The Lost Children Charity Anthologies

41 writers. One cause. We've rallied a platoon of crime, western, thriller, fantasy, noir, horror and transgressive authors to support PROTECT's important work: lobbying for legislation that protects children from physical, sexual, and emotional abuse.

Powerful stories from George Pelecanos, Andrew Vachss, Joe R. Lansdale, Charles de Lint, Ken Bruen, Chet Williamson, James Reasoner, Charlie Stella, Michael A. Black, Wayne Dundee, Roxane Gay, Ray Banks, Tony Black, Les Edgerton and 16 more, with 100% of proceeds going to PROTECT.

Monday, October 24, 2011

badge code

If you'd like to put a badge on your blog or website linking to this blog, here is the code to enter. In blogger, make a HTML/Javascript widget in the Layout section by clicking "add a gadget" and then copy and paste the code below. Then Save, and Save Arrangement.

<div style="width:125 px; font-size:80%; text-align:center; style="padding-bottom:0.5em;"><a href="http://the-lost-children.blogspot.com/"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW5P1cXIsJb2uJ_Pnf3f20Mt8u3S_6nPEr5n6uyBvW6-Ar-ylA_1t7X75ln74aBbt04WVz7f7d6XhcnoW2f809v8fngCNGmn_hsr13ryZIbpNNO2a-fPzPzArXDIxC65J3NvXBlux2vfk/s300/D+Tunstall.jpg" height=150 width=125 /><p></p>The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology</a></div>

The updated badge with links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords is here:

<div style="width:125 px; text-align:center; style="><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0061HAG6Y/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=plyoto-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=B0061HAG6Y"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL-WMCvvoQ3aJUPKhBrL-7B5HaffTeo61R2jFJFq_oIfpXfvBz4jiPJMeXQNJ9p8rAjhbd7knrbo2_AhwHLHt9qrqHWWnzJ1PgsZM5c77daFrrQF7S7kKuzE8nVxifW-8L5iTUOxOf-qc/s1600/LostFrontCover+%25281%2529.jpg" height="150" width="100" /><p></p>The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology (Kindle)</a><p></p>(<a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lost-children-thomas-pluck/1035849704?ean=2940013228047">Barnes & Noble</a>)
<p></p>(<a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/99495">Smashwords</a>)</div>
<p></p>

I will update this post with a new badge once the e-book is up at Barnes & Noble and with luck, the Apple iBookstore.

a little about... Seamus Bellamy

Seamus wrote the excellent crime tale Larry for the anthology and has one of the coolest Twitter avatars in existence.

What inspired your story?
I don't remember much of my own childhood, so getting into the headspace to write a tale told through the eyes of a child has always proved difficult for me. That said, I've known a lot of individuals on both sides of the law that came from broken homes, abusive parents and worse. That, I can write about.

What makes this cause important to you?
For our society to become something we can be proud of, it falls on each one of us to do what we can to protect our fellows. Who could be more worthy of protection than a child? The very least I can do to this end is turn my pen towards making some cash to help keep kids safe.

A little bit about myself
After attending university, I spent over a decade working in private industrial security and intelligence. Close to two years ago, I packed it in, to peruse my passion: writing. These days you can find my work in the pages of Maximum PC, PC Gamer, Mac|Life and TabTimes (launching this fall). I've also penned two books: Joomla for Dummies (second edition), as well as the second edition of Drupal for Dummies, which was co-written with Lynn Beighley. When my tech writing schedule allows for it, I plunk away at my first novel. I reckon it'll be ready when it's ready. You can catch up to me through my website www.seamusbellamy.com

Sunday, October 23, 2011

a little about... Erin Zulkoski

Erin Zulkoski wrote the story "Bloomingdale" which closes the collection.

What inspired your story?

The inspiration for Bloomingdale came from observing my neighbor's youngest son playing in his sand box. The rest came in a somewhat embarrassing way--I was watching the old Val Kilmer movie "Top Secret," during the part when his character is telling about the time he got lost in a department store. I just combined the two and out came Bloomingdale.

