Treasures for Pearl

November 22, 2013 at 11:05 am

My friend Janis Ian is launching an amazing charity auction for her Pearl Foundation. Parris an I are thrilled to be a part of this.

Details, from Janis herself:

Starting November 21^st, Grammy Award winning singer/songwriter Janis Ian and eBay auctioneer Amy Leslie will host PROSE FOR PEARL, a 10-day auction of unique items and memorabilia by famous authors, to raise money for returning students. The auction will take place on the Pearl Foundation’s eBay site: http://stores.ebay.com/thepearlfoundation/

You can see the items right now at http://www.janisian.com

and you can read the whole story here:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.543110765775646.1073741829.357191544367570&type=3

We have items signed and donated by George R. R. Martin, Harlan Ellison, Neil Gaiman, Orson Scott Card, Wally Lamb, Pat Conroy, Len Wein, Joe Haldeman, Jane Yolen, Harry Turtledove, Kevin J. Anderson & Rebecca Moesta, Michael Swanwick, Mercedes Lackey, Mike Resnick, and the family of Anne McCaffrey, plus a gold, diamond, ruby watch Janis’ family gave Pearl when she graduated.

What’s unusual about this auction?

— It was suggested by author George R. R. Martin (Game of Thrones) and his wife, Parris McBride, who are donating a pilot script from the hugely successful television series, signed by all the “Starks”, as well as signed books and personal notes from Martin to the high bidders.

— The authors are Janis’ friends, and chose the items themselves. Many posed with their items, and sent photos of themselves with Janis for the sale.

— The items are offered with no reserve. Each item has a description from the author as well as a short vignette by Ian detailing their relationship.

— The authors will sign and personalize their items whenever possible.

The Pearl Foundation – history and FAQ

— In 1998, Ian held the very first Internet auction through her own website, raising over $60,000 in college scholarship funds for Goddard College. What begun as a one-time tribute to her mother’s life-long dream of attending college became the Pearl Foundation, an IRS-approved charitable organization dedicated to raising funds for returning students.

— To date, the Pearl Foundation has given away more than $700,000 in college scholarship funding. The Pearl Foundation’s annual overhead is less than 2%.

Come to http://stores.ebay.com/thepearlfoundation/ November 21st and

The items I've donated myself–
— a television script from GAME OF THRONES signed by the members of House Stark,
— a p/c copy of the SUbPress limited edition DANCE WITH DRAGONS,
— a set of five current edition hardcovers for books one to five of SONG OF ICE & FIRE.

I will be pleased to personalize all these for the winners… so bid lustily.

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Tags: charity

Great Night at the Cocteau

September 15, 2013 at 1:44 pm

We had a great time last night at the Jean Cocteau with the first of our author events.

Hugo-, Nebula-, and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Michael Chabon was on hand to sign books and read from his latest, TELEGRAPH AVENUE. Before that part of the program, however, I inteviewed Michael for ninety minutes or so about his life, career, books, and views on writing and literature. The Cocteau was packed, our first "sell out" crowd since we stopped giving away free tickets. We had to turn away about twenty people, sad to say (next time, guys and gals, get those tickets in advance). Those who got in were glad they did. Popcorn, pizza, and talk about books, can't beat it.

Michael is a great guy and a great writer, and a delightful conversationalist. We were thrilled to have him. He's on his way to Pittsburgh right now, and will be reading and signing at a B&N tonight, so if you're in the Pittsburgh area, still time to attend. In subsequent days he'll be appearing in Cleveland, St. Louis, and Kansas City as well. Be sure to see him if you get a chance… and snatch up a copy or three of TELEGRAPH AVENUE, KAVALIER & CLAY, GENTLEMEN OF THE ROAD, or one of his other titles.

Oh, and I also wanted to mention Michael's limited edition Brokeland t-shirts. You can snag one of them here:

http://teespring.com/brokeland

All the money raised by the t-shirt sales is going to 826 National and their youth literacy programs (http://826national.org/ ) and the McDowell Colony and their writers' retreats (http://www.macdowellcolony.org/ ), both worthy causes.

