Donate to the Red Cross, get free books!

I want to thank everyone that's participated so far in the Red Cross donation drive going on here on the site (see this post for details). We've secured 8 donations so far, most of them from outside of Alabama. There's no deadline for this project -- I'll keep writing poems by request until donations stop coming in.

Every dollar we can raise really goes to help the people affected by these storms. I wanted to share a video I found yesterday. This is footage from a helicopter flyover of Tuscaloosa, AL. It's about a nine minute video showing the incredible amount of devastation caused by the storm, and I hope it can give some perspective on how much assistance we need here in Alabama.

To help encourage donations, a number of writers have volunteered to give free copies of their books to people who donate to the relief efforts.

• Lori Lasseter Hamilton, one of my guest poets (read her poem Flawed Muscle here) is selling copies of her chapbook Live From The Emergency Room for $5, and 100% of the sales go to support the relief efforts. Lori also says if you can only afford $4, $3, $2, or even $1, that will be fine too. You can also get a free copy if you donate to the Red Cross. If you'd like a copy, you can order it from Lori's website, or you can get a copy by contacting Lori directly at lasseterla at yahoo.com
• Sharon T. Rose, author of Space & Time and Swords & Sigils, has offered up free copies of her ebook No Turning Back, the first volume of her Descendants of the Ancients series. Here's a plot synopsis: "Pawns forced to break a stalemated war, many humans became unwilling hosts to the alien race known only as "Sukkers"; a select few received genetic alterations from the "Ancients" and became super-human with incredible abilities to hold back the Drone armies. Millennia have passed, yet the War still rages. Alluvia did not start it, but the Descendants of the Ancients must finish it somehow." If you've donated to the relief efforts and want a free copy of Sharon's book, you can contact her at lilyfieldsentertainment at gmail.com and she'll send you a copy in whatever ebook format you like. For more details and other offers, check out this post on Sharon's site.
• E.D. Lindquist is offering up copies of two ebooks in exchange for donations:
  Anvil of Tears: Science fiction/space opera. Maeve Cavainna is the last princess of Arcadia and first mate on an old cargo ship. The infamous bounty hunter, Logan Coldhand, is close behind, chasing Maeve for the price on her head. Their battle is interrupted by a pregnant girl begging for refuge from those who chase her. Can Maeve and Logan end their bitter feud to save an innocent, or will they bring the galaxy one step closer to death?

  In the House of Five Dragons: Fantasy. It’s been thirty years since Njorn Pass, since the victory that birthed an empire. Thirty years since Rikard Mazrem drew his blood in the snow, trading his life away to the otherworldly Alterra and vanished from the ice-bound battlefield. For decades, the people of Carce have revered Rikard as a hero. But now Rikard Mazrem has returned to find the world changed. Or perhaps he is the one who has changed.

  If you'd like one of E.D.'s books, you can contact her at synchrosina at gmail.com, or leave a comment on her post about the relief efforts and she'll send you the ebooks in a format of your choice.

For clarification, you don't have to make separate donations to get in on these offers. If you've already donated, you can get the poems you've requested from me and Sarah McCune, a copy of Lori's chapbook, as well as copies of Sharon's and E.D.'s ebooks. If any other writers would like to offer up copies of their books or take writing requests for donors, let me know and I'll edit this post to add your offer.

Again, there are several ways you can donate:

Online: go to www.alredcross.org and click on the "donate now" link on the homepage

Call: 1-800-RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767) and you will be prompted to a menu that includes financial donations

Text: "Red Cross" to 90999. A response will include two options for donations, either to Japan or for Disasters: domestic and spring storms.

If for some reason you can't get any of the above methods to work, you can get in touch with me through the site's Contact page or through Twitter at http://twitter.com/gabrielgadfly and I'll work with you to find a way to make your donation happen.

Thank you!