Self-Published Author Sets High Auction Goals

Although my husband, Ian (the soldier featured in the video writing a letter in his tent), is no longer in the Army and is therefore no longer in danger of being deployed, many, in all branches, are.

Soldiers’ Angels (.org) is a non-profit organization comprised of more than 30 teams who work to support wounded and deployed troops, as well as their families.

Since my novel Homefront is about a young woman whose love deploys to Iraq, it seems a fitting thing to offer as an auction item in an effort to raise money for Soldiers’ Angels.

I’m using eBay to auction off a signed copy, with a high-bid goal of $5,000. One hundred percent of the proceeds, no matter the winning bid amount, will be given to Soldiers’ Angels.

The war rarely makes the news, anymore, but troops are still deploying, still coming home injured, still dying. “Support the troops” is not a partisan slogan, nor is it a partisan behavior. Supporting the troops should never have meant the same thing as supporting a particular war, nor should not supporting a war have ever meant not supporting the troops. (If you were a 2008 political figure trying to rile up the masses, however, you very much thought arguing against a war meant being anti-troop and anti-America…and if you were a very left-leaning anti-military activist, troops equaled war, but I digress).

The men and women who serve in Afghanistan and Iraq, and in any and all other wars or conflicts, are given, through Soldiers’ Angels, some comfort. For details (there’s SO much), visit their website. What they receive is very little to ask, and – in fact – they DON’T ask. But they do appreciate it. And five thousand dollars (plus?) really isn’t a lot, considering all Soldiers’ Angels do, and all the deployed and deploying troops do. And what their families go through. (Homefront offers some insight into that.)

Alone, I think I’ll have a hard time getting anyone to bid even $200. That’s why I need help spreading the video around. Come on…you send forwards all the time, anyway. What’s one more? And it’s not just a forward – it’s my very first editing gig, my first acting gig, and my first on-screen appearance. How can you miss it?

Hope you enjoy the video, that you remember the date of the auction, and that you help spread the word. There cannot be enough given to the troops who are often too easy for many to forget.