As you may or may not know, I have a second blog I kind of infrequently update with nonfiction book reviews and historical deep dives. I don’t really stress that blog too much, or talk about it a lot because it’s more my brain dumping ground (I use it to sort out and synthesize my research) than anything else. However, I’m going to start using it more now, because of current events. I feel like it is the best place to put things of a certain nature.
Today I posted a deep dive over there, but at the start of it, I made some announcements, which I’ll go ahead and post over here. At the bottom of this post, I’ll have links for you to check out if you are so inclined. My goal is to keep this blog as an SFF-only space, and put all my Ukraine and Russia related content over there.
Here are the announcements:
I’ve been talking back and forth with not only my friends in the region, but readers who are Ukrainian. One of them said something yesterday that gave this helpless feeling I have a bit of a direction.
You’re a writer, and an amazing one. Your words have power. Even in this email, your second paragraph is breathtaking. Use your gift for our cause.
Until then, I’d been sort of mired in this “I want to do something but I don’t know what” slump. Other than opening my email and private message doors to literally anyone in the region who needs someone to talk to, I don’t really know what else I can do. Then, she sent that to me, and I realized she’s right. I do have a tool, and it’s right here. It’s this blog. It’s the history I’ve researched. It’s the people I’ve come to know and care deeply about.
So, for a while, I’m going to be posting deep dives here that explore Ukrainian history, the things I learned as I researched my books. As always, a full list of sources will be at the end of each article. I want to show you how magnificent, layered, textured, nuanced this region of the world is. Maybe, in some small way, I can raise awareness.
Secondly, I’m planning an auction, where all proceeds will go toward a NGO focusing on relief. I haven’t chosen the NGO yet, but there are a few on the table and I’m looking through them all to make sure I like how their money is used. (I’m extremely picky.) However, this will take a while to get off the ground. I’ll probably need volunteers. It’ll be in a few months.
Third, and this is something I’m not advertising much, but all of the royalties I earn from book sales in the month of March will be donated to Save the Children, an organization I have sponsored children through for years. They are engaged in relief for the impacted people of the region. I won’t advertise this fact much, because I feel kind of weird doing a profits for donations thing, so I’ll probably just mention that here, this once, and let it rest.
If you’d like to read my posts so far, I’ve got two, and there will be many more: