If there is one thing that any writer loves, it’s her readers. Without readers, we’d be nothing.
Last summer I did a series of library talks, and during one of these I had the pleasure of meeting a super sweet, sixteen-year-old reader named Katy. She said she and her mother, Elizabeth, had read all my books and were huge fans. I liked her immediately. :) Katy is an aspiring author and illustrator, and even brought me the cutest laminated drawing of Maddie, the main character in my High Heels books! Isn’t she adorable?
Since then, I’ve seen a few more of Katy’s drawings, and she is incredibly talented! I’m seriously jealous, nothing I’ve ever drawn is half as cool as her stuff. Here’s a poster she did for a contest at the local library (She won!):
And here’s a drawing she did a couple weeks ago when she and her mom were forced to sleep in their car:
Yep, you read that right – Katy and her mom are homeless. They were evicted from their apartment just before Christmas and have been living in hotel rooms (when they’ve been lucky) or their car (when they’ve not been so lucky) since then. Katy has been blogging about life on the streets, and you can read all about how this incredibly sweet mother and daughter ended up in this situation here:
As Katy states on her blog, "Homelessness has many faces. And sometimes it happens to have a computer." Both Katy and her mother seem to have very positive outlooks, but it’s clear they’re in some real trouble.
Which is where we come in. I’ve teamed up with Haven Rich at Romantic Inks to put together an auction to help get Katy and her mom back on their feet. We’ve got tons of great stuff up for bid including agent and published author manuscript critiques, website design services, tarot readings, artwork, jewelry, handmade quilts, collectibles, toys, gift baskets, and tons and tons of autographed books.
I’m personally auctioning off the chance to name a character in my next book, SCANDAL SHEET, after the person of the winner’s choice. And my fabulous editor, Leah Hultenschmidt at Dorchester Publishing, is auctioning a 1/2 hour phone call to pitch or ask her anything about publishing! How cool is that?!
The auction will run January 19-26th. To see all the items up for bid, just got to: www.romanticinks.com/auction
So, feel free to blog about the auction, tell your friends, spread the word, and come bid generously on a ton of really great stuff to help out two really wonderful people!
Gemma Halliday
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