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Tags: charity, good causes, jean cocteau

Love Them Heifers

October 29, 2012 at 3:38 pm

Who says that Cersei Lannister is a cold, calculating, uncaring sort of queen?

Far from it. Her Grace loves the simple folk, and to prove it, here’s a swell new picture of her getting all nekkid just to help them buy some cows, sheeps, and goats…

The art is by Lee Moyer, a lover of the classic pin-up girl and doer of good deeds. It’s part of his soon-to-be-released 2013 Literary Pin-Up calendar, all of the proceeds of which will go to Worldbuilders on behalf of Heifer International.

Cersei will be in good company. This year’s calendar also features brand new, never before pin-ups of characters created by Peter S. Beagle, Ray Bradbury, Patricia Briggs, Jim Butcher, Jacqueline Carey, Neil Gaiman, Charlaine Harris, Robin Hobb, N.K. Jemisin, Terry Pratchett, and Patrick Rothfuss. All guaranteed saucy. So if you’re a lover of fantasy, of “good girl” art, literature, the female form, or feeding the world’s poor… actually, helping them feed themselves… this is a calendar you need to have.

Best of all, you can pre-order NOW. Just go to:

http://thetinkerspacks.bigcartel.com/product/pre-order-2013-pin-up-calendar

My hat is off to Lee Moyer, and to the tireless and talented Patrick Rothfuss, who put this whole thing together. “If we can get the word out,” Rothfuss writes, “I know it will raise a lot of money for Heifer International.” Let’s make it so, boys and (yes) girls.

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Tags: calendar, charity

ACES FOR FREE SPEECH

October 1, 2012 at 3:09 pm

It’s Banned Books Week, and there’s nothing I hate more than banning books (no, not even the New England Patriots and Dallas Cowboys), so I’m doing my little bit with a fundraiser for the COMIC BOOK LEGAL DEFENSE FUND.

The CBLDF is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the rights of free speech and free expression in comics books, graphic novels, and related fields. My own roots as a “funny book” fan go all the way back to the letters of comment I published in FANTASTIC FOUR, AVENGERS, and other Marvel comics back in the early 60s. I also attended the very first comicon, and won my first writing prize for an amateur prose superhero yarn (an Alley Award, which I never received, sob), so comics are a medium dear to my heart… as anyone who has ever read my own long-running WILD CARDS series of mosaic novels surely knows.

Accordingly, I’ve donated one hundred (100) signed hardcover copies of the Wild Cards mosaic novel INSIDE STRAIGHT to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, to be offered to the first hundred donors making contributors of $100 or more.

The copies have all been signed by yours truly… as well as by my assistant editor, Melinda M. Snodgrass, and writers Daniel Abraham, Carrie Vaughn, Michael Cassutt, John Jos. Miller, and Caroline Spector. Which is to say, by ALL the contributors save for the elusive S.L. Farrell. This “Seven Signature Special” will continue only so long as the supplies last.

All contributions to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund are tax deductible.

For more than 25 years, the CBLDF has been protecting the comics medium in courtrooms, libraries, and classrooms all over the United States by providing legal counsel and education on issues relating to comics censorship. A proud sponsor of Banned Book Week, the CBLDF is supporting several events around the country supporting the Freedom to Read, and offers a rich range of resources about banned comics and how to defend against challenges on www.cbldf.org.

Most recently, the CBLDF has called for a school district in Connecticut to rescind a graphic novel ban carried out against the district’s own policies. In the past year the Fund prevailed in a case defending an American comic book reader who faced wrongful criminal charges in Canada because of Japanese comic book images on his laptop computer. An amicus brief they authored was also cited by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down an unconstitutional California law seeking to regulate violent content in the case Brown v. EMA.

