Launch Update

Yes, that's right, folks! I finally have a launch update. First, the bad news. Due to the busy holdiay season and a certain someone overstretching her boundaries (again), After will not be making its December target date. I could still make my self-imposed deadline, but the truth is I want to be able to enjoy the holidays and spend time with my family. I also want to publish the best possible story I can, which means I sadly need an extra month or two to accomplish this.

Now the good news! I am hoping to be able to announce a release date for When Ravens Fall very soon. And I can FINALLY share some of the exciting details about this launch that I have been gnawing on for months.

I didn't want to pursue the usual launch ideas with this story. When I wrote When Ravens Fall, I wrote it for my brother-in-law who was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystophy when he was a small boy. This is an aggressive disease which attacks all the muscles in one's body, including the organs. He has had this condition for as long as I can remember and there is no cure yet. Shortly after I finished the first draft, I found out my aunt had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. So as I have been working on this story, which deals with the themes of facing a fate you cannot escape and how people respond differently to their pain, I was thinking about my loved ones who were facing dragons of their own--dragons that won't go away by wishing.

To make change, and to find cures, we need research and money. I really enjoy participating in events like Relay for Life which helps to raise awareness for cancer. So, I wanted to use some of my earnings from this little book to help finance a cause. I have decided to donate 100% of my first royalties check to a charity in honor of my loved ones. I've just been looking for the right one.

My aunt recently lost the battle with her cancer. Only last week I found out my cousin was participating in Purple Stride Worldwide to help raise funds and awareness for Pancreatic cancer, in memory of her mother. Of course this was the charity I wanted to donate to! This weekend, my loved ones will be walking wherever we can in memory of my Aunt Jojo. You can go here to join the team and walk where ever you are, in support of this cause. I will be walking at a local hiking trail in my home town. If you want to join my cousin's team, it's called "Jojo's Hope" in honor of my kind,  brave auntie. I know my cousin will appreciate having as many walkers as she can. Knowing that people care can make a world of difference when suffering from a loss.

But, since this event is happening THIS WEEKEND and my story isn't quite ready to launch yet, I obviously have no idea how much my first royalties check is going to be. So I decided to pick a number and donate to Aunt Jojo's memory walk on the faith that I will sell enough copies of When Ravens Fall to equal it. And if there happens to be extra...why, I will donate that to Relay for Life which my coworkers and I are raising funds for throughout the year!

So I decided to donate $150. Yes, that is a lot of Ebooks I will need to sell for a new author like myself. Which is where you all come in! If you are planning on buying When Ravens Fall, I ask that you do it in the first few months of the book's release so that we can donate as much as possible to help raise funds, awareness and hope for cancer victims like my aunt. 

I've been wanting to share my plans for this book release for SO long but I had so many details I needed to work out first. I am excited to share this story with you. It was a fun but painful one to write. Watching your loved ones suffer is one of the hardest things in the world. It makes me realize how much God must have suffered when He watched Jesus's life on earth. The only way we can get through it is with His help and with our loved ones at our sides. Together, we can get through the darkest nights.