Well, folks, we’ve made it. As of this writing we have 266 comments, which should cover my dozen or so and put us over the 250 that will send me to Phaze.com to buy the prize copies!
I’m waiting until October to do that, however, since I initially thought it might take until then to reach the number of comments I originally set and had planned my shopping accordingly. That said, I’ve ordered several copies of Jan Freed’s books as mentioned, and I’ll go ahead and pick winners for those as they arrive!
At least five authors have picked up the challenge to buy copies based on comments to similar posts at their blogs. It’s so amazing that this has gone viral. Wouldn’t it be even more amazing to keep it going. So, step up, people. Let me know if you offer a similar challenge on your site and I’ll link to it here.
And thanks to all of you for stopping by here with your sharing and your caring and your coming together. It’s meant a lot to Alessia, and to Jan, and to me – and I’m sure equally as much to many of you, your families, co-workers, and friends. THANK YOU!
Please click through for several updates . . .
UPDATE 7: Laurie Damron is giving away a copy on her blog!
UPDATE 6: Three more authors have taken up the challenge: Tammi Flora, Samantha Sommersby and Kathryn Lively who says, “Even though I am the publisher, there’s nothing that says I can’t buy copies to give away, eh?”
UPDATE 5: Author Tilly Greene is joining in. Visit her site and sign up!
UPDATE 4: The generous Jessica Russell is picking up the challenge and giving away 10 copies of the book. Visit her site and sign up!
UPDATE 3: Check out editor Alessia Brio’s challenge at this link.
UPDATE 2: I’m going to add to this giveaway by offering up some copies of Jan Freed’s books to visitors here. They’ll be used, since they’re all out of print, but she is amazing, and I want to share her talent with you all. I’ll begin choosing names randomly once we reach the 250 comment mark and continue to choose until the challenge closes on October 1st.
UPDATE 1: Only because she outed herself am I posting her comment here. Many of you know my BFF who I mentioned above, the woman that inspired me to do this, Jan Freed.
Oh. My. God. I am so p-p-proud to see this outpouring of enthusiasm for Alison’s “Comment for the Cure!” I’m all teary-eyed because =I= am the mysterious “bestest friend” she refers to in her introduction and I had =no= idea she was doing this!! I’m beyond touched . . . at both her generosity and everyone’s personal stories and support regarding cancer. Please let me emphasize how important it is to trust your instincts, even at the risk of feeling like a hypochondriac, if you sense that something is “not quite right.” I felt a difference in tissue density and insisted on a “diagnostic” mammogram even though my regular one had not detected a problem. Sure enough there was something suspicious and a biopsy confirmed my instinct. Medicine and God helped, but =I= am the one who saved my life! :) So for goodness sakes pay attention to your bodies and get tested if you suspect a problem. Prevention =is= the best cure.THANK YOU Alison. bff!
-J-
* * * * * * * Original Entry * * * * * * *
During the time I was off work from 01/04 until 09/06, one of my co-workers had a mastectomy and is now a breast cancer survivor. My stepson’s mother went through treatment and is now a survivor, too.
Then around Valentine’s Day of 2006, one of my dearest friends in forever, a vital woman, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a much-loved author discovered a lump in her breast. She’s now a breast cancer survivor as well, having finished her chemo and radiation earlier this year, and tells me she’s sporting short curly red hair (I haven’t seen her in person in awhile) and is determined to live life with vigor and never take it for granted.
Today, Julie Leto posts about breast cancer and mammograms at the PlotMonkeys site. Yes, I had mine last week and my results are back and the boobs are hangin’ low and wobblin’ to and fro as they should. ;)
While blog hopping last week, I ran across the following video at Lauren Dane’s site. All proceeds from this fundraising anthology, Coming Together: For the Cure, will be donated to the Susan G. Komen foundation.
In honor of my bestest friend and her recent battle, here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to buy copies of this anthology and give them away as prizes here. I will buy one copy for every ten comments. So, yes, if there are 100 comments, I’ll buy 10 copies. And I’ll give them away randomly to people who drop in and help raise funds. I will limit the copies to 25 (250 comments/$175) if we go that high, so let’s do it!
I am going to let this run until October 1, 2007. All you have to do is say hi, or tell us you’re taking care of yourself so we don’t have to worry, or let everyone know if your life has been touched in any way by breast cancer.
C’mon and comment for the cure!
At some point, virtually everyone’s life is touched in some way by breast cancer. Whether it’s a friend or family member, or even yourself, the journey is one of courage and compassion. Phaze continues its tradition of fundraising for this cause with Coming Together: For the Cure, an anthology of quality erotic fiction edited by Alessia Brio.
I count that I’ve posted 11x here in the comments (including this one), so we need 11 more to officially hit 250 comments that don’t include mine! I’m letting trackbacks and multiple comments from others stand, so once the total says 262, we’ll have the 250, whoo-hoo!!
by Alison August 26th, 2007 at 12:52 pmThis is a brilliant idea, and I was thrilled to read the words from Jan Freed, whose books I’ve collected and read as much as possible (still missing some…). I’m a breast cancer survivor too, and thankyou for every donation, no matter how big or small. It’s people like you who’ve saved my life. Think about it. And thankyou.
by Malvina August 26th, 2007 at 6:56 pmAlison, what a lovely idea. Commenting to support you!
by Nalini August 26th, 2007 at 7:49 pmAlison thanks for the updates. I’ll have to check out the links.
Whoo hoo – multi comments count.
I’ve come back and read the posts and I’m truly impressed with all of you who have posted and shared your experiences. Thank you for doing that.
Once again I’d just like to say that I admire and respect everyone who has been in this situation. You all are inspiration for those who are going through it now and will go through it in the future – and is very touching you were willing to share with all of us. Such big hearts in this bunch.
WTG – just a few more comments and then Alison will be at 250 comments that don’t include hers.
Alison – thanks again for doing this. I’ll have to change my myspace blog to be not Tammi’s blog of the day winner but to Tammi’s Blog of the month winner. This is an amazing thing you are doing.
Best wishes on hitting that 250.
by Tammi August 26th, 2007 at 8:18 pmEvery year in the area I live in a group of women who are breast cancer survivors and friends/family of breast cancer survivors “bare all” for a breast cancer awareness calendar. All the proceeds go to breast cancer research. I tried to find the link to their website but I can’t seem to find it. I think the calendar is a fabulous way to raise money.
by Stephanie Staton August 26th, 2007 at 10:58 pmyou know… i know a guy who is a breast cancer survivor. don’t ignore the symptoms in the men you know either…
by badinfluencegirl August 26th, 2007 at 11:43 pmIt is amazing how many people have come together to support this cause. There are so many survivor stories posted that it should help anyone who is battling breast cancer by showing them that they have a good chance of surviving.
by Claudia August 27th, 2007 at 9:53 am“you know… i know a guy who is a breast cancer survivor. don’t ignore the symptoms in the men you know either…”
badinfluencegirl you are so right.
If you would like to see more about breast cancer and men you can go to this link. While the risk is much lower than women – it does happen.
by Tammi August 27th, 2007 at 11:41 amTwo more authors taking up the challenge:
Kathryn Lively and Samantha Sommersby
Way to go, ladies!
:)
by Alessia Brio August 27th, 2007 at 11:47 amWhoo hoo!
This is excellent!
Getting involved with this is a truly amazing thing. A little can go a long way.
I’ll have to go to their links and post.
by Tammi August 27th, 2007 at 1:10 pmthis is a wonderful thing to do!
by Minna August 27th, 2007 at 1:10 pmTo Alessia/Alison and the other wonderful authors who have decided to continue the challenge I want to say thank you for the inspiration.
And it’s true what they say – every little bit helps.
by Tammi August 27th, 2007 at 1:27 pmThis is a wonderful thing you’re doing. You have my support!
by Rose G. August 27th, 2007 at 1:55 pmHey All -
Just wanted to let you know that after speaking with Alessia and getting the info I needed I have decided to join in and do this on my blog as well.
I will buy a book for every 10 comments made on my blog. (max 50 comments = 5 books)
Again I’d like to thank everyone here and Alessia and Alison for getting this all going. I’m so honored that I can contribute in some way. A small way this year – but I do believe that every little bit helps.
So come on over and leave a comment.
by Tammi August 27th, 2007 at 4:06 pmIt’s great to see this roundup of people in support of breast cancer cure/survivors. My mom had breast cancer, sadly 13months later she died. BUT WE LEARNED ALOT. Always take care of yourself, you’ll never know how much of hole that cannot be filled is left behind. I meet people all the time & amazingly connect to strangers because of cancer.
by Catherine August 27th, 2007 at 5:21 pmYOU HAVE MY SUPPORT!
Catherine
Hey just wanted to say I thik it’s awesome what you are doing here!!! Good job and good luck!!!
by Angie August 27th, 2007 at 5:33 pmWell, folks, we’ve made it. As of this writing we have 266 comments, which should cover my dozen or so and put us over the 250 that will send me to Phaze.com to buy the prize copies!
I’m waiting until October to do that, however, since I initially thought it might take until then to reach the number of comments I originally set and had planned my shopping accordingly. That said, I’ve ordered several copies of Jan Freed’s books as mentioned, and I’ll go ahead and pick winners for those as they arrive!
At least five authors have picked up the challenge to buy copies based on comments to similar posts at their blogs. It’s so amazing that this has gone viral. Wouldn’t it be even more amazing to keep it going. So, step up, people. Let me know if you offer a similar challenge on your site and I’ll link to it here.
And thanks to all of you for stopping by here with your sharing and your caring and your coming together. It’s meant a lot to Alessia, and to Jan, and to me – and I’m sure equally as much to many of you, your families, co-workers, and friends. THANK YOU!
by Alison August 27th, 2007 at 5:56 pmKudos to Alison and Phaze for such a generous gesture.
by Sage Burnett August 27th, 2007 at 6:52 pmI have a friend with stage IV breast cancer and know a few other women who are fighting this horrible disease. I am 54 which makes getting yearly mammograms more scary because my odds of getting breast cancer went up when I went over age 50. Plus I am currently taking HRT for a severe hormone imbalance. So please find a cure so I don’t lose anymore friends or have to live in fear. Thanks for doing this for all of us and remember men get breast cancer too!
by Beki August 27th, 2007 at 11:32 pmLaurie Damron is giving away a copy on her blog!
by Alison August 28th, 2007 at 3:08 pmAm I too late?
by RobynL August 28th, 2007 at 9:41 pmMy Mom passed away from breast cancer 4 yrs. ago and her sister has had it twice and is a survivor; her sis also has had colon cancer.
Commenting! [wave] And I wanted to say that that’s a very nice cover on The Perfect Stranger. Cute guy!
Angie
by Angie August 29th, 2007 at 7:48 pmProud to be a nine year survivor!
by Melissa L. August 30th, 2007 at 10:08 am[...] followed me and one of my crit partners to our meeting place where we met our third, Jan Freed (who I paid tribute to just this last week). (Our group previously included Jo Leigh and Kimberly [...]
by My First Sale by Alison Kent, One of the First Reality TV Stars | Dear Author: Romance Book Reviews, Author Interviews, and Commentary August 31st, 2007 at 4:11 amProud 7-year survivor. I wrote all through my treatment. I remember I’d get so excited about a scene that I’d have to go lie down and rest a little as the radiation tended to tire me out.
by Christine Rimmer August 31st, 2007 at 9:01 amOh, wow! I love Jan Freed. I hope she gets better soon and starts writing again.
by Ann Bruce August 31st, 2007 at 9:51 amMy aunt is a survivor. She found a lump earlier this year and did the whole radiation treatment.
She knew something was wrong, and trusted her instincts until the docs confirmed.
by Dee August 31st, 2007 at 3:57 pmThis is just so wonderful of you.
by Cheryl S. September 1st, 2007 at 9:22 pm[...] 2, 2007 · Filed under Personal Musings Alison Kent has really done an awesome thing…she started a craze that’s sweeping the ebook net. [...]
by DawnMontgomery.com » For the Cure September 2nd, 2007 at 5:47 pm[...] well. If erotic romance isn’t your thing, go to Alison’s Blog and leave a comment on this post. For every 10 comments she will buy a copy to give away as gifts. She’s limited it to 25 [...]
by Jessica D. Russell » Coming Together for the Cure September 4th, 2007 at 8:05 amGood luck.
by Ramon September 5th, 2007 at 3:22 pmHang in there! It seems you have a wonderful support group. I have family and friends that are survivors. Keep Positive!
by Tina Riley September 9th, 2007 at 11:57 pmOkay, I’m finally trying to knock out a lot of STUFF that I’ve had piling up for too long.
The first thing is the 12 copies of Jan Freed’s books I have here to give away. If you remember, Jan is the good friend who inspired my Comment for the Cure post.
I’m going to make this simple.
I’ve set up an email address – commentforthecure@alisonkent.com – and the first twelve people to email me there with their mailing address, will get one of the books.
They’re used and they’re not autographed, but they are some of the best reads you’ll ever run across.
You have to use that email addy, and you must include your mailing address. You can’t comment here, in other words!
by Alison October 22nd, 2007 at 10:23 amWOOT! For the Cure is an EPPIE Finalist in the Erotica category!
by Alessia Brio December 13th, 2007 at 6:41 amI’ve been happy dancing over that one all night! I told Kat last night, as soon as I found out. I’m so glad to see this book final.
Brenna
by Brenna Lyons December 13th, 2007 at 6:52 am[...] and followed me and one of my critique partners to our meeting where we met our third, Jan Freed (who I paid tribute to on my blog). (Our group had previously included Jo Leigh and Kimberly [...]
by My First Sale x 2 | GENREALITY February 2nd, 2009 at 6:01 pm