals. Whatever. I figure those few dollars are absolutely not going to change my fortune in life one way or the other. So here’s what I’m asking:
Help out my friend. He may be your friend, too. He may not be someone you even like (and THAT would make it an even more human, loving gesture). Follow the link below and donate $5 to my friend. And if you’re really in the mood, ask a friend to do the same (or give more than $5….I decided to; I decided last year that I like nothing more than to see my money in action helping another human being). Not for the thanks, but to see it make someone’s life warmer, more liveable, more tolerable.
Oh, and did I mention I have been pumping out a chapter a week on a FREE serial novel (under a pen name—see if you can guess what favorite author and book to whom/which I’m paying homage) over on Venture Galleries? I’ll let you in on another secret. It’s without a rope (i.e. I am not proofing it, at least not beyond “if I see something I’m going to fix it”; there’s no editor, no rewrites). Raw, without a rope. And here’s another salacious secret only a few people know:
I’m attempting to write the entire thing without dialogue, both as a writing exercise and for the challenge of getting people’s thoughts, emotions, interactions with others, etc. out there by showing and not (literally) telling. Let’s face it, dialogue is the one time an author is allowed—even encouraged—to “tell”. Well, at least talk. So go read it. And start on Chapter One, okay? {wink}
And for those of you with the spirit to offer a small donation to keep a fellow writer and friend from freezing in the driveway of a friend who offered him Thanksgiving dinner, I thank you from the depths of my big ole heart. You are grand people and humans like you give me hope.
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The blank page is dead…long live the blank page.
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Blog Keyboard Image credit: deniskot / 123RF Stock Photo
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Friends Jumping Image credit: dskdesign / 123RF Stock Photo
Done. Thank you for this, Rob.
Thank you, MA. Your heart is insurmountably giving and that’s so much of what makes you YOU. xoxo
Thank you so much, and thank you, Rob for all of your many ways that you have been supportive.
You got it.
Done, even though you know how much I dislike this author.
First, thank you for your compassion (and as I said, your ability to rise above your feelings says more than anything about who you are). Second, you should read his story. I know you had a rough childhood—my guess is you have more in common with this person than you think and you might be surprised to see how hard he is struggling to become a less dislikeable persona. Either way, I commend you for who YOU have become. xoxo
Maybe we have things in common, but one of my worst traits is that I am very proud. I don’t forget easily when someone attacks me. Having a rough time doesn’t entitle us to be mean. However, I wish him luck.
Thank you so much. I know I have been a bit difficult at times… probably accounts for my most recent divorce. All I can really say is that I have some baggage I am unloading, things like abuse from childhood… molestation, emotional abuse etc. In September I decided to strip away the facade and to do a do-over in my life. It’s been harder than I expected, but also worth every minute and every hardship. Thank you again for your generosity. I hope in time that my life will be such that you can proudly say “that guy is my friend.” -Sev
I wish you good luck. I was sexually abused as a child, and I don’t go around being mean to people. I really wish you manage to be the person you really want to be.
For whatever attacks I may have leveled on you, my apologies. I think perhaps we got off on the wrong foot…and perhaps you are carrying around something that I have completely let go of as I do not recall animosity between us. The only time of animosity I can recall revolved around a misunderstanding with Amberr Meadows who has since become a dear friend. I am not making excuses for whatever may have happened. I am merely saying that people are made up of more than the sum of their misdeeds. Thank you again for your generosity.
Sev
I am not carrying around anything at all. In fact, I hardly remember what our argument was about, and it wasn’t about Amber Meadows. I don’t like being in non-speaking terms with people. So as far as I am concerned, if you want, we can make a fresh start.
In the spirit of the Christmas holiday season, I’m doing my part to help out a fellow author. Cheers!
Rob
vV””Vv
Thank you, Rob!
I’m like you. I know a bit of money won’t affect my life, so I now always donate whenever a cause inspires me. It’s easy when I think about the $5 spent on a sandwich, the $30 on a game. It’s liberating really. Before I’d think, “No…no I shouldn’t spend my money,” out of responsible frugality, but I’d be spending my money anyway–on crap–not on the things I truly find important.
So, anyway, good luck to your friend! And may all adopt our mentality. 🙂
I feel exactly the same, Lauren. I honestly believe if more people realize how a little here and a little there could build a mountain of change and assistance, they would also be more willing to spare pocket change. Years ago when I lived in L.A. I had this Ziploc where I dropped all my spare change over the years from drive-thrus, and one evening I was pulling away from an ATM and saw a homeless man crossing the parking lot. I rolled down the window and handed him the (by then) hefty back of change. The look in his eyes tore me up, in a good way. I believe that was the moment in my life when I saw that each of us has an ability to do something seemingly small but extraordinarily profound.
Thanks so much for the comment! 😀
Done! Excellent post and effort, Rob. And best of luck to Sev. I didn’t know he’s Canadian!
I fully agree with Lauren, as well. We all spend money here and there, and don’t realize how much our frivolous indulgences add up to, and how much of a difference we could make in the world with some more thought. It reminds of Sean Penn’s old ad showing the difference in spending on alleviating poverty versus building weapons.
And congrats, too, on the serial!
Thanks, thanks, and double thanks, Scott!