“The CBLDF is a small organization with a powerful mission, and that work is only possible because of the generous contribution of our supporters,” CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein says. “We’re extremely grateful to Mr. Martin for this generous contribution, and to everyone who will have the opportunity to own one of these unique signed novels. The CBLDF is a tremendous team effort between the creative and readership communities who value the importance of intellectual freedom for comics and all media. We’re thankful to be celebrating Banned Books Week with George in this extraordinary way.”

To make your contribution, and order your copy of INSIDE STRAIGHT, go to:

http://cbldf.myshopify.com/products/inside-straight

All monies should go direct to the CBLDF, not to me.

Sorry, I cannot add a personal inscription to your book. The copies have already been signed by all concerned (save for Mr. Farrell), and are on their way to the CBLDF.

Free speech is one of the cornerstones of our democracy, yet somehow it is always under attack. The world is full of people who think they know better, and want to tell you what you should read, what you should write, what you should see. Christian fundamentalists, Muslim extremists, the right, the left… everybody seems to have a book or two they want banned, an idea or two they don’t want expressed. Well, I say it’s spinach, and I say the hell with them.

Donate some money, get a tax deduction, visit the world of the Wild Cards, and add a swell signed collectible to your collection… that’s a win, win, win, win if I ever heard one.

And thanks.

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Tags: charity, collecting, comic books, free speech, wild cards

Weeklong Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary Charity Drive

June 29, 2012 at 10:55 pm

ENDING SOON!!!

Our supply of DANCE WITH DRAGONS is sold out, but there are still copies of the CAPTAIN OF GUARDS chapbook available for a $10 donation to the wolves.

==================================================================

I’ve always been fond of wolves… direwolves in Westeros, and real wolves in the real world.

Wolves have faced a tough road for the last century or so. US wolf populations hit critical lows during the twentieth century, and finding a way for humans to co-exist with this majestic creatures is an important part of the conservation movement. Here in my home state of New Mexico, we have the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary (http://www.wildspiritwolfsanctuary.org/index.php) doing important work in protecting the animals and in educating their two legged neighbors on how to get along. It’s work I strongly support, with both my words and my checkbook.

I invite you to join me over the next week. In conjunction with Wild Spirit, I’m sponsoring a charity drive to raise funds for the shelter. For the next week, we’ll be offering a pair of items from my personal library to people making donations. You can find the books being offered and the donation amounts here: http://www.wildspiritwolfsanctuary.org/georgemartin_bookfund.php

For a donation of $100 to the Wild Spirit Sanctuary, I will send you a first edition hardcover of A DANCE WITH DRAGONS, autographed… autographed and personally inscribed (upon request). For the most part I have been forced to stop doing personal inscriptions at my bookstore signings, con appearances, and the like… the crowds have simply gotten too large… so this is a rare chance for those who’d like to have a book personalizations. But the offer is limited to forty (40) copies, first come, first served. So if you want one, click on the link and make that donation NOW.

Dance with Dragons

For those who can’t afford a hundred bucks, or arrive at the party too late after the forty copies are gone, we have another offering — a special promotional chapbook featuring the “Captain of the Guards” chapter from A FEAST FOR CROWS. This was prepared by Bantam as a promotional item for the BEA (Book Expo America) and was given away to attendees at that event, but copies were never sold in any bookstore, so it’s a pretty cool collectible for the fans who have everything, and a $10 donation to the sanctuary will snag you a copy. I will be glad to sign these items as well — but, alas, only a straight signature, no personalization or inscription.

Captain of the Guards

So $10 will get you a signed CAPTAIN OF THE GUARDS, and $100 will get you a signed and inscribed DANCE WITH DRAGONS. But don’t do it for the books. Do it because the world would be a much worse place without this face in it.

