Authors For Fireys

The SPFBO5 Finalists are joining forces with #AuthorsForFireys!

If you've been paying attention to the news, by now you've probably noticed that a very large portion of Australia is on fire. These fires are killing hundreds of thousands of animals, displacing thousands of humans, and have already claimed 20 human lives. They are the worst Australia has seen, and they look to only be getting worse. Australia's fire departments are largely volunteer, and these volunteers are working non-stop to control the fires as best they can. If you're like me, you've probably been looking for ways to support their efforts. There are lots of things you can do, from crafting items to help animal rescues to donating directly to various organizations in Victoria and many things besides. In my attempts to find ways to help I stumbled across #AuthorsForFireys on twitter, and it looks like a fabulous way to contribute. So, if you want to combine your love of reading with your support of Fireys you can check out the #AuthorsForFireys hashtag on twitter, and bid on some wonderful items that various authors around the world are donating. (And you can check the details of how it all works here: https://authorsforfireys.wixsite.com/website)

The way it works: You locate an item you want to bid on in the hashtag (for example all 10 of the SPFBO finalist books signed and personalized and delivered to your door) and then you make a bid that is at least 1 AUD higher than the highest standing bid. The bidding goes until midnight on the 11th of January. Let's say that on the close of bidding YOUR bid is the highest bid. Then you go to the support the CFA page donate the full amount that you bid, and screenshot the receipt. Then show the screenshot of the receipt to the person offering up the auction item (in the case of the SPFBO5 finalists, that would be me) and then they will make sure that you get all your wonderful goodies. (In the case of our SFPBO5 Finalist Bundle, each of us will sign, personalize, and ship a paperback or hardcover copy of our finalist book straight to your door, and you'll wind up with 10 signed fantasy books to add to your shelf.) 

There are hundreds (possibly thousands) of wonderful items in the auction, and to browse them, all you need to do is search the #AuthorsForFireys hashtag on twitter. Authors like Leigh Bardugo, Sabaa Tahir, Lori M. Lee and hundreds of others, are contributing signed items and special schwag.

There are lots of ways to contribute to this disaster, and all of them count. If you don't currently have the means to bid on items, send money directly, or craft and mail stuff, consider boosting the posts of others on social media. That can help a lot, and costs nothing. And don't feel bad if you can't help. There's a lot going on these days and there's only so much any of us can manage.

I hope this message finds you well. The world is literally burning, so please remember to be kind to yourself and others. Doing the best we can is all we can do.