Tornado Warning: Raising Funds for Joplin

It's finally a reality! Tornado Warning is out!

I'm so excited for this. The book represents a culmination of a dream: my opportunity to use my talents to help Joplin.

The book is for sale on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, for Nook and Kindle, and in many bookstores throughout Missouri and Arkansas. Your bookstore can get it in for you, too.

I was interviewed on the Great Day St. Louis morning show. It's a five minute clip, but the video explains so much. I would love it if you would share this with friends and family! I've donated my time and resources, but if people don't know the book is available, that's as far as it gets. Help me help Joplin!

I've got ARCs!

The ARCs are in! And I need to give them away.

I've got several that I need to hand out, but I need something in return: hype and reviews. If you're willing, if you can do that for me, leave a comment, email me, PM me on Facebook or Twitter, whatever you want. Tell me how you're going to spread the word. And I'll look through and pick some people!

This book is a FUNDRAISER but the only way I will raise any funds is if I have phenomenal sales. And that will only happen if we create lots of hype! If you want to help, I'm also looking for bloggers and reviewers to talk it up in the weeks preceding the release in May!

Thank you!!

Book to benefit tornado victims

Even though the Oklahoma tornado is all over the news right now, those who have been affected by previous disasters shouldn't be forgotten. And so I'm very   excited to share with you the cover to my nonfiction book about the Joplin tornado and its victims. 

Though the book doesn't come out for another year, this is my contribution to those affected by the tornado. they are still in recovery, two years later. This is a benefit book, a fundraiser. The profits will go to relief funds and those who contributed their stories. 

The more books I sell, the more Joplin will be helped. So now my job is to select the right charitable groups and start getting press attention. 

You can help too! Start spreading the word and remember that while our lives move on, those affected by the tragedies will bear the burden for years to come. Don't forget them!

Project Joplin

Saturday I drove up to Missouri for a few book signings (more on that in a later post). On the way up there, I drove through Joplin. Joplin is about forty-five minutes from my house, so it doesn't feel very far at all.

As I drove, I remembered the tornado devastation in May. I remembered all the help and aid that people gave. But mostly, I remembered the pleas from newscasters and residents to remember Joplin in six weeks, in four months, in a year.

And I wondered how many of us still remember Joplin.

On Sunday, May 22, an EF tornado blew through Joplin, Missouri. More than 150 people were killed. Hundreds of homes were destroyed. The school district closed for the year because of the devastation and destruction.

Recovery from this doesn't happen in a few days, weeks, months. It takes years.

Then I got an idea. It's just an idea, and its ability to see the light of day depends on public interest. But I want to write a book featuring Joplin residents and share their story. This won't be a novel or a dramatization, but a factual narrative about what happened that day, and what's happening today in the lives of these people. If this project becomes a reality, I want to get it into print as soon as possible.

I have four reasons for wanting to do this:
1) So the nation can know and remember what happened in Joplin.
2) So people can see ways that they can still help.
3) Because proceeds from each book sold will go to help rebuild Joplin.
4) So that those still suffering can have their voices heard.

I am a writer. I hope that this is a way I can use my ability to help. If you live in Joplin or have friends in Joplin, please contact me. I hope to include the stories of dozens of people. But this will only happen if I feel like there's an interest.

I'm Grateful for a Dirty Kitchen

My kitchen did not get cleaned last night.

Waking up to a mess is one of my biggest pet peeves. I hate the smell and the dirty dishes and not having what I need for breakfast.

But last night I spent close to three hours in the bathroom with my three children while we endured a tornado warning. We read books and watched Netflix on my computer and tried to entertain the baby. I checked on my laundry room, which always floods in bad storms and flooded again. I checked on family and friends to make sure people were okay. And I followed along with the news story of Joplin, and the hundred who died in this sister city not even an hour away.

By the time I put the kids to bed at 12:30am, I didn't care about cleaning my kitchen.

But I am filled with gratitude that I still have one.