Ally the happy wolf

THIS DRIVE WILL END ON SATURDAY AT MIDNIGHT. So if you would like to make a donation and give some wolves a hand, act now. Do it for House Stark. If we raise enough money, maybe I’ll let some Starks live a little longer…

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Tags: charity, dance with dragons, signed books

Bid for Charity

February 2, 2012 at 11:33 am

HUFFINGTON POST television critic Maureen Ryan is running her annual auction to raise funds for Partners in Health.

I’ve donated a box of signed books to the effort — a complete set of ICE & FIRE hardbacks, some Wild Cards books, and other items. And there’s some great swag from JUSTIFIED, SPARTACUS, and a lot of other TV shows as well.

Check out the current offerings at

http://www.ebay.com/sch/moryanwatcher/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686

Then bid, bid, bid. It’s all for a great cause.

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Tags: charity, signed books

Help Shave the Kat

November 25, 2011 at 1:37 pm

Kat Abraham, the redoubtable spouse of my friend and sometime collaborator Daniel Abraham, is putting her hair on the line for a good cause.

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More information on Rachel Phillips and her plight can be found at:

http://www.helprachelbreathe.com

So let’s all chip in and give Daniel a bald wife for Christmas. I understand there are some fabulous fantasy wigs out there.

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Tags: charity

Stolen Scripts

August 13, 2011 at 1:34 pm

Parris and I have always been big supporters of the various charities, both fannish and mundane, that raise funds through auctions at SF and fantasy conventions. It’s a great way to raise money for worthy causes, have a little fun, and get some unique items into the hands of collectors. In fact, I just finished shipping off five huge boxes of books, games, t-shirts, and other collectables to our hotel in Reno, to donate to the various charity auctions at worldcon.

(Some items will go to SFWA Emergency Medical Fund auction, some to the BWB fund-raising drive to pay for their party, some to the worldcon’s own charity).

Unfortunately, there are a couple items that won’t be auctioned at worldcon. We had hoped to bring a couple of signed scripts from the first season of the HBO series GAME OF THRONES with us, and the good folks in Belfast were kind enough to donate them. Dan Weiss sent them across the pond (registered and priority, signature required).

All that arrived was a battered envelope and Dan’s cover letter.

The US post office delivered the envelope in a plastic baggie with a pre-printed note apologizing for the “damage.” But this was no error in handling. The envelope was torn open at one end, and both scripts were gone, though Dan’s letter remained.

I am convinced the scripts were stolen.

Last year we donated a signed STAR TREK script to a charity auction and it brought $1200. These two scripts may not have gone for quite that much, but they would have brought home some significant bucks. Someone in the US Post Office (we believe the package made it across from Belfast relatively unscathed) recognized their value and removed them.

So… I am putting out the word to all my fans and readers. Whoever sold these scripts will presumably try to cash in at some point. So if any of you ever see scripts fitting this description turn up on ebay, one of its competitors, or on some dealer’s table — notify me at once, and report the stolen property to whatever local authorities are appropriate.

Here’s what was taken: two teleplays, final shooting scripts for episodes nine and ten of season one, “Baelor” and “Fire and Blood,” autographed by writers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss and director Alan Taylor, printed on white paper.

Like Bloodraven, I have a thousand eyes and one. So let’s keep ’em all peeled, boys and girls.

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Tags: charity, game of thrones, hbo

Signed Goodies for Joplin

June 9, 2011 at 12:55 pm

The good folks at Metagames Unlimited are raising funds for the relief of the people of Joplin, Missouri, whose town was recently devastated by tornados.

I’ve donated some autographed goodies to the cause. The first of those items are now up on ebay, along with other cool donations, including some autographed items from Neil Gaiman.

Check out the offerings at:

http://stores.ebay.com/metagames

And bid early and often. It’s for a good cause.

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Tags: charity, signed books

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Treasures for Pearl

Great Night at the Cocteau

Love Them Heifers

ACES FOR FREE SPEECH

Weeklong Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary Charity Drive

Bid for Charity

Help Shave the Kat

Stolen Scripts

Signed Goodies for Joplin

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