Charities, Kickstarters and New Music
It's time again for one of my occasional posts in which I attempt to signal-boost for friends and family who have fundraisers or creative projects that are crowd-funding, as well as projects I just believe in. This is under the assumption that there are people who read my livejournal who don't also follow me on Twitter or Facebook, where I signal-boost all the time. If any of these catches your eye and you can help out, great. At the very least, I hope some of you will help boost the signal even farther via your own social media or email.
CHARITY WORK
This one is cutting it close, and many of you may not see it til the event is over. But if you're in the Tampa FL area between now (9:15pm Eastern on Friday November 7) and noon on Saturday, November 8th, consider bringing some canned food over to Metropolitan Ministries to help Zachary Bonner break the world record for most food collected at a single location in 24 hours. Zach is one of the most civic-minded, motivated teenagers I've had the pleasure of interviewing, and I'd love to see him break this record. All the food collected will go to homeless and other families struggling in the Tampa area. Here's his Food For A Million website with more information.
My brother Jonathan Cornue is participating in the Syracuse, NY area MDA "Lock Up" event this year, and has set himself bail at $3,000. Now, as much as I believe my brother belongs behind bars, I would much rather see him raise his bail. It's a great cause, and here's the link to Keep Jon Out of Jail.
My nephew Brandon Tyler Russell does a lot of work with the homeless in Los Angeles, usually directly by volunteering at the LA Mission. This year, he's doing United Way's Home Walk. He's set himself a modest $100 goal, and needs just a little bit more to hit it. Here's the link to Help Brandon Help the Homeless.
KICKSTARTERS
Not Our Kind: Tales of (Not) Belonging is a new speculative fiction anthology project focusing on "the outsider," the marginalized. Authors definitely on board if the project funds include Maurice Broaddus, Jennifer Brozek, Damien Angelica Walters, Tim Waggoner and more. Here's the link to the Not Our Kind Kickstarter. They need a little over $1,000 in the next 48 hours.
Young Explorers Adventure Guide: SF for Young Readers is a new SF anthology aimed at middle-grade and younger readers, to foster interest in science fiction at younger ages. Authors involved in this one include Nancy Kress and my friend Jeanne Kramer-Smyth. They have only a little to go to hit their goal of $3,500 in 12 days. Here's the link to the Young Explorers Kickstarter.
MUSIC
My boys Hollywood Ending have a new release dropping this month, titled "Punk A$$ Kids" (which might be the most self-referential album title they've used so far in their careers, haha). You can pre-order it on iTunes now.
And my friends 7 Minutes in Heaven also have a new acoustic release dropping this month, reworkings of the songs on their full-band album "The Statement" plus some new stuff. You can pre-order that on iTunes too. If you'd like an idea of what their stuff sounds like, here's a link to the latest acoustic video, "Miscommunications."
CHARITY WORK
This one is cutting it close, and many of you may not see it til the event is over. But if you're in the Tampa FL area between now (9:15pm Eastern on Friday November 7) and noon on Saturday, November 8th, consider bringing some canned food over to Metropolitan Ministries to help Zachary Bonner break the world record for most food collected at a single location in 24 hours. Zach is one of the most civic-minded, motivated teenagers I've had the pleasure of interviewing, and I'd love to see him break this record. All the food collected will go to homeless and other families struggling in the Tampa area. Here's his Food For A Million website with more information.
My brother Jonathan Cornue is participating in the Syracuse, NY area MDA "Lock Up" event this year, and has set himself bail at $3,000. Now, as much as I believe my brother belongs behind bars, I would much rather see him raise his bail. It's a great cause, and here's the link to Keep Jon Out of Jail.
My nephew Brandon Tyler Russell does a lot of work with the homeless in Los Angeles, usually directly by volunteering at the LA Mission. This year, he's doing United Way's Home Walk. He's set himself a modest $100 goal, and needs just a little bit more to hit it. Here's the link to Help Brandon Help the Homeless.
KICKSTARTERS
Not Our Kind: Tales of (Not) Belonging is a new speculative fiction anthology project focusing on "the outsider," the marginalized. Authors definitely on board if the project funds include Maurice Broaddus, Jennifer Brozek, Damien Angelica Walters, Tim Waggoner and more. Here's the link to the Not Our Kind Kickstarter. They need a little over $1,000 in the next 48 hours.
Young Explorers Adventure Guide: SF for Young Readers is a new SF anthology aimed at middle-grade and younger readers, to foster interest in science fiction at younger ages. Authors involved in this one include Nancy Kress and my friend Jeanne Kramer-Smyth. They have only a little to go to hit their goal of $3,500 in 12 days. Here's the link to the Young Explorers Kickstarter.
MUSIC
My boys Hollywood Ending have a new release dropping this month, titled "Punk A$$ Kids" (which might be the most self-referential album title they've used so far in their careers, haha). You can pre-order it on iTunes now.
And my friends 7 Minutes in Heaven also have a new acoustic release dropping this month, reworkings of the songs on their full-band album "The Statement" plus some new stuff. You can pre-order that on iTunes too. If you'd like an idea of what their stuff sounds like, here's a link to the latest acoustic video, "Miscommunications."