What makes this cause important to you?
The Lost Children cause is important because children are so vulnerable and trusting and often tragically the victims of terrible crimes. I don't have children of my own, but my heart breaks for the parents of children who are abducted. No parent should have to deal with that kind of situation, so once I heard that for each story written a donation would be made to two charities devoted to protecting kids, it was a no-brainer for me to write a piece. Anything I can do to help with such a noble cause is worth it.

Tell us a bit about yourself and where to find more of your writing.

I live in Lincoln, Nebraska: home of the Cornhuskers and am probably the only person in the state who isn't a raging fanatic about them. My day job has me working in Electrophysiology, a specialized practice of cardiology, and my night job, I write. Ive always loved writing and until the past year, just sort of tinkered around on my personal blog, http://polishsnausage.wordpress.com. A good friend of mine encouraged me to write more and invited me to join Fictionaut, and so glad he did. Since then, I've taken my casual hobby up a notch and have been featured in Pure Slush, Negative Suck and The Flash Fiction Offensive. I also started an all female blog with six other women and we can be found at http://HeartOnSleeve.wordpress.com. That's about it. Oh, I also have a weird obsession with Batman.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

a little about... Luca Veste

This is the first in a series of posts about the contributors to our collection. Luca's story "Waiting" appears in The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology.

What inspired your story?

It comes from a personal event, extrapolated to an inordinate amount. I've been that child waiting at a window for a parent, and it stays with you forever. It's possibly the most personal thing I'll ever write, but on seeing the incredible image that was used as a prompt, this story just wouldn't budge from my mind.

What makes this cause important to you?

Anything to help children and I'm there. As a father, the most important thing in my life is my children, so anything I can do to help children who possibly don't have that same support as my own children, I'll help any way I can.

Tell us a bit about yourself and where to find more of your writing.

I'm a Husband and Father of two daughters. I'm a mature student studying Criminology and Psychology. I review books on my Guilty Conscience ( http://guiltyconscienceblog.blogspot.com ) site, and turned my hand to writing a few months ago. I released a collection of short stories in October, titled 'Liverpool 5', published by Trestle Press. I've had stories at Thrillers, Killers 'n' Chillers and the forthcoming Paul D. Brazill Anthology 'Brit Grit 2'.

Monday, October 17, 2011

welcome

The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology will be available for purchase on Amazon, Smashwords and Barnes & Noble beginning November 1st 2011.

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. We will post the quarterly sales and donations here on the blog. Amazon and the vendors do take a cut, so if you'd like to donate more, the links to the charities are in the right hand sidebar.

The contributors to the anthology include:

David Ackley

Kevin Aldrich
David Barber
Lynn Beighley
Seamus Bellamy
Paul D Brazill
Sif Dal
James Lloyd Davis
Roberto C. Garcia
Susan Gibb
Nancy A. Hansen
K.V. Hardy
Gill Hoffs
Fiona Johnson
Joyce F. Juzwik
Maryanne Kolton
Benoit Lelievre
Veronica Marie
Vinod Narayan
Paula Pahnke
Ron Earl Phillips
Thomas Pluck
Sam Rasnake
JP Reese
Chad Rohrbacher
Susan Tepper
Luca Veste
Michael Webb
Nicolette Wong
Erin Zulkoski

Links to purchase this anthology will appear here as publication date approaches.

-Thomas

Protectors is available as an e-book for Amazon Kindle, Apple iPad, Kindle UK, Nook, Smashwords and Kobo. The trade paperback is now available from Createspace and Amazon, and from other online retailers and local bookstores.

Lost Children: A Charity Anthology is available for purchase in trade paperback from Watchung Booksellers, Amazon and Createspace, and as an e-book at Amazon, Amazon UK, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, the Apple iBookstore for the iPad, the Sony e-Bookstore, and the Kobo Bookstore.

You may also buy the e-books directly. We will email it to you in Kindle and epub formats. You can read it on your computer, or transfer it to your e-reader with software such as Calibre E-Book Management. This generates the largest donation.

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.

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.