Sunday, September 18, 2011

Birthday Giveaway! Red's Wolf by PJ Schnyder






September 25th would have been my mother's 86th birthday. She died when she was 58, after a 2 year battle with breast cancer. I was a senior in high school. My oldest sibling had died six months earlier in a car accident and her doctor warned us at the time that we would probably see a deterioration in her condition in response to his death. We did. Parents aren't supposed to outlive their children. Still, she didn't give up fighting entirely and she even continued to smoke cigarettes until she was put on oxygen. When she was first diagnosed with cancer, they checked her lungs since she was a heavy smoker for 30+ years. Her lungs were clear, surprisingly so, and so she kept smoking until she absolutely couldn't.

So what does all of that have to do with the giveaway? Well, the publisher of "Red's Wolf", Decadent Publishing, has a program called "Read for a Cure". Each month, they choose one book and donate all of the the publisher profits to the Relay for Life, a series of annual events (marathons, etc.) that benefit the American Cancer Society.  This month's book is "Red's Wolf".


The author of "Red's Wolf" also had her birthday this month and is an acquaintance of mine. My mother, before she had to retire due to her cancer, was an English teacher and loved books and reading. She introduced me to my first romance book (I'm pretty sure it was a Rosemary Rogers title; I have no clue what my mother was thinking, lol.)

Soooo, in honor of my mother, to celebrate her birthday, and as an easy way to donate to the American Cancer Society, I am giving away a Kindle version of this book. It's open internationally. The winner will have the book Kindle gifted to them from me via Amazon. You don't have to actually have a Kindle, you can have the app on your computer or smart phone. Go here to see the options and download the app, if you want it. Using the app, you  can purchase (or receive) Kindle books and read them without ever buying a Kindle.

ETA: I just looked at Barnes & Noble and it's available there too, so the winner can choose the Kindle book or the Nook book. They also have free apps for reading their digital books so you don't actually need a Nook.

There's more! PJ has offered to donate some signed cover flats. I'll mail those out to the lucky winner of the book. And, if the winner is interested, I'll also throw in a bar of hand made glycerin soap with the breast cancer ribbon on it. The winner can choose from unscented, rose, lavender or lavender vanilla.




What do you have to do to win all this? Well, I'd love it if you made a donation to whatever organization in your state/province/country works to fight cancer, but that's not a requirement. Leave a comment about something you might do, or have done, in honor of your parents. Simple as that. Oh, don't forget to read the giveaway policy.

The giveaway will run from now through 11:59 PM EST of September 25th. If in doubt about the time, see the clock widget in the right hand column.


10 comments:

  1. Beautiful post. I have spent a lot of time caring for my MIL when she was quite ill with lung cancer and Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. It was a lot of work, but so worth it cuz it strengthened our relationship in many ways. I have also donated many to various causes, but one on one care is so important

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  2. Luckily both of my parents are in excellent health and living up their retirement...my mom has battled Cancer once before and we thought she had it again quite recently but it turned out she was fine.

    I honour my parents by being the best mom, friend, daughter, employee, all round person I can be. I've learned from the best after all ;-)

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  3. *tear* seriously. . . got a little weepy there. Beautiful. You don't need to enter me in the giveaway, but I wanted to comment.

    And, since I'm here...I'll answer the question. I won't talk about my father (who I haven't seen since I was 5), because all I have are snark-ism about him and this post is too beautiful to taint with that. My mother is a crazy teenager, running around like she's 21--really. She's out dancing until midnight, then up at six for work. Whew. But one day, she will need me, and I will be there as she has been there for me.

    So right now, I guess I honor her by trying not to live the life she lived. Not off to a great start as a single mom, but I'm a work in progress.

    ~kyla

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  4. I've been blessed not to have lost anone to cancer, yet. I have worked on the Three Day as a volunteer, served on the board of directors on a nonprofit that benefited local breast cancer screening, etc. I love the glycerine soap. My parents are both getting on in years but currently enjoy good health. My husband works at a local assisted living facility. He comes home everyday with stories about men and women, once strong and leading full lives that are living out the last days of their lives. Many of them suffering with some kind of cancer. I worry about what this says about our society and how we value our elders.

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  5. Thats a nice gesture Bea. Always nice to remember someone on thier birthday. I still really miss my other halfs Dad. We'd go pub quizing on a Monday Night. (He organised the local league.) Then 6 years ago he got a brain tumour (and sadly lasted 12 weeks.)

    I still miss those Monday Nights and chatting about the B-Movies.

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  6. Wow, what a great response to this giveaway. I love all the responses. I'm glad random.org is choosing the winner, I'd pick you all.

    Pam, I made the soap bar, thank you for your kind words. Soap making is another hobby of mine.

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  7. That was an awesome post *wipes eyes* I'm only 14 and fortuanately both my parents are in good health and the only things I have done are write mothers day and fathers day cards :P

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  8. I just stumbled upon your blog this evening. You captured me when you started telling about your mom and her birthday. My mom was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia about 9 years ago. Her condition was a wait and see for about 7 years. 2 years ago a dna test came back with some bad news - approximately 4 months to live. I crumbled. I found myself asking over and over "How am I going to live without my mom?" This info was way too much for my family to take in. We went to the Mayo Clinic for a second opinion soon after the bad news was given. I prayed and prayed for my mother. I left my husband and 2 young children home for a few days while I traveled with my parents to Mayo. Severel weeks later the best news - the DNA test was WRONG! My mom still need chemo and now she has been done with that for just over a year. I still think back to that lost, hopeless feeling when I thought I was going to loose her. I thank God that she is doing well and hope to have her around for long time. I have a 6 year old, 4 year old and 1 year old and my wish is to see my mom dancing at their weddings. :o)

    I honor her by letting her know how much I love her.

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  9. what a beautiful post. my parents are both in ok health when I was pregnant with my son my mom was battling thyroid cancer. during both of my pregnancies my doctors thought I had breast cancer and I had to have biopsy both times no fun. every year I knit chemo caps for my cancer patients. vbarton24 at gmail dot com

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  10. I carry on my mother's tradition and still thrift shop for bargains to this day! :)

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