Book Bomb for Ben

If you're not getting the Daily Kicks from David Farland, well, you're missing out, first of all, but most importantly, you probably missed this one yesterday (slightly modified so as not to make the email addy quite so obvious):

David Farland’s Daily Kick in the Pants—We Need Your Help

As many of you know, Dave’s son, Ben, was in a serious long-boarding accident last week. He is 16 and suffers from severe brain trauma, a cracked skull, broken pelvis and tail bone, burnt knees, bruised lungs, broken ear drum, road rash, and is currently in a coma. His family has no insurance.

We are having a book bomb this Wednesday on behalf of Ben Wolverton to help his family out. You can view the event’s facebook page here.

For those that don’t know, a book bomb is an event where participants purchase a book on a specific day to support the author, or, in this case, a young person in serious need: Ben Wolverton.

Many of you have expressed sympathy for Dave and Ben and have asked if you could help. Now you can. We need you to help Ben get the most out of this book bomb. Right now we are focused on spreading the word and telling others about it. If you could share this event on facebook, twitter, pinterest, your blog, or through email, please do. This is a way everyone reading this can help, whatever their financial situation.

On Wednesday, we will have the book bomb. If you haven’t yet purchased Nightingale orMillion Dollar Outlines, please consider doing so on Wednesday. If you have already purchased them, you can donate money to Ben and his family here.

If you have a blog and would like to do a post about this book bomb, please email me, and I will send you some information you can use.

Please consider “attending” our event on facebook.

I don't support a lot of book bombs, since I think they lose their power if overused, but this one seems like a very worthy cause, and David's books are well worth reading (also, I'm in the acknowledgements of Nightingale, so...) :)

What the kick didn't say about book bombs is that the one-day boost in sales helps bring the books to the attention of many people who aren't involved in the bomb, since it makes it appear to be a bestseller... then they buy it, too, and it really does become a bestseller. If that seems like cheating, consider that becoming a bestseller is always more about luck and marketing than skill (witness 50 Shades).

So please consider spreading the word about the book bomb, then go buy a copy of either book on Wednesday. I've met Ben, and he's a really nice kid.

You gonna play?

UPDATE:

We now have a website dedicated to Ben, thanks to James Duckett, who put it together. The site has updates about Ben's status, links to the donation page, and talks about the book bomb. The address is www.helpwolverton.com/.

For tomorrow, you should know that anything purchased through these Amazon links for Nightingale(http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006P7SEBY/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il?ie=UTF8&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=B006P7SEBY&link_code=as3&tag=davidfarnet-20) and Million Dollar Outlines (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B9JYJ6W/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il?ie=UTF8&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=B00B9JYJ6W&link_code=as3&tag=davidfarnet-20) will help Dave. He gets a small percentage of anything purchased through those links. So, if you want to buy several other books or products tomorrow, with or without Nightingale and Million Dollar Outlines, please do. Those who are doing blog posts, please update your Amazon links to the two provided here. 

If I'm reading that right, you can follow those links and then buy ANY Amazon product and the Wolvertons will get a portion of it. So join us, k?

Cover Reveal! A CHANGE OF PLANS by Donna K. Weaver

I ran into Donna K. Weaver a few years back in a writer's chat room and suggested that she might want to join my writer's group. Since then, I've cleverly tricked her into running the whole thing (see how smart I am?). She also hosts me every year for LTUE (three years running now), talks me off the occasional ledge, and is generally fantastic in every way.

Oh, and she totally writes me under a table. I got to read A CHANGE OF PLANS when it was still in beta reading and I loved it even then. It's been so exciting to see her go through the submission process, land a publishing deal, edit, design her cover....

Oh, yeah. The cover. Is. AWESOME!

Wanna see it?

Are you sure??

I mean, if you see it, you're going to want the book, and it's not out yet.

You'll have to wait until June 1st!

Really? Still? 

Okay, you asked for it.




Drumroll..................

See? Told you it was awesome. (I got to render an opinion on the final options and this was my favorite.) The description rocks, too:

When Lyn sets off on her supposedly uncomplicated and unromantic cruise, she never dreams it will include pirates. All the 25-year-old, Colorado high school teacher wants to do is forget that her dead fiancé was a cheating scumbag. Lyn plans a vacation diversion; fate provides Braedon, an intriguing surgeon. She finds herself drawn to him: his gentle humor, his love of music, and even his willingness to let her take him down during morning karate practices. Against the backdrop of the ship’s make-believe world and temporary friendships, her emotions come alive. 

However, fear is an emotion, too. Unaware of the sensitive waters he's navigating, Braedon moves to take their relationship beyond friendship--on the very anniversary Lyn is on the cruise to forget. Lyn's painful memories are too powerful, and she runs from Braedon and what he has to offer.

Their confusing relationship is bad enough, but when the pair finds themselves on one of the cruise's snorkeling excursions in American Samoa things get worse. Paradise turns to piracy when their party is kidnapped and Lyn's fear of a fairytale turns grim. Now she must fight alongside the man she rejected, first for their freedom and then against storms, sharks, and shipwreck.

Yeah, I know. Now you're all upset because June 1st is too far away, right? Well, console yourself with this trailer:

And follow Donna around the internet. Maybe if you're really lucky, you'll win an ARC or something!

Twitter: @TheDonnaKWeaver

Blog: Weaving a Tale or Two

Goodreads: Go add it to your To-Read list!

I'm a real fan of romance and this book was delicious--it is also a very clean romance, for all they have sand everywhere and very little to wear. :)

So what do you think of the cover? Don't you just want to pick it up and read it RIGHT NOW?