The Lost Children Charity Anthologies: 2013

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Protectors Story a Distinguished Mystery Story of 2012

Congratulations to Dave White, whose story "Runaway" in Protectors: Stories to Benefit PROTECT was noted as a distinguished mystery story of 2012 in the latest volume of The Best American Mystery Stories, edited by Lisa Scottoline and Otto Penzler.

"Runaway" is a gripping and heartfelt crime story about a basketball coach in Jersey City trying to help a young athlete stay out of trouble, but as Jerseyans know, sometimes trouble finds you. Dave was eager to be part of the anthology I'm proud to have edited him. If you don't know his other work, he is the author of the thriller Witness to Death and the Jackson Donne crime novels.

Saturday, June 1, 2013

"Adeline" by Wayne D. Dundee wins Peacemaker

Let us congratulate Wayne Dundee!
His story for Protectors: Stories to Benefit PROTECT, "Adeline," a gripping tale of frontier history and justice, has won the Peacemaker Award for best western short story of 2013 from the Western Fictioneers.

Saturday, March 2, 2013

"Baby Boy" by Todd Robinson finalist in Derringer awards

"Baby Boy," Todd Robinson's riveting thriller tale from Protectors: Stories to Benefit PROTECT, is a finalist for best short story in the Short Mystery Fiction Society's 2013 Derringer Awards!

List of finalists for the 2013 Derringer Awards

Let's congratulate Todd on making it to the finals. This story is exclusive to the Protectors anthology, so if you haven't read it, pick up a copy. It's a gripping read that will leave your heart pounding.

Friday, February 8, 2013

Latest Review and Donations

Our latest review is in:

"Good stories for a good cause. You can't go wrong."
Bill Crider, Mystery Scene Magazine

And our donation record has been updated. $1274 to PROTECT, and we've only just begun.

What's the story behind the project?

Protectors:
The Lost Children Charity Anthology was such a success, that Thomas Pluck decided to collect stories from a variety of authors to benefit PROTECT, a lobby whose victories against child abuse include the PROTECT Our Children Act of 2008, the Hero to Hero program, and Alicia's Law. He collected 41 stories from all new authors. Thanks to the inspiration of goodhearted people like Fiona Johnson, and the people of PROTECT who fight the abuse and exploitation of our children every day, the book is a reality, and 100% of proceeds benefit PROTECT.

For the first anthology:
The challenge began on Flash Fiction Friday, when author Fiona Johnson was guest writer for the fiction prompt, and asked us to write about the lost children. She asked photographer Danielle Tunstall for permission to use the arresting photo shown in the right sidebar, and said:

Some children are lost before they have even started living. Some children are a throw-away commodity like a burger box that’s left to blow down the street in the wind and rain.

I offered to donate $5 for each story submitted to PROTECT: The National Association to Protect Children, and Fiona would donate $5 to Children 1st, a children's charity in Scotland. Together we raised $300 for each of the charities thanks to the generous and creative writing communities of Flash Fiction Friday, Fictionaut, and the crime fiction community on Twitter.

It was such a success that we thought we could go further. Ron Earl Phillips, Fiona and I chose 30 of the best stories to put in a charity anthology, all proceeds of which will go to PROTECT and Children 1st.

100% of royalties donated to two causes:

OUR DONATION RECORD

PROTECT and The National Association to Protect Children (USA)

The National Association to Protect Children is a national, pro-child, anti-crime membership association founded on the belief that our first and most sacred obligation as parents, citizens, and members of the human species is the protection of children from harm.

PROTECT is a bipartisan pro-child, anti-crime lobby whose sole focus is making the protection of children a top political and policy priority at the national, state and local level.

You can read about PROTECT's Victories here.

100% of the proceeds of Protectors, and 50% of the proceeds of Lost Children: A Charity Anthology, are donated to PROTECT.

This is an independently organized event, not officially sponsored by [NAPC/PROTECT]

Children 1st (UK)

Children 1st has 125 years experience of working with children and families, previously as the Royal Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children (RSSPCC). Today, they support families under stress, protect children from harm and neglect, help them to recover from abuse and promote children's rights and interests. You can read more about their work with children here.

50% of proceeds of the Lost Children Charity Anthology go to Children 1st.

This is an independently organized event, not officially sponsored by Children 1st.