In Light of Things

I'd planned on writing a blog this week to talk about Wake and Lullaby being in paperback, as well as a few other things coming up. Then the bombing at the Boston marathon happened. And then the factory blew up in Waco. And then the MIT shooting and the incidents at Watertown. And everything about my books felt trivial and unimportant. 

But the reality is that I need to talk about my books because 1) I enjoy writing them, 2) Some people enjoy reading them, and 3) I want to continue being able to write books and have people read them for as long as I possibly can.

So here's what I'm going to do: On Monday, I'm going to tell you about my books and what's going on with them (including a book club going on over at Wattpad). But for now, I'm going to leave links of where to donate money to help those effected in the recent Boston tragedies as well as the Waco explosion.

I'm also going to encourage everyone to help as much as they can. If you can't afford to donate, and if you're too far away to volunteer to help, then volunteer somewhere locally or simply try to be kinder and nicer and slower to anger. People are hurting everywhere, and every little bit - every tiny bit of happiness and love and generosity that you can pay forward - makes all the difference.

As Patton Oswalt so succinctly and wonderfully said, "So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think, 'The good outnumber you, and we always will.'" 

Here's some ways to donate to help Boston:

• The One Fund Boston
• Razoo features several online fundraisers in support of Boston Marathon runners
• Jeff Bauman, who lost both of his legs after the blast and helped identify the suspects,
• Roseann Sdoia, a marathon spectator who had one leg amputated below the knee. 
• Celeste & Sydney Corcoran, 
• Christian Williams and Caroline Reinsch 
• Rose Mahoney
• TUGG (Technology Underwriting Greater Good), a project of the Boston technology community, has set up a fund in support of victims. All donations will go to the Red Cross, the Boston Children's Hospital, and other groups working with victims of the explosions. Donate here.
• The RYOT Foundation has set up a Boston Marathon Victims Fund to support victims and their families.

 
Here's some ways to donate to help Waco:

• Red Cross
• Waco Foundation
• The March of Dimes in Texas is taking donates of baby formula and diapers. Call 254-741-1025 to donate
• To donate supplies to displaced pets, go to www.facebook.com/HumaneSocietyCentralTexas 
• Also, here's a complete list of places to donate blood in the Waco, TX area: here

I don't have a very long list of places to donate to in Waco, so if anyone has any additional suggestions, please say so in the comments, and I'll try to update the blog